The righteous shall neuer be remoued And so certaine is the saluation of the righteous that the booke of the liuing is the booke of the just eternall glorie is the crowne of righteousnesse the rising againe vnto glory is the resurrection of the just And as justice containeth all those vertues which haue reference to our neighbour so the reward of it is the heape of all rewards namely blessednesse For as the Scriptures testifie blessed are those that worke righteousnesse and not onely they but those also which hunger and thirst after righteousnesse are blessed Wherefore seeing not onely in this place but elsewhere also in the Scriptures eternall life is promised to those that worke righteousnesse the consideration of this reward ought to be a motiue to prouoke and stirre vs vp to the exercise of justice Which I do not speake to this end as though the workes of justice were to be performed with that mind as that we should hope thereby to be justiâ—ied before God or by them to merit eternall life for that is an opinion sacrilegious and blasphemous against Christ whose justice alone apprehended by faith justifieth vs before God and maketh vs accepted vnto eternall life In respect of which justice we are to esteeme all our owne merits if we had any as dung that we may gaine Christ and may be found in him not hauing our owne righteousnesse which is of the Law but that which is by the Faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God through faith And therefore if we desire that the workes of righteousnesse which we do performe should be acceptable vnto God they are not to be performed to that end that we might by them attaine to justification or saluation for good works performed to that end are glorious sins but in doing the workes of righteousnes these ends are to be propounded First in respect of God that we may glorifie him for which end we were elected created redeemed regenerated For by the workes of righteousnesse God is glorified Herâ—in saith our Sauiour Christ is my father glorified that ye beare much fruit For which cause Paul prayeth for the Philippians that they might be filled with the fruit of righteousnesse which are by Iesus Christ vnto the glorie and praise of God Neither is God glorified in vs alone but in others also which are the witâ—esses of our good deeds Therefore Christ exhorteth vs so to let our light shine before men that they seeing our good workes may glorifie our father which is in heauen And Peter likewise counselleth vs so to haue our conuersation honest among the Gentiles that by our good workes which they shall see they may glorifie God in the day of the visitation Secondly that we may testifie our thankfulnesse vnto God for all his benefits bestowed vpon vs and may auoid the punishment which is due to vnthankfulnes For whereas the Lord in lieu of all his benefits both temporal and spirituall as election vocation redemption regeneration expecteth at our hands these fruits alone of holines and righteousnes assuredly it were vnthankfulnes vntollerable if either we should be barren of good fruits or bring forth euill fruit For wherefore hath the Lord elected vs that we might be saued howsoeuer we should liue No but he hath elected vs that we should be holy and without blame before him in loue Why hath Christ redeemed vs from the hand of our spirituall enemies that being freed from them we might sinne the more freely No but that being deliuered from the hand of our spirituall enemies we might worship him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the dayes of our life Wherefore hath he freed vs from the seruitude of sinne that we might haue freedome to sin No he hath freed vs from sinne that we might be the seruants of righteousnesse and being now freed from sinne and made seruants vnto God we haue our fruit in holinesse and the end euerlasting life Why did he beare our sinnes in his body vpon the crosse that we liuing in sin should not die for them No he bare our sinnes in his body on the tree that we being deliuered from sinne might liue in righteousnesse Wherefore doth he regenerate vs by his spirit and as it were create vs anew that we should doe nothing our selues NO Wee are the workmanship of God created in Christ Ksus to good workes which God hath prepared that we should walke in them Why doth hee bestow his temporall benefits vpon vs that like well pampered horses we should kicke against our Lord and Maister No he crowneth vs with his manifold blessing to this end that we might keepe his statutes and obserue his lawes For what else doth the Lord require of thee which art the people of God in lieu of all his mercies but to feare the Lord thy God to walke in all his wayes and to loue him and to serue the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule that thoukeepe the Commandements of the Lord and his ordinances which he commaundeth thee for thy wealth Let vs remember that we are trees of righteousnesse which the Lord hath planted in his garden that is his Church that we may bring forth the fruit of righteousnesse But if he shall come to seeke fruit as euery yeare he commeth and shall find none howsoeuer he may forbeare for a time yet at the length he shall cut downe the vnfruitfull trees for he cannot abide that they should cumber the ground and make it also barren Let vs remember that we are the branches of the vine which if we be vnfruitfull the Lord wil cut off Let vs consider that the axe is layd to the root of euery tree that euery one which bringeth not forth fruit may be cut off and cast into the fire Againe in respect of our neighbour we are to worke righteousnesse that we may helpe him either with the benefit or the example of our good worke For the benefit of justice belongeth to others For whereas other vertues are referred to the good of him that hath them justice onely seemeth to be the good of another man for justice attendeth the duty of one man to another but in other vertues is attended the duty of the inferiour faculties vnto reason as one saith But thou mayst helpe thy neighbour also by the example of thy good worke For when thou goest before thy brother with the light of thy good example thou shalt gaine him vnto Christ if he be not already wonne vnto him that he also may glorifie God in the day of the visitation Or if he be already ingrafted into Christ by thy good example thou shalt edifie him and as the Apostle testifieth of the Corinthians thou shalt prouoke him to good workes Lastly we are to performe the workes of righteousnesse in respect of our selues
as being both profitable and necessary forts profitable First because by them we may make sure our calling and our election as Peter teacheth they being so many testimonies vnto vs thereof True indeed it is that we were elected without respect of workes and we are called by grace not according to workes we are justified by faith without workes and by grace we are saued through faith and not by workes But if a man would know whether he be elected called justified and shall be saued as we are bound to giue diligence that we may haue a firme knowledge of these things we are not to pry into the secret counsell of God but we are to examine our selues by our fruits for both we and others are to be discerned by our fruits As our Sauiour saith by their fruits you shall know them do men gather grapes of thornes or â—igges of thistels a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit By the fruits therefore of righteousnes we may euidently discerne our selues to be sanctified And none are sanctified but such as first are justified and whosoeuer are justified are effectually called and none are effectually called but such as are elected and none are elected but such as shall be saued To this purpose Iames sheweth that the faith whereby we are justified must be demonstrated by good workes And Iohn affirmeth that by the the loue of our brethren which is all one in effect with righteousnesse we know that we are translated from death vnto life Againe good workes are profitable because they haue the promises both of this life and of that which is to come They are also necessary not as the causes of our justification and saluation as though we were either justified by them or saued for them but as necessary fruits of faith and testimonies of our justification according whereunto the sentence of saluation shall be pronounced for although vnto the act of justification good workes do not concurre as any causes thereof yet in the subject that is the partie justified they concurre as fruits of our faith and consequents of our justification For as breathing is such a fruit or consequent of life as where that is we judge the body to liue where that is not we judge it to be dead so is the exercise of righteousnesse and performance of good workes such a consequent of faith as that where good workes are the faith is liuely where they are not at all the faith is dead They are necessary also in respect of saluation not as the causes thereof but partly as the way for we are his vvorkmanship created vnto good workes which he hath prepared for vs to walke in them and therefore they are fitly sayd to be Vni regum non causa regnandi The way to the kingdome not the cause of reigning and partly as the euidence according vnto which the Lord proceedeth in judgement to the sentence of saluation Come you blessed of my father sayth Christ the judge inherit you the kingdome prepared for you from the foundations of the world For I was an hungrie and you gaue me meat I thirsted and you gaue me drinke c. It is most certaine that Christ our Sauiour by his obedience hath merited and purchased eternall life for all those that beleeue in him according to the maine promise of the Gospell that whosoeuer beleeueth in him shall be saued By that righteousnes and obedience of Christ apprehended by faith not by or for any righteousnes inherent in vs or obedience performed by vs are we made sonnes heires of God entituled vnto the kingdome of heauen acquitted from our sinnes and accepted vnto eternall life Notwithstanding seeing all that be in the Church professe themselues to beleeue whereof many deceiue either themselues with an opinion or others with a profession of faith therefore the Lord proceedeth vnto judgement according to the fruits either of faith or infidelity taking for granted that in those who are members of the true visible Church where good workes are there is faith and where are no good workes there is no faith And therefore it behoueth vs as we desire either to haue assurance of our saluation whiles we liue here or to heare the comfortable sentence of saluation pronounced to vs in the day of judgement so to be carefull to demonstrat our faith by good workes And hereby it appeareth against the malicious slaunder of the Papists that although we deny good workes to be meritorious of euerlasting life yet we do not teach men to cast off all care and well doing Now for the auoiding of errour Whereas the workes of righteousnesse are made a proper note of the sons and heires of God we are first to restraine this part of the Lords answer to that subject whereof Dauids question is propounded namely to those who liue in the true visible Church and professe the name and religion of God Of these because there be many hypocrites and vnsound professors among them Dauid desireth to be informed who are the true professors The Lord answereth He that worketh righteousnesse and so by his good workes doth demonstrat his faith There are many workes materially good to be found not onely among heretickes and idolatours as the Papists but also among Turkes and Pagans But we speake not of those that are without for they are not within the compasse either of Dauids question or Gods answer And secondly we are to know that all works in respect of the matter or the thing done seeme to be good workes are not straightwayes the workes of righteousnesse neither doth he which performeth them alwayes worke righteousnesse For it is not a good and a true worke of righteousnesse indeed vnlesse it proceed from the right fountaine vnlesse it be done in a right maner and to a right end As touching the fountaine it is a good rule of Gregory That the streames of righteousnes towards our brother must be deriued from the fountaine of pietie towards God For we loue not our brother aright vnlesse we loue him in and for the Lord and we cannot loue him in and for the Lord vnlesse we loue the Lord much more and we loue the Lord because we are by faith persuaded that he loueth vs first his loue being shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost and we cannot beleeue in God and Christ our Sauiour vnlesse we know God aright and vnderstand the mysterie of our saluation by Christ. If therefore we be ignorant persons we haue no faith if we be vnfaithfull persons we haue no true loue or feare of God nor any other sanctifying grace If we haue no true loue of God we haue no true loue of our brother For euen as the loue of God seuered from the loue of our neighbour is hypocrisie so is the loue of our neighbor seuered from the loue of God counterfeit The good workes therefore that are done either by an ignorant
the lesse if it be his owne than the greater if it be anothers For although manslaughter be a more grieuous sinne than theft yet it is worse to steale than to be killed Secondly he thatlyeth that he may not be forced to whordome or some other sinne to auoid an vncertaine sin he runneth into a certaine Thirdly neither may they be sayd to commit sinne vpon whom whordome is enforced against their will for they do but receiue wrong whereas the others which enforce them do commit the sin Neither is whordome which is enforced vpon another against their will in respect of the sufferer a corruption but a vexation For the mind remaining vncorrupt the body is not corrupted Who therefore seeth not whether a man ought rather to auoid the permission and suffering of another mans sinne which he cannot hinder or the doing of his owne 4. But what if by my lie I may further the saluation of my brother may I not lye in that case as for exāple of an hereticke to make a true Christian and to reclaime a heathen man from paganisme to Christianitie Neither may we lie in this case as Augustine proueth at large for when as the Priscillianists who were a pernicious sect of heretiks did so cloke their heresie that they could hardly be discouered diuerse professors of the truth faining themselues to be Priscillianists denied the true faith that they might insinuat themselues into the company of the Priscillianists that so they might be discouered and reclaimed to the profession of the truth This fact of theirs Augustine condemneth Neither doubteth he to affirme that the professors of the truth that they might discouer the heretickes did lie more perniciously or at lest more dangerously than the heretickes did lie in couering their heresie from them And againe farre be it from a Christian saith he that he should deny and blaspheme Christ to the end that he might make another man a Christian Et percando quarrat inueniendum quemsi tale doceat perdat inuentum And by casting away himselfe seeke to find another whom being found be shall also if he teach him such doctrine cast away For if this once be granted That it is lawful to lie for thy neighbours good yea for his saluation all faith will be abolished for thou shalt not bee able to say any thing wherein he may not thinke that thou doest lye for his good And that it is not lawfull to lie for the saluation of men hereby it is euident Because we may not lie for Gods cause Iob. 13 For whosoeuer will lye for God he shall be found guilty of false witnesse against God And thus it appeareth that we may lye for no cause 1. And that we may abide firme and resolute in this truth let vs first hold this as a firme principle in Diuinity We may not do cuill that good may come thereof For those that say we may their damnation is just But to lye is to doe euill as hath bene proued therefore we may not lye that good may come thereof Yea but say they actions are to be esteemed according to their end Therefore to lye to a good end is good That is true in things which be in their owne nature indifferent but lying is in it owne nature euill and vnjust 2. We are to consider that we are not to lye for our owne life or safety otherwise Peter had not offended when being in feare of his life he lied saying that he knew not Christ and therefore we are not to lye for the life or safety of another 3. Euery lie is pernicious if not to the neighbour yet to the speaker For euery lie is cōtrary to the vertue of truth and therfore is a lye contrary to the law therfore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sinne or transgression of the law and euery transgression of the law maketh vs subject to the cursse of the law Therefore the lye which in respect of the neighbor is officious in respect of the speaker is pernicious Therefore no lie is lawfull What then will you say is the truth alwayes to be professed 2. That is the other question Whereunto I answer That the truth is neuer to be denied that an vntruth is neuer to be affirmed and yet notwithstanding the truth is not alwayes to be professed For the profession of the truth is sometimes necessary sometimes free and in our owne choice sometimes vnseasonable Necessary when as the consideration of Gods glorie our neighbors good or our owne duty requireth it at our hands As first in causes spirituall when a man is called to an account of his faith and religion for then the Christian Apologie and constant profession of the faith is necessary 1. Pet. 3. 15 Be ready alwayes to giue an answer to euery man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you For as with the heart we beleeue vnto righteousnesse so with the mouth we confesse vnto saluation He that confesseth me saith Christ before men him will I confesse also before my father which is in heauen But whosoeuer shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my father which is in heauen In causes ciuile as in the place of judgement when as a man is lawfully called as a witnesse to testifie the truth For then as we are forbidden to beare false witnesse so are we commanded to beare witnesse to the truth The profession of the truth is vnseasonable when as there being no necessity of vttering it in respect either of Gods glory our neighbors good or our owne duty it is joyned with our own or our neighbours danger or harme for then the truth may yea must be concealed either in whole or in part It is free and in our owne choice when it is neither necessary nor vnseasonable for then we may either professe it or conceale it And herein as in all other Christs action must be our instruction For whē as he was conuented before the Priests and Pharisies whom he perceiued to offend of prepenced malice he would answer nothing to their demands lest he should seeme to cast holy things before dogs or pearles before swine which would not onely trample the truth vnder their feet but also persecute the professor thereof But before Pontius Pilat he is said to haue witnessed a good confession For not onely he confessed himselfe to be the King of the Iewes but also made this profession For this cause am I borne and for this cause came I into the world that I should beare witnesse vnto the truth c. Againe when the Priests questioned with him concerning his doctrine he sendeth them to his hearers For it was against all equity that he should accuse himselfe But when the high Priests adjured him that he should plainely tell whether he was the sonne of God or not then although the profession of the truth were ioyned with manifest danger
aduantage by his neighbours want seemeeth vnwilling to sell him any food will not this party in his extremitie offer the other twelue pence for that which is not worth two pence and intreat him that he would take his money and perhaps tell him that in so doing he shall saue his life and yet no man is simply willing to giue twelue pence for that which is worth but two pence or if he were his desire would not excuse the receiuer It is euident therefore that the vsurer breaketh the generall law of justice and charitie in doing to others as he would not that others should do to him and also in taking another mans goods without the others mans good will But I will shew you seuerally first that vsurie is vnjust and secondly that it is vncharitable All illiberall contracts are vnjust wherein commutatiue justice is not obserued and commutatiue justice is not obserued where is not equality kept of the things committed whether the commutation be of the things themselues for recompence or of the vse onely for hire Now that there may be equality allowance is to be made of the necessary cost hazard and labour which appertaine thereto for all these are valuable as for example A merchant trauelling beyond seas buyeth commodities there at an easie rate which hauing transported into his owne countrey he may with a good conscience sell so much dearer according to the proportion of his necessarie labour cost and hazard And where none of these considerations are there ought to be no gaine or if there bee there is inequalitie and so vnjustice But you will say what if a man sustaine losse is not allowance to be made thereof If any man hath bene the effectuall cause of that losse he and no other is to make recompence but if losse be sustained by the hand of God we must beare it as a crosse which the Lord hath laid vpon vs and not presume to lay it vpon any other mans shoulders who hath not bene the effectuall cause of our losse But now say I vsurie is an illiberall contract and although it be in truth no other contract but lending for gaine yet it putteth on the habit of letting exchange partnership and is not onely an vncharitable lending as shall be shewed but also an vnjust letting an vnequall exchange and an vnconscionable partnership And first it is a most wicked and vnjust kind of letting agreeing with true letting in nothing else but in taking an ouerplus for first as I haue shewed heretofore Location is of such things as are not spent in the vse but haue a fruitfull vse in themselues which may be valued apart from the propertie and dominion and therefore he which letteth any thing he alienateth the vse for an equall price retaining to himselfe the property But vsurie is of such things as are spent in the vse and are lent to bee spent neither haue they anie fruitfull vse in themselues which may be valued apart from the propertie because they be spent in the vse and therefore hee which putteth forth vpon vsurie alienateth not onely the vse but the propertie also from which as it is the subject of mutuation or vsurie the vse cannot be seuered As for example If I let an house or a peece of ground c. I let the fruitfull vse which is in themselues naturally retaining still the propertie to my selfe But he which putteth forth money or meat or any thing else that is spent in the vse he cannot let the fruitfull vse of them or value it apart from the property for there is no such fruitfull vse in them that can bee valued apart and therefore with the vse if he lend them to be spent he must needs alienat the propertie also For the vse of money and victuals and such like things as they are the subject of mutuation is the spending and distraction of them if any fruit or profit be raised by the distractiō of them it is to be ascribed to the industrie and skill of him that doth imploy them and consequently the gaine if there be any of right belongeth to him who being now the owner thereof for as I sayd in mutuation the propertie is transferred to the borrower bestoweth his skill and industrie to raise a profit out of that which is his owne Secondly in location the letter alienating the vse only and not the propertie is to receiue againe the selfe same particular after it hath bene vsed of the hirer being for the most part impaired in the vse in respect whereof there is a second reason of demaunding and taking the hire But in vsurie the lender alienating not onely the vse but the propertie also couenanteth to receiue againe not the selfe same particuler impaired in the vse but the full value thereof in the same kind without any impairing or diminution of the principall and therefore in vsurie there is no such reason of an ouerplus as in location Thirdly in location the letter as he retaineth the propertie of that which is let so he also beareth the hazard thereof In so much that if it miscarie without the hirers default it miscarieth to the letter and not to him for he is onely to pay the hire Exod. 22. 14 in respect whereof there is a third reason of the hire demaunded as being in part the price of the hazard But in vsurie the lender as he alienateth the propertie with the vse so also with the propertie he transferreth the hazard to the borrower in so much that if the principall or any part thereof miscary it miscaries to the borrower it is safe to the lender by the verie contract of mutuation Now it is a principle in the law Vbi periculum ibi lucrum collocandum est To whom the hazard belongeth to him appertaineth the gaine And that no man ought to reape gaine by that whereof he beareth not the hazard and againe That there is no gaine allowable by law which hath no hazard joyned with it Lastly the letter many times is at charge about such things as he doth let as in repairing of houses in keeping of houses c. which may be a fourth reason of demāding hire but there is no such respect in vsurie Nay the vsurer hauing transferred the propertie of that which is lent to the borrower with the propertie the labor which is to be imployed the hazard which is to be sustained the cost which is to be borne for the raising of any commoditie by the imployment of the money notwithstanding he would haue the money to be thought his in respect of the gain though the borrowers in respect of the losse Now if you lay these things together you shall in part perceiue how vnjust vnconscionable a gaine vsurie is euen then when the borrower seeketh to be a gainer by the imploimēt of that which he hath borrowed 1. In that the vsurer letteth that which is not lettable requireth an hire
then if the Lord hath enabled thee to lend thou art bound to lend though thou shalt sustaine some hinderance yea though thou shouldest hazard the principall thou must willingly yeeld to both as imposed of the Lord neither must thou seeke gaine out of his need but lend freely for the Lords sake who requireth this dutie at thy hand and will be sure to recompence thee not by ten in the hundred but by hundreds for thy tens if not in this life as many times he doth yet in the life to come Lend saith our Sauiour Christ looking for nothing thence and your reward shall be great c. If then the forbearance of the mony and this vsurious interest as the Law doth terme it be not a good reason to justifie the inequalitie which is in vsurie what other reason may there be thereof Forsooth sayth another the vse of the money Why but the selling of the vse of a thing is the letting of the thing but money cannot be lawfully let as I haue sufficiently prooued The vse of money is the spending of it as the vse of victuals is the eating of it and in things spent in the vse thou canst not without great inequalitie require one allowance for the thing and another for the vse which cannot be reckoned apart from the thing or seuered from the propertie If thou lend me ten loaues thou shouldest deale very vnequally with mee if thou shouldest require eleuen or if hauing taken the price of the loaues themselues thou shouldest also demaund a price for the vse which is the eating of them and in like sort if hauing lent me ten pounds thou shouldest require eleuen that is ten for the principall and one for the vse which was nothing but the spending of the money But this indeed is not the reason of the ouerplus demaunded though sometimes it be pretended For that in truth is the reason of the vsurie simply according to which the vsurie is proportioned the vsurie being lesse when that is lesse and greater when that is more that is the time of forbearance or successiue interest whereof I spake euen now If you say it is the time of the vse I answere as the time of the vse of meat is the time of eating it so the time of the vse of the mony borrowed is the time of spending it For after it is once spent as perhaps it is the same day it is borrowed the borrower neuer vseth it more though it were lent him for a long time it is gone from him and to him as the lawyers speak extinguished Now if the same day after I haue vsed and in the vse spent your money I hauing receiued as much elsewhere should bring you so much as I borrowed you would require nothing for the vse or yet for the time of the vse which notwithstanding had beene one and the same if you had lent and forborne the money for a tweluemonth This then is not the matter neither the vse nor the time of the vse No saith the vsurer I require not allowance for his vse in spending the money but for the vse of the money employed to his aduantage For what reason is there that another man should gaine by my money and not make me partaker of his gaine This also is another vsurious pretence For in the contract of vsurie the lender maketh an absolute couenant for certaine gaine without respect of the borrowers either losse or gaine and by vertue of the same contract demaundeth his certaine allowance or gaine as well out of the borrowers losse as out of his gaine The borrower you say borroweth the money that he might employ it to his gaine and therefore you couenant for gaine by this loane For why should he gaine by your money and not you I answere though he intend to vse the money to his aduantage and gaine yet many times he prooueth no gainer but rather a looser What then is the reason of your demanded gaine is it not sufficient for him to loose the employment of his labour and skill vnlesse out of his losse he also make you againe And hereby also it appeareth that the best kind of vsurie I meane when gaine is required of those onely that borrow to gaine is an vnconscionable partnership For there is no lawfull partnership where is not partaking in the losse as well as in the gaine The vsurer will partake in the borrowers gaine but in the losse he will haue no part Yea whiles he seeketh nay couenanteth for certaine gaine out of the vncertaine negotiation of the borrower which is most vnequall he exacteth the same gaine couenanted for as well out of the borrowers losse as out of his gaine which is most vnconscionable But what if I couenant for gaine in euentum lucri that is to gaine if he gaine but if he doe not gaine then to require securitie onely for my principall That practise is farre more tollerable than the other yet this also is vnequall vnlesse as you couenant for gaine if he do gaine so you be also content to beare part in that losse which without his default he shall sustaine But why should be gaine with my money and I haue no part therein because the money being his for the time he bestoweth the paines and the cost in the employment of it and also beareth the hazard thereof alone Wherefore if thou wilt couenant for gaine to be raised by the employment of thy money thou must by way of partnership put it forth to be occupied and not hauing transferred the propertie thereof to beare the hazard of the negotiation that it being still thine and occupied at thine hazard a proportionable part of the profit which is raised thereof may in justice and equitie belong to thee Otherwise if thou wilt not enter into a contract of partnership this is all which thou mayest lawfully do Lend thy money to an honest and a thriftie man taking securitie onely for the principall and referre the rest to the blessing of God and the borrowers fidelitie and thankfulnesse but remember this withall that to thine expectation of gaine there must be an answerable purpose of partaking in the losse Or if thou wilt couenant for gaine if he doe gaine thou must also be content to beare part with him in the losse But you will say If I may receiue from the borrower an ouerplus which of his owne accord he giueth to me in testimonie of his good will and thankefulnesse why may not I couenant with him therfore especially seeing it is a generall rule of all contracts that what I may receiue from another when he willingly offereth it I may exact the same of him so that prouision be made for his indemnitie Nay rather this is a rule of contracts That whatsoeuer I cannot lawfully take of my neighbour I ought not to couenant for it but I ought not to take gaine of the borrower when he is a looser and enrich my selfe by
first yeare why is not that vsurie of the vsurie being lent to the same man the second yeare as lawfull as if it were lent to another man But whatsoeuer other lawgiuers haue judged of vsurie it is plaine that the Lord who is the supreme and in respect of the conscience the onely lawgiuer condemneth all vsurie by his law morall neither by his judiciall law permitted the same to be exercised by the subjects of that commonwealth which he ordained among themselues And therfore it cannot without contumelie against the wisedome of God be affirmed that a commonwealth cannot well stand without vsurie especially considering that the holy ghost hath made the vsuall practise of vsurie countenanced by the state a note of a corrupt state For so the seuentie interpreters Psa. 55. 11 for the Hebrew Toc read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which as some thinke is deriued thence and the auncient writers doe read the place thus Vsurie and deceit depart not from her streets And the Prophet Ezechiel chap. 22. 12 among other enormities or as he calleth them abhominations of the citie Ierusalem he reckoneth this for one Thou hast taken vsurie and increase And contrariwise among the notes of a good gouernour this is mentioned Psal. 72. 14 That he should free his subjects from vsurie for so againe the auncient interpreters doe read and violence a notable example whereof we haue in Nehemias that godly magistrat chap. 5. And hereunto we may adde the judgement of that notable Historiographer and wise Polititian Cornelius Tacitus who as he judgeth vsurie to be a mischiefe to the commonwealth so he noteth that it was repressed in the auncient common-wealth of the Romanes when their manners were farthest from corruption And to conclude Caluin himselfe is of this judgement that an vsurer ought not to be suffered in a well ordered commonwealth And thus you haue heard how vsurie offendeth against our neighbour as being both vnjust and vncharitable Now let vs briefely consider how the vsurer sinneth against God not only mediatly by vnjustice and vncharitablenesse but also immediatly by impietie and vngodlinesse For first seeing the practise of vsurie cannot stand with the true feare of God as may be gathered out of that opposition Leuit. 25. 36 Thou shalt take no vsurie of thy needy brother nor increase but thou shalt feare thy God it is euident therefore that they which take vsurie of them which borrow for need do not walke in the feare of God as Nehemias telleth the vsurers of his time Secondly the vsurer sinneth against God by disobedience and contempt for he disobeyeth the commaundements of God straightly commaunding free loane and sharply forbidding vsurie and contemneth the threatenings of God denounced against the same Thirdly by infidelitie in not belieuing the gracious promises of God made to those who lend freely For as Chrysostome hath well said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vsurie is the off-spring of infidelitie And therefore whereas the Lord hath promised to such that they shall be the children of the most high that they shall be blessed and receiue great reward at his hands those that will not beleeue these promises are to feare that they are not the children of God and that in stead of that blessing and reward promised there remaineth to them the fearfull curse of God and condemnation Fourthly by diffidence ending commonly in prophanenesse For the Lord would haue our faith concerning spirituall blessings in heauenly things to be exercised and confirmed by our affiance reposed in his goodnesse for temporall blessings in earthly things as may be gathered by the order of the fourth and fifth petitions of the Lords prayer For if we cannot find in our hearts to depend vpon the goodnesse of God for these vile and transitorie things how can we persuade our selues that we truly beleeue in him concerning the forgiuenesse of our sinnes and eternall life The Lord therefore would haue vs whether we want meanes or whether we haue them as well in the vse of meanes as in the want of them to depend vpon his prouidence and to cast our care vpon him If he lay a crosse vpon vs or seeme to depriue vs of our goods it is his good pleasure that we should flie vnto him by prayer if he vouchsafe to blesse vs thankes are to be giuen vnto him as to the authour of all good things In a word in all estates it behooueth a true Christian to walke with God and to haue dayly recourse to him But the vsurers whole endeauour is to settle himselfe and his estate as it were out of the gunshot of Gods prouidence he will not deale by husbandrie or traffique because of the hazards whereunto either of both is subject that is to say because of his diffidence in God to whose prouidence he dare not trust his goods and therefore he will make sure worke for himselfe that he shall not need to stand to Gods courtesie The practise of vsurie shall be as a tower of Babel vnto him that whether God doe blesse the traffique of men or not or whether it goe well or ill with husbandrie he will be sure both of his principall and of his gaine All is one to him whether the marchants gaine or loose sinke or swim whether there be famine or plentie faire weather or foule he feareth no flouds He looketh not vp to heauen with the good husbandman or godly marchant either to craue the blessing of God vpon his labours or to returne thankes for the same but is so wholly addicted to the earth and to his vsurious cogitations that he is seldome seen to looke vp insomuch that many times by his very looke and gate an vsurer may be discerned In a word his chiefe indeauour is that in respect of worldly things he may haue nothing to doe with God and so at length of a faithlesse man he becommeth also prophane hauing forgotten God as for this sinne the Lord chargeth Ierusalem Ezech. 22. 12 neither is God I meane the true God in all his thoughts For his God Mammon doth wholly possesse his heart and therefore hee sinneth also by idolatrie For seeing the root of vsurie is couetousnesse which is the root of all euill it cannot be denied but that euery vsurer is couetous And euery couetous man is an idolater Eph. 5. 5. and a seruitour of Mammon Mat. 6. 24 and therefore no true seruant of the Lord. Now you must remember that for couetous persons and idolaters there is no inheritance in heauen And therefore the vsurer as he sinneth against God by manifold impietie so also against himselfe by desperat folly For as euery notorious malefactor may truly be said to cast away himselfe and is guiltie of selfe-murther as it is said of Korah and his complices Num. 16. 38 so the vsurer likewise pulleth vpon himselfe the fearfull judgements of God and is guiltie of his owne ouerthrow For the Lord hath threatened