the words pronounced doe preuaile nothing at all Neither is that any let or hinderaunce at all that those Exorcistes were without faith For this is a thinge very well knowen and receiued of all men that Sacramentes are no lesse effectuall when they are ministred by wicked ministers then when they are ministred by the best ministers But héere is obiected againste vs this saying of the Apostle Christe gaue him selfe for the church to sanctifie it cleansing it in the founteine of water by the word or in the word Beholde say they men are cleansed by the water of Baptisme which by the word hath the force of sanctifying put into it therfore it must néeds be that words haue force to sanctifie But I wil confute them by an euident demonstration that the Apostle did not so meane as they suppose The Apostle prescribeth vnto married Christians their dutie to the more plaine and pithyer settinge foorth whereof he vseth the example of Christe and his Church commending that excéedinge loue whiche Christe beareth toward his Church wherewith béeing inflamed he gaue him selfe for it to this end to make it to him selfe a pure and glorious spouse where by the way hée setteth downe the manner of purgeing For the Lord Iesus him selfe sayeth hée hath cleansed it For it is onlye Christes office to purge and cleanse Now the manner of purgeing followeth In the founteine of water by the worde â–ª which because it is briefly spoken hath in it some obscuritie He maketh mention of two thinges which the Lord vseth to cleanse those that bée his The founteine of water And The worde The Founteine of water is Baptisme whiche is the outwarde action and witnesse-bearing of the inwarde purifying or cleansing wrought by the grace and spirite of GOD as the Apostle sayeth According to his mercie hee saued vs by the founteine of regeneration and renewing of the holie Ghoste which hee shed vpon vs richlie throughe Iesus Christe our Sauiour For hee addeth in way of interpretation And renewing of the holie Ghoste whereof the founteine of water is a signe Moreouer the Worde is the verie preaching of the Gospell testifying that by the grace and mercie of God the Father his onelye Sonne was giuen vnto vs who béeinge giuen for our sinnes maketh them that beléeue in him heyers of eternall life so that now these wordes of Paule to the Ephesians the 5. Chapter doe verie well agrée with this Commaundement of the Lorde mentioned in Sainct Marke Goe into all the whole worlde and preache the Gospell to all creatures hee whiche shall beleeue and be baptised shall be saued c. For by these words also the Lord shadoweth out vnto vs the manner and meanes of our saluation that it is hee onelie whiche purgeth vs by faithe yet in the meane while hee willeth the beléeuers to bee signed with Baptisme and that it shoulde be preached openlye in the worlde that it is he which pardoneth sinnes yea and which freely giueth euerlasting life But what doe all these thinges I pray you make for their purpose who wil proue by those wordes of Paule that there is force and vertue in the words to sanctifie baptisme These wordes of the lord spoken to his Apostles do yet make our matter more manifest Now are ye cleane saith he through the worde which I haue spoken vnto you Shall we say here that through the wordes which Christ rehearsed the disciples of Christ were made cleane what then néeded he the nexte day to haue bene crucified to haue died What to the ende that he might purchase power vnto the wordes Therefore all boastinge in the force of wordes shal be cleane taken away Doth not faith and godlunesse tell vs By the worde of the Lorde we should rather vnderstande this which is declared by the preaching of the Lorde that is the death and redemption of Christ wherby because they beleued it they are clensed For in an other place he saith purifying their hearts by faith Wherefore they erre in that because they doe not rightly iudge of the word or speach For the Lorde speaketh of the word preached and beléeued and they vnderstande him of the worde pronounced as though béeinge pronounced it had force from the Lorde to sanctifie S. Augustine also maketh for vs who in his 80. treatise vpon Iohn saith From whence commeth so great vertue and power vnto the water that it should touch the bodie and wash the heart but through the woorking of the worde not because it is spoken or pronounced but because it is beleeued For in the word it selfe the sounde passing away is one thing and the vertue which remaineth is an other thinge This is the worde of faith which wee preach saieth the Apostle because if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth that Iesus is the lord and beleeue with thy heart that God hath raised him from the deade thou shalt be saued For with the hart man beleeueth vnto righteousnesse and with the mouth confession is made vnto saluation Whereupon we reade in the Actes of the Apostles purifying or cleasing their heates by faith And S. Peter in his Epistle saith So also Baptisme saueth vs not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but in that a good conscience maketh request to god This is the worde of faith which we preach wherwith vndoubtedly baptisme is also consecrated that it may haue power to clense For Christ with vs the Vine with his father the Husbandman hath loued his church and gaue him selfe for it Reade the Apostle and marke what he addeth saying That he might sanctifie it cleansing it by the founteine of water in the worde In vaine therefore should cleansing be attributed to a fraile and vading element vnlesse this were added In the word And so forth For thus farre I haue recited S. Augustines wordes not that I stay my selfe vpon mans testimonie or that I would haue any man to vrge the same or that I am content to be ruled by the witnesse of man but because in these wordes he hath gathered together some testimonies out of the scripture bearing witnesse of the worde Whereby we may vnderstande that the worde of faith preached and not the worde spoken or pronounced ought to be receiued This worde I say doth truly clense that is to say the grace of Christ only doth purifie to the which both the worde faith are directed for that cause he saide â—xpresly Not because it is spoken but beâ—ause it is beleeued Anon after he saith The word of faith which we preach Furâ—hermore he saith by the word of faith bapâ—isme is coÌ„secrated that it might haue powâ—r to clense Which what is it else theÌ„ if â—e had said the very substaÌ„ce of faith makâ—th baptisme effectual For it followeth For clensing in vain should be attributed to the vading corruptible element vnles were added In the word Now if a maÌ„â—o consider the mysteries of the saints or holy men
beleeue that this sonne of God beeing God begotten of his father all together before all beginning did sanctifie the wombe of the virgin Marie and that of her he toke vpon him verie man begotten without the seede of man the two natures onlie that is of the Godhead and manhood comming together into one person onelie that is our Lord Iesus Christe Neither doe we beleeue that there was in him an imagined or any phantastical bodie but a sound verie bodie and that he both hungered and thirsted and taught and wept and suffered all the damages of the bodie Last of al that he was crucified of the Iewes and was buried and rose againe the third day afterwarde was conuersant with his disciples and the fortieth day after his resurrection ascended into heauen This sonne of man and also the sonne of God wee call bothe the sonne of God and the sonne of man. We beleeue verilie that there shall be a resurrection of the fleshe of mankinde and that the soule of man is not of the diuine substance or of God the father but is a creature created by the will of God The Creede of the fourth Counsell kept at Toledo taken out of the booke of Isidore AS we haue learned of the holie fathers that the father and the sonne and the holie ghost are of one Godhead and substance so is our confession beleeuing the trinitie in the difference of persons and openly professing the vnitie in the Godhead neither confounde we the persons nor diuide the substance Wee say that the father is made or begotten of none we affirme that the sonne is not made but begotten of the father and wee professe that the holie ghoste is neither created nor begotten but proceeding from the father and the sonne And we confesse that the Lord him selfe Iesus Christe the sonne of God and the maker of all things begotten of the substance of his father before all the worldes came downe from his father in the latter times for the redemption of the worlde who neuerthelesse neuer ceassed to be with the father For hee was incarnate by the holie ghoste and the glorious virgine Marie the holie mother of God and of her was borne alone the same Lord Iesus Christ one in the trinitie beeing perfect man in soule and bodie taking on man without sinne beeing still what he was taking to him what he was not touching his godhead equal with the father and inferiour to his father touching his manhood hauing in one person the propertie of two natures For there are in him two natures God and man And yet not two sonnes or two Gods but the same God and man one person in bothe natures who suffered griefe and death for our saluation not in the power of his godhead but in the infirmitie of his manhood He descēded to them belowe to draw out by force the Saintes which were held there And he rose againe the power of death beeing ouercome He was taken vpp into the Heauens from whence he shall come to iudge the quick and the dead By whose death and bloud we beeing made cleane haue obteyned forgiuenesse of our sinnes and shal be raysed vp againe by him in the last day in the same flesh wherein now we liue and in that manner wherein the same our Lord did rise againe and shall receiue of him some in rewarde of their well-doing life euerlasting and some for their sinnes the iudgement of euerlasting punishment This is the faith of the Catholique church this confession we keepe and holde which whosoeuer shall keepe stedfastly he shall haue euerlasting saluation A declaration of the faith or preaching of the Euangelicall and apostolicall truethe by the blessed martyr Irenaeus taken out of the 2. Chap. of his first booke Contra Valent. THe churche dispersed through the whole worlde euen to the endes of the earth hath of the Apostles and their Disciples receiued the beliefe which is in one God the father almightie which made Heauen and earth the Sea and al that in them is And in one Iesus Christe the Sonne of God who was incarnate for our saluation And in the holie Ghost who by the prophets preached ▪ the mysterie of the dispensatiō the cōming of the beloued Iesus Christe our Lord with his natiuitie of the virgine and his passion and resurrection from the dead and his ascension in the flesh into the Heauens and his comming againe out of the heauens in the glorie of the father to restore all thinges and to raise vppe againe all flesh of mankinde so that to Christe Iesus our Lorde bothe God and sauiour and king according to the wil of the inuisible father euery knee may bow of thinges in Heauen and things in earth and thinges vnder the earth and that euerie tongue may praise him and that he may iudge rightlie in all things and that hee may cast the spirites of naughtinesse with the angels which transgressed and became rebells and wicked vniust mischiefous and blasphemous men into eternall fire and that to the iust and holie ones and such as haue kept his commaundements and remained in the loue of him partely from the beginning and partely by repentaunce he may graunt life bestowe immortalitie and giue glorie euerlasting The Churche although it be dispearsed throughout the whole worlde hauing obteined as I haue saide this confession and this faith doeth as it were dwelling together in one house diligently keepe them and likewise beleeue them euen as if it had one soule and the same hart and doeth preache teach and agreeably deliuer these thinges euen as if it had al one mouth For in the world the tongues are vnlike but the force of teaching is one and the same Neither doe the Churches whose foundation is laide in Germanie beleeue otherwise or teache to the contrarie neither those in Spaine nor those in France nor those in the East nor those in Aegypte nor those in Libya nor those whiche are in the worlde beside but euen as the Sunne which is the creature of God is one and the selfe-same in all the worlde so also the preaching of the trueth shineth euery where and giueth light to all men whiche are willing to come to the knowledge of the truth And neither shal he which among the chiefe ouerseers of the Church is able to say muche speake cōtrarie to this For no man is aboue his maister Neither shal he which is able to say litle diminish this doctrine any whit at al. For seeing that faith is all one and the same neither doeth he which is able to say much of it say more than should be said neither doeth he whiche saith little make it euer a whit the lesser Reade further in the fourth chapter of his third booke Contra Valent. and you shall perceiue that by the terme of Apostolicall tradition he meaneth the Creede of the Apostles ¶ A rule of faith after Tertullian taken out of his Booke De praescriptionibus
liued without lawe c. 502 7 O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death c. 409 7 With the mynde the same I or euen I doe serue the Lawe of God c. 515 7 Wee knowe that the lawe is spirituall but I am carnall solde vnder sinne c. 405. 496 7 I knowe that in me that is in my flesh there is no good c. 482 589. 594. 7 I knewe not sinne but by the lawe for I had not knowne lust except the lawe c. 325. 401 7 I finde when I would doe good that euill is present with by and in me c. 515 8 Those which he knewe before he did also predestinate that they should be like c. 894 8 It is God that iustifieth who is he that can condemne c. 662 8 Who spared not his sonne but gaue him for vs all howe can it be that he shoulde not also with him giue vs allthings c. 644 8 You haue not receiued againe the spirite of bondage vnto feare but you haue receiued the spirite of adoption c. 565. 660 8 If any haue not the spirite of Christ the same is none of his c. 660. 925. 1055 8 As many as are led by the spirite of GOD they are the sonnes of God c. 718 8 They that are in the fleshe can not please God c 728 8 Bâ—cause ye are sonnes GOD hath sent the spirite of his sonne into your hearts c. 723 8 Who shall separate vs from the loue of GOD shall tribulation c. 93. 311 8 The affection of the flesh is death but the affection of the spirit is life c. 325 8 The lawe of the spirite of life through Christe Iesus hath made mée frée c. 446 8 Wée are saued by hope but hope that is séene is no hope For howe can a man c. 305 8 What the Lawe could not do in as much as it was weake through the flesh c. 407 8 We sufferwith Christ that with him we may be glorified For I am c. 310 9 It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie c. 644 9 They are not all Israelits whiche came of Israel neither are they c. 820 9 Which is God in all thinges to be praised for euer c. 685 10 Faith coÌ„meth by hearing and hearing commeth by the woord of god c. 827 10 With the heart man beléeueth vnto righteousnesse and with the mouth c. 974 10 But how shall they call vppon him in whome they haue not beléeued c. 660 10 If thou shalt knowledge with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt beléeue in thine heart c. 1007 10 The same Lord ouer all is rich to all them that call vppon him c. 546. 11 Wée say that faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousnesse c. 1011 11 I haue left vnto me selfe 7000 men in Israel who haue neuer bowed c. 855 11 O the depth of the riches of the wisedome and knowledge of God c. 642 12 I beséeche you brethren by the mercies of god that ye giue vp your bodies a liuely sacrifice c. 668 12 Dearely beloued reuenge not your selues but rather giue place vn to wrath c. 197 12 For as we haue manâ— meÌ„bers in one body and all members haue not c. 826 13 Owe nothing to any man c. for he that loueth another hath fulfilled the Lawe c. 98 13 The magistrate is Gods minister giue therefore to all men honour to whome honour belongeth c. 650 13 Wée must not obey the magistrate for anger onely but for â—onscience sake c. 220 13 Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers c. 170. 755 14 Let vs followe the things that make for peace and al things wherby we may one edifie c. 426 14 Him that is weake in faith receiue ye not to strifes of disputations c. 451 14 All thinges are lawfull for mée but all thinges are not expedient c. 449 14 The kingdom of GOD is not meate and drinke but righteousnes and peace c. 699 16 Phebe a woman deacon of the Church of Cencrea c. 879 ¶ Out of the first Epistle of S. Paule to the Corinthians 1 THe Lord sent me to preache the Gospel and not to baâ—tise c. 1055 1 Were ye baptised in the name of Paule c. 627 1 I thancke God that I baptised none of you but Crispus and Gaius c. 1033 1 Nowe we sée in a glasse euen in a darcke speaking but then we shall sée face to face c. 608 1 After that in the wisedome of God the world through their wisedome knewe not God c. 619 2 God hath reuealed them vnto vs by his spirite For the spirite searcheth all thinges c. 728 2 Had they knowen it they would not haue crucified the Lord of glorie c. 695 2 My preaching was not in the enticeing words of mans wisedom but in the shewing of the spirite c. 603. 825 2 I was among you CorinthiaÌ„s in weakenesse and in feare and in much trembling c. 831 2 The natural man perceiueth not the thinges of the spirite of GOD c. 500. 589 3 As a skilfull buildes I haue laid the foundation c. 860 3 For wee together are Gods labourers ye are gods husbandrie c. 860 3 Other foundation can no man lay than that which is layed which is c. 861. 862 3 He which watereth is nothing nor he which planteth c. 20. 3 Who is Paul And who is Apollos but the ministers by whom ye beléeued c. 860. 873 983. 1137 3 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God that the spirit of God dwelleth in you c. 717. 723. 861 3 Not that we are sufficient of our selues to thinke any thing as of our selues c. 646 3. 4. Ministers are fellowe labourers with God and disposers of the secretes c. 873 4 Let a man so estéeme of vs as the ministers of Christ and disposers c. 881 4 For it is required in the disposers that a man be found faithfull c. 895 4 I begat you in Christe Iesu thorough the Gospell c. 827 5 God was in Christ reconciling the world vnto himselfe not imputing their sinnes vnto them c. 555. 569. 5 If any man that is called a brother be a théefe or a whoremonger c. 819. 1131 5 Therefore let vs kéepe the feast not in the old leauen nor in the leauen of malice c. 367 6 Yee are bought with a price become therefore the seruants c. 60 446. 1138 6 The holy and pure vse of the body seuearely requâ—red without all fâ—lthy and vncleane c. 426 6 Knowe ye not that your bodies are the members of Christe c. 235 6 Knowe ye not that your bodies are the temple
knowne nor lefte in writing of the holye Scriptures Some there are that dâ—e attribute it to the Apostles them selues and therefore doe call it by the name of the Apostles Créede Saint Cyprian the Martyr in his exposition of the Apostles Créede saythe Our auncestors haue a saying that after the Lordes ascension when by the comming of the holy ghoste the fierie tongues sate vpon euery one of the Apostles so that they spake both diuers and sundrie languages whereby there was no forreine nation nor barbarous tongue to whiche they seemed not sufficiently prepared to passe by the way they had a commandement from the Lorde to goe vnto all nations to preache the worde of god When therefore they were in a readinesse to departe they layde downe among them selues a platform of preaching for them all to followe least peraduenture being seuered one from another they should preach diuers things to them that were conuerted to the fayth of Christe Wherefore being there altogether and replenished with the holy ghoste they gathered one euery ones seuerall sentence and made that Breuiarie as I saide to be a patterne for all their preachings to be framed by appointing it for a rule to be giuen to them that should beleeue This sayth Cyprian But whether they were of the Apostles owne making or no or else that other the Apostles disciples made theÌ„ yet this is very wel knowne that the very doctrine of the Apostles is purely conteyned and taught in them These twelue Articles are called also a badge bycause by that signe as it were by a badge true Christians are discerned from false Nowe I will declare what order I will vse in expounding them vnto you This whole breuiatie or abridgement of faythe may be diuided into foure partes so that the thrée firste partes may make manifest the misteries of the thrée persons in one godheade and that the fourth may laye forth the fruits of fayth that is to say what good things we looke for by faith what good things God bestoweth on them that put their trust in him And yet this notwithstanding I wil procéed herein euen orderly so as the twelue Articles are placed or set downe The first article of Christian faith is this I beleeue in God the father almightie maker of heauen and earth And this first Article of the Créede containeth two especiall pointes For firste we say generally I beléeue in god Then we descende particularly to the distinction of the persons and adde The father almightie For God is one in substance and thrée in persons Wherefore vnderstanding the vnitie of the substaunce we saye plainly I beléeue in god And againe kéeping not confounding the persons we adde In the father almightie In Iesus Christ his only sonne And in the holy Ghoste Let vs therefore be léeue that God is one not many and pure in substaunce but thrée in persons the Father the Sonne and the holy ghost For in the law it is writteÌ„ Hearken Israell The Lord our God is one Lord. And againe in the gospell we reade that the Lorde sayde Baptise them in the name of the father of the sonne and of the holy ghoste By the way this is singularly to be marked of vs that when we pray wée say Our father which art in Heauen giue vs this day our daily breade but that wheÌ„ wée make Confession of our beliefe wee say not we beleeue but I beleeue For faithe is required of euery one of vs for euery particular man to haue wythonte dissimulation in his harte and without double meaninge to professe it wyth his mouth It was not enough for Abraham to haue fayth for all his seede Neyther wil if auayle thee any thing for an other to beleeue if thou thy selfe art without fayth For the Lord requireth fayth of euery particular man for himselfe Wherefore so oft as wee confesse our fayth euery one of vs by himselfe doth saye I beleeue But what it is to brleeue I haue declared alreadye in my fourth Sermon It followeth in the Confession I beleeue in god God is the obiecte and foundation of oure Fayth as hee that is the euerlastinge and chiefe goodnes neuer wearie but alway ready at our neede Wée therfore beléeue in God that is to say wee put our whole hope all our safety and our selues wholy into his handes as vnto him that is able to preserue and bestowe on vs all thinges that are requisite for our behooâ—e Nowe it followeth that that God in whom we rest and vnto whose tuition wée do all commit oure selues is The Father Almightye Our God is therefore called Father because from before all beginninge hee begatte the sonne like to himselfe For the Scripture calleth God the father of oure Lord Iesus Christe He sayth the Apostle is the brightnesse of the glorie of God and the liuely Image of the substaunce of the father to whom he said Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee And againe I will be his father and hee shal be my sonne Also God is called father in respecte of the likenesse that hee hath with oure earthly father to witte because of our Creation the fauour loue good will carefulnesse where with he is affected towards vs For God hath created vs God loueth vs God regardeth our affayres and is careful for vs yea and that more exceedinglye too then any earthly father is For saith Dauid Euen as the father pitieth his childreÌ„ so doth the Lord pitie them that feare him for hee knoweth our estate remembring that we are but duste Esaias also in his 49. Cap. sayth Can a woman forget her owne infante and not pitie and be fayne ouer the sonne of hir owne wombe But admit she do forget yet will not I forget thee In this is declared Gods good will to vs ward and wée confessing that God is our father do also professe that God to vs is both gentle liberall and merciful who wisheth vs all thinges that are auayleable to our health and purposeth nothinge to vs warde but that which is good and wholesome and last of all that at his hande wée receiue what good soeuer wée haue either bodilye or ghostly God is called Almighty because by his might hée can do al things because he is Lord of all thinges and hath all thinges subiecte to his commaundement For the same cause also is hee called the Lord of Hostes Heauen Earth and whatsoeuer is therein Starres all Elements Men Angells deuils al liuing Creatures all things created are in the power of the moste highe and euerlasting god What soeuer hee commaundeth that they doe nothing is able to withstand his will. What hee wil that must of necessitie be done and also these things he vseth euen as his owne wil and pleasure is and as his iustice and mans saluation do require Firste wée confessed that God doth will vs well and nowe wée acknowledge that whatsoeuer hée wil that he is able to bring
doth simply pronounce that all they are to be baptised whom God acknowledgeth for his people giueth sentence that they are partakers of purification or sanctification or remission of sinnes For in all this treatise concerning the sacramentes I haue already do nowe shew that baptisme is a badge or cognizance of the people of God an assured token of our purification by Christ Therefore since the yong babes and infants of the faithfull are in the number or reckoning of Gods people partakers of the promise touching the purification through Christ it foloweth of necessitie that they are as well to be baptised as they that be of perfect age whiche professe the Christian faith But there is a busie disputation begonn Who be the people of God and partakers of remission of sinnes by Christ So that the disputation is touching the secrete election of God and other hard questions depeÌ„ding on this thing But briefly and simply we can rid our handes of this We say that the people of God are acknowledged eyther by mens confession of the Christian faith or else by the bouÌ„tifull promise of god By mens confession for we acknowledge them to be the children of GOD who being now growne to perfect age do openly confesse the true God that God is their â—â—d and that Iesus Christe is their sauiour But that confession is either vnfeignedly or hypocritically made Vnfeignedly as when S. Peter saith Thou art Christe the sonne of the liuing God when the Eunuche saith I beleue that Iesus Christ is the sonne of God but hypocritically as when Simon Magus in the Actes of the Apostles sayth That hee beleeueth in Iesus Christe But whether a man beléeue vnfeinedly or hypocritically when hee maketh open coÌ„fession of his faith in Christ the secretes of the heart God only séeth for he onely is rightly beléeued to be the searcher of mens hearts it belongeth not to vs if he make a right confession to separate or cast him away from the people of god For Philip did not cast off or put backe Simon Magus but vppon his confession receyued him for a faithfull man and baptised him as a faythfull man though he in verie déede and before GOD were an hypocrite In the first Sermon of this Decade we declared that hypocrites also are reckoned in the church til time they be reuealed But concerning remission of sinnes those onely among them that be of perfect age doe obteine it which vnfeinedly beléeue Whiche in an other place is often shewed S. Peter said to SimoÌ„ Magâ—s though he we were baptised Thou hast neither partenor fellowship in this busines bicause thy heart is not right in the sight of god Furthermore by the frée and bountifull promise of God not onely by the confession of men we estéeme and acknowledge the people of god For to whom so euer the lord promiseth that he wil be their God and whoÌ„ so euer he receiueth and acknowledgeth for his those no man without an horrible offence may exclude from thâ— nuÌ„ber of the faithfull And God promiseth that he wil not only be the god of them that confesse him but of infants also he promiseth to theÌ„ his grace remission of sinnes Who therefore gainesaying the Lord of al things will yet denie that infants belong to God are his and that they are made partakers of purification thoroughe Christe And that GOD acknowledgeth infants for his and sanctifieth them by the verie summe of the couenant it is manifest I wil make my couenant betweene me and thee saith the Lorde vnto Abraham and thy seede after thee in their generations by an euerlasting couenant that I may bee God vnto thee and to thy seede after thee There is added circumcision a signe of sanctificatioÌ„ wherof I spake abundantly wheÌ„ according to order I intreated of circumcision Neither is there any cause why any maÌ„ shuld feare that with circumcision and the ceremonies of the lawe the promise is abrogated and that by the coÌ„ming of Christ the couenant is broken and annihilated For we said euen now the Christ came to fulfill the promises of God not to breake them And therfore the Lorde in the gospel speaketh of infants that is to say which haue not as yet confessed the faith and saith Suffer litle childreÌ„ to come vnto me forbid them not for of suche is the kingdome of God. And though it be said Of such and not Of those yet no man is so ignorant but vnderstaÌ„deth there is a likenes betwene those thinges which are compared betwene theÌ„ selues Therefore if the kingdome of God belongeth vnto them that are of perfect age bicause they are become like little children surely it foloweth of necessitie that the inheritance of the kingdome of heaueÌ„ belongeth also to infants or little children For it followeth in the gospel Whosoeuer shall not receiue the kingdome of God as a litle childe he shal in no wise enter therin Therfore it behoueth the heires of the kingdome of God to be first infants or little children And who knoweth not that no man vnlesse he be sanctified purified shall enter into the kingdome of heauen Children enter into the kingdome of GOD therefore they are purified to wit by the grace of god For by their nature and byrth they are vncleane and sinners but for Christes sake they are purified who saide That hee came to seeke and saue that whiche was lost Paul also expresly testifieth That by the sinne of one Adam sinn came on all men vnto condemnation and that by the righteousnesse of one Christ good came vpon all meÌ„ to the righteousnesse of life Therefore it is certein that infants are partakers of purification and remission of sinnes through Christ albeit they do not coÌ„fesse remission of sinnes What doth not the Lorde say in the gospell It is not the will of your father whiche is in heauen that one of these litle ones should perish Againe He that shall receiue suche a young childe in my name receiueth me but he that shall offend one of these litle ones that beleeue in me it were better that a milstone were hanged about his necke c. See therfore and take heede that ye despise not one of these little ones For I say vnto you that their angels in heauen do alwayes behold the face of my father which is in heauen Beholde what could be more manifestly spoken It is not the will of my heauenly father that infantes should perish Therfore he receiueth them fréely into grace and fauour though they haue not yet confessed Moreouer he that receiueth such a little one to wit as he him selfe set in the middest of them for Christes sake he is sayde to receiue Christ him selfe Loe he attributeth to the receiuers of infantes that which he promised to the receyuers of the Prophetes He addeth But he which shall offend one of these little ones that beleeue in mee He manifestly calleth the litle ones not
comforting the sicke person prepareth him to die by makeing firste his confession of sinnes to God which he pronoūceth out of the word of God to be forgiuen if he doe stedfastly beléeue He requireth of him also that he forgiue and bée in loue and charitie with all men and that hée kéepe no olde grudge or malice in his hart After this sōe publique prayer is made to God by the sicke person by those that are about the partie that is at the point of death Hée is also admonished of sundrie thinges hée is confirmed in the fayth hée is called to patience hée is instructed according as his goodes and euerie thing else requireth and he is taught that at his departing out of this worlde he commend his soule into the hands of God the father according to the doctrine and example of our redéemer who at the very pointe of death cried aloud saying Father into thy hands I commend my spirite This discipline haue wee learned of the Apostles of our LORDE Christe For the Apostle Saint Iames saieth If any bee sicke among you lette him sende for the elders of the Church and let them pray ouer him anoynting him with oyle in the name of the Lorde And the prayer whiche is made in fayth shall deliuer the sicke And the Lorde shall rayse him vp againe And if he bee in sinne they shal be forgiuen him Confesse your sinns one of you to another pray one for another that you may bee safe for the heartie prayer of the iust is of greate force c. This is the Apostolique discipline But if you say vnto mée Where is the oyle I answere that in Saint Iames the Apostles time and certeine ages after there remained yet in the Churche the miraculous gifte of healing the sicke Of this wée reade in Saint Markes Gospell And the disciples going foorth preached the gospell that they mighte repent and they cast out many diuels they annoynted many with oyle that were sick and healed them And again in the same place saieth Moreouer These signes shal follow them that beleeue In my name they shall cast out diuels c. And anon he sayth They shall lay their handes vppon the sicke and they shall be healed And because this benefite remayned yet in the Church Saint Iames biddeth vs vse oyle and to vse it in the name of the Lorde as the Lorde had commaunded But seing that gift is now ceassed in the Churche and wée finde by experience that oyle doth no good to the sicke according to the time and as our duetie bindeth vs we do the best we can to assuage and cure the diseases of the sicke by medicines most conuenient for the sicknes being applied in the name of Christ I knowe howe by this testimonie of the Apostle the Papistes go about to set out and cōmend their extreame vnction or last annoyling but they labour in vaine But to let passe that Saint Iames speaketh nothing of the hallowed oyle and that they do not admit this medicine but in verie extremitie where S. Iames commaundeth to annoynt euery on that is sick how I pray you can they defend out of Saint Iames wordes that which the priest demaundeth of the sick person Doest thou beleeue that the Lord will heare our prayers for the merites sake and prayers of the Saintes The sick man answering I do beléeue He then saith Let vs therefore pray to God and his Sainctes Or where I beséech you hath Saint Iames or any other Apostle of Christe taught that which they bring in their annointing In the name of the Father and of the sonne and of the holy ghost I annoynt thee with holy oile that by this anointing thou mayest receiue full remission of thy sinnes What scripture I pray you teacheth vs that full remission of sinnes is obteined by that anointing These thinges are done manifestly against the principall article of our religion whiche teacheth that we are purged from all our sinnes onely by the bloud of Christ and that most fully To him onely is the glory due not to the oyle nor to any creature in the whole worlde Moreouer the Church of Christe doth not reiect the bodies of the dead as if it were a deade dogge For it acknowledgeth that their bodies haue béene the Temples of the holy ghoste which hath dwelt in them It acknowledgeth that they are buried in hope of resurrection and glorie of life euerlasting wherefore the Churche doeth in moste reuerent manner take the bodies windeth them in a shéete and couereth them verie decently and béeinge put into the coffine carefully carrieth them vnto the place of buriall or churchyard y neere friends neighbours and brethren following after and accompanying the corse While the bodie is set downe and laid in the earth there are publique prayers made by them that brought the corse For they giue thankes vnto God for that he hath called the partie deceased out of this world in the true faithe and they pray also that it may please the Lorde to take them likewise vnto him spéedily beeing lightened with the true faith Moreouer the name of the dead brother or sister is recited in the publique assemblie of the Churche with honour and all the people are put in minde of their own destinie and spéedily to prepare them selues to die And after this manner we read in the scriptures that the ancient fathers buried their dead yea the moste holie of them We reade nothing of canonizating of woorshipping of reliques of monethes and yeares mindes for the dead which are offered to the ende the soules of the departed shoulde be deliuered from the paynes of purgatorie There be certeine burialles described vnto vs in the olde Testament as the buriall of Abraham Sara Isaac Iacob and Ioseph Aaron Marie Iosua Samuel and Dauid c. And in the new Testament of Iohn Baptiste and Stephan but they were all sparing and without all manner of superstition In that Iosephes bones were carried forth they were carried in a mysterie that the Israelites might gather thereof that they shoulde bee brought into the Lande of promise Wherevnto also that belongeth that the Patriarches chose a buriall in Hebron Otherwise the place auayleth nothing to purchase the better or worse spéed to the bodie that is buried in it We must thinke that the place by reason of the bodies of the saintes and holy men which are there buried is after a maner sanctified or at the least wise called holie not that the bodies do gett any holinesse or safetie by the grounde Therefore vnlesse it séeme good otherwise to the diuine prouidence of God the saints would gladly lye with their auncestours in the selfe same place of buriall But if it please God otherwise they acknowledge that they are notwithstanding receiued into the same earth without any exception and that they are not separated from their auncestours by distance of place Wherefore there is no superstition in the Churche
The deliuerie of Israel out of Aegypt compared with the redemption of all the world wrought by Christ c. 114 53 He is a man of sorrowes and hath felt calamities c. 64 53 And with the blewnesse of his stripes are wée healed c. 47 53 Whereas he neuer did vnrighteousnesse nor any deceiptfulnesse was found c. 371 53 Wée haue all gone astray like shéepe we haue turned euery one to his owne way c. 374 645 58 The fastings of the Iewes displeased god c. I haue nor chosen such a manner of fasting c. 244. 59 I will make this couenaunt with them My spirit that is come vppon thée c. 821 61 The spirite of the Lord vppon mée because he hath annointed mee to preach the Gospell c. 525. 634. 705. 63 And it shall come to passe that before they call I will aunsweare them c. 922 63 Thou O GOD art oure father Though Abraham be ignorant of vs and Israel knowe vs not c. 660 64 What the eye hath not séene nor the eare heard c. 90 65 Hée that will blesse himselfe shall blesse in the Lord c. 133 66 Hée that killeth a bullocke is as if he siue a man He that sacrificeth a shéepe as if he cutt off a dogs necke c. 677 66 Vppon whome shall my spirâ—te rest Euen vppon him that is poore â–ª of a lowely troubled spirite c. 711 ¶ Out of the Prophete Ieremie 2 HEare yee the woorde of the Lord O house of Iacob and all the families of the house of Israel c. 674 3 In those dayes they shall make no more boast of the arcke of the Lords Couâ—nanâ— c. 413 3 If anâ— man put awaâ— his wife and shée marrie to another mann will her first husband turne to her agaâ—ne c. 569 4 And the Nations shall blesse themselues in him and in him c. 135 4 Thou shalt sweare The Lord liueth in truth in iudgement and righteousnesse c. 133 4 If Israel thou wilt returne returne to mée c. 563 4 Bée ye circumcised to the Lord and cut away the foreskinne of your heart c 361. 1025 5 Turne vs O Lord and we shall be turned c. 564 5 Sincere turning to God is the onely way to remedie and shake off warre c. 210 7 Thou shalt not praye for this people neither giue thankes c. 923 7. Heape vp your burnt offerings with your sacrifices and eate the slesh c. 322. 1000 8 They haue reiected the word of God therefore what wisedome c. 447. 834 8 Howe say ye wee are wise wee haue the lawe of the Lord amonge vs c. 600 8 Doe men fall so that they may not rise againe Doth any man go so astray that he may c. 565 8 Let not the wise man glory in his wisedome nor the strong man in his strength nor the rich man in his riches but let him c. 622 10 Thus sayth the Lord ye shall not learne after the manner of the Heathen c. 481 10 O Lord there is none like vnto thée Thou art great and great is thy name with power c. 621 12 O Lorde thou art more righteous than that I should dispute with thee c. 300 12 But drawe them out O Lorde like a shéep to be slaine and ordeine c. 300 17 Thus sayth the Lorde curssed be the man that trusteth in man c. 687. 861 17 Thus hath the Lord sayd vnto me Goe and stande vnder the gate of the sonnes of the people 142 17 The heart of man is euill and vnsearchable c. 578 18 I will speake soudenly against a nation or a kingdome for to pluck it vp c. 917 20 The Lord with me is a strong Giant 610 22 Kéepe equitie and righteousnesse deliuer the oppressed c. 194 22 Woe to him that buildeth his house with vnrighteousnesse c. 239 22 As truely as I liue sayth the Lorde if Chonenias the son of Iehâ—akâ—m king of Iuda c. 1011 23 Behold the time coÌ„meth saith the Lord that I will raise vppe the righteous braunche of Dauid c. 699 23 Christe the sonne of Dauid called IEHOVAH and our righteousnesse c. 686 23 I haue not sent them and yet they runne c. 893 23 The Prophete that hath a dreame let him tell a dreame c. 904 23 Am I GOD that séeth but the thing that is nigh at hand only and not the thing that is farre off c. 610 25 Take this wine-cup of indignation from my hand and make all the people c. 316 26 If they turne from euill I will also repent me of the euill which I ment c. 562 29 Ye shall call vppon me and ye shall liue ye shall praye vnto me I will heare you c. 657 29 Builde vp houses c. and pray to the Lord for BabyloÌ„ c. 151. 219 31 This is my couenant that I wil make with them after these dayes c. 568. 726 31 Leaue of from wéeping for thy laboure shall be rewarded thée c. 468 31 Turne thou me O Lorde and I shall be turned bycause thou arte the Lord c. 564 31 No man shall teach his neighbourâ— for al shall know me c. 876 31 They shall come and reioyce in Sion and shal haue plenteousnesse c. 284 44 When GOD will punishe the sinne of the fathers in the children c. 125 Out of the Prophete Ezechiel 3 THou shalt heare the worde at my mouth and giue them warning c. 904 3 Blessed be the glory of the Lorde out of his place c 740 7 They shall not satisfie their soul neyther shall their bellies be filled c. 756 13 Woe vnto them that say to the people Peace Peace when there is no peace c. 323 14 If I send a pestilence vnto this land and if Noe Iob and Daniel c. 923 18 A bâ—adrowe of good works knit vp by the Prophete in ample manner c. 475 18 The sonne shall not beare the iniquirie of the father but euery maÌ„ shall dye c. 497 28 The fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth c. 124 28 I sawe sathan as it had béene lightening falling downe from heauen c. 746 34 Thus sayth the Lord God Wo be vnto the shepeheards of Israel c. 906 34 Séemeth it a small thing vnto you to haue eaten vppe the good pasture c. 26 34 I will féede my flocke my selfe alone c. my seruant Dauid shall féede it c. 686 34 I will raise vp ouer my shéepe a shepehearde who shall féede them c. 864 36 I will sprinckle cleane water vpon you and ye shall be cleansed from all your vncleannesse c. 568 Out of Daniel 2 WIsedome and strength are the Lordes it is he that chaungeth the times and seasons c. 639 4 Let thy sinnes bee redéemed in righteousnesse and
the Father from whence it shall come to iudge the quicke and the deade and let vs thinke that the Lord speaking of the Sacrament woulde haue vs to expounde the words of the Sacrament Sacramentally and not Transubstancially Also in reading that saying of the Apostle Fleshe and bloud can not inherite the kingdome of God let vs not by and by vppon these wordes take it simply as the words do séeme to signifie but sticking to the Article of our sayth I beleeue the resurrection of the body let vs vnderstand that by fleshe and bloud are ment the affectiōs infirmities not the nature substance of oure bodies Furthermore we reade in the gospell that the Lorde doth gather a sum of the lawe and the Prophets saying Thou shalt loue the Lorde thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with al thy mind this is the chief and great commaundement And the second is like vnto it Thou shalt loue thy neighbor as thy selfe In these two commaundemēts hangeth the whole law and the Prophets Math. 22. Vpon these words of the Lorde that holy man Aurelius Augustinus in the. 36. Chapter of his firste booke De doctrina Christi sayth ▪ Whosoeuer doth seeme to himself to vnderstād the holy scriptures or any part thereof so that that vnderstanding he dothe not worke these two points of charitie towardes God his neighbor he yet doth not vnderstande the scriptures perfectly But whosoeuer shall take out of them such an opinion as is profitable to the working of this charitie and yet shall not say the self samethig which shal be proued that he did meane whome he readeth in that place that mā doth not erre to his own destruction nor doth altogether by lying deceiue other mē Thus much writ Augustin We must therefore by all meanes possible take héede that our interpretations doe not tende to the ouerthrow of charitie but to the furtherance and commendatiō of it to al men The Lord sayth Striue not with the wicked But if we affirme that he spake this to the Magistrates also thē shal charitie towards our neighbours the safetie of them that are in ieopardie defence of the oppressed be broken and cleane taken away For théeues vnruly persons robbers and naughtie fellowes will oppresse the widowes the fatherlesse and the poore to that all iniquitie shall reigne and haue the vpper hande But in a mattter so manifestly knowen I suppose it is not néedefull to vse many examples Moreouer it is requisite in expounding the Scriptures and searching out the true sense of Gods worde that we marke vpon what occasion euery thing is spoken what goeth before what followeth after at what season in what order and of what person any thing is spoken By the occasion and the sentences going before and comming after are examples and parables for the moste parte expounded Also vnlesse a man do alwayes marke the manner of speaking throughout the whole Scriptures and that verie diligently too he can not choose in his expositions but erre very muche out of the right way Sainte Paule obseruing the circumstaunce of the time did thereby conclude that Abraham was iustified neyther by Circumcision nor yet by the Lawe The places are to be séene in the fourth to the Romanes and the thirde to the Galathians Againe when it is sayde to Peter Put vp thy sword into thy sheath He that taketh the sworde shall perishe with the sworde We must consider that Peter bare the personage of an Apostle and not of a Magistrate For of the Magistrate we reade that to him is giuen the sworde to reuengement But it woulde be ouer tedious and too troublesome to rehearse more examples of euery particular place There is also beside these another manner of interpreting the worde of God that is by conferring together the places whiche are like or vnlike and by expounding the darker by the more euident and the fewer by the more in number Wheras therfore the Lorde sayth The father is greater then I we must consider that the same Lorde in another place sayth My father and I are all one And whereas Iames the Apostle sayth That Abraham and we are iustified by workes there are many places in Saint Paul to be set againste that one And this manner of interpreting did Peter the Apostle allowe where he sayth We haue a right sure worde of prophesie wherevnto if ye attend as vnto a light that shineth in a darke place ye doe well vntill the daye dawne and the daye starre arise in your heartes That auncient writer Tertullian affirmeth that they are heretiques and not men of the right fayth which drawe some odde thinges out of the Scriptures to their owne purpose not hauing any respecte to the rest But doe by that meanes picke oute vnto them selues a certaine fewe testimonies which they woulde haue altogether to be beleeued the whole Scripture in the meane season gaine-saying it bycause in deede the fewer places muste be vnderstoode according to the meaning of the more in number And finally the moste effectuall rule of all whereby to expounde the worde of God is an heart that loueth God and his glorye not puffed vp with pryde not desirous of vayne glorye not corrupted with heresies and euill affections but whiche doth continually praye to God for his holy spirite that as by it the scripture was reuealed and inspired so also by the same spirite it maye be expounded to the glorye of God and safegarde of the faythfull Let the mynde of the interpreter be set on fire with zeale to aduaunce vertue and with hatred of wickednesse euen to the suppressing thereof Let not the heart of suche an expositor call to counsell that subtile Sophister the deuill least peraduenture nowe also he doe corrupt the sense of Gods worde as heretofore he did in Paradise Let him not abide to heare mans wisedome argue directly against the worde of god This if the good and faythfull expositor of Gods worde shal doe then although in some pointes he doe not as the prouerbe sayth hit the very head of the nayle in the darker sense of the Scripture yet notwithstanding that errour ought not to be condemned for an heresie in the authour nor iudged hurtfull vnto the hearer And who so euer shall bring the darker more proper meaning of the Scripture to light he shall not by and by condemne the vnperfect exposition of that other no more then he whiche is authour of the vnperfect exposition shall reiect the more proper sense of the better expositour but by acknowledging it shall receiue it with thankes giuing Thus muche hytherto haue I said touching the sense and exposition of Gods worde which as God reuealed it to men so also he would haue them in any case to vnderstand it Wherefore there is no cause for any man by reason of a few difficulties to despaire to attaine to the true vnderstanding of the Scriptures The Scripture
saued Laste of all that that shal most assuredly light vpon the vngodly and the godly what so euer the holy Scriptures doe eyther threaten or promise Out of all these definitions there-fore being diligently considered we maye according to the Scriptures make this description of fayth Fayth is a gift of God poured into man froÌ„ heauen whereby he is taught with an vndoubted persuaâ—ioÌ„ wholy to leane to God and his word â–ª in which word God dothe freely promise life and all good things in Christe and wherein all trueth necessarie to be beleeued is plainly declared Whiche description of fayth I will by Gods helpe in this that followeth vnfolde into partes and by assertion of places out of the Scriptures will bothe confirme and make manifest vnto you Ye as hytherto ye haue done so still giue diligent care and in your heartes praye earnestly to God. First of all the cause or beginning of fayth commeth not of any man or any strength of man but of God him selfe who by his holy spirite inspireth fayth into our hearts For in the Gospell the Lorde sayth No man commeth to me vnlesse my father drawe him And againe fleshe and bloude sayth the Lorde to Peter confessing Christ in true faith hath not reuealed this to thee but my father which is in heauen Whervnto the Apostle Paul alludeth when he sayth We are not able of ourselues to thinke any thing as of our selues but all our abilitie is of God. And in another place To you it is giuen for Christe not onely to beleeue in him but also to suffer for his sake Fayth therefore is poured into our hearts by God who is the welspring and cause of all goodnesse And yet we haue to consider here that god in giuing and inspiring faith dothe not vse his absolute power or miracles in working but a certaine ordinarie meanes agréeable to mans capacitie although he can in déed giue fayth without those meanes to whom when and howe it pleaseth him But we reade that the Lord hath vsed this ordinarie meanes euen from the first creation of all things Whome he meaneth to bestowe knowledge and faith on to them he sendeth teachers by the worde of God to preache true fayth vnto them Not bycause it lyeth in mans power wil or ministerie to giue fayth nor bicause the outward worde spoken by mans mouth is able of it selfe to bring fayth but the voice of man and the preaching of Gods worde do teache vs what true fayth is or what God dothe will and commaunde vs to beléeue For God him selfe alone by sending his holy spirite into the hearts and myndes of men dothe open our hearts persuade oure myndes and cause vs with all oure heart to beléeue that which we by his worde and teaching haue learned to beleeue The Lorde could by miracle from heauen without any preaching at all haue bestowed fayth in Christe vpon Cornelius the Centurion at Cesaria but yet by an Aungell he dothe sende him to the preaching of Peter And while Peter preacheth God by his holy spirite worketh in the hearte of Cornelius causing him to beléeue his preaching Verily Sainte Paule sayth Howe shall they beleeue in him of whome they haue not heard How shall they heare without a preacher And howe shall they preache if they be not sent So then fayth commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God. In another place also Who is Paule sayth he or what is Apollos but ministers by whome ye haue beleeued according as God hath giuen to euery one I haue planted Apollos watred but God hath giuen increase So then he that planteth is nothing nor he that watreth but God that giueth increase With this doctrine of Saint Peter and Saint Paul doth that agrée which Augustine writeth in the Preface of his booke of Christian doctrine where he sayth That whiche we haue to learne at mans hande let euery one learne at mans hande without disdaine And let vs not goe about to tempte him in whom we beleeue neyther being deceiued let vs thinke scorne to goe to Churche to heare or learne oute of bookes looking still when we shal be rapt vp into the thirde heauen Let vs take héede of such like temptations of pride and let vs rather haue this in oure myndes that euen the Apostle Paul him selfe although he were cast prostrate and instructed by the calling of God from heauen was neuerthelesse sent to a maÌ„ to be taught the will of God and that Cornelius although God had heard his praiers was committed to Peter to be instructed by whome he should not only receiue the Sacramentes but shoulde also heare what he ought to beleue what to hope for and what to loue all which things notwithstaÌ„ding might haue bene done by the Angell c. The same Augustine also in his Epistle to the Circenses saith Euen he worketh conuersion and bringeth it to passe who by his ministers doth warne vs outwardly with the signes of thinges but inwardly doth by himself teach vs with the very things themselues Also in his treatise vpon the 26. of Iohn What doe men saith he when they preach outwardly What doe I now while I speake I driue into your eares a noise of words but vnlesse he which is with in doe reueale it what say I or what speake I He that is without doth husband the tree but he within is the creator of it c. This said he But euen as the Lorde his desire is to haue vs beleue his worde for the Prophet crieth out and saith To day if ye will heare his voice harden not your harts So in like maner he doth require of vs al which heare his word that we be not slacke in praying For in hearing the worde of God we must pray for the gifte of faith that the lord may opeÌ„ our harts coÌ„uert our soules breake and beate downe the hardnes of our mindes and increase the measure of faith bestowed vpon vs Of this order of prayer there are many examples in the holy scriptures WheÌ„ the Lorde in the gospell sayde to one Canst thou beleue to him that beleueth all things are possible He made aunswere saying I beleue lord helpe thou mine vnbeliefe The Apostles also cry to the Lord and say O Lorde increase our faith Moreouer this praier wherin we desire to haue faith powred into vs is of the grace gifte of God and not of our owne righteousnesse which before God is none at all This therefore is lefte vnto vs for a thinge most certaine and vndoubtedly true that true faith is the mere gift of god which is by the holy ghost from Heauen bestowed vpon our mindes and is declared vnto vs in the worde of trueth by teachers sent of God and is obtained by earnest praiers which cannot be tyred Whereby we learne that we ought often and attentiuely to heare the word of God and neuer cease to praye to God for the obtayning of true faith But that
this faith inspired from heauen and learned out of the worde of trueth doth put into mans minde an vndoubted persuasion that is that whatsoeuer we beléeue in the worde of God we do beléeue it most assuredly without wauering or doubting being altogether as sure to haue the thinge as faith doth beléeue to haue it for I vse this worde persuasion not as it is cōmonly taken but for a firme assent of minde inspired and persuaded by the holy ghost that this faith I say doth put into mans minde this vndoubted persuasion I meane to declare by the example of Abrahams faith which Paule in the fourth chapiter to the Romanes describeth in these words Abraham contrary to hope beleeued in hope and he fainted not in faith neither considered he his owne body now dead whē he was almost an hundred yeares olde nor the deadnesse of Saraes wombe he stackered not at the promise of God thorowe vnbeliefe but became stronge in faith and gaue the glorie to God hauinge a sure persuasion that hee which had promised was able also to perfourme In these wordes of the Apostle there are certayne notes t◠be obserued which do proue to vs that Faith doth bringe an assured persuasion into the mynde and harte of man and so that Fayth is an vndoubted confidence of thinges beleeued whereto the harte is made priuie that is that true fayth doth not flie to and fro from place to place in the hart of mā but that being deepely rooted in Christ it sticketh in the hart which is inlightened Firste sayeth the Apostle Abraham contrary to hope beleeued in hope that is to say there he had a constant hope where notwithstanding he had nothing to hope after if all thinges had been weighed accordinge to the manner of this worlde But Hope is a moste firme and vndoubted looking after those thinges which we beléeue So that we see that the Apostle did make fayth manifest by hope and by the certaintie of hope did declare the assured constancie of fayth After that sayth he Abraham faynted not in fayth nor stackered at the promise of God through vnbeliefe but was stronge in fayth There are two kindes of stackerings in mankinde The one is that which being ouercome by euill tentations doeth bende to desperation and the despising of Gods promises Such was the stackering of those ten spies of the holy lande of whom mention is made in the thirtéene and fourtéene chapiter of Numbers The other stackering is rather to be called a weake infirmitie of fayth which also is tempted it selfe that nowe I may not make rehearsall to you howe that in vs all by the spot of originall sinne is naturally grafted a certaine kinde of vnbeliefe and that mans minde is at no time so inlightened or confirmed but that cloudy mystes of ignorance and doubtinges doe some times arise yet notwithstanding fayth yéeldeth not to tentation neither is drowned nor sticketh in the of myre stackering but laying holde vpon the promised worde of trueth getteth vp againe by strugling and is confirmed So we reade that at the promise of God this came into Abrahams mynde What shall there a Sonne be borne to thée that art an hundred yeres old this was that infirmitie and stackering or weakenesse of fayth But here the Apostle commending Abrahams fayth which ouercame and yéelded not teaching vs also of what sort true fayth ought to be that is a firme and most assured persuasion sayth Abraham fainted not in fayth neyther considered his owne body nowe deade when he was almost an hundred yeares olde nor the deadnesse of Saraes wombe Loe this thought came into Abrahams minde Shall a Sonne be borne to me that am an hundred yeares olde But he faynted not in fayth The fayth of Abraham began not to droope by reason of this temptation For he considered not the weaknesse that was in him selfe nothing answerable to the promise of god what thē He stackered not at the promise of God through vnbeliefe That is he gaue no place to vnbeléefe to be tempted of it he fell not to his owne reasons and doubtfull inquisitions as vnbeléeuers are woont to doe For Gods promise beinge once set before the eyes of his mind so that I say he stucke vnmoueably casting of all doubts and reasons of his owne For fayth hath no respecte at all to the weakenesse miserie or lacke which is properly in man kinde but setteth her whole staye in the power of god So then I saye Abraham was stronge in fayth that is he preuayled and gotte the vpper hande in his temptacion For this is an argument to shewe that he had the vpper hande He faynted not nor waxed weake in fayth It followeth in the Apostle Abraham gaue God the glorie to wit in beleeuing that God wisheth well to man kinde and that he is a true God and almighty For he giueth God his glory which attributeth to God the properties of God and doeth not gainesay the word and promise of god For John the Apostle sayth He that beleeueth not in God maketh God a lyar Abraham therefore beleeued in God and in beleeuing gaue God the glorie The Apostle Paule goeth forwarde and sayth He was throughly persuaded or certified that he which had promised was able also to performe Paule vsed the Gréeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is all one as if you should say being certified For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doeth signifie fully to certifie wherevppon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an assured fayth giuen vnto vs which is made by way of argument or by the thinge it selfe And they call that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we call a certification as when a thinge by persuasions is so beaten into our mindes that after that we neuer doubte any more Therefore fayth did certifie Abraham and with vndoubted persuasions did bring him to the point neuer to doubt but that God was able to perfourme what he had promised in fayth therefore he stucke vnmoueably to the promise of God béeing assuredly certified that he shoulde obtayne whatsoeuer God had promised It is certaine therefore and plainly declared by the wordes of the Apostle that true Fayth is an vndoubted persuasion in the mynde of the beleeuer euen so to haue the thinge as his beliefe is and as he is sayde to haue it in the expresse worde of god Whereby also we learne that Fayth is not the vnstable and vnaduised confidence of him which beleeueth euery greate and vnpossible thinge For Fayth is ruled and bound to the worde of God to the worde of God I saye rightly and truly vnderstoode The godly and faythfull therefore doe not by and by out of the omnipotencie of God gather what they liste as though God therefore would doe euery thinge bycause he can doe all thinges or that Fayth should therefore beléeue euery thinge bycause it is written All thinges are possible to him that beleeueth For hys Fayth is therfore a great deale more bycause that
God as I declared in my laste Sermon and though man obtaine it by harkning vnto the word of God yet neuerthelesse it is wholy impated to the grace of god For vnlesse this grace do worke inwardly in the heart of the hearer the preacher that laboreth out wardly doth bring no profit at al. We reade in the third chapter of S. Augustins booke De praedestinatione SanctoruÌ„ That once he was in an errour bicause he thought that that faythe wherewith we beleeue in God is not the gift of God but that it was in vs as of our selues and that by it we do obtain the gifts of God wherby we may in this world liue rightly and holily But this he confuteth in that booke at large and that substantially So then true faith whiche bendeth on God alone and is directed by the worde of God is formall enough or sufficiently in fashion Verily the forme of fayth is ingrauen in the heart of the faythfull by the holy Ghost And althoughe it be small and dothe not growe vp to the highest degrée yet notwithstanding it is true fayth hauing force in it as it were a graine of mustarde seede The theef that was crucified with our Lorde beléeued in the Lord Iesus and was saued although the force of fayth was strong in him but a very small season and brought not foorthe any great store of the fruit of good works finally that faith of the théefe was not any whit diuers or contrarie from the faith of Saint Peter and Saint Paul but was altogether the very same with theirs althoughe their faith brought forth somwhat more aboundantly the fruite of good works Peter and Paul were franckly and fréely iustified althoughe they had many good workes fréely was the théef iustified although his good works were very few or none at all Let vs hold therefore that true fayth is one alone which notwithstanding doth increase is augmented and again may decrease be extinguished There remaineth nowe for me to declare the vertue and effect of true fayth This hath the holye Apostle Paule done very excellently well yea that most absolutely too But although in the eleuenth chapter to the Hebrues he had sayd very muche he is compelled notwithstanding to confesse that he can not reckon vp all therfore at this time I meane to rehearse a few vertues of fayth leauing the rest dearely beloued to be sought out and considered of your selues True fayth before al things bringeth with it true knowledge and maketh vs wise in déed For by fayth we knowe God and iudge aright of the iudgementes and workes of God of vertues and vices The wisdome that it bringeth with it is without doubte the true wisdome Many men hope that they can attaine to true wisdome by the studie of Philosophie but they are deceiued as farre as Heauen is broade For Philosophie dothe falsly iudge and faultily teach many things touching God the workes of God the chiefe goodnesse the ende of good and euill and touching things to be desired and eschued But the very same things are rightly and truely taught in the word of God and vnderstoode and perceiued by fayth Fayth therefore is the true wisdome and maketh vs wise in déede For Ieremie also sayth Behold they haue cast away the worde of the Lorde what wisedome therefore can there be left in them The wisedome of Solomon is worshipfully thought of throughout the whole compasse of the world And yet we reade that the Lord in the Gospell after S. Math. vttred this sentence against the Iewes The Queene of the South shall rise in iudgement with this generation and shall condemne it bycause she came from the endes of the worlde to heare the wisdome of Solomon and behold there is one in this place greater then Solomon Christe is preferred before Solomon and the wisedome of Christ before the wisdome of Solomon But it is well known that the wisedome of Christ the sonne of God can not be attained to without fayth Fayth therefore bringeth with it the most excelleÌ„t wisdome But herein this wisdome of ours deserueth a singular prayse bycause they that desire it are not sent to forreine nations with great cost laboure to learne it as to the priests of Egypt the Gymnosophistes of India the Philosophers of Greece or to the Rabines of the Iewes God hath dispersed the worde of God throughout the whole world so that now the word of faith is in the hearts of all the faithful For Paul the Apostle sayth Thus saith the iustice that is of faith say not in thy heart who shall descende into heaueÌ„ that is to fetch Christ downe from aboue Or who shal descend into the deepe that is to bring Christe from the dead againe But what saith he The word is nighe vnto thee euen in thy heart this same is the worde of faith which we preach for if thou coÌ„fesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and doest beleeue with thy heart that God hath raised him from the deade thou shalt be saued Faith therefore doth not only make vs wise but happy also the Lord him self bearing witnes thervnto saying to his disciples Happy are the eyes that see the things that ye se For I say vnto you that many Prophets and Kings haue desired to se the things that ye se and to heare the things that ye heare and heard theÌ„ not We shal therfore finde in faith a most certaine determination of the most notable question stirred in since the beginning of the worlde of learned most excellent wits which is by what meanes a man may liue be happy attaine to the chief goodnesse be ioyned to the chief goodnesse so be iustified There haue ben yea yet are diuers opinioÌ„s touching this matter contrary the one to the other But we do briefly truely affirme that by true faith a man doth liue is happy attaineth to the chief goodnesse is conioyned to the chief goodnes also iustified so the god dwelleth in vs we in him that by faith we are both happy and blessed What I pray you could haue ben spoken more excelleÌ„tly worthily or diuinely touching true faith for se faith quickneth vs maketh vs happy ioyneth vs to the chiefe goodnes so that he in vs we in him may liue faith doth also fully iustifie vs But nowe it is best to heare the testimonies out of the scriptures Faith maketh vs happy For to S. Pet. coÌ„fessing the Lord Iesus by true faith it is saide Happy art thou Simon the son of Ionas Flesh and bloude hath not reuealed this to thee but my father which is in heaueÌ„ S. Paule for the proofe of faith bringeth in that sentence of Dauid Happy are they whose iniquities are forgiuâ—n whose sinnes are couered Blessed is the maÌ„ to whoÌ„ the Lord shal impute no sin Faith quickneth or maketh aliue Eor the iust liueth by faith This doth Paule very often in his
writings alledge out of the prophets The same Paul also saith The life which now I liue in fleshe I liue by faith in the son of god who loued me and gaue him self for me Faith ioyneth vs to the eternal chief goodnesse so maketh vs to inioy the chief goodnes that god may dwell in vs we in god For the Lorde Iesus him self in the Gospel saith He which eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me I in him As the louing father sēt me so also I liue by the father he that eteth me shal liue by me But to eate drink the Lord is to be léeue in the Lord the he hath giuē him self to death for vs Whervpon Iohn the Apostle saith We haue seene do witnesse that the father hath sent the son the sauiour of the world Whosoeuer shal confesse that Iesus is the sonne of God God dwelleth in him and he in God. Wherfore also Paul saide I liue now not I but Christ liueth in me Moreouer faythe dothe iustifie But for bycause the treatise thereof can not be fitlye and fullye made an ende of this houre I meane to deferre it till the next Sermon that shall be At this present dearely beloued ye must remember that there is but one true fayth that is the Christian fayth For although there be said to be many fayths that is religions yet notwithstanding there is onely but one true and vndoubted fayth And that dothe increase and againe decrease in some men As for those in whom it is rightly and godly obserued in them it sheweth foorthe sundry vertues For it bringeth with it true wisedome finally it quickneth and maketh vs blessed and happy in déede To God the father the authour of all goodnesse and of our felicitie be all prayse and glory throughe Iesus Christ our Lorde for euer and euer Amen That the faithfull are iustified by fayth with out the lawe and workes ¶ The sixte Sermon BEing readye here dearely beloued to speake vnto you of fayth whiche without workes dothe iustifie them that beléeue I call vpon the Father whiche is in heauen through his onely begotten sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde beséeching him to open my mouth and lippes to the setting foorthe of his prayse and to illuminate your hearts that ye acknowledging the great benefite of God may become thankfull for it and holy in déede And first of all I will speake certaine things chiefly necessarie to this argument or treatise touching this terme of iustification The terme of iustifying very vsuall and common among the Hebrues and of a large signification is not at this day so wel vnderstoode of all men as it ought to be To iustifie is as muche to say as to quite from iudgement and from the denounced and vttered sentence of condemnation It signifieth to remit offences to cleanse to sanctifie ▪ and to giue vtterance of life euerlasting For it is a lawe terme belonging to courts where iudgement is exercised Imagine therefore that man is set before the iudgement seate of God and that there he is pleaded guiltie to wit that he is accused and conuinced of hainous offences and therefore sued to punishment or to the sentence of condēnation Imagine also that the sonne of God maketh intercession and commeth in as a meane desiring that vpon him may be layde the whole fault and punishment due vnto vs men that he by his death may cleanse them and take them away setting vs frée from death and giuing vs life euerlasting Imagine too that God the most highe and iust iudge receiueth the offer and trāslatet◠〈◊〉 punishment together with the fault from vs vnto the necke of his sonne making therwithall a statute that whosoeuer beléeueth that the son of God suffered for the sinnes of the world brake the power of death and deliuered vs from damnation shoulde be cleansed from his sinnes and made heire of life euerlasting Who therefore can be so dull of vnderstanding but maye perceiu◠that mankinde is iustified by fayth But that there may be no cause of doubt or darkenesse left in the mynde of any man that which I haue already spokē generally by the parable and similitude fetched from oure common lawe I will here particularly bring into certaine partes confirming and manifestly prouing euery one of them seuerally out of the holy Scriptures so that euen to the stoutest wittes the power of fayth and worke of iustification may be most euident And first I will shew vnto you that this terme of iustification is taken in this present treatise for the absolution and remission of sinnes for sanctification and adoption into the number of the sonnes of god In the .xiij. of the Actes the Apostle Paule sayth Be it knowne vnto you men and brethren that through this Lord Iesus Christ is preached vnto you the forgiunesse of sinnes and by him all that beleeue are iustified frō al things from which they could not be iustified by the law of Moses Sée in Christe is preached vnto vs the forgiuenesse of sinnes and he that beleueth that Christ preched forgiueth sinnes is also iustified It followeth therefore that iustification is the remission of sinnes In the fifth Chapter to the Romanes saythe the same Apostle Being iustified by the bloud of Christ we shall be saued from wrath through him But the bloud of Christ washeth away sinnes Iustification therefore is the washing away or forgiunesse of sinnes And againe in the same Chapter saythe he more plainly Iudgement entred by one offence vnto condemnation but the gifte of many sinnes vnto iustification He maketh iustification the contrarie to condemnation therfore iustification is the absolution and deliuerie from condemnation What say ye to this moreouer that he dothe plainely call iustification a gifte that is the forgiuenes of sinnes Herevnto also belong those words of his Euen as by the sinne of one condemnation came on all men so by the righteousnesse of one good came vpon all men to the iustification of life Here again is the iustification of life made the contrarie of condemnation vnto death set as a peine vpon our heads bycause of the transgression iustification of life therefore is an absolution from sinnes a deliuerie from death a quickning or translating from death to life For in the fourth to the Romanes the same Apostle expoundeth iustification by sanctification and sanctification by the remission of sinnes For intreating of fayth whereby we are iustified or whiche God imputeth to vs for righteousnesse without workes he sayth Euen as Dauid also dothe expounde the blessednesse of that man to whome the Lord imputeth righteousnesse without workes saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuē and whose sinnes are couered What coulde be more plainely spoken then this For he doth euidently expounde iustification by sanctification and sanctification by the remission of sinnes Furthermore what else is sanctification but the adoption whereby we are receiued into the grace and number of the
to passe For wée saye that God is Almighty that is that there is nothing but he cā do it which is profitable necessarye for vs men as hée that is Lord of all our stronge helper But that God is oure good father liberall gentle mercifull stronge Almighty Lorde of all and our defender and deliuerer it is to be séene by his wonderful works For hée is the maker of heauen and earth And in the making of Heauē and earth hée hath declared the great loue that hée beareth to mankinde For when as yet they were not nether were able with desartes and good tournes to prouoke God to do them anye good then God first of his owne méere and naturall goodnesse made heauen earth a most excellent and beautifull Palace and gaue it them to dwell in putting vnder mans dominion all the Creatures of this whole world But how great power he shewed in the making of all these things it is euident by this that Hee spake the woorde and they were made he commaunded and they were created Which if thou bringe into partes and seuerally examine what hée made in those sixe dayes in what order with what beauty to how great commodity of mankinde and finallye how almost wyth no labour at all hée brought them al forth as it is at large writtē by Moses in the first of Genesis thou shalte be compelled to be amazed at the goodwill and power of god And yet by the waye wée muste thincke the Creatour of all thinges to be such an one as by his sonne that is by his eternall wysedome hath created al things both visible and inuisible yea and that of nothing too and doth moreouer at this very presēt sustaine nourish rule and preserue all thinges by his euerlasting spirite without which euery thinge woulde presently fall to ruine and come to nought Wée doe herein therefore confesse also the prouidence of our eternall God and hys excéeding wyse gouernment And thus in this first parte I haue declared vnto you that which is proper to the father For hée is a father yea hée is the father of our Lorde Iesus Christe and our father also being Lord of all things maker of heauen earth gouernour and preseruer of all thinges by whom all thinges are and in whom all things consist Who frō before all beginning begot the eternal sonne equall wyth the father being of one substaunce power and glory with the father by whom also hee made the world From both them precéedeth the holie ghoste as Dauid witnesseth and sayth By the worde of the Lord the heauens were made by the breath of his mouth all the hoste thereof Now followeth the seconde parte wherein are contayned all the mysteries of Iesus Christ our Lord the sonne of god For the seconde article of the Christiā fayth is thus word for word And in Iesus Christe his onely sonne our Lord. This article also comprehendeth two things The first is that wee beleeue in the sonne of God The second what the sonne of God is For wée confesse that wee beléeue that is that wée put our whole hope and confidence of lyfe and saluation as well in the sonne as in the father And therefore wée say plainely I beléeue in Iesus Christ euen as before wée said I beleeue in god c. For the Lorde Iesus himselfe in the 14. chapter of Iohn sayth Let not your harte be troubled ye beleeue in God beleeue also in me Againe This is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him whom hee hath sent And againe This is eternal life to know thee the true God onelie and him whom thou hast sent Christ Iesus Moreouer in the Gospel after S. Iohn we read that the Lord speaking to the blinde whose eyes hée opened saide Doste thou beleeue in the sonne of God And that the blind hauing receyued his sighte aunswered Who is he Lord that I may belieue in him wherunto the Lord replied Thou hast seene him and hee it is that talketh with thee And that then againe the blinde said I belieue Lorde and there withal hée worshipped him Therfore let vs also belieue worship let vs belieue that Iesus is the very sonne of God the father beinge of one power with the father althoughe in person hee differ from the father Which Dauid testifying sayth The Lord said to my Lord sit thou at my right hand c. But if wée declare at large who the sonne of God is in whom wée belieue then must wée note thrée things especially The first is that hée is called the Onely Sonne If hee be the sonne yea and that too the Sonne of God then is his nature and substaunce a diuine nature and substaunce For in this signification doth the Apostle call him The brightnesse of the glory of the father and the liuelie image of his substance Very well therefore do the holy fathers saye that the Sonne is of the same substaunce and beinge with the father Whereunto belongeth that that hée is called the onelye sonne and in another place the onely begotten and first begotten sonne For wée also are called sonnes not by participation of nature or likenesse of substaunce or naturallye but by adoption And therfore the Iewes were not offended because hée called himselfe the sonne of God in that sense that all the faithful are called and are the sōnes of God but because they did perceiue the he did more extoll himselfe in saying the hee is the naturall Sonne of God equall to God God himselfe For thus wée reade in the fifthe of Iohn Therefore the Iewes sought the more to kill Iesus not onelie because hee had broken the Sabboth but saide also that God was his father made himselfe equall with God. Againe where the Lord in the tenth chapiter saide I and my father are one then the Iewes toke vp stones to stone him withal But Iesus aunswered Many good workes haue I done vnto you for which of them doe yee stone mee To which the Iewes replied For thy good workes sake wee stone thee not but for thy blasphemie because thou being a man makest thy self God. These are most euidente testimonies of the natural Godhead of Christ which whosoeuer belieueth not hee hath not the father For hee that honoureth the sonne honoureth the father and hee that is withoute the sonne hath not the father and vnlesse the sonne were God by Nature hée coulde not be the Sauiour of the worlde Now the second thing that is to be marked is that the name of the onely begotten sonne of God is opened and he is called Iesus Christ The name is expressely set downe the we may know who it is in whom we beleue lest peraduenture we might be deceyued in the person It is Iesus which name was geuen vnto him by Gods appointmēt from heauen euen as also it was prefigured in Duke Iosue and in Iosue the high priest The Angell in the Gospell after
Prince For sayth Dauid The Lorde saide to my Lorde sitte thou at my righte hande till I make thine enimies thy footestoole And the Prophete Zacharie sayth Beholde the man that is called the braunche hee shal budde oute of his place and build the Temple of the Lorde and sitte and rule vppon his Throne and be a prieste vppon his seate In this sense the right hand of God is infinite and conteined in no measure of place wheras wée confesse that our Lorde doth sitte at the righte hande of the father wee doe professe that the sonne is exalted aboue all thinges hauinge all thinges subiecte vnder himselfe as Paule in his first Chapter to the Ephesians sayth and finallye that the sonne being so exalted cā do al thinge doth reigne in the vniuersall Church doth deliuer them that are his doth make intercession to the father in heauē and in the power of his Godheade is present in all places For therfore did the Créede adde almightinesse to this setting of his where it is sayde He sitteth at the right hande of the father almightie And in Saint Mathew the Lorde sayth To me is giuen al might in heauen and in earth goe therefore and bring all nations vnto me So then I suppose that briefly thus I haue well declared what manner of place heauen is to wit a place of quietnesse ioye and euerlasting felicitie wherin the sonne of God doth sit doth dwell and is in his humanitie as we also that are the members of Christe shal be in the very same place without all dolour and griefe in ioye for euermore And although our Lorde be deliuered from all grieuous businesse yet we meane not that he sitteth idlely leaning on his elbowes For he is a King a Prieste and very God in the very temple of God he can not choose therefore of his natural propertie and office but work saluation in the elect and do all things that lye God a king and Prieste in hande to doe So then nowe we all knowe what our Lorde doth as he sitteth in heauen Neither is it any trouble to him at all to do and worke that which he doth for he worketh not of compulsion but naturally and of his owne accord Thus and no otherwise did the ancient interpreters of the holy Scriptures handle this Article of our belief Some of whose testimonies I will here alledge Saint Hierome in his exposition of Paules first Chapter to the Ephesians sayth He hath declared the power of God by the similitude of a man not bycause a seate is placed and God the father sitteth ther on hauing his sonne sitting ther with him but bycause we can not otherwise conceiue howe the sonne dothe iudge and reigne but by such wordes applyed to our capacitie As therfore to be next to God or to depart farre from him is not to be vnderstood according to the distance of places but after mens merites bycause the Saints are heard by him but the sinners of whome the Prophete sayth Beholde they that get them selues from thee shal perish are remoued farre inough for comming neare him at all Euen so likewise to be eyther at the right or lefte hande of God is to be taken so that the Saints are at his right hand sinners at his left As our Sauioure him selfe also in the Gospel affirming the same dothe say that at the right hande are the sheepe and the goates at the left Moreouer this very word to Sit dothe argue the power of a kingdome by which God is beneficiall to them on whom he doth vouchsafe to sit in so much as verily he doth rule them and hath them alwayes in his guiding and dothe turne to his owne becke or gouernment the necks of them that before ranne out of the way at randon and at libertie Saint Augustine in his booke De Fide et Symbolo sayth We beleeue that he sitteth at the right hande of God the Father Yet not so therefore as though we shoulde thinke that God the Father is comprehended within the limites of a mans bodye so that they that thinke of him shoulde imagine that he hath bothe a right and a left side And whereas it is sayde that the Father sitteth we muste not suppose that he doth sitte with bended hammes leaste peraduenture we fall into the same sacrilege for whiche the Apostle accurseth them that haue chaunged the glory of the incorruptible God into the similitude of a corruptible man For a detestable thing it is to place God in suche a likenesse in a Christian Churche and muche more wicked is it to place it in the heart where the temple of God is verily and in deede if it be cleansed from earthly desires and errour We must therfore vnderstand that at the right hande is as muche to say as in greatest happinesse where righteousnesse and peace and gladnesse is euē as also the Goates are placed at the lefte hande that is in miserie for their iniquities to their peine and torment Whereas God therefore is sayde to sit thereby is not ment the placing of his limms but his iudiciall power whiche his maiestie neuer wanteth in bestowing worthy rewardes on those that are worthy of them And so foorth The blessed Bishop Fulgentius in his seconde Booke to King Trasimundus sayth The Lorde to shewe that his humanitie is locall sayeth to his Disciples I ascende to my father and to your father my God and your god And by and by after declaring the in comprehensibilitie of his Godhead he sayth to his Disciples Behold I am with you alwayes euen vnto the ende of the wold The blessed Martyr and Bishop of Trent Vigilius in his first booke against heresies sayth This was to go to the Father and to depart from vs to take away out of this world the nature whiche he tooke of vs Thou seest therefore that it was proper to the same nature to be taken away and to departe from vs according to the wordes of the Angels whiche sayde This Iesus who is taken vp from you shall come againe euen as ye see him goe into heauen For see the myracle See the mysterie of both his properties The Sonne of God in his humanitie is departed from vs according to his diuinitie he saith to vs Beholde I am with you alwayes euen vnto the ende of the world If he be with vs howe sayth he The time shall come when ye shall desire to see one of the dayes of the sonne of man and ye shal not see it But both he is with vs and not with vs Bycause them whome he hath left and departed from in his Godhead he hath not lefte nor forsaken in his manhoode This sayth he The seuenth Article of our faith is this From thence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the deade In the former Articles there is set foorth and confessed the diuine goodnesse bountifulnesse and grace in Christe nowe also shall be declared the diuine iustice
vnto saluation For if the wicked do acknowledge his fault repent himself of his ill déede and beléeue in Christ with al his heart his sinne is forgiuen him bée is saued as wée haue an euident example in the thiefe that was crucified whose punishment was an occasion of his saluation But from the other this saluation was farre off because he did not belieue in Christ and would not be warned by the paine y he felt for his offence to repent for his sinnes and to call to God for mercie Furthermore by publique iudgment and open execution all other men may take example to learne to beware of like offences vnlesse they will suffer like horrour of torments But let not the magistrate execute any man vntil he know first perfectly whether hée that is to be punished hath deserued that punishment that the iudges determine and whether God hath commaunded to punish that offence that is whether by Gods lawe that is condemned which is to be punished The trueth therof shal be manifestly knowne either by the proper and frée confession of the man accused or by the probable testimonies broght in and gathered against the deâ—endant or by conferring y lawes with the offences of him that is to be punished So then the magistrate may not punish vertue true religioÌ„ nor good honest godly men For he is ordeyned of God to terrifie not the good but offenders Now touching the maner and facion of punishment I think it not best ouer curiousâ—ie to dispute Let euerie nation or citie reteine stil their penalties and order of punishing vnlesse peraduenture their countrie custome smack somewhat of rigour extreme crueltie For no wise man denieth but that the kinde of punishment must be tempered according to the rule of iustice equitie The kindes of punishment are exile or banishment boÌ„dage losse of goods imprisonment fetters scourges markes with burning iroÌ„s losse of limms lastly death it self by killing w the sword by burning hanging drowning other such meanes as euerie natioÌ„ vseth of custome Neither is the scripture without a pitiful beadrowe of miserable torments For in y booke of Esdras we read And who soeuer wil not do the lawe of thy god Esdras and the lawe of the king let iudgment streightwayes passe vppon him whether it be to death or banishment or losse of goods or imprisonmeÌ„t This do I ad not vnaduisedly because of them the are of opinion y such tormentes ought not so much as once to be named amonge christian people But measure and discretion must be vsed of the iudges in punishing offenders so the heynous faults may be plagued with greuous punishmeÌ„t lesser crimes may be nipped with smaller penalties and the smallest light offences punished more lightly That sentence in Gods law ought to be remeÌ„bred According to the fault so shall the punishment bee Where also the iudge must haue a consideration of his clemencie pitie Oftentimes y kinde and age excuseth the partie accused The circuÌ„stances being rightly weighed do somtime excuse the déedes that otherwise are of themselues not all of the best The iudge also must inquire after diligentlie consider the former life of the man accused for which if it fal out to haue bene good and honest than doth he deserue some fauour and mercie vnlesse the offence for which be is troubled be so heynous y it can admit no sparkle of pitie But godlines or y feare of god with powring out of prayers vnto the Lord and a diligent and lawful examinatioÌ„ of y déede or word that is of the fault committed is the best rule for the iudge to followe in choosing his time when to vse pitie and when to deale with extreme rigour For otherwise decent clemeÌ„cie is most praise worthie before God and men I haue shewed you déerlie beloued that the magistrate both may and of duetie ought to punish offenders then for what causes y Lord wil haue them to be punished and lastlie how when how much they are to be punished It remayneth now for mée to declare wherfore and for what offences they are to be punished Which I meane to lay downe in one word and briefly too All words and déeds which are coÌ„trarie to the lawes of God and the magistrate that is all things that are done mischiefouslie against the lawes are to be punished but lawes are made either for religion or politique gouernment and politique gouernment consisteth in honestie iustice and peace Therfore the magistrate must punish and kéepe vnder al them which do disturbe afflict trouble destroy or ouerthrow honestie iustice publique peace or priuate tranquillite betwixt man man Let him punish dishonestie ribauldrie filthie lust whordome fornication adulterie inceste sodomie riottousnes dronkennesse gluttonie couetousnesse coosening cutting vsurie treason murder slaughter of parents sedition and whatsoeuer is like to these The lawe of the Lord published by the ministerie of Moses doth in the 18. and 20. of Leuiticus reckon vppe a beadrowe long enough of such offences as are to be punished And least perhappes any man may thinke that at this day that which Moses hath rehearsed is vtterly abolished let him giue eare to S. Paul who saith To the iust the lawe is not giuen but to the vniust and to sinners to vnholie and vncleane to murderers of fathers and murtherers of mothers to manslears to whoremongers to them that defile themselues with mankinde to manstealers to lyars to periured men and if there be any other thing contrarie to sounde doctrine But Apostates idolatrers blasphemers here tiques false teachers and mockers at religion doe offend against the lawes of religion and therefore ought they to be punished by the magistrates authoritie But the question hath béene and is yet at this day in controuersie whether it be lawefull sor a magistrate to punish any man in his iurisdiction for the contempt of religion or blaspheming of the same The Maniches and Donatistes were of opinion that no man ought to be compelled much lesse to be killed for any religion but that euerie man ought to bee left to his owne minde and iudgement And yet the Scripture doth expresselie coÌ„maund the magistrate not to spare false Prophetes yea rebells against God are commaunded by holie lawes and iudges to be killed without mercie The places are extant to be séene in the holie Scriptures the one in the 13. of Deut. the other in the 17. of the same booke In Exodus this same is set downe for a rule Whosoeuer sacrificeth to any God but to the Lord alone let him bee rooted out In Leuiticus the blasphemer is slaine euerwhelmed with stones In the booke of Numbers the man is slaine that did vnhallow the Sabboth day And how many I pray you did Gods reuenging sword destroy of that caluish people that did erecte and worship the calfe in the wildernesse Helias at mount Carmel killed whole hundreds of false
they were simple and yet they pearce to the inward partes of the heart When hee speaketh softly beleeue him not for there are seuen mischiefes in his hart And therefore in Ecclesiastes it is very well sayd It is better to heare the rebuke of a wise man than the songe of a foole That is of a flatterer And yet althoughe flatterie bée so great an euill it is notwithstanding fauoured of all men so that as an infecting plague it is crepte into the Church into Princes Palaces into Iudges Courtes and euerie priuate house For like an alluring Mermayde it hath a songe that doeth delight our flesh For wée like fooles are blinded with selfe loue and doe not marke that flatteries and allurementes doe breede oure destruction Ezeâ—hiel blameth greatly all flattering Preachers and sayeth Woe vnto them that lay to the people peace people peace peace when there is no peace which dawbe with vntempered morter which sowe entising pillowes vnder euerie elbowe and put alluting kercheifes vpon euery head to hunt after catch soules Of such kinde of teachers that delight more in lyes and flatterie than in syncere veritie the Apostle Paule saith The time shall come that they shall not abide to heare sounde doctrine but they whose eares do ytche shall gett them teachers according to their lustes and shall turne their eares from the truth and shal be turned vnto fables And Dauid praying against this plague as the thing that is most pernicious to all kinges and Princes in authoritie doeth say The righteous shall smite mee friendly but the precious baulmes of the wicked shal not annoynt my head And againe Lord deliuer mee from lying lippes and a deceiptful tongue Thus much haue I hetherto said for the exposition of the ninth commaundement Now followeth the tenth and last commaundement which word for word is expressed thus Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house thou shalt not couet thy neighbours wife nor his manseruaunt nor his maydseruaunt nor his oxe nor his asse nor any thing that is thy neighbours Which words the Lord in the fifte of Deut â–ª doth lay downe in this maner and order Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours wife thou shalt not couet thy neighbours house nor his field nor his manseruaunt nor his maydseruaunt nor his oxe nor his asse nor any thing that is thy neighbours Neither is there any difference or contrarietie in the thing it selfe although in Exod. Thy neighbours house and in Deuteronomie Thy neighbours wife be set first in order Now this maketh somewhat against them that diuide this laste precept into two commaundements which is in deede but one as it may be partly gathered by this order thus inuerted in the setting of it downe in two sundrie places In this precept coueting is especially forbidden I meane euill longing and corrupt desiring For coueting is a word indifferently vsed as well in the better as the worse signification For Dauid affirmeth that he did long after God and his lawe I haue wished for saith hee O Lord thy saluation And I haue longed after thy commaundementes Psal. 119. Wée must here therfore be able with discretion to iudge betwixt that good affection which God did first create in man and that other motion the roote of euill that groweth in our nature by the discent of corruptioÌ„ from our first father Adam There was in Adam before his fall a certaine good appetite with pleasure and delight He was not so hungrie that huÌ„ger did pain his emptie bowels whiche is in déede a plague for sinne but he did eate with a certaine swéet and delectable appetite Hee was delighted with the pleasures of Paradise Hee did with a certaine holy desire both loue and long after the woman which God had brought and placed before him And this good appetite or desire procéeded from God himselfe who made both Adam and all his affections good at the first Yea and at this day also there are in men certaine naturall affections and desires as to eate to drink to sléepe and such like belonging to the preseruation of mans life which of themselues are not to be accompted among the number of sinnes vnlesse by corruption of originall vice they passe the bounds for which they are ordeyned But in this treatise vpon the tenth commaundement desire is vsed in the worser part and is taken for the concupiscence or coueting of euil things This concupiscence being translated from Adam into vs al is the fruite of our corrupt nature or ofspring of original sinne whose seate is in the hart of man and is the fountaine and he adspring of all sinne and wickednesse that is to bee found in mortall men For the Lord in the Gospell doeth expressely say whatsoeuer entreth in by the mouth goeth into the bellie and is caste out into the draught but the things that come out of the mouth proceede froÌ„ the heart and those defile the man For out of the heart doe come euill thoughts murders adulteries whordomes theft false witnesse bearinges despiteful speakig these be they that do defile the maÌ„ And the Apostle Iames speaking altogether as plainely in an other place doeth say Let no man when he is tempted say that he is tempted of god For euery one is tempted while he is drawen away entised with the baite of his owne concupiscence then when lust hath conceiued it bringeth â—oorth sinne and sinne when it is finished bringeth forth death Concupiscence therfore is a moti-on or affection of the minde which of our corâ—upt nature doth lust against God and his lawe and sâ—â—rreth vs vp to wickednesse although the consent or déed it selfe doth not presently followe vppon our conceipt For if the deede do follow the lust then doth the sinne increase by stepps and degrées For first wée must consider the very blotting out or corrupting of the Image of God in vs Originall sinne and that disease that lyeth hidd in our members which is by vse called euill affections Secondarilie wee must consider that it increaseth by our delight and pleasure therein Thirdly it is augmented if wee consent and séeke after counsell to commit the crime and lastly if the consent breake forth to the déede doing than is it greater and greater according to the qualities of accidentes or circumstances Now al these are reckoned in the number of sinnes thoughe by degrées the one of them is greater thaÌ„ the other touching which I will by Gods sufferaÌ„ce speake somewhat more largely when I come to the treatise of sinne Wherefore that euill and vnlawfull affection which is of our naturall corruption and lyeth hidd in our nature but bewrayeth it selfe in our hartes against the purenesse of Gods lawe and maiestie is that very sinne which is in this lawe condemned For although there be some which thinke that such motions diseases blemishes and affections of the mind are no sinnes yet God by forbidding them in this lawe doeth flatly condemne them But if any man doubt
of this exposition let him heare the woordes of the Apostle who saith I knew not sinne but by the lawe for I had not knowen luste except the lawe had said Thou shalt not luste Without the lawe sinne was dead I once liued without lawe but when the commaundement came sinne reuiued and I was dead And againe The affection of the fleshe is death but the affection of the spirite is life peace Because the affection of the â—leshe is enimitie against God for it is not obedient to the lawe of God neither can be So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. The affection of concupiscence therefore doth condemne vs or as I should rather say wée are worthily condemned by the iuste iudgment of God for our coÌ„cupiscence which doth euery houre and moment bewray it selfe in the thoughts of our harts There are I confesse sundrie fantasies and many thoughts in the minds of men which while they tend not to the offence of God or our neighbour nor do coÌ„tâ—ine any vncleannesse or selfeloue are not to be counted in the number of sinns as I did immâ—diately after the beginning declare vnto you So hetherto verilie God hath forbidden the grosser sinnes which man doeth daily commit against him and now at last hee commeth to the concupiscence corrupte nature of man the welspring of al euil which in this precept he goeth about to stop vp and cause to sléepe or as I should rather say to detect to the eyes of all men the infirmitie and weakenesse of mankinde For what is he that hath not some whiles felt concupiscence yea what is he that is not euery houre moment pricked with the stinge of fleshly concupiscence What man is there I pray you that is not diseased with the naturall sicknesse common to vs al and spotied with the blemish of originall guiltinesse Being therefore coÌ„uinced of sinne before the lord wee are not able to excuse our fault nor escape the sentence of the Iudge that doth condemne all flesh For the iust Lord doeth expressely condemne our naturall corruption and wicked inclination which is a continual turning from God and rebellion against the sinceritie which hee requireth at our handes For they are called happie that are cleane in heart because they shall sée god They therefore whose hartes are wrapped in lustes diseased with concupiscence and spotted with the poyson of original guilt shall not sée god But such are al we that are the sonnes of Adam And therefore this lawe doth conuince vs all of sinne infirmitie naturall corruption of damnation which followeth vpon the neck of our corruptioÌ„ Moreouer god in his law doth not only require the outward cleannesse of the body but the inward purenesse also of the minde the soule and al our affections and giueth charge that all whatsoeuer wee thincke determine goe about or doe should tende to the health and profite of oure neighbour This coÌ„maundement therefore may be referred to all the other that went before For the Lord himself expounding this coÌ„mandement Thou shalt not coÌ„mit murder addeth Whosoeuer is angrie with his brother shal be in danger of iudgment c. Matt. 5. and againe in expouÌ„ding this precept Thou shalt not coÌ„mitadulterie hée addeth Whosoeuer looketh on an other manns wife to lust after her hee hath committed adulterie alreadie with her in his hart And here he doth exactly rehearse the things which we do couet and in longing after which we are wont to sin Now our couetousnes consisteth in the desire either of things or persoÌ„s The thinges that we couet are either immoueable or moueable as we Germans do vsually say Der gueteren sind etliche ligende etliche furende The immoueable things are houses farmes lands vineyards woods medows pastures fishpooles such like Things moueable are monie cattell honour office and dignities The persons are wife childreÌ„ manseruants maidseruants These and such like which our neighbor hath in possessioÌ„ none of vs ought to couet to his hurt or hinderance or if any man happen to couet them yet let him not consent to y concupiscence nor take delite therin let him not séek to obteine the thing that he so desireth nor suffer his ill conceiued purpose to break out to y deed doing in taking from his neighbour his things or persoÌ„s for god requireth at the hands of those y worship him such kind of righteousnes as is altogether sound and absolutely perfecte not in the outward déede alone but also in the inward mind settled purpose of the hart Wherupon the lord in the gospel saith Vnlesse your righteousnes exceede the righteousnes of the Scribes Phariseis ye shal not enter into the kingdome of God. But touching the maner how Gods comaundements are fulfilled that faith is the absolute righteousnes I will hereafter in an other sermon tell you as I haue alreadie said somewhat in the sermon that I made vpon true faith Hetherto in twelue Sermons I haue runne through and declared the tenne preceptes of the morall lawe in which I told you that the forme of vertue is layd before our eyes therby to frame our maners according to the wil of god God himself hath diuided al the branches of his moral law into two tables The first doth shew the dutie of vs meÌ„ to our creator teacheth how to worship aright our God gouernor The secoÌ„d table in sixe whole precepts doth declare what and how much euery man is bound to owe to his neighbour how we may al liue both quietly well ciuilie one with another It comaundeth vs to honor our parents al those which god hath ordeyned in stéed of our parents It forbiddeth murder or doing iniury to any man in his life and body It forbiddeth whordom adultrie wicked lustes comending wedlock cleannes a continent life It forbiddeth lyes false witnesse bearinges and euil desires biddeth vs to loue our neighbours with al our harts being ready at all times with al our power to doe them good To God our Lord and most prudent lawgiuer be praise and thankes for euer and euer Amen Of the Ceremonial lawes of God but especially of the priesthood time and place appointed for the Ceremonies ¶ The fifth Sermon IN the partition of gods lawes next after the moral lawe we placed the Ceremoniall lawe and therfore since the morall lawe is alreadie expounded I haue now next by the help of God to treate of the law of Ceremonies And that I may not hide any thing from you note this by the way that some write Ceremoniae and some Cerimoniae which two words are vsed for Ceremonies considering y sundrie men haue sundrie opinions touching y word froÌ„ whence it should come For some after the opinion of Seruius Sulpitius do thinke that they are called Ceremoniae a Carendo But Festus affirmeth that Ceremonies did first take their name of the towne CÄ™res or CÄ™rete For Liuie in his fifte
firste begotten or auncient of euery housholde did circumcise before the lawe which office was turned to the priestes when once the lawe was giuen It is a singular example and no more to be found like vnto it that Zippora the wife of Moses did circumcise her sonne Exod. 4. Chap. Nowe also the time of circumcision is set downe to wite the eighth day when the newe borne childe beganne to be of a little more strength And we gather out of the fifte Chapter of the booke of Iosue that they did circumcise them not with kniues of yron but of stone for in that Chapter the Lorde doth in expresse wordes commaund to circumcise the sonnes of Israel with kniues of stone But it is manifest by the rites of the sacraments that God doth alter nothinge in the ceremonies of the sacraments and therefore we coniecture and gather that Abraham vsed none other but kniues of stone especially since we read that Zippora Moses his wife did circumcise her sonne with a stone The rest of the Iewishe trifles which they sowe abrode touching the ceremonies of cicumcision I do of purpose here let passe For they are vtterly vnworthie to be heard and haue no mysteries conteined in them But the knife of stone is of force in the exposition of the mysterie of circūcision For circumcision had a mysterie and a moste certeine meaning hidden within it For firste circumcision did signifie that the whole nature of man is vncleane and corrupt and therfore that all men haue neede of cutting and regeneration And for that cause that cuttinge was made in the member wherewith man is begotten For we are all begotten and borne the sonnes of wrath in originall sinne Neither doth any man deliuer vs from that damnation but he alone that is without sinne to wite the blessed séede Iesus Christ our Lord who was conceiued by the holy Ghost and borne of the virgin Marie who with the shedding of his bloud which was prefigured in the bloud shed in circumcision doth cleanse vs from sinne and make vs heires of life euerlasting And now this circumcision maketh sorely against them that denye original sinne and putteth them to their shiftes that attribute iustification and saluation to our owne strength and vertue For if we were cleane if we by our owne power could get saluation what néeded our fathers to bee cutt in that sorte The things that are cutt off are either vnpure or else superfluous But God made nothing vnpure or superfluous Nowe hee made the flesh of the foreskinne If the fleshe of the foreskinne had béene euill God had not made man with the fleshe of the foreskinne The skinne therefore is not euill of it selfe nor yet superfluous but the cuttinge of the foreskinne doth rather serue to teache vs to vnderstande that by our birth and nature wée are corrupt and that wée cannot be cleansed of that corruption but by the knife of stone And for that cause verily was circumcision giuen in that member and in none other I will anon adde another cause out of Lactantius why it was giuen in the priuities and in none other parte of all the bodye Moreouer circumcision did signifie testifie that God almightie of his méere grace and goodnesse is ioyned with an indissoluble bond of couenant vnto vs men whome his will is first to sanctifie then to iustifie and lastly to inriche with all heauenly treasures through Christe our Lorde and reconciler For that was the meaninge of the stoanie knife Because Christ the blessed séede is the rocke of stone out of which doe flowe moste pure and cleansing waters and he by his spirite doth cutt from vs whatsoeuer thinges doe hinder the mutuall league and amitie betwixt God and vs he also doth giue and increase in vs both hope and charitie in faith so that wee may be knitt and ioyned to God in life euerlasting which is the blessed and happie life in déede Nowe here it is expedient to heare the testimonies of the lawe and the Apostles In the 30. of Deuteron Moses saith The Lord thy God shall circumcise thy harte and the harte of thy seede that thou maist loue the Lorde thy God. Now the outward visible cutting was a signe of this inwarde circumcision And Paule also speakinge of Abraham saith And he receiued the signe of circumcision as the seale of the righteousnesse of faith which he had being yet vncircūcised that he should be the father of all them that beleeue though they were not circūcised that righteousnesse might bee imputed to them also c. Lo here Abrahams circumcision was a signe y God by his grace had iustified Abraham which iustificatiō he receiued by faith before his circumcision which is an argument that they which beléeue though they be not circumcised are neuerthelesse iustified with faithfull Abraham and againe that the Iewes which are circumcised are iustified of God by faith And for that cause was circumcision giuen in the verie bodie of man that he might beare in his bodie the league of God and be thereby admonished that hee is iustified by grace through faith Whereby wee gather also that the grace of God and the iustification of the godly is not tyed to the signe For if it had then had not Abraham béene iustified before his circumcision but euen in his circumcision Furthermore if it had béene so then the Lord whose wil is to haue mankind saued would not haue giuen commaundement to haue them circumcised vpon the eighth day For many children died before the eighth daye and neuer came to circumcision and yet they were not damned To which wee may adde that Sara Rebecca Rahel Iochabeth and Marie Moses sister with innumerable mo matrones and holie virgines could not be circumcised and yet they were saued by the grace of God through faith in the Messiah that was to come The grace of God therefore was not tyed to the sacrament of circumcision but yet it was not despised and neglected of the holy sainctes of the olde church but vsed to the end for which it was ordeined that is to be a testimonie and a seale of frée iustification in Christ who circumciseth vs spiritually without handes by the working of the holie Ghoste Furthermore God by the outwarde and visible signe did gather into one church them which were circumcised in which number those which he had chosen before hee did ioyne to him selfe with the bonde of his spirite For sainct Paule for the verie same cause did call the people of one religiō the circumcision as is euident by the 15. Chapter to the Romanes and the third to the Philippians Therefore by circumcision God did separate his people from the vnbeléeuing nations Whereupon it came that to be called vncircumcised was as great reproache among them as to be called dogge is nowe adayes among vs For an vncircumcised person was reputed for an vncleane prophane man and for such an one as had no parte
The eighth Sermon ALthough I haue hitherto in large Sermons layed foorth the lawe of God by seuerall partes yet mée thinketh I haue not sayde all that should be sayde nor made an ende as I should doe vnlesse I adde nowe a treatise of the vse effect fulfilling and abrogating of the lawe of God albeit I haue here and there in my Sermons touched the same argument Nowe by this discourse or treatise dearely beloued ye shal vnderstand that the testamēt of the olde and newe church of God is all one and that there is but one meanes of true saluation for all them that either haue or else at this present are saued in the worlde ye shall also perceiue wherein the olde testament doth differ from the newe Moreouer this treatise wil bee necessarie and verie profitable both to the vnderstanding of many places in the holy Scripture and also to the easie perceiuing and moste hoalesome vse of those thinges which I haue saide hitherto touching the lawe God who is the author the wisedome and the perfect fulnesse of the lawe giue mée grace to speake those thinges that are to the setting foorth of his glorie and profitable for the health of your soules The vse of Gods lawe is manifolde and of sundrie sortes and yet it may be called backe to thrée especiall poyntes and wee may saye that the vse therof is thréefold or of thrée sorts For firste of all the chiefe and proper office of the lawe is to conuince all men to be guiltie of sinne and by their owne fault to be the children of death For the lawe of God setteth foorth to vs the holie will of God and in the setting forth thereof requireth of vs a moste perfecte and absolute kinde of righteousnesse And for that cause the lawe is wont to be called the testimonie of Gods will and the moste perfect exampler of his diuine purenesse And hereunto belong those wordes of the Lord in the Gospell where he recitinge shortly the summe of Gods cōmaundements doth say The firste of all the commaundements is Heare O Israel the Lorde our God is one Lorde and thou shalt loue the Lorde thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule and with all thy minde and with all thy strength This is the firste commandement and the seconde like to this thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe There is none other commaundement greater then these Therefore to this doeth also apperteine that sayinge of the Apostle Paule The end of the commaundement is charitie out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith vnfeigned But since the law doth require at all our handes most absolute righteousnesse charitie and a pure heart it doth condemne all men of sinne vnrighteousnesse and death For in the lawe of God it is expressely said Cursed is euery one whiche abideth not in all that is writtē in the booke of the lawe to doe it But what one of vs fulfilleth all the pointes of the lawe what mā I pray either heretofore hath had or at this day hath a pure heart within him What man hath euer loued or doeth now loue God with all his heart with all his soule and with all his minde What man is he that did neuer luste after euill Or who is it now y lusteth not euery day Therefore imperfection and sinne is by the lawe or by the bewraying of the lawe reuealed in mankinde What shall we say to this where I pray you doth there appeare in any man that diuine and most absolute righteousnesse whiche the lawe requireth Iob crieth I knowe verilie that a man compared to God cannot be iustified Or How shall a man be found righteous if hee be compared to God If he wil argue with him he shall not be able to aunswere one for a thousand If I haue any righteousnes in me I will not answere him but I will beseech my Iudge Like to these are the words of the Apostle Iohn who saith If wee say wee haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs. Againe If we say we haue not sinned we make him a lyar and his word is not in vs. Therefore by this meanes the lawe is a certaine looking glasse wherein we behold our owne corruption frailnesse imbecillitie imperfection oure iudgement that is our iust and deserued damnation For the Apostle doth expressely say that the law was giuen to the end that it might make manifest mens trāsgressions and by that meanes driue them to the acknowledging of their imperfection and guilt in sinning For none of vs doth looke into his owne boosome nor into the secrets of his owne breast but wee do all flatter our selues and will not be persuaded that our thoughts and deedes are so corrupt as they bee in very deede and therefore doth the lawe creepe in and lay open the secrets of our hearts and bringeth to lighte oure sinne and corruption Before the lawe saith the Apostle although sinne were in the world yet was it not imputed The same Apostle also saith The lawe worketh wrath for where there is no lawe there is no transgression And againe By the lawe cōmeth the knowledge of sinne For in the 7. to the Romans the same Apostle doth say more fully I knew not sin but by the lawe For I had not knowen luste excepte the law had said Thou shalt not lust But sinne taking occasion by the cōmaundement wrought in me al maner of concupiscence For without the lawe sin was dead I once liued without lawe but when the commaundement came sinne reuiued and I was dead And it was found that the same commaundement which was ordeyned vnto life was vnto me an occasion of death c. For a good part of that Chapiter is spent in that matter Therefore the proper office of Moses and the principal vse and effecte of the lawe is to shew to man his sinne and imperfection As for those which staye heere and goe no further to make any other vse and effecte of the lawe but as thoughe Moses did nothing but kill the lawe nothing but slay they are diuersly and that not lightly deceiued I do here againe repeate it and tel them that the very proper office of the lawe is to make sinne manifest also that Moses his chiefe office is to teach vs what wée haue to doe with threateninges and cursings to vrge it especially whē the law is compared with the Gospel For in the third Chapter of the 2. Epistle to the Corinthians Paul calleth the law the letter and immediately after the ministration of death then againe hée calleth it a doctrine written in letters and incke and figured in tables of stone which should not endure but perish and decay The same Apostle on the otherside againe doeth call the Gospel the ministration or doctrine of the spirite which endureth decayeth not which is written in mens hearts giueth life to the beléeuers
the law and the Prophets Moreouer oure Lord fulfilled the lawe in that he did most absolutely in all poinctes satisfie the will of God being himselfe the holiest of all in whome there is no spot no euill concupiscence nor any sinne in him is the loue of God most perfecte righteousnesse altogether absolute which righteousnesse he doth fréely coÌ„municate to vs that are most vnperfect if wee beléeue and haue oure hope fast settled in him For hée forgiueth vs our sinnes being made a cleansing Sacrifice for vs and maketh vs partakers of his owne righteousnesse which is for that cause called Imputed righteousnesse Whereunto the testimonies of the Apostle do apperteine God saith Paul was in Christ recoÌ„ciling the world vnto himselfe not imputing their sinnes vnto them For him which knew not sinne he made sinne for vs that we might bee made the righteousnesse of God by him Againe Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse without workes So also if wee beleeue in God throughe Christ our faith shal be imputed to vs for righteousnesse For by faith we lay hold on Christ whom we beleue to haue made most absolute satisfaction to God for vs and so consequently that God for Christ his sake is pleased with vs and that the righteousnesse is imputed to vs as our owne and is in déed by gift our owne because wee are nowe the sonnes of God. These things being diligently weyyed it shal be easie for vs to aunswere them whiche make this question and doe demaunde since no mortall man doth of himself exactly satisfie the law Howe then is righteousnesse life and saluatioÌ„ promised to them that do obserue the lawe Our aunswere is forsoothe that that promise hath a respect to the perfect righteousnesse of Christ which is imputed vnto vs Otherwise it is assuredly certaine that the holy Scripture doth not so much as in one iote disagrée or square in any pointe from it selfe The Apostle doth plainly say If there had a lawe beene giuen which could haue giuen life then had righteousnesse beene of the lawe but now the Scripture hath shutt vpp all vnder sinne that the promise might be giuen by faith to them that do beleeue Wherefore he kéepeth or doeth fulfil the lawe euen of the tenne commaundements who doth the thing for which the lawe was chiefly ordeyned But the lawe was chiefly ordeyned as I did declare a little before to the ende that it might conuince vs all of sinne and damnation and so by that meanes send vs from our selues and lead vs by the hand to Christe who is the fulfilling of the lawe vnto iustification to euery one that doeth beléeue And therefore hée doth fulfil and kéepe the lawe who hath no confidence in himselfe and his owne woorkes but committing himselfe to the very grace of God doth séeke all righteousnesse in the faith of Christ Whereuppon now it is euident that these two sentences of Christ oure Lord are of one sense meaning Whosoeuer beleeueth in mee he hath life euerlasting And If thou wilt enter into life keepe the commaundements For Paule also in the 13. Chapiter of the Actes saith Be it knowen vnto you brethren that thorough Christe is preached to you the forgiuenesse of sinnes by him all that beleeue are iustified from all the thinges from which he could not be iustified by the lawe of Moses And to this place nowe belongeth all the woorke of iustification of whiche I haue at large disputed in an other place Now that faith wherewith we beleeue that Christ hath satisfied the law and that he is oure righteousnesse and our perfection is neither of our owne nature nor of our owne merits but is by the grace of God powred into vs through the holy spirit which is giuen into our hearts This spirite abiding in our heartes doth inflame our breastes with the loue and desire of Gods lawe to doe oure endeuoure to the expressing and shewing of the lawe in al our workes and conuersation Which desire and endeuour although they be neuer fully accomplished by reason of the sâ—eashes frailetie or weakenesse of mans nature which remayneth in vs euen till the last gaspe and end of our life is notwithstanding acceptable to God by grace for Christe his sake alone neither doeth anye Godly man put any confidence in this other but in the first fulfilling of the lawe as that which is onely absolute and perfecte For Paule in his Epistle to the Romans crieth out O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death And yet immediatly after he answereth I thanke God. to wit because he hath redéemed me from death through Iesus Christ our lord So then I me selfe with the minde serue the law of God but with the fleshe the lawe of sinne There is then no damnation to them whiche are graffed in Christ Iesu which walk not after the fleshe but after the spirite c. Wherfore since we are in Christ we are in grace and therefore is God pleased with oure woorkes which being giuen to vs by faith and by the liberal spirite do procéede from an hart that loueth God the giuer of them all For Iohn saide This is the loue of God that we keepe his commaundementes And his commaundementes are not greeuous Hée addeth also the reason thereof and saith For al that is borne of God ouercoÌ„meth the world nowe euerie one is borne of God that doth beléeue as is declared in the first of Iohn By whiche it is easie to reconcile these 2. places which séeme at a blushe to iarre one with an other The lawes of God are heauie which neither we nor oure fathers were able to beare And The lawes of God are not greeuous or heauie to be borne For they are not heauie to the faithfull whiche are in Christ and to those which haue the gift of Gods spirite that is to those that are reconciled to God by Christe their Lord and Sauiour Without Christ faith in Christe they are most gréeuous and heauie to be borne of euery vnbeléeuer So the faithfull béeing stirred vpp by the spirite of God doth voluntarilie and of his owne accord do good to all men so farre as his abilitie doeth suffer him will not in any case do hurt to any man not forbecause hee feareth the punishment that in the law is appointed for the disobedient vniuste and wrongfull dealers but forbecause he loueth god And so also he fulfilleth the Iudicial lawe Here I know full well the thou wilt make this obiection and say if the law be fulfilled that the fulfilling thereof hath a place in the Sainctes faithful ones what néeded then I pray you the abrogating of the lawe What néeded Paule and all the best diuines to dispute so largely of the abrogation of the same I wil therefore say somewhat of the abrogation of the law first generallie then by partes peculiarly But first of all
he saith not Let not sinne be in you or in your mortall body but he saith Let not sinne reigne in you or in your mortall bodie But when reigneth sinne Forsoothe sinne reigneth then when wée obey it thorough the lusts thereof that is when we resiste not but doe fulfill the lustes of the fleshe Sinne therefore doth not reigne in our mortall bodie so longe as it is but fealt in the bodie and not obeyed or permitted to rule but rather resisted and trode vnder foote This same sentence doth he expound by an other somwhat more easie to be vnderstood I would not haue you to permit your members to sinne as to a tyraunt to vse them as instrumentes to woorke all vnrighteousnesse I rather require you to giue your selues to bée ruled and gouerned by god For since hée hath set you frée from death brought you to life againe it is requisite that ye should giue your members to God as liuely instrumentes to woorke all righteousnesse And that shall ye bée easilie able to doe because ye are not vnder the lawe but vnder grace Vppon this doth all the rest of that Chapiter depend vnto the end What then saith hée shall we sinne because wee are not vnder the lawe but vnder grace God forbidde Knowe ye not how that to whomsoeuer ye commit your selues as seruauntes to obey his seruauntes ye are to whome ye obey whether it be of sinne vnto death or of obedience vnto righteousnesse But God be thanked that ye were the seruants of sinne but ye haue obeyed with heart the fourme of doctrine into the which ye are brought vnto Being then made free from sinne ye are become the seruauntes of righteousnesse And yet he sheweth that the fréemen of Christ do not abuse their libertie and giue themselues againe to be gouerned by their old tyrannous maister Sinne. For he maketh Sinne and Righteousnesse to bée as it were two maisters and addeth to eche of them the hire or reward that they giue to their seruauntes the one Life the other Death Lastly he saith generallie that we are his seruaunts to whome wée giue our selues to obey Vppon which hée inferreth Being redeemed by the grace of God from the bondage of sinne and from death whiche is the rewarde of sinne we are translated into the bondage of righteousnesse whose reward is life that thereby we may liue For he doth more significantly expresse his meaning in that which followeth saying I speake after the manner of men because of the infirmitie of your flesh As ye haue giuen your mēbers seruaunts to vncleannesse and iniquitie vnto iniquitie euen so now giue your members seruauntes to righteousnesse vnto holinesse For when ye were the seruauntes of sinne ye were free from righteousnesse What fruite had ye then in those thinges whereof ye are nowe ashamed For the end of those thinges is death But nowe ye being made free from sinne made the seruants of God haue your fruit vnto holinesse and the ende euerlasting life For the reward of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life thoroughe Iesus Christe oure lord All this is so plaine and euident that it néedeth no larger exposition of mine And yet in the seuenth Chapiter next following hee doeth by comparison in a parable more fullie expounde all that hée said before The woman saith hée whiche is in subiection to the man is by the lawe bound to the man as longe as hée liueth If while the man liueth shée goe a side to an other she is counted an adultresse But if the man be dead shée may couple her selfe with an other man Euen so I saye wée are dead to the lawe For Christ died for vs and was in his bodie offered vpp to be a sacrifice or oblation to cleanse and purge oure sinnes that we might thenceforth bée vnited and coupled to him and that wée being conceiued and made with childe with his holy spirite maye trauaile bring foorth and be deliuered of an excellent issue holie fruite of good works euen as while we serued sinne were subiecte vnto it as to oure maister wee brought foorth an ill fauoured babe of death I meane iniquitie and wickednesse for the punishing whereof death is appointed and ordeined But let vs now heare the verie woords of the holie and blessed Apostle saying Euen so my brethren wee also are deade concerning the Lawe by the bodie of Christe that wee should bee coupled to an other who is raysed from the dead that wee should bring forth fruite vnto god For when we were in the flesh the lustes of sinne which were by the lawe wrought in oure members to bring forth fruite vnto death But no we are wee deliuered from the law and dead vnto it wherunto wee were in bondage that wee may serue in newenesse of spirite and not in the oldnesse of the letter That place in the eighth Chapiter to the Romanes is vnknowen to no man where he saith The lawe of the spirite of life thorough Christ Iesus hath made mee free from the lawe of sinne and death The manner of this deliueraunce hée doeth immediately after add saying For what the lawe could not doe that GOD did by sending his owne sonne And so forth as followeth For the woordes are sufficiently plaine and vnderstoode of all men In the seuenth Chapiter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians hee saith Yee are bought with a price doe not ye become the seruauntes of men In these woordes the holy Apostle exhorteth seruauntes vnder the colour or pretence of worldly bondage not to committ anye thinge for their earthly maisters pleasure whiche soundeth against sinceritie and is repugnant to pure religion to witt althoughe they bee called by the name of seruauntes yet that they should not obey the wicked lawes and vngodly ordinaunces of mortall men The cause that oughte to pull and draw vs from it is Because we are redeemed and set at libertie by the price of Christes his bloud It would therefore be to to bad and vnwoorthie a thinge if wée contrarie to the effecte of oure libertie should obey the naughtie lawes and ordinaunces of man. This also is extended stretcheth oute to the lawes of men whiche are made in matters of religion For in the fiftéenth Chapiter of the holy Gospell written by the Euāgelist S. Matthewe the Lord and Sauiour sayeth In vaine doe they worship mee teaching doctrines the precepts of men And Let them alone they are blinde leaders of the blinde And the Apostle S. Paul saith If ye be dead with Christe from the rudimentes of the world why as yet liuing in the world are ye ledd with traditions Touche not Taste not Handle not Which all doe perishe in abusing after the commaundementes and doctrines of men which thinges haue a shewe of wisedome in superstition and humblenesse of minde and in neglecting of the body not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh First of all hee sheweth that the faithfull ones
spéeche the fruites of the spirite and of faith both are notwithstanding and are also sayde to bee ours that is to saye the woorkes of faithfull men partely because God worketh them by vs and vseth our ministerie in the dooing of the same and partely because wee are by faith the sonnes of God and are therefore made the brethren and ioyntheires with Iesus Christ For by this right of inheritaunce all the workes of God which are in vs Gods giftes do beginne to be not anothers but our owne and proper woorkes Yea the verie Scripture doeth attribute them to vs as vnto sonnes and fréeborne children For the Lorde in the Gospell saith The seruaunt abideth not in the house for euer the sonne abideth for euer Therefore as all thinges in the fathers house do by right of inheritance and title of proprietie come to the sonne although the sonne hath not gotten them by his owne industrie nor gathered them by his owne labour but hath receiued them by the liberalitie of his parents euen so the workes of God which he doth woorke in vs and by vs which are Gods gifts bestowed vppon vs both are and are saide to be our owne because we are the sonnes of the houshold as it were by adoption and therefore are the lawful heires Wherefore it were the signe of a verie vnthankfull minde for an adopted sonne beeing forgetfull of his fathers beneficence liberalitie to make his bragges that all those goods which hee enioyeth by right of inheritaunce were gotten come by through his owne labour and trauaile Whereuppon Paule saide verie religiously What hast thou that thou hast not receiued if thou hast then receiued it why doest thou yet boast as though thou receiuedst it not Verie well thought the holy martyre of Christe Sainct Cyprian who was wont to saye We should boast of no thing because wee haue nothinge of our owne And to this place belongeth that saying of the Prophet Esaie Shall the axe boast against him that heweth with it or shal the sawe brag against him that draweth it We verily are the instrumentes or tooles of God by which he woorketh For the Apostle saith We are ioyntworkers with God ye are Gods husbandrie ye are Gods building according to the grace which God hath giuen me Therefore according to the meaning of the Apostles writing Sainct Augustine lib. de Gratia et libero arb in the sixte Chapter doth saye When grace is giuen then doe our merites begin to be good and that through grace For if grace bee taken awaye then man doth fall not being set vp but cast downe headlong by free wil. Wherefore when man beginneth to haue good workes hee must not attribute them to him selfe but vnto God to whome it is saide in the Psalme Be thou my helper oh forsake mee not In saying forsake mee not he sheweth that if he bee forsaken he is able to do no good of him selfe So then in these woordes sainct Augustine doeth plainly enough declare that good workes are oures after that sorte that yet notwithstanding they ceasse not to be the workes of God yea that they ought neuerthelesse to bee ascribed to the grace of God that worketh in vs. Nowe by this which wee haue hitherto alledged out of the scriptures touchinge the true originall cause of good workes wee may easily vnderstande howe and after what manner the Scripture doeth attribute righteousnesse vnto oure merites For I haue in another place sufficiently declared and will againe saye somewhat when I come to the treatise of the Gospel that faith not woorkes doeth iustifie vs in the sight of God which is the especiall point and chiefe foundation of the Euangelical and Apostolicall doctrine All our workes generally are either the works of nature or the fleshe or else the workes of the lawe or else the workes of faith or grace Nowe the workes of nature or the fleshe do not iustifie but cōdemne vs Because that which is borne of fleshe is fleshe But the luste of the fleshe is death and enimitie against God. What the Apostle thought and saide touching the woorkes of the lawe I did declare to you in my former sermon By the woorkes of the lawe saith he shal no fleshe be iustified But if we beat out and examin the workes of grace and of faith wee shal finde that they both are and haue béene done by faithfull and iust men Whereupon it is manifest that iustification did alwayes goe beefore the workes of righteousnesse For the iust man doth worke righteousnesse so the righteousnesse is the fruite that the iust do bring forth Man verily is iustified freely by grace and not by woorkes which followe after iustification What may be saide to that where the Scripture saith that euen Abraham the father of all that beléeue was not iustified by the woorkes of grace and of faith He liued 430 yeres before the lawe he beléeued in God and by true faith did most excellent workes and yet by those his woorkes of faith hee was not iustified For Paule doth plainly argue thus If Abraham were iustified by workes than hath he wherein to boast but not before god For what saith the Scripture Abraham beleeued God and it was counted vnto him for righteousnesse To him that worketh is the rewarde not reckoned of grace but of dutie But to him that worketh not but beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse Nowe whereas wee conclude that we also shal bee iustified according to the example of Abraham by faith and not by workes wee ground that conclusion not vppon our owne mindes but vppon the Apostles doctrine who saith Neuerthelesse it was not written for him onely that faith was imputed to him for righteousnesse but it was written for vs also to whome it shal be reckoned if wee beleeue in Christ Touching this matter I haue alreadie disputed in the sixte sermon of the first Decade I verily am persuaded that this doctrine of the Apostles and Euangelistes ought to bee laide vp in the bottome of euery faithfull heart that wee are iustified by the grace of God not by merites through faith not through workes But while wee vrge and repeate this doctrine vnto the people we are saide of many to be the patrones of all naughtinesse and vtter enimies to al good workes and vertues But wee by this our preaching and doctrine of faith which doeth only iustifie do not contemne good woorkes nor thinke them to be superfluous Wee do not saye that they are not good but do cry out vppon the abuse of good woorkes and the corrupt doctrin of good works which is defiled with the leauen of the Phariseis For we teache to do good woorkes but wee will not haue them to be set to sale to be bought I cannot tell in what order of bargaining we wil not haue any man to put confidence in them wee will not haue any man to boast of the giftes of God wee
the first precept thou shalt referre the feare the faith loue of God with assured hope perseuearing patience constancie inuincible in trouble and afflictions To the second belongeth the true and sincere worship wherwith God is pleased with the vtter refusall of all superstition and peruerse religion Vppon the third doeth depende the reuerence of Gods Maiestie the frée confession of his might the holie inuocation of his name and the sanctification of the same In the fourth is comprehended the moderate conseruation of the Ecclesiasticall Ceremonies y preaching of Gods word publique prayers whatsoeuer else doeth belonge to the outward seruice or externall worship due to god To the fifte thou mayest annexe the naturall loue of children toward their parents of men toward their countrie kinese-folkes the due obedience that we owe to the magistrates and all in authoritie and lastly the offices of ciuil humanitie To the sixte thou shalt ioyne iustice and iudgement the protection of widowes orphanes the deliuering of the oppressed and afflicted weldoing to all men and doing hurt to no man To the seuenth thou shalt add the faith of wedded couples the offices of marriage the honest and Godly bringing vp of childrē with the studie of chastitie temperance and sobrietie To the eighth is to bee reckoned vpright dealing in cōtracts liberalitie bountifulnesse and hospitalitie Vnder y ninthe is couched the studie of trueth through al our life time faith in words déeds with decēt honest profitable speach In the tenth and last thou mayest remember good affections holie wishes with all holy and honest thoughts And so this is the compendious platforme of good workes Nowe if thou desire to haue it more briefly expressed than this that thou séest then turne thee selfe hearken to the wordes of Christ our Lord who gathereth these 10. into two principall points saith Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with al thy soul with al thy mind thy neighbour as thy selfe Whatsoeuer therefore yee would that men shuld do to you euen so do ye to thē Vppon these precepts of the Lord let all the faithful which desire to doe good works most surely fixe their eyes and minds that too so much the more diligently and constantly as they doe more surely and euidently perceiue see that God in the lawe the prophets doeth require nothing else nor any other works at the hands of his electe chosen seruants Go to now therefore let vs heare out of the holy Prophets some such euidēt testimonies touching good woorks as do consent wholie agree with the lawe of the lord Moses in Deut. crieth And now Israel what doeth the Lord thy God require of thee but to feare the Lord thy God to walk in al his wayes to loue him to serue the Lord thy God with all thy hart and with all thy soule That thou keepe the cōmandements of the Lord and his ordinances which I cōmaund thee this day And the kinglye Prophete Dauid in the 15. Psalme asketh this questiō Lord who shal dwel in thy tabernacle And presently answereth it himselfe saying Euen hee that walketh vprightly doeth the thing that is iust right And so forth as is conteined in the 10. cōmaundemēts Esaie also in his 33. cap. moueth the same question and answereth it euen so as Dauid had done before him Ieremie in the 21. chap. doth vrge and reiterate these woords to the Iewes Thus the Lord cōmaundeth Keepe equitie and righteousnes deliuer the oppressed from the power of the violent do not greeue nor oppresse the strāger the fatherles nor the widow and shedd no innocent bloud in this place And Ezechiel in his 18. cap. knitteth vp a beadrowe of good workes in no point vnlike to these sauing only y it is somewhat more largly amplified In Osée the Lord saith I desire mercie more than sacrifice the knowledge of God more than whole burnt offerings Micheas doth diligently inquire what the worshipper of God should do to please him with all what workes he should doe to delight the Lord and immediatly by the inspiration of the holy Ghoste he maketh aunswere saying I will shewe thee O man what is good and what the Lord requireth of thee namely to doe iustly to loue mercie and with reuerence to walke before thy God. In like maner the Prophete Zacharie to them that demaunded of him certaine questions touching vertues such good woorkes as please the Lord gaue this answere saying Thus sayeth the Lord of hostes Execute true iudgement shewe mercie and louing kindenesse euerie man to his brother doe the widowe the fatherlesse the straunger and the poore no wronge Let no man imagine euill in his heart against his brother neither bee ye louers of false othes for these are the thinges which I do hate sayeth the Lord. With this doctrine of the Prophets doth the preaching of the Euangelists and Apostles fullie agrée teaching in euerie place that charitie righteousnesse and innocencie are the scoape summe of all good woorkes The Apostle Iames sayeth Pure religion and vndefiled before God and the father is this To visite the father lesse and widowes in their aduersitie to kepe himself vnspotted of the world It remayneth now for me to drawe to an end and in the rest that is yet be hind to be spoken touching the descriptiō of good works to confer places of the Scripture for the confirmation plaine exposition of the same Now therfore we said y good works in déed are wrought by them that are regenerate to the glorie of God the ornamēt of our life and the profite of our neighbour For the Lord in the Gospell prescribeth this end to good works where he saith Let your lighte so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorifie your father whiche is in heauen The Apostle Paul also oftener than once exhorting vs to good woorks doth as a most effectuall cause to sett them forward add That by those workes of ours we may adorne the doctrine of oure Lord and Sauiour Christ Iesus And euen as a comelie and cleanely garment adorneth a man so doe good workes in déede set foorth the life of Christian people For herevppon it riseth that the Apostles of Christe did so often persuade vs to put off the old man and put on the newe which is created to the similitude and likenesse of god For thereby wee obteine both honour and glorie We both are and are called the seruaunts yea and the sonnes of oure Lord and God whose propertie and vertue shineth in vs to the glorie and praise of his holy name And as hée doth require good works at our hands so if we do them we on the one side do please and delight him and hee on the other doeth honour vs againe as may bee proued by many testimonies of the holy Scripture But the thing it selfe is so plaine
intricate places of the holie scripturs which it is hard to coÌ„prehend or define in any certeine order both that many things are vnknowen without the perill of Christian faith and also that in some points men do erre with out any crime of hereticall doctrine But concerning the two men by the one of whoÌ„ wee are sold vnder sinne by the other redeemed from sinne by one we are cast headlong into death by the other wee are made free vnto life because that man did in himselfâ— destroye vs by doing his owne will and not the will of him that madâ— him but this man hath in himselfe saued vs by doing not his owne wil but the will of him that sent him Therfore in the coÌ„sideration of these two men Christian faith doeth properly consist For there is one God and one mediatour of God and man the man Christ Iesus Because there is none other name vnder Heauen giuen vnto men in which they must be saued in him hath God appointed all men to trust raysing him vp from death to life Therefore Christian veritie doubteth not but that without this faith that is without the faith of the only mediatour of God and man the man Christ Iesus without the beliefe I say of his resurrection whiche God hath prescribed to men whiche cannot be truly beleeued without the beleefe of his incarnation and death without the faith therefore of the incarnation death and resurrection of Christ none of the auncient iust men could be clâ—nsed and iustified of God from their sinnes whether they were in the number of those iuste men whome the holy Scripture mentioneth or in the number of those iuste men whom the Scripture nameth yet are to bee beleeued to haue beene either before the deluge or betwixte the deluge and the lawe or in the verie time of the lawe not onely among the children of Israel as the Prophets were but also without that people as Iob was For euen their harts were cleÌ„sed by the same faith of the mediatour and charitie was powred into them by the same holy spirite which breatheth where he listeth not following after merits but euen working the verie merits themselues For Gods grace will not bee by any meanes vnlesse it be free by al meanes Although therefore death reigned from Adam vnto Moses because the law giuen by Moses could not ouercome it For there was no such law giuen as could quicken but such a lawe as whose office was to shewe that the dead to the quickening of whome grace was necessarie were not only ouerthrowen by the propagation and dominion of sinne but were also condemned by the hidden transgression of the verie law it selfe not that euery one should perish that did then vnderstand it in the mercie of God but that euery one being through the dominioÌ„ of death appointed vnto punishment and detected to himselfe by the transgression of the lawe should seeke for the helpe of God that where sinne abouÌ„ded grace might more abound which alone doth deliuer from the body of this death Although therefore the lawe giuen by Moses could not ridd any maÌ„ from the kingdome of death yet in the very time of the lawe were the men of God not vnder the terrifying conuinceing punishing law but vnder the delectable sauing and deliuering grace There were among them some which said In iniquitie was I conceiued and in sinne hath my mother fedd mee in her wombe And so forth For hetherto I haue cited the very words of S. Augustine I haue thus farre spoken of originall sinne of the natiue and hereditarie corruption of our nature which is the first part in the definition of sinne here followeth nowe the latter part to witt the very Action which ariseth of that corruption the actual sinne I say which is so called Ab actu that is an acte or a déede doing For in so much as that corruption whiche is borne together with and is hereditarie in vs doeth not alwayes lye hidd but woorketh outwardly and sheweth forth it selfe doth at last bring forth an imp of her owne kinde and nature which impe is actuall sinne therefore we define actuall sinne to bee an action or woorke or fruite of oure corrupte and naughtie nature expressing it selfe in thoughts words and workes against the lawe of God and therby deseruing the wrath of God. So then by this the cause of actuall sinne is knowen to be the very corruption of mankind which sheweth forth it selfe through concupiscence and euil affections affections intice the will wil being helped with the other faculties in man that worke together with it doth finish actual sinne And that ye may more clearely perceiue that whiche I saye I wish you to note that our minde hath two partes The vnderstanding or reason or iudgement and the will or appetite In the reason are the lawes of nature whereunto must be added the preaching or reading or knowledge of Gods word And nowe as of good woorkes in man there are two especiall causes to witt sound iudgement well framed by the woord of God and a will consenting and obeying therevnto and yet notwithstanding there is principallie to be required the comming to of the holye Ghoste from heauen to illuminate the minde and moue forward the will euen so we may most properly say that actuall sinne is finished when any thinge is of set purpose with aduised iudgement and the consent of our wil committed against the lawe of god And yet to these there doe many times happen other outward causes both visible and inuisible For euill spirites moue men and euill men moue men and other infinite examples of corruption that are in the world Hope seare and weakenesse doe also moue men Augustine Quaest in Exodum 29. sayeth The beginning of vice is in the will of man but the heartes of men are moued by sundrie accidental causes now this now that sometimes the causes are all one the difference is in the manner and order according to euery ones proper qualities which doe arise of euerie seuerall will. Againe in the 79. Psalme he sayeth Two things there are that woorke all sinnes in mortall men desire and feare Consider examine aske your heartes search your consciences and see if any sinnes can be but by desiring or else by fearing Thou aâ—t promised if thou wilt sinne to haue such a reward giueÌ„ thee as thou doest delight in and for desire of the gifte thou crackest thy conscience doest commit sinne And againe on the other side though peraduenture thou wilt not be seduced with giftes yet being terrified with threatnings thou doest for dread of that whiche thou fearest coÌ„mit the iniquitie that other wise thou wouldest not As for example Some one man or other would with giftes corrupte thee to beare false witnesse Thou presently hast turned thee selfe to God and hast said in thy heart what doth it aduantage a man if hee gaine the whole world suffer the losse
whiche cause Paule calleth the Gospell the Preaching of Grace But nowe althoughe the grace of God doth not depend vppon vs or our woorks yet doth it not idlely abide in God as if it were vtterly without vs and altogether farre from vs as the thing that is neither felt nor yet worketh in vs For we vnderstood by the cited testimonies that grace is the fauour of God wherewith hee loueth vs men We vnderstood that men are saued by grace For since God loueth men he would not haue them perish therefore hee hath thorough grace sent his sonne to deliuer them from destruction and that in him the iustice and mercie of God might be knowen to al the world But none are deliuered saue those that beleeue therefore grace hath somewhat whereby to worke in man For by the powring of the holy Ghost into our hearts the vnderstanding will are instructed in the faith To be short Grace as I haue alreadie told you doeth call iustifie saue or glorifie the faithfull so that we must make our account that the whole worke of our saluation and all the vertues of the godly do procéed of the onely grace of God alone whose working we doe at all times acknowledge confesse And that is againe proued both by diuine and humane testimonies Paul to the Romanes sayeth Those which he knew before he also did predestinate and those which he did predestinate he also called those whom he called he also iustified and those whome he iustified he also glorified What shall we then say to these thinges If God be on our side who can be against vs which spared not his own sonne but gaue him for vs how shall he not with him also giue vs all thinges Againe in the first cap. of his Epistle to the Ephcsians he hath referred the whole worke of election and saluation with all the parts therof vnto the grace of god Moreouer the holie fathers in the counsel Mileuentanum amonge whom also S. Augustine was present made this decree touching the grace of god If any mā say that mercie is without the grace of God bestowed from aboue vpon vs beleeuing willing desiring endeuouring studiing asking seeking striuing as of our selues doeth not confesse that euen To beleeue To will and To be able to do all these things as we shold doe is wrought by the powring in inspiration of the holie Ghost if hee ioyne the humilitie or obedience of man as an helpe vnto grace and if hee doth not cōsent that it is the very gift of grace euen that we are humble obedient he is directly cōtrarie to the Apostle who sayeth For what hast thou that thou hast not receiued And By the grace of God I am that I am Thus much say they Now these diuine humane testimonies béeing throughly considered there is none I hope which maye not vnderstand that the grace of God is the same that I told you to wit the fauour and goodwil of the eternal Godhead wherwith he according to his incomprehensible goodnesse doeth embrace call iustifie and saue men fréely for Christ his sake our Lord and Sauiour The blessed man Aurelius Augustine had a sharp conflict with Pelagius the Britton concerning the grace of god For the heretique did by grace vnderstand nothing but the benefite of the creation which as Augustine denied not to be grace so did hevehemētly vrge that the Apostle did especiallie speake of that frée grace wherby without any merite of oures wee are fréely saued for Christ his sake This did he vrge therfore the more earnestly be cause he sawe that the heretique affirmed that his owne humane nature was sufficient vnto him not to do only but also to do perfectly the cōmaundements of God by frée will. But of these matters s. Augustine doth verie largely religiously dispute in his 95. Epistle Ad Innocentium Many of the late writers for teachings sake haue diuided Grace * into Grace that doth things acceptable and * Grace that is gratis or freely giuen Againe they haue diuided it into * working Grace and ioynte working Grace Finallie they part it into * Grace that goeth before and grace that followeth after And the very same writers also reckon vp the operatiōs or effects of grace after this maner almost Grace healeth the soule maketh it first to wil well and then to worke effectuallie y thing that it willeth so it causeth it to perseueare in goodnesse at length to come to eternall glorie But I am not so careful to reckon vpp the sentences of writers to shew you euery ones seuerall opinion whiche both were an excessiue labour and also more than my abilitie is to do as I am willing to cite the places of scripture which is the one and onely rule how to think and how to iudge rightly to shew you therby what the scripture would haue you thinke as I haue in my former treatise of the grace of God both briefly euidently enough I hope declared vnto you And also the discourse of Christe whiche followeth hereafter thorough whome the father hath powred the most excellent heauenly grace into vs shal help to make vp y which sémeth to be wāting here But now before I depart from this argument I thought good to admonish you that the sentences of Gods woord do not iarre among themselues when we doe in sundrie places read heare first that we are saued fréely or by the Grace of God then that we are saued by the loue of God thirdly that we are saued thoroughe the mercie of God fourthly that wee are saued thoroughe Christe fiftly that wee are saued thorough the bloud or death or incarnation of Christ and lastly that we are saued through faith in Christ or in the mercie or grace of god For all these speaches tend to one the same end doe ascribe the whole glorie cause of mans saluation vnto the verie mercie or grace of god The pledge of grace yea and our only Sauiour is the onely begottē sonne of God betrayed vnto death Sincere fayth layeth hold on méere grace in Christ nothing else Nowe therefore hauing thus expounded according to my smal abilitie that which I had to speake in generall of the grace of God I doe heere descend to handle that singular or particular worke of Gods grace which is nothing else but that the mercifull father hath exhibited to vs his sonne in that maner and order as he promised him to vs in the old prophets and that in him he hath fullie giuē vs al things requisite to eternall life and absolute felicitie because hee is the Lord and Messiah or onelye and true Sauiour whiche was incarnate dead raised to life and taken vpp into heauen for vs and our saluation For Christ is both king and high priest that is our sauiour he is the marke the starre and verie Sunne lighte of the preaching of the Gospell Nowe in expounding these
Christ Iesu our Lord the true Messiah either not onely or else not fully all thinges requisite to life and saluation It is a wicked and blasphemous thinge to ascribe either to men or to things inferiour and worse thā men the glorie and honour due vnto Christ The principall exercises of Christian religion cannot by derogating from the glorie of Christe challenge any thing vnto themselues For syncere doctrine doth directly lead vs vnto Christ Prayer doeth inuocate praise and giue thanckes in the name of Christ The Sacramentes doe serue to seale and represent to vs the mysteries of Christ And the workes of faith are done of duetie althoughe also of frée accord because wee are created vnto good works Yea through Christ alone they do please and are acceptable to God the father For hee is the Vine we are the branches So all glorie is reserued vntouched to Christ alone which is the surest note to know the true Gospel by Thus hetherto wee haue heard That God the father of mercies according to his frée mercie taking pittie vppon mankinde when it stucke fast and was drowned in the myre of hell did as hée promised by the Prophets send his onely begotten sonne into the world that he might draw vs out of the mudd and fully giue vs all thinges requisite to life and saluation For God the father was in Christ reconciled vnto vs who for vs and our saluation was incarnate dead raysed from death to life and taken vpp into heauen againe And although it may by all this be indifferently well gathered to whom that saluation doeth belonge and to whome that grace is rightly preached yet the matter it selfe doeth séeme to require in flatt woordes expressely to shewe that Christ and the preaching of Christ his grace declared in the Gospell doeth belonge vnto all For wée must not imagine that in heauen there are layed two books in the one wherof the names of them are written that are to be saued and so to be saued as it were of necessitie that do what they will against the woord of Christ and commit they neuer so heynous offences they cannot possiblie choose but be saued and that in the other are conteyned the names of them which doe what they can and liue they neuer so holilie yet cannot auoyde euerlasting damnation Let vs rather hold that the holy Gospel of Christ doeth generally preach to the whole world the grace of God the remission of sinnes and life euerlasting And in this beliefe wee must confirme oure mindes with the word of God by gathering together some euident places of the holy Scriptures which doe manifestly proue that it is euen so Of whiche sort are these sayinges following In thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed Genesis 22. Euerie one that calleth vppon the name of the Lord shal be saued Ioel. 2. Wee haue all gone astray like sheepe and God hath layed vppon him the iniquitie of vs all Esaie 53. Come to the waters all ye that thirst Esaie 55. There are of this sorte innumerable places in the old testament Nowe in the Gospel the Lord sayeth Euerie one that asketh receiueth and hee that seeketh findeth c. Matth. 7. Come to mee all ye that labour and are heauie loaden and I will ease you of your burthen Matthewe 11. Teach all nations baptisinge them in the name of the father c. Matth. 28 Goe ye into the whole world preach the Gospell vnto all creatures Whosoeuer beleueth and is baptised he shal be saued Marc. 16. So God loued the worlde that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne that euery one which beleeueth in him should not perish but haue eternall life Iohn 3. In the Actes of the Apostles Sainct Peter saith Of a trueth I perceiue that there is no respect of persons with God but in euery nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousnes is acceptable vnto him Actes 10. Paule in the thirde to the Romanes saith The righteousnesse of God by faith in Iesus Christ commeth vnto all and vppon all them that beleeue And in the tenth Chapter he saith The same Lorde ouer all is riche to all them that call vppon him In his Epistle to Titus hee saith There hath appearrd the grace of God that is healthful to all men And in the firste to Timothie the seconde Chapter he saith God wil haue all men to bee saued and to come to the knowledge of the trueth These and suche like are the manifest testimonies wherevppon all the faithfull do firmely staye them selues But now if thou demaundest how it happeneth that all men are not saued since the Lorde would that all should be saued come to the knowledge of the trueth The Lorde in the Gospell doth him selfe answere thee saying Many in deede are called but fewe are chosen Which sentence hee doeth in the fourtéenth of S. Lukes Gospell more plainly expound where he doth in a parable shewe the causes why a great part of mortall men doth not obteine eternal saluation while they preferre earthly thinges transitorie beefore celestiall or heauenly matters For euery one had a seuerall excuse to cloake his disobedience withall one had bought a farme an other had fiue yokes of Oxen to trye the thirde had newly married a wife And in the Gospell after Sainct Iohn the Lorde saith This is condemnation because the light came into the worlde and men loued darkenesse more than the light With this doctrine of the Euangelistes doeth that saying of the Apostle agrée 2. Corin. 4. Chapter And in the first to Timothie the fourth Chapter he saith God is the Sauiour of all men especially of those that beleeue Wherevppon we gather that God in the preachinge of the Gospell requireth faith of euery one of vs and by faith it is manifest that we are made partakers of all the goodnesse and giftes of Christe And verily there is a relatiō betwixt faith and the Gospell For in the Gospell after Sainct Marke the Lorde annexeth faith to the preaching of the Gospell And Paule saith that To him was committed the preaching of the Gospell vnto the obedience of faith Againe he saith The Gospell is the power of God vnto saluation to all them that doe beleeue And in the tenth Chapter to the Romans he doth by Gradation shewe that the Gospell is receiued by faith But that faith may be rightly planted in the heartes of men it is needefull that the preaching of repentaunce do firste goe before For which cause I in the latter ende of the definition of the Gospell added So that wee acknowledginge our sinnes may beleeue in Christe that is to saye the Lorde wil be oure Sauiour and giue vs life euerlasting if we acknowledge our sinnes and do beléeue in him And therefore here nowe may be annexed the treatises of faith and repentaunce Touchinge faith I haue alreadie largely spoken in the 4. 5. and 6. Sermons of the first Decade Concerning repentaunce I wil
hereafter speake in a seueral sermon by it selfe In this place I will onely touche summarily such poynts of repentance as séeme to make for the demonstration of the Gospell Our Lorde Christe Iesus doth in the preaching of the Gospell require faith and repentaunce neither did he him selfe when hee preached the Gospell procéede any other waye For Marke hath Iesus came into Galile preaching the Gospell of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdome of God is at hand repent and beleeue the Gospell Neither did he otherwise instructe his disciples when he sent them to preache the Gospell vnto all nations For S. Luke saith Christ saide to his disciples so it is written and so it behoued Christ to suffer and to rise againe the thirde daye from the dead and that in his name should be preached repētance and the forgiuenesse of sinnes vnto all nations Sainct Paule like a good scholer following his maister in the Actes of the Apostles saith Ye knowe that I haue helde backe nothing that was profitable vnto you but haue shewed you haue taught you openly and throughout euery house witnessing both to the Iewes and also to the Greekes the repentance that is towarde god and the faith that is towarde our Lorde Iesus Christe In his Epistle to the Romanes where he doth compendiousely handle the Gospel he taketh occasion to beginne the preaching thereof at sinne conuincing both Iewes and Gentiles to be subiect therevnto Nowe hee beginneth at sinne to this ende and purpose that euery one descending into him selfe may sée and acknowledge that in him selfe he hath no righteousnesse but that by nature he is the sonne of wrath death and damnation not that suche acknowledging of sinnes doth of it selfe make vs acceptable vnto God or else deserue remission of sinnes and life euerlasting but that after a sorte it doth prepare a waye in the mindes of men to receiue faith in Christe Iesus and so by that meanes to embrace Christ Iesus him selfe who is our only and absolute righteousnesse For the hoale néede not the Physician but suche as are sicke and diseased They therefore whiche thinke them selues to be cleare without sinnes and righteous of them selues do vtterly reiect Christ and make his death of none effect but on the other side they that féele the diseases of the mynde and do from the bottome of their heartes confesse that they are sinners and vnrighteous not putting any trust in their owne strength and merites doe euen pant for the haste that they make to Christ which when they do then Christe doeth offer him selfe in the Gospell promisinge vnto them remission of sinns and life euerlasting as he that came to heale the sicke and to saue repentant sinners But the promise is receiued by faith and not by woorkes therefore the Gospell and Christ in the Gospel are receiued by faith For wee must diligently distinguishe betwirte the precepts and the promises The promises are receiued by faith the preceptes are accomplished by workes Wherevppon Paule is read to haue saide If the inheritaunce be of the lawe then is it not nowe of promise But god gaue Abraham the inheritaunce by promise The same Apostle to the Romans conferring the lawe and the Gospell together doth saye The righteousenesse which is of the lawe doth say whosoeuer doeth these thinges shall liue by them But the righteousenesse of faith doth saiye if thou beleeuest thou shalt be saued The lawe therefore is grounded vppon workes wherevnto it séemeth to atttribute righteousnesse But because no man doth in woorkes fulfill the lawe therefore is no man iustified by works or by the lawe The Gospell is not grounded vpon works For sinners acknowledge nothing in them selues but sinne and wickednesse For they féele in them selues that they are wholie corrupted and therefore they flée to the mercie of god in whose promises they put their trust hoaping verily that they shall freely obteine remission of their sinnes and that for Christ his sake they are receiued into the number of the sonnes of God. I would speake more in this place concerning faith in Iesus Christ the remission of sinnes and the inheritannce of life euerlasting if I had not alreadie in the sirste Decade declared them at large Here by the way ye haue to remember that the Gospell is not sincerely preached when ye are taught that we are made partakers of the life of Christe for our owne desertes and meritorious woorkes For wee are fréely saued without respect of any workes of ours either first or last And although I haue oftener than once handeled this argument in these Sermons of mine yet beecause it is the hooke wherevpon the hindge of the Euangelicall doctrine whiche is the doore to Christe doth hang and that this doctrine to wite That Christe is receiued by faith and not by workes is of many men verie greatly resisted I will for the declaration and confirmation sake thereof produce here two places onely but suche as be apparant enough and euident to prooue and confirm it by the one out of the Gospell of Christ our Lorde the other out of Paules Epistles Our Lorde Iesus Christ being about to teache briefely the waye to txue saluation that is to preach the gladd tydinges of life vnto Nichodemus in the Gospell after Saincte Iohn doth firste of all beginne at repentaunce and doth wholie take Nichodemus from him selfe leauinge him no merites of his owne wherein to put his trust For while hee doeth vtterly condemne the firste birth of man as that which is nothing auailable to obteine eternall life what doeth hee I beeséech you leaue to Nicodemus wherin he may bragge or make his boaste For he doth expressely saye Verily verily I say vnto thee vnlesse a man bee borne from aboue he cannot see the kingdome of god If the firste birth and the giftes thereof were able to promote a man to the kingdome of God what neede then shoulde he haue to bee borne the seconde time The seconde byrth is wrought by the meanes of the holye Ghoste which beeing from heauen powred into oure heartes doth bring vs to the knowledge of our selues so that wee may easily perceiue assuredly knowe and sensibly féele that in our fleshe there is no life or righteousenesse at all and so consequently that no man is saued by his owne strength or merits What then The Spirite forsooth doth inwardly teache vs that which the sounde of the Gospell doeth outwardly tell vs that We are saued by the merite of the sonne of God. For the Lorde in the Gospel saith No man ascendeth into heauen but hee that descended from heauen the sonne of man that is in heauen For in an other place he doth more plainely saye No man commeth to the father but by mee And againe to Nicodemus he saith As Moses did lift vpp the Serpent in the Wildernesse so muste the sonne of man be lift vp that euerie one which beleeueth in him shuld
our owne For this is the glorie of the sonne of God that vnder Heauen there is none other name giuen vnto men in whiche they must bee saued Herevppon it is that Paule saide Christe is made of none effecte to you who soeuer are iustified by the Lawe ye are fallen from Grace And againe I doe not despise the grace of god For if righteousenesse bee of the Lawe then did Christe dye in vaine If hee dyed in vaine then is the glorie of Christe his Crosse perished The thirde cause is the certeine and assured reason of oure saluation Our saluation should bee vtterly vncerteine if it did depende vppon our woorkes and merites who because of oure naturall corruption vnlesse wee bee beside our selues doe saye or ought to saye with Iob If I haue any righteousenesse I will not aunswere but humbly beeseeche my Iudge Therefore did Paule verie rightly saye If the inheritaunce bee of the Lawe then is faith voide and the promise made of none effecte Therefore is it of faith as according to Grace that the promise may bee firme to all the seede The fourth cause is because by this doctrine especially there is repayred in vs the image of GOD to the likenesse whereof wee were at the firste created For by faithe Christe dwelleth and liueth in vs who is also delighted in our humilitie But then is the image of the diuell stirred vpp in vs when wee beginne once to bee proude in our selues and to vsurpe the glorie of God whiche is done vndoubtedly so often as wee doe attribute our righteousenesse and saluation vnto oure selues as though by oure owne woorkes or merites wee had deserued the kingdome of god The diuell swelleth with pride and doth his indeuour to robbe God of his glorie The Saintes do knowe and acknowledge that they are saued by the true grace and mercie of God and doe therefore attribute to him all honour and glorie and to them selues confusion and ignominie Wherevnto vndoubtedly belongeth the parable in the gospell of the Phariseie boastinge in his good workes and of the Publicane praying and saying God be mercifull to me a sinner of whiche twayne the Publicane is read to haue gone heauie to his house rather iustified than the other The fifte cause is the value or estimation of the sinne For that semeth to be no greate faulte which may by mennes workes be blotted out before god But the holy scripture teacheth that sinns could be by none other meanes cleansed but by the death and innocent bloude of the sonne of god Nowe by that euery man that hath anye vnderstandinge may easily gather that sinne in the sight of GOD is a moste abhominable and detestable thinge Wherevpon there doeth arise in the faithfull Sainctes a carefull and diligent watchinge against sinne and a continuall bewaylinge of oure miserable condition with a passinge humilitie and exquisite modestie I coulde yet add to these some causes more why al men ought to stâ—iue endeuour to kéepe this doctrine that the Catholique church iâ— iustified by the grace of God in his only beâ—otteÌ„ sonne through faith not through workes sincere and vncorrupt in the church of Christe but these I hope are sufficient for them that are not of purpose set to quarell against vs And yet notwithstanding there is no perill why by this doctrine good woorkes should be neglected of which I haue spoken in place conuenient But if there be any that ceasse not of purpose to cauil against the manifest truth of the Gospell I obiect against them that saying of Paule that neither wee nor the churches of God do stand to wrangle in so manifest a light To conclude the summe of all that which hitherto I haue saide touching the Gospell is this that al men that be in the world are of their owne nature the seruauntes of sinne the diuell and eternall death and cannot be loosed or set at libertie by anye other meanes but by the frée grace of God and the redemption which is in the onely begotten sonne of God our Lorde Christe Iesus Of which redemption they onely are made partakers that doe beléeue and trust in him For whosoeuer doe by true faith receiue Christ Iesus through the preaching of the Gospell they are therewithal iustified that is acquited from their sinnes sanctified and made heires of eternall life But they that by their vnbeléefe and hardnesse of harte do not receiue Christe are giuen ouer to the eternall paines and bondes of hell For the wrath of God abydeth vppon them Let vs therefore giue hartie thankes to God our redéemer and humbly beséech him to kéepe and increase vs in the true faith and lastely to bring vs to life euerlasting Amen ¶ Of Repentaunce and the causes thereof of Confession and remission of sinnes of satisfaction and indulgences of the olde and newe man of the power or strength of men and the other thinges perteining to Repentaunce The Seconde Sermon I Promised in my last Sermon that I made of the Gospell of IESUS Christe to adde a discourse of RepeÌ„taunce which by the helpe of GOD and your good prayers I purpose in this Sermon for to perfourme They amonge the Latines are sayde to repent which are agreeued at or ashamed of the thing that they haue done Thou hast done a good turne and thinckest him vnworthie of it for whome thou hast done it and for that cause arte sorie to thy selfe that sorrowe of thine is repentaunce Wee Germans call it Denriiwen The Gréekes doe name it Metanoeam Nowe they which are skilful of y toung saye that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth to bethinke afterwarde so that Metanoea is there properly vsed where a man hauing once slipped by dooynge some thing foolishelye doth notwithstanding at length come to himselfe againe and verily purpose to correcte his owne errour It is theÌ„rfore referred not to the thought of the minde onely but also to the deed done For he that perceiueth that he hath offended doth deuise with himselfe how to amend it So now the thing beginneth to displease thée which before did please thée so nowe thou eschuest the thing that before thou ensuedst Moreouer the Hebrues call Repentaunce Theschuah that is a conuersion or returning to the right way or minde againe The Metaphore séemeth to bée taken of them whiche once did straye from the right path but doe againe at lengthe returne into the way Which word is translated to the minde to the maners and déedes of men But nowe this word is diuersly vsed For Repentaunce signifieth the chaunging of the purpose once conceiued or of any other thing For by Ieremie the Lord sayeth If they turne from euill I will also repente mee of the euill whiche I ment to lay vppon them Therefore God doth then repent when he chaungeth his purpose he repenteth not when he doth not alter it Paule sayeth The giftes and calling of God are without repentaunce And Dauid said The Lord hath sworne and will not
satisfie him if so bée that thou canst Yea if he demaundeth not and thou doest sée thy brother to be in danger charitie againe commaundeth thée to admonishe him that is so in daunger and to handle him as a brother For Paule to the Galathians sayeth Brethren if a man be preuented in any fault ye whiche are spirituall restore such an one in the spirite of meckenesse considering thee selfe least thou also be tempted Beare ye one an others burthen and so fulfill the lawe of Christ But this belongeth nothing to confession therefore wee returne to our purpose againe Thus muche haue wée hetherto said touching the confession of sinnes which God hath instituted Now wee will annexe somewhat touching the confession of sinnes that men haue ordeyned That confession also is of two sortes the one is publique rituall or ceremoniall whiche for the most part they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The other is priuate or secrete is called Auricular I call the publique confession Rituall not so much because it is the acknowledging or confession of sinne as for that it is the penitentiall action for the sinne committed For Isidore the bishoppe Libro Etymol 6. Cap. 18. sayeth Exhomologesis is the discipline of prostrating and humbling men in habite in huing to lye in sacke and ashes to deface the bodie with filthe to mourne lament with a sorrowfull minde and thorough sorrowe to amende that wherein they sinned before These woordes of bishop Isidore I would not haue recited vnto you déerely beloued who is an authour not very famous vnlesse I had séene the same woordes in a manner to bée read in the booke whiche Tertullian wrote of Repentaunce and vnlesse I had found an example thereof in Eusebius who in the fifte booke and last Chapiter of his Ecclesiasticall historie sayeth Natalis the martyre being seduced by heretiques and at leng the vnderstanding his errour riseth vpp in the morninge and putting on a sackecloth sprinckling himselfe with ashes and with many teares bewayling his errour casting himselfe prostrate at the feete of Zephyrinus the bishoppe and all other not Clearks onely but Laye-men also with great lamentation and exceeding sorrowe prouoked all the congregation with earnest and continuall prayers to request of Christe Iesus to pardon his offence Touching the rites of repentaunce I will hereafter speake Nowe this rituall or ceromoniall Repentaunce as it was vsed amonge them of old appeareth not to haue béene cōmaunded of God that whosoeuer at this day committeth any sinne should be compelled presently to confesse it openly in such sorte as they were wont to doe it For where is it read that such penaunce was inioyned to the sinnefull or adulterous woman that is mentioned in the Gospell Many other sinners are receiued by Christe into the grace of GOD without such outward penaunce For it is very well knowen howe Christ dealt with Matthew with Zacheus with Peter that denied him and with many other Therefore wée doe not amisse beléeue that the old bishoppes and priestes did inuent that publique kind of penance for disciplines sake and that they of their times might haue lesse libertie to sinne Truely Hermius Sozomenus Salaminius that notable writer of the Ecclesiasticall historie in his seuenth booke and sixtéenth Chapiter sayeth In the beginning it pleased the priestes that as it were in a theatre where all the congregation might beare record of the same the sinnes of offenders should bee openly published Loe héere hee sayeth It pleased the priestes Hée addeth also that there was a Priest appointed to whome they that sinned should come and confesse their sinnes and should heare of him the penaunce to wit what they should doe or how they should abye for their transgression Immediately after he describeth the manner of penaunce in the Romane Church vsed And to that againe hee addeth that in the Church at Constantinople there was a priest appointed to heare penitents whiche office remayned still till at the length a certaine Gentlewoman whiche for the sinnes that she had confessed was inioyned by such a penitentiarie to fast and to pray to God and thereby haning occasion to be long in the church was at last bewrayed to haue played the whore with a deacon For which cause the priestes were euil spoken of But Nectareus the bishop deuising how it were best to deale with such a gréenous crime depriued the deacon that had done the sinne of his deaconshipp And for-because some persuaded him to leaue it free to euery one according to his owne conscience and confidence to come to the communion of the mysteries hée did quite take away the office of that penitentiarie priesthoode and euer since that time hath that coūsel giuen to Nectareus preuailed and doth euen to this day indure And so foorth The same in the beginning of the Chapiter sayeth Nectareus the bishopp of Constantinople did first take out of the church the priest that was appointed to heare the confession of penitents whome all the other bishoppes did in a manner followe Thus farre hée But the bishop Nectareus would not haue abrogated that Exhomologesis being so holy a man as in déede hee was if hee had vnderstoode that it had béene instituted by God himselfe neither had it béene lawefull for him to haue abrogated it Therefore hee knewe euen as Sozome doeth also confesse that by the counsell of the bishoppes that order of penaunce was vsurped in the Church Neither doe wée read that Iohn Chrysostome who succéeded Nectareus and was a very diligent and seuere bishopp did euer restore that rituall penaunce whiche his predecessour had abrogated before him For in the 31. Homilie vppon S. Paules Epistle to the Hebrues hee writeth I bidd thee not to bewraye thee selfe openly nor yet to accuse thee selfe to others but I will haue thee to obey the holy Prophete who sayeth Open thy waye vnto the lord Therefore confesse thy sinnes before GOD the true and vprighte Iudge with prayers for the imurie committed not with thy tongue but with the memorie of thy conscience And then at lengthe beleeue that thou mayest obteine mercie if thou hast it in thy mind continually And so forth Againe vppon the 56. Psalme If thou art ashamed to tell thy sinnes to any man because thou hast sinned yet saye them daily in thine owne heart I bid thee not confesse them to thy fellowe that hee should vpbraid thee tell them to thy God who doth regard them If thou tellest them not God is not ignoraunt of them for he was at hand when thou didst them And againe in an other place hee sayeth I bring thee not forth into the theatre of thy companions I compell thee not to discouer thy sinnes vnto mortall men Rehearse thy conscience before God and declare it vnto him Shewe thy woundes vnto the Lord thy best Physician and aske of him a salue for the same Againe Take heed that thou tell not a man of thy sinnes least he
should they amonge the heathen say where is their God To these diuine euident preceptes let vs annexe that notable exaÌ„ple of the truly repentaunt Niniuites out of the holy scriptures of whome y holy Prophete Ionas hath left this in writing The men of Ninâ—uee beleeued God and proclamed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of theÌ„ vnto the least of them And word came to the king of Niniuce which arose from his throne and put off his robe couered himselfe in sackcloth and sat downe in the ashes Moreouer by the kinges coÌ„maundement proclamatioÌ„ was made throughout the whole citie saying Let neither maÌ„ nor beast taste any thing neither feede nor yet drincke water but let both man and beast put on sackcloth crie mightily vnto God yea let euery man turne from his euill way from the wickednesse that is in his haÌ„ds Who can tell whether God wil turne be moued with repentance turne froÌ„ his fierce wrath that we perish not And now it is good to heare howe effectuall true repentaunce is in the sight of the lord Therfore it followeth in the same chap. And God saw their works that they turned from their euil wayes he repented of the euill which he said he would do to them and did it not And here also derely beloued ye must note y repentance is of 2. sorts to wit priuate or secrete publique or manifest Euery one doth secretly to himself repent priuately so often as when he hath sinned against god he doth desceÌ„d into himself and with the candle of gods word doth search al the corners of his hart confesse to God al his offences being greued that he hath offended him yet doth turne vnto him beléeuing verily that he wil be reconciled vnto him in Christ his sauiour for his sake doeth vtterly hate sinn entirely loue righteousnes and innocencie in following them so néere as he can The publique or solemne repentance is vsed in great calamities in dearth in pestilence warre and of the repentance it is that the prophet Ioel speketh whose words ye heard a litle afore And yet priuate repentance is in many points all one with the publique For Peter wéepeth bitterly priuate peniteÌ„ts do fast priuately absteine seuerely euen from all alowed pleasures much more then from the allurements and baits of the world But they y do truly repent either publiquely or priuately both do must specially hate coloured hypocrisie vaine ostentation Moreouer both kinds of repentance are frée voluntarie not extorted or coacted but proceding of a willing mind The pastour of the Church teacher of the truth I confesse doth seuerely call vpon al sinners without delay to repent themselues truly for their sinns coÌ„mitted but yet he doth by expresse lawe lay vppon no mans necke any precise order prescribing that time maner place or number but leaueth it frée to euery ones choice so that they do the thing that is decent according to the prescript rule in the word of god But publique repeÌ„tance is for the most part wont to be proclamed openly receiued of the whole coÌ„gregation so often as pietie requireth it and necessitie coÌ„pelleth it doth out of the word of God therewithal declare what how al things must be done decently ordered Againe it is manifest y there are 2. sortes of repentaunce more For there is true repentance false repentance The true repentance is y whiche doth exercise that is regenerate by the spirite of God is without all colour craft coÌ„teyning in it al those things that I haue hetherto told you off The scriptures conteined in the old new testament do minister to vs many examples of true repentance which I haue at large layd forth vnto you in y that I haue alreadie spoken Those examples are excellent which we find of our parents Adam Euah of the people of Israels often repenting in the 33. of Exod. in the booke of Iudges and the bookes of Kinges Yet more excellent than the rest is that of Dauid in the 12. cap. of the 2. of Samu and 1. Par. 21. And that of Manasses Iosias 2. Re. 33. 34 In the Gospell also we haue to sée the examples of Matthewe ZachÄ™us the sinneful woman Peter beside other more that here for shortnesse sake I do wittingly passe ouer But false or couÌ„terfeit repentance procedeth of a feigned hart though at a blush it séeme to haue the circuÌ„stances of true repentance yet for because it wanteth a turning to God and a sound confidence in him it is vnsincere and vtterly false For of al other it is most certaine that the repentaunce of Iudas Iscariote was false and counterfeite and yet he confessed his sinne hee bare record to the trueth and did with much anger and sorrowe restore to the priests the price which he toke for y innocent bloud but because he did not wholie turne to Christ put his whole confidence in his mercie and goodnesse all his repentance was without al fruit And without all profite doe hypocrits and those that are without the faith of the Gospell torment themselues and make a shew of outward repentance But they are most happie and in an heauenly case that do with al their heartes truely repente with faith vnfeigned for they receiue infinite goodnesse of their most bountifull and liberal God who is at-one againe with penitents and doeth nowe loue them that before he did for their sinnes most hartily and yet most iustly hate and abhorre The punishments also whiche he determined to lay vppon them he turneth into benefites For he doth fill and as it were loade penitentes with all maner good thinges both temporall and eternall Now ye vnderstood déerely beloued by my former sermons that God bestoweth so great benefites vpon vs not for our works of Repentance but for Christ his sake in whom alone the Saincts doe trust not putting any confidence in their workes of repentaunce how holy and commendable soeuer they be For in so much as the father loueth Christe that wée by faith are graffed in him God doeth therefore loue vs and oure works doe please him which workes of ours when he doth recompence hee crowneth not our works as our owne works but crowneth in vs the grace which hee himselfe hath giuen vs Againe it must néedes be that vnrepentauntes are most vnhappie They heare with what sinns and transgressions they haue offended God prouoked his iuste vengeaunce against themselues but therewithall they thinke not howe to preuent the wrath of God being readily imminent to take vengeaunce of them nor howe to obteine his fauour againe What else therefore doeth remaine behinde for them but a most certeine and iust destruction both of body and soule of all their goods and whatsoeuer things else they doe most estéeme in this transitorie life It is good héere to call
holy Ghost had y comforter present in their mindes went reioycing from the presence of the counsel bicause they were counted worthy to suffer reproch for the name of Christe So we read in the Ecclesiasticall historie that the martyrs of Christ being full of the holy Ghost euen in extreme torments and moste bitter deaths were most patient and sange prayses and gaue thanks vnto GOD. Furthermore we haue heard that the holy Ghoste is called of the Lorde the spirite of trueth For in an other place also hee beautifieth him with that name for he saith When the cōforter shall come whome I will send vnto you from the father euen the spirite of trueth which proceedeth from the father hee shall beare witnesse of me And he is called the spirite of trueth bycause there is an other hypocriticall spirite an erronious and lying spirite in the mouth of all false Prophetes This our spirite worketh in his worshippers sinceritie gentlenesse of mynde and integritie Those he teacheth all trueth For our Lorde elsewhere in the gospel sayth That comforter whiche is the holy Ghoste whome the father will send in my name he shall teache you all things and bring all thinges to your remembraunce what so euer I haue sayde vnto you Therefore the spirite of trueth hath taught the Apostles all trueth that is to be beléeued and all godlinesse and they haue deliuered the same fully to the Church For the holie Ghost driueth away all errours destroyeth all heresies confoundeth all Idolatrie and vngodlinesse and poureth true faith into our heartes and establisheth true religiō in the Church The Actes of the Apostles affoorde vs verie many of examples By this spirite of God the Apostles foretolde things to come shadowing out amōg other things Antichrist and the corruption of this oure last age and admonishing the Church least the elect shoulde be intangled in errours and blasphemous wickednesses Now he is called the spirit of promise for that he was promised of god by the Prophetes through Christ to the Fathers to the apostles and to al that beleue the apostles doctrine and was at length also through the same Christe fully giuen and perfourmed This worde putteth the godly in mynde that they shoulde not ascribe the hauing of this so great and healthfull a gift to their merites but to the méere grace of god And the holie Ghoste is graunted yea giuen vnto vs by the promise of god Wherevpon it followeth that all the giftes of God are fréely giuen which thing the Apostle Paule principally proueth and earnestly beateth into our heades in his epistles specially to the Romanes and the Galathians In Luke the Lord sayth If I with the finger of God cast out diuels no doubt the kingdome of God is come vpon you Saint Matthewe rehearsing the same wordes sayth If I by the spirite of God cast out diuels thē is the kingdome of God come vpon you Therefore the holie Ghost is called the finger of god to wit the might and power of god Men of occupations worke with their fingers God worketh his workes by his diuine power I meane by his spirite whose power is so greate that euen his little finger giue me leaue so to speake surpasseth all the power and strength in the worlde That appeared in those Sorcerers of Egypt Didymus rehearseth a parable touching the vnitie of the diuine substaunce and admonisheth diligently and conueniently that we should not for corporall things forge and feigne vnto our selues a corporall meaning of spirituall things For he sayth But beware lest thou being cast downe vnto base things doest imagine in thy mynd diuersities of corporall actions and begin to forge to thy selfe magnitudes and inequalities and other members of the body greater and lesser saying that the finger from the hand and the hand from him whose hand it is doth differ by many inequalities bycause the scripture doth now speak of bodylesse thinges purposing to shewe the vnitie onely and not the measure of substance also For as the hand is not diuided from the body by the whiche it worketh and bringeth all things to an end and is in him whose hand it is so also the finger is not separated frō the hand whose finger it is Therefore away with inequalities and mesurings when thou thinkest of God and vnderstande the vnitie of the finger of the hande and of the whole substaunce by which finger the lawe was written in tables of stone Thus farre he Now the holie Ghost is read as wel in the writings of the Prophets as also of the apostles to be shadowed out by water and a liuely or continuall running founteine I will poure out sayth the Lord by Esaie waters vppon the thirstie and riuers vpon the dry ground And anon by interpretation he addeth I will poure my spirite vpon thy seede and my blessing vpon thy stocke And in the Gospell the Lord sayth If any mā thirst let him come vnto mee and drinke Hee that beleeueth in me as sayth the scripture out of his bellye shall flowe riuers of water of life To which in way of exposition the holie Euangeliste addeth But this he spake of the spirite whiche they that beleeue in him should receiue Surely water maketh barren groundes fruitfull cleanseth things defiled giueth drinke to them that be thirstie and cooleth them that are in a heate so the grace of the holy spirit maketh barren myndes fruitfull to bring foorth fruite to the liuing god By the selfe same grace our harts are cleansed from all vncleannesse the same quencheth the thirst of the soule and comforteth it when it is afflicted and fulfilleth all the desires thereof Fire is simple and pure and some bodies it consumeth and othersome it purgeth making them more fine and cleane It warmeth also and hath many profitable and necessarie operations in man Therefore the holy Ghoste is rightly shadowed out vnto vs by fire For he is pure and simple he consumeth the vngodly cleanseth the faythfull from the filthinesse of sinnes and maketh them to burne with the loue of God and their neighbour setting them on fire doubt lesse with the fire of his loue When he was giuen to the Apostles in the day of Pentecoste there was heard a sound as it had bene with the force of a mightie winde comming by which thing was signified that the doctrine of godlinesse shoulde be spread throughout the whole worlde by the power of GOD and wonderfull successe maugre the might of the whole world setting shoulder against the same all in vaine For the wind no man staying it bloweth through the whole world pearceth all places and no mā can keepe it out it hath also wonderfull effectes in bodies to chaunge thē And the holie Ghost pearceth al thinges softneth mens hearts and of froward stubborne and rebellious he maketh most lowly modest and obedient men Fierie toungs appeare vpon the heades of the Apostles and disciples indued
and the benefites receiued at his hand Herevnto is referred a great part of the psalmes wherof part perteine to inuocation or calling vppon God and some ferue to teache or instruct some to declare or expound whereof at this present there is no place to speake Paule the blessed Apostle of Christ acknowledging these parts of prayer writing to the Colos sayeth Continue in prayer watch in the same with thankesgiuing And to the Philippians Let your requestes be shewed vnto God in prayer supplication with giuing of thankes And againe vnto Timothie I exhort therfore sayth Paule that first of all prayers supplicatioÌ„s intercessions giuing of thanks be made for al men Kinds of prayers are these There is a priuate prayer of euerie faithfull man there is also a publique prayer of the whole church Priuate prayer is made vnto God by euerie faithfull man in what place soeuer either in the house or without dores in the closet of his heart temple of his owne bodie For S. Peter went vp into the vppermost part of the house and prayed S. Pans sayeth I will therefore that the me pray euery where lifting vp pure hands And Christ our Lord himselfe verie often departed euen out of the temple into the mount to pray And in the Gospel hee sayeth When thou prayest enter into thy chamber and when thou hast shutt thy dore pray to thy father whiche is in secrete Publique prayer is that which is vsed of the church whiche is made vnto God in the holy assemblie according to the accustomed order of euerie churche Nowe the pastours duetie is as Paule also admonisheth in the 1. Tim. 2. and wée in the last Sermon before this haue rehearsed to gather together instruct and preserue the assemblies in whiche supplications or common prayers are made And they are greatly to bee blamed who are more negligent in this behalfe than becommeth them neither are they in déede to be suffered which séeldome or neuer teach diligently and are cold in stirring vpp a desire in men to pray Men by nature are slow and slacke in the studie of religion and therefore we haue néede of a sharpe spurre And the charge and office of stirring vpp and prouoking is committed to the pastours of churches The prophets somewhere crie Blowe out the trumpet in Sion assemble a congregation For in a holy congregation thrée thinges are chiefly vsed the teaching of the Gospel faithfull prayers and religious celebration or administration of the Sacraments And sometimes there is a collection made for the reléeuing of the poore and of the church The holie Scripture wittnesseth that these thinges are not instituted at the will and pleasure of man but by the authoritie of God yea and immediatly after the first beginning of thinges and that they were also vsed of the most holy worshippers of god Of those most auncient patriarchs both which were first before the floud and which followed immediatly after there is no doubt since the scripture plainly witnesseth of Iacob himselfe the nephue of Abraham that he exected an altar in Bethel whervnto he assembled his whole household though it were excéeding great and there offered sacrifice vnto god In Moses time by the law in most euident commaundements he instituted holy assemblies Yea in the 10. commaundements he diligently coÌ„maundeth to sanctifie the sabboth day which also compreheÌ„deth holy assemblies The holy prophets of God do euerie where praise and commend the ecclesiasticall assemblies of Gods people Neither did Christ our Lord disallow them wheÌ„ he came in the flesh For as in the most notable assemblies and feastes hee taught with great diligence euen so he gathered and assembled together both the people and also his disciples whome he specially commaunded that they should not depart from Hierusalem but waite for the promise of the father which thing when they were gathered together into an assemblie and in prayer we read in the Actes to haue béene performed There also the assemblie of the faithful is coÌ„mended to vs as appeareth both in the 11. and 14. cap. of the 1. epist. of Paul to the Corin. Those supplications which the same Paule commaundeth to bée made for all them that are set in authoritie are made chiefly in holy asseÌ„blies Truely Plinie an heatheÌ„ author writing to Traianus the Emperour doth make verie manifest mention of holy assemblies Holie assemblies had of old time verie excellent promises as we may sée in the prayer of Solomon whiche is described vnto you in the first booke of the Kinges the 8. cap. And at this day the church of Christ hath promises nothing inferiour to them Christ our Lord saying I say vnto you that if two of you shall agree in earth as touching any thing that they shall aske it shal be done for them of my father whiche is in heauen For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of them Behold the Lord him selfe is in the middst of the assemblies of saincts And where the Lord is there is both plentie and the treasure of all good things And therefore experience it selfe which we haue of matters teacheth that the supplications of the church are effectuall For the Lord heareth the prayers of the church and deliuereth from euil those whose safetie the church commendeth vnto him We haue oftentimes had experience that they which were in extreme daunger haue found verie present helpe euen at the same instant wherein the congregation hath offered their prayers to the Lord. Moreouer the example moueth verie many otherwise hard hearted and barbarous For they sée the deuout godlines of the holy congregation and the feruencie of the faithful in assemblies are thereby moued so that entring into themselues they acknowledge that they are miserable desire to be partakers of this fellowship according to the saying of S. Paul. If therfore wheÌ„ the whole church is come together in one and all speake straunge tongues there come in they that are vnlearned or they whiche beleeue not will they not say that ye are out of your witts But if all prophecie and there come in one which beleueth not or one vnlearned he is rebuked of all men is iudged of all And so are the â—ecrets of his heart made manifest and so he wil fall downe on his face and worship God and say plainely that God is in you in deede With what confidence therefore and howe shamefully dare some set light by holy assemblies and not onely set light by them but also scorne at them as if they were assembled together without any profite at all Dauid in his banishment maketh complaint of nothing so much as that hee was compelled to wander in the wildernesse and was shutt out from holy assemblies For hee promiseth the Lord hee wil enter into his holie congregation if euer he be restored againe Verily when the Lord sayeth in
Iesus Christe And whereas in euery place almost they adde Not by the lawe not by ceremonies or other rituall obseruationes do wee thinke that they will admitte Sacramentes to the partaking of suche power and vertue séeing they be cōprehended vnder rites and ceremonies and so accounted Christian faith doeth attribute the grace of GOD remission of sinnes sanctification and iustification fully and wholely to the frée mercie of God to the merite of Christs passion yea in suche sorte doth Christian faith attribute these spirituall benefites vnto it that beside it nothing at all is admitted to take parte with it Therefore whereas Lombard saieth That sacramentes haue receiued power to conferr or giue grace by the merite of the passion of Christe it is of his owne foarging For as Christ giueth not his glorie to any either saint or mortall man muche lesse to a creature without life euen so he that beléeueth to be fully iustified by the death and resurrection of the Lord séeketh no further grace and righteousnesse in any other thing than in Christe only vpon whom he stayeth whome also by faith he féeleth in his hart or minde alreadie to exercise his force by the holy Ghost For herevnto perteyne those sayinges in the Gospel Goe in peace thy faithe hath saued thee And also He whiche drinketh of this water shall thirst againe but whosoeuer shall drinke of that water which I shal giue him shall neuer thirst c. To this perteineth the saying of Paule also Therefore being iustified by faith we are at peace with God thorough our Lorde Iesus Christ By whome also we had an entraunce by faith vnto this grace wherein wee stande and reioyce in hope of the glorie of God. I am not ignorant of the craftie sleightes of some who imagine there is a certeine generall also a speciall faithe The generall faithe they call that whereby we beléeue that we are truely iustified by the deathe and resurrection of Christe but that they call a speciall faith whereby we béeléeue that by the sacramentes and by our owne worke the gyfts of GOD are applied particularly to euery one of vs one by one But to what purpose was it béeing in a lande where they might bee fedde with Manna to looke backe to the potage pottes and vnsauourie léekes of Egypt What I pray you haue Christians to doe with the distinctiōs of subtile sophisters or how will they proue this distinction of theirs vnto vs Verily there is but one faith and the same is no other in the vse of the Sacraments than it is without the vse of them Without the vse of them we beléeue that wee are sanctified by the death and resurrection of Christ In baptisme and the Lordes supper we practise no other faithe than wherby we beléeue that we are purged from our sinnes by the grace and mercie of Christe and that by his body giuen for vs and his bloud shed for vs we are redéemed from deathe and become heirs of eternal life Not the Sacramentes but faithe through the holy Ghost applyeth these thinges vnto vs whiche thing all the writinges of the Apostles doe witnesse but suche feigned gloses do obscure and darken To be shorte there is one GOD and Sauiour of all one Saluation one Redemption and purging one faith whereby wee receiue Saluation offered vnto vs of GOD in Christe through the holie Ghoste The same is declared or preached vnto vs in the worde by the minister and is represented and sealed by the Sacramentes And now who knoweth not that Paule the Apostle in all his writinges onely laboureth to proue that those that beléeue are iustified by faith in the Lorde Iesus and not by any workes Againe who is ignoraunt that the receiuing and celebration of sacramentes are also counted among our workes Wherevnto I will add this that Sacramentes giue not that whiche they haue not themselues but they haue not grace and righteousnesse and heauenly gyftes therfore they doe not giue them But hence springeth vppe another disputation for vs to handle whether the grace of GOD and a certeine heauenly power be put in or included in the Sacramentes and as it were conteined in them so that from them it might be conueyed into the receyuers The whole rable of Priestes and monkes as well in worde as in déede haue bewrayed them selues that they thinke That in the bare signes there is heauenly grace included yea and that God himselfe is comprehended in them For from no other founteine sprang their carefull disputations concerning That the mouse eateth when it eateth the Sacrament of the bodie of Christe Pope Innocent Libro quarto De Sacramento altaris Capite vnde cimo sayth Miraculously doth the substaunce of bread returne againe not that bread which was turned into flesh But it cōmeth to passe that in sted of it other bread is miraculously created which bread is eaten c. Behold here is a certein wittie miraculous kinde of diuinitie I passe ouer of purpose many other whiche are of this kinde And herevnto that by crossinges and certeine secret words gestures and breathings they consecrate the water of baptisme all which things they beautifie with the name of blessinge And among other thinges they sing thus God by the secrete mixture of his light make fruitefull this water prepared to regenerate men with-all that beeing sanctified and borne againe of the immaculate wombe of the heauenly founteine it may come foorth a new creature Let this holy innocent creature be free from all the assaultes of the aduersarie Let him not intrap it in his snare Let it become a liuing founteine a regenerating water a purifying riuer that all that are dipped in this wholesome lauer the holy ghost working in thē may atteine to the excellencie of perfect purificatiō Wherfore ô thou creature of water I blesse or coniure thee by the liuing God by the true God by the holy god by the god which in the beginning feparated thee by his word from the drie lande c. Againe breathing thrice on the water he forthwith vttereth these wordes Thou O Lord blesse with thy worde these waters which make request vnto thee that beside their natural cleannes whiche in washing they may giue to our bodies they may also be effectual to purifie our soules Then the priest taketh a burning waxe candle and putteth it thrice in the water consecrated to baptisme saying Let the power of the holy Ghost come down into this plentifull founteine He addeth And let it make the whole substance of this water fruitefull with the fruite of regeneration And so foorthe All these thinges they vnderstande and expounde to be spoken simplie and without tropes or figures whiche euidently enough declareth what these men attribute to holy or consecrated water and howe they thinke that in the signes the holy thinges themselues are conteyned Aboute this matter Bonauentura hathe woonderfully busied himselfe who in his writing In 4. Magistri
that by a certeine heauenly couenant it is so appointed by GOD that sacramentes shoulde haue grace in themselues and should from themselues as by pypes conuey abroade the water of grace vnto those that are thirstie that is alledged without warrant of the Scripture and is repugnaunt vnto true religion As by those thinges whiche haue hitherto béene handeled and disputed of doeth as wee thinke sufficiently appeare wherevnto also we adde this The holy and elect people of God are not then firste of all partakers of the first grace of God and Heauenly gyftes when they receiue the Sacramentes For they enioy the thinges before they be partakers of the signes For it is plainely declared vnto vs that Abraham our father was iustified before he was circumcised And who gathereth thereby that iustification was not exhibited and giuen vnto him by the sacrament of circumcision but rather that that righteousnesse whiche he by faith before possessed was by the Sacrament sealed and confirmed vnto him And moreouer who wil not thereof gather that we whiche are the sonnes of Abraham are after no other manner iustified than it appeareth that our father was iustified and that our sacramentes worke no further in vs than they did in him especially since the nature of the sacramentes of the people of the olde Testamente and ours is all one Whereof I will speake a little afterwarde more at large when I expound the place of the Apostle in the fourth to the Romanes The Eunuche of whome I spake euen now out of the Actes as he iournyed and sawe water he said to Philip See here is water what letteth me to be baptised Philip sayde vnto him If thou beleeuest with all thy hart thou maist And he answered and saide I beleeue that Iesus Christe is the sonne of God. Afterward immediately it followeth And they weÌ„t down both into the water he baptised him The Eunuche sayeth the Euangelist beléeued with al his hart that is to to say truly without dissimulation Nowe let vs sée what the Scripture saith concerning suche a faith S. Iohn the Apostle Euangelist saith Who so euer beleeueth that Iesus is Christ is borne of God. He againe saith Whosoeuer confesseth that Iesus is the sonne of God in him dwelleth God and he in GOD Also Paule that elect vessel and doctour of the Gentiles sayth If thou shalt knowledge with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt beleeue in thine hart that God raysed him from the dead thou shalt bee saued And againe Saint Iohn sayth in his Epistle He that beleeueth on the sonne of God hath the witnesse in him self And this is the record how that God hath giuen vnto vs eternall life and this life is in his Sonne He that hathe the Sonne hathe life and he that hath not the Sonne hath not life Briefely of all these thinges this wee gather The Eunuche beléeued before he receiued baptisme therefore before he receiued baptisme he was borne of God in whome he dwelled and God in him hee was iust and acceptable in the sight of God and moreouer he had also life in himselfe and therefore the baptisme whiche followed did not giue that to the Eunuch which he had before but it became vnto him a testimonie of the trueth a seale of the righteousnesse whiche came by faith and there withal to assure vnto him the continuance and increase of God his gyftes After the same maner we reade of Cornelius the Centurion in the same Actes of the Apostles that he beléeuing the preaching of the Apostle Peter receiued the holie Ghost also in a visible shape as the Apostles did at Hierusalem in the day of Pentecoste And that Peter when he knewe that thing sayde Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptised whiche haue receiued the holy Ghost as wel as we For asmuche therefore as Cornelius with his housholde receiued the holy Ghoste before they were baptised it is manifest that he did not obteine the holie Ghoste as giuen firste by baptisme or with baptisme Againe we reade in the Actes of the Apostles They that gladly receiued the woorde of Peter were baptised Therefore before they were baptised of Peter they had obteined the grace of God through faith For why I pray you doe we baptise our Infantes Is it because they beléeue with their hart and confesse with their mouthe I thinke not Do we not therefore baptise them because God hathe commaunded them to bée brought vnto him because he hath promised that he will be our GOD and the GOD of our séede after vs To be short because we beléeue that GOD of his méere grace and mercie in the bloud of Iesus Christ hathe cleansed and adopted them and appointed them to bee heires of eternall life We therefore baptising Infantes for these causes doe aboundantly testifie that there is not first giuen vnto theÌ„ in baptisme but that there is sealed and confirmed whiche they had before Let vs also ioyne vnto these thinges a testimonie of the Supper of the Lord. The Apostle teaching how the Godly shoulde prepare them selues to come to the Lordes Table sayth Let a man proue him selfe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this Cuppe But to examine or proue signifieth to search as muche as lyeth in man the harte or minde and thoroughe diligent inquisition to sifte ones conscience And GOD is sayde â—o proue our nartes And the same Apostle willeth vs To proue what is the good acceptable wil of God. But this proofe cannot be without knowledge iudgement y knowledg iudgement of Christians is faith therfore whosoeuer proueth himselfe before hee come to the Supper hath faith If he haue faith then he wanteth not those thinges that are coupled with faithe and therefore in the Supper those heauenly benefites are not firste receiued but thankes are giuen for those that are receiued I haue hereby shewed and proued I suppose that Sacramentes doe not conferre grace They obiect I know well enoughe against these thinges who are persuaded that sacraments giue grace and conteine included within them the thinges signified that wee doe euacuate and make of none effect the Sacramentes and that wee teache that the faithfull receiue in them or by them nothing but bare water and bare bread and wine and that by that meanes GOD by vs is accused of falshode and lying Wee briefely answere If they set voyde or emptie thinges as I may so say againste full thinges so as they bee voide or emptie whiche haue not the thinges themselues included in them truely I had rather confesse them to be voide than full But if they call them voide or emptie and meane prophane or vnholy thinges that is to say whiche differ nothing from prophane signes if by bare they vnderstande thinges of no force we openly professe that we haue sacramentes whiche are holy and not prophane effectuall and not without force
Iohn Baptist and requireth to be baptised of him in Iordan And when he refused and said I haue need to bee baptised of thee and comest thou to me he heareth Suffer it to be so nowe For thus it becommeth vs to fulfill all righteousnesse Certeinely righteousnesse giueth to euerie man that which is his own Faith therefore which is the righteousnesse of Christians giueth glory to God and beléeueth that he being wonderfull wise doth wil well vnto men and therefore that he hath instituted nothing vnprofitably but all things for the saluation of his faithfull ones a faythfull man therefore vseth all the institutions of God without any reasoning or gainesaying Neither is there any here I think that will say that this dode of Christ parteyneth nothing to him whereby vndoubtedly he layd before vs an example to followe Yea that which he him selfe did he willed other also to doe when he sent his disciples forth and sayde Goe into the whole world and preach the Gospell to all creatures baptising them in the name of the father c. He which shall beléeue and be baptised shall be saued where truly he ioyneth together both fayth and baptisme whiche to abide vpon he would not haue done if Sacramentes were superfluous there where fayth is Whereby it manifestly appeareth that they are wrong as farre as heauen is wyde whiche thinke that Sacramentes are indifferent that is to say a thing put to our owne will and choyce eyther to vse or not to vse For as we haue heard already a flat commandement concerning baptisme so the Lord instituting and celebrating the supper sayth Doe this in the remembrance of me He therfore that despiseth these commaundements of God I sée not howe he can haue fayth whereby he should be inuisibly sanctified Hitherto belongeth nowe that whiche the faithfull prince of Acthiopia confesseth that he beleeued with all his hart in the Lorde Iesus yet neuerthelesse as soone as he sawe water he sayde Beholde heere is water what letteth me to be baptised He doth not saye I beléeue with all my hart I féele that I am instified and cleansed why then shoulde I be washed with water hauing no filth remayning Therefore wheresoeuer true fayth is there Sacramentes are not contenined or refused but more desired For Cornelius the Centurion also after he had receyued the holie Ghoste doth not gainesay Peter who sayde Can any man forbid water that these shuld not be baptised which haue receiued the holy Ghost as well as we Peter was a faithfull preacher of the Gospell a skilfull teacher of the trueth therefore he dereiueth no man and he teacheth vs by his owne déede that fayth doth then specially prouoke vs to be partakers of the Sacraments when it is true in the faithfull To whome Paule his fellowe-minister agréeth saying Let euerie one proue himselfe and then let him eate of this breade and drinke of this cup but that prouing is made by faith therefore not faith but vnthankfulnesse doth contemptuously reiect the Sacraments Truely I am not ignoraunt that verie many withoute the vse of visible Sacraments haue beene sanctified and at this day also are sanctified but none of those despised or contemned them They were not partakers of the Sacraments being therevnto driuen by necessitie as there be at this day some that are helde captiues vnder the tyrannie of Antichrist and the Turk and for the time beléeue with their whole heart in the Lord Iesus Therefore the examples of these or suche like are no defence for them which may receiue the Sacraments if they regarded the ordinaunces of God and set so muche by them as of duetie they should doe I will note here for the singular benefite of the readers S. Augustines dispufation bycause it maketh notably for our purpose He Quaest lib. in Leuit. 3. cap. 84. sayth It is demaunded not without cause whether inuisible sanctitication do profite nothing without visible Sacraments wherewith a man is visibly sanctified whiche withoute doubt is absurde For more tollerably it may be sayde that this sanctification â—s not without them than that it dothe not profite if it be without them since in sanctification all their profite conuÌ„teeth But we must also weigh this how it is rightly saide that without y Sacramentes sanctification can not be For visible baptisme did nothing profite Simon Magâ—s to whome inuisible sanctification was wanting but by cause this inuisible sanctification profited them that had it in like manner they whiche were baptised receyued also the visible sacraments And yet neither is it shewed where Moses himself was sanctified with visible sacrifices or oyle who notwithstanding did visibly sanctifie the priestes but who dare denie that he was inuisibly sanctified whose grace was so great surpassing and excellent This also may be sayd of Iohn Baptiste For he was first a baptiser before he was séen to be baptised whervpon we can deny by no means that he was sanctified yet we do not find that that was visibly wrought in him before he came to the ministerie of baptising This also may be verified of the théefe crucified with Christe to whome the Lorde sayde as he hong with him on the crosse To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise For he coulde not haue béene partaker of so great felicitie vnlesse he had béene inuisibly sanctified Whereby wegather that inuisible sanctification hath bene present with some and profited them without the visible sacraments and that visible sanctification whiche is wrought by visible Sacramentes may be present without this inuisible sanctification but yet maye not profite vs Yet neuerthelesse the visible Sacrament is not therefore to be contemned For the contemner therof â—an by no means be inuisibly sanctified Hereof it is that Cornelius and they that were with him whon they did now appeare to be inuisibly sanctified by the holy Ghoste poured into them yet notwithstanding they are baptised neyther is visible sanctification which had inuisible sanctification going before it counted superfluous Thus farre he With this disputation an other question also hath some affinitie or likenesse which is Whether Sacraments depend vpon the worthinesse of the ministers and whether they be hindred in their force by the vnworthinesse of the ministers Cyprian more than in one place doth contend That they can not baptise which want the holy Ghoste which errour springeth herevppon for that he attributeth too muche to the ministerie of baptisme He doth thinke that men are purified or cleansed by baptisme so that therby he dothe gather that an vncleane person can not purifie or cleanse and therefore not baptise and that the baptisme of an vncleane person is not baptisme from whence he deriueth Anabaptisme or rebaptising But if that holie man had rightly and religiously distinguished betwéen power and ministerie betwéene the signe and the thing signified betwéene the outwarde and inwarde sanctification he had vndoubtedly vnderstoode that we are inuisibly sanctified by the méere grace of God
wil not receiue it Furthermore since by experience we finde euerie day the there are many thinges wanting vnto our faithe by meanes whereof diuerse vices spring vppe among vs whereof our vnworthines is the hightest or lest of all which the Lord of his grace may easily washe away almost wipeth away by sending his crosse vpon vs not imputing such infirmities to vs to our condemnation For the Apostle in another place â—aith that there is no condemnation for them whiche are graffed into Christ Iesus walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Neither with equall punishment doth our most iust lord punish these sundry sortes of vnworthinesse Let vs therefore sée what the blessed Apostle teacheth vs concerning the punishmente of those y eate vnworthily Therefore he sayth Who so eateth this bread or drinketh of the lords cup vnworthily the same shal be gyltie of the Lords bodie and bloud By whiche wordes verily he meaneth that chiefe and moste â—owle vnworthines of al other to wit vnbeléefe For he is guiltie of the lords body bloud to whom the fault of the lords death is imputed that is to say to whome Christes death becommeth death and not life as it also happened vnto them who through vnbeléefe wickednes did crucifie Christ For vnto them Christes bloud séemed prophane as it had béen the bloud of some beast murtherer or wicked person as being worthily 〈◊〉 for his offences And I pray you what else doeth he thinke than the Christes bloud is prophane who beléeueth not that the same was shed for the sinnes of the worlde And yet he dareth take part of the lords supper the he may worthily be saide to be guiltie of the Lords bodie bloud It is a verie great offence to eate the Lords bread and to drinke of his cup vnworthily through vnbeléefe which thing by the example of Iudas is laid before our eyes He beléeued not in the Lord Iesus yea he inuented howe to deliuer him into the hands of théeues and murtherers yet neuerthelesse he sate down to meate tooke part of the Lords supper therfore in the end the diuel worthily chalenged him wholy vnto him For S. Iohn witnesseth that about the end of the supper the diuell entred into Iudas not the he was not in him before that he came to the supper for he had begonne before to dwell in him to stir him forward but for that after so many admonitioÌ„s of our lord Christ after that he had prophaned the mysteries of Christ as it were troden them vnder foote he wholy entred into him and fully possessed him The same Apostle Paule threateneth damnation to them that make no difference of the Lords bodie who are placed as it were in another degree of vnworthinesse saying For who so eateth and drinketh vnworthily eateth and drinketh his owne damnation The reason hereof he setteth down in this sentence to wit why we wee oughte not rashly and carelesly to come to the Lords table for that we approche then to our condemnation But condeÌ„nation or iudgment is the paine or punishment which the Lord laieth vpon his faithfull people when they sin not in another world truly as he doth vpon the vnbeléeuers but in this world For it followeth in the words of the Apostle which ministreth vnto vs the same sense For this cause many are weake and feeble among you and many slepe For if we had iudged our selues we should not haue bene iudged But when we are iudged we are corrected by the Lord that wee should not bee condemned with the world The Apostle plainelie distinguisheth betwéene the vnworthie eaters that are subiecte to Gods correction worldly men that is to say vnbéeléeuers whose punishment the Lord deferreth to that other world but vpon his faithful people who yet offende through the negligence come to the supper not sufficiently instructed he layeth diuers sundrie afflictions as pestilence famine sicknes such like to shake off their drousinesse For it foloweth If we had iudged our selues that is if we our selues had restrained our vices separated our selues from euil we had not bene iudged that is to say punished and corrected For immediatly he addeth But when we are iudged we are chastised of the Lord. To bee iudged therefore is to be chastised But hereby we learne from whence there do flow so many mischiefes into the Church to wit by the vnworthie vse of the Lords supper But some man wil answer here if the matter be so it were better wholy to absteine from the lords supper But if any absteine wholie he also therby sinneth againste the Lorde and that grieuously For hee setteth at nought the Lordes commandement who saieth Do this yea he setteth at nought both the Lords death and all the gyfts of god Wherefore he hath not escaped daÌ„ger who hath omitted to celebrate the supper which thing also we haue said before Thou must go an other way to worke if thou desire to auoide both danger sin Heare the counsel of Paule very coÌ„pendiously saying Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of that bread and drinke of that cup. And wee muste mark that in this examination he sendeth no man to another but euerie man to him selfe The Papistes bidd thée Goe to an auricular confessour there to confesse thy selfe to receiue absolution and to make satisfaction for thy sinnes accordinge to the fourme that is coÌ„maunded thée And so they bid thée as sufficiently clensed to go to the Lordes table But Paule the doctour of the gentiles and the vessell of election speaketh not a word of those things but saith simply Let a man examine himselfe so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For like as God is the searcher of the hartes requireth the affection of the minde hateth hypocrisie so none knoweth what is in the hart of man or what affections wee beare to godward but we our selues do therfore he willeth vs our selues to examine euery thing in ourselues that is to say he willeth euerie man to descend into himselfe and to examine him selfe This examination cannot bee made without faith and the light of gods word But the faithfull man haueing the light of Gods worde shining before him and faith extendinge her force and power inquireth of himselfe whether hee doth acknowledge al his sinnes whiche he hath manifoldly committed against God and whether he be sorte for them being committed and whether with sincere fayth of hart he beleeue that Christ hath washed away and forgiuen al his sinnes and whether he confesse fréely with his mouth as he beléeueth in his hart that life saluation consisteth in Iesus Christ onely and in none other whether he haue determined with himselfe to die in this confession and whether he meane diligently and earnestly to applie himselfe to innocencie and holines of life and whether he be readie to loue helpe all the