her self from it although there were a way open to escape it but rather she doeth no lesse loue him while he extendeth vengeauÌ„ce vpon the wicked than while he is beneficiall to the godly for asmuche as she vnderstandeth that it doth no lesse belong to his glory that he hath in store punishment for the wycked and euyl doers thaÌ„ that he hath reward of eternal life for the righteous Moreouer she doeth not for only feare of punishment refraine her self from synning but because she loueth and reuerenceth him as her father attendeth on him and honoureth him as her lorde therefore although there were no hel at al yet she dreadeth his onely displeasure Now behold what is the pure and trew religion eueÌ„ faith ioyned with an earnest feare of god so that feare may conteine in it a willyng reuerence and drawe with it a ryghte forme of worshipping such as is appointed in the lawe And this is the more hedefully to be noted because al men generally do worship God but fewe do reuerence hym while eche where is great pompous shewe in ceremonies but the purenesse of heart is rare to be founde Truly they that iudge rightlye will alwaye holde this for certayne that there is grauen in the mindes of men a certaine feling of the Godhead which neuer can be blotted out Yea that this perswasion that there is a god is euen from their generation naturally plaÌ„ted in them and depely roted within their bones the very obstinacy of the wicked is a substaÌ„ciall witnesse which with their furious striuing yet can neuer winde theÌ„selues out of the feare of God Although Diagoras and suche other doe iest and laugh at al that hath in al ages ben beleued coÌ„cerning religion although Dionisius do scoffe at the heauenly iudgement yet that is but a laughter from the teeth forward because inwardly the worme of conscience gnaweth them much more sharpely thaÌ„ al whose searyng yrons I alledge not this that Cicero sayth that errors by continuance of tyme grow out of vse and religion daily more and more euerâ—aseâ—h and waxeth better For the world as a little hereafter we shall haue occasion to shew trauaileth as much as in it lieth to shake of all knowledge of God and by al meanes to corrupt the worshipping of him But this onely I say that when the dul hardnes which the wicked do desirously labor to get to despise God withal doth lie piningly in their hartes yet the same feling of God whyche they woulde moste of al desire to haue vtterly destroied liueth still and sometyme doeth vtter it self whereby we gather that it is no suche doctrine as is first to be learned in scholes but suche a one whereof euery man is a teacher to himselfe euen from his mothers wombe and suche a one as nature suffreth none to forgette although many bend all their endeuoure to shake it out of their mind Now if almen be borne and do liue to this end to know God and the knowledge of God is but fickle and lyghtely vanisheth away vnlesse it procede thus farre it is euident that they all swarue out of kinde from the law of their creation that do not direct to this marke al the whole thoughtes and dooynges of their lyfe Of whiche the Philosophers themselues were not ignoraÌ„t For Plato meant nothyng els when he oftentymes taught that the soueraign good of the soule is the likenes of God wheÌ„ the soule hauing throughly conceiued the knowledge of hym is wholly transformed into him Therfore very aptly doth Grillus reason in Plutarche where he affirmeth that men if religion be once takeÌ„ from their lyfe are not onely nothynge better than brute beastes but also many waies muche more miserable for that being subiect to so many sortes of euils they continually draw fourth a troublesome and vnquiet life and that therfore the worshipping of God is the only thyng that maketh theÌ„ better than brute beastes by which alone they aspire to immortalite ¶ The .iii. Chapter That the knowledge of God is naturally planted in the myndes of men WE holde it oute of controuersie that there is in the mynde of man euen by naturall instinction a certaine feling of the godhead For to the end that no man should flee to the pretense of ignoraunce God himselfe hath planted in all men a certaine vnderstanding of his diuine maiestie the remembraunce wherof with pouring in nowe and then as it were new droppes he continually reneweth that when al not one excepted do know that there is a God and that he is their maker they may all bee condemned by their owne testimonie for that they haue not bothe worshipped him and dedicate their life to his will But truely if the not knowyng of God be any where to be founde it is likely that there can no where els be any example of it more than amonge the grossest sortes of peoples and furthest from ciuile order of humanitie But as the heathen man saith there is no nation so barbarous no kind of people so sauage in whom resteth not this persuasion that there is a God And euen they that in other parts of their lyfe seme very litle to differ from brute beastes yet do continually kepe a certain sede of religion So throughly hath thys common principle possessed all mennes mindes and so fast it sticketh within all mens bowels Sith then from the beginning of the world there hath ben no coÌ„trey no citie yea no house that could be without religion in this is emplied a certaine secrete confession that a feling of the godhead is written in the heartes of all men Yea and ydolatrie it selfe is a substanciall profe of this persuasion For we know how vnwillingly man abaseth himself to honour other creatures aboue hymselfe Therfore when he had rather worshyp a blocke and a stone than he would be thought to haue no god it appeareth that imprynted persuasioÌ„ of God is of most great force which is so impossible to be raced out of the minde of maÌ„ that it is much more easie to haue the affection of nature broken as in deede it is broken when man from his own natural swellyng pride of his own wyl stoupeth down euen to the basest creatures to honour God Wherfore it is most vaine which some doe saye that religion was deuised by the sutteltie and craft of a few by this policie to kepe the simple people in awe whereas they themselues that procured other to worship God beleued nothing lesse than that there was any God at al. I graunt in dede that suttle men haue inuented many thinges in religion whereby to bring the people to a reuerence and cast them in a feare to make their mindes the more pliable to obedience but this they coulde neuer haue brought to passe vnlesse the mindes of meÌ„ had been already before hand perswaded that there was a God out of which persuasion as out of sede springeth that ready inclinacion to religion Neither is it
lampes lightned doo shyne in the edifice of the worlde to shew forth the glory of the creatour which do so euery way display their beames vpon vs that yet of them selues they can not bryng vs into the right way In deede they raise vp certaine sparkles but suche as be choked vp before that they can spreade abrode anye full brightnesse Therfore the apostle in the same place where he calleth the ages of the worlde images of thynges inuisible sayth further that by faithe is perceyued that they were framed by the worde of God meaning therby that the inuisible godhed is in dede represēted by such shewes but that we haue no eies to see the same throughly vnles they be enlightued by the reuelation of God through faith And Paule where he teacheth that by the creation of the world was disclosed that which was to be knowen concerning god doth not meane such a disclosyng as may be comprehended by the witte of men but rather sheweth that the same procedeth no further but to make them vnexcusable The same Paule also although in one place he sayth that God is not to be sought afarre of as one that dwelleth within vs yet in an other place reacheth to what end that nerenesse auayleth In the ages past sayth he God suffred the nations to walke in their own waies yet he lefte not hym selfe without testimonie doyng good from heauen geuyng showres and fruitefull seasons fillyng the hartes of men with foode and gladnesse Howsoeuer therfore the Lorde bee not withoute testimonie whyle with his greate and manyfolde bountyfulnesse he sweetely allureth men to the knowledge of hym yet for all that they cesse not to folowe their owne waies that is to say their damnable errours But although we want naturall power wherby we can not clymbe vp vnto the pure and cleare knowledge of God yet bycause the faulte of our dulnesse is in our selues therfore all colour of excuse is cutte away from vs. For we can not so pretende ignorance but that euen our conscience dothe stil condemne vs of slouthfulnesse vnthankfulnesse It is a defence forsoothe right woorthy to be receyued if man will alledge that he wanted eares to heare the truth for the publishyng wherof the very dombe creatures haue lowde voyces yf man shall say that he can not see those thynges with his eyes whyche the creatures without eyes doo shewe hym yf man shall laye for his excuse the feblenesse of his witte where all creatures without reason doo instructe hym Wherfore sithe all thynges doo shewe vs the right way we are worthily put from all excuse of our wanderyng and strayeng out of the way But howe soeuer it is to be imputed to the fault of men that they dooe by and by corrupt the sede of the knowledge of God sowē in theyr mindes by meruailous workemanshyp of nature so that it groweth not to good and cleane fruite yet it is moste true that we are not sufficiently instructed by that bare and simple testimonie that the creatures do honourably declare of goodes glory For so soone as we haue taken by the beholdyng of the worlde a smalle taste of the godhead we leauyng the true God doo in steade of hym rayse vp dreames and fansies of oure owne brayne and doo conuey hyther and thyther from the true fountayne the prayse of ryghtousnes wysedom goodnes and power Moreouer we doo so either obscure or by yll estemyng them depraue his daily doynges that we take away bothe from them their glorye and from the authour his due praise ¶ The .vi. Chapter That to atteyne to God the Creatour it is nedefull to haue the scripture to be our guyde and maistresse THerefore althoughe that same brightnesse which both in heauen and earth shineth in the eies of al men doth sufficiently take away al defense frō the wickednesse of mē euen so as God to wrappe al mankind in one giltinesse doeth shewe his diuine maiestie to al withoute excepcion as it wer portraied out in his creatures yet is it necessary that we haue also an other and a better helpe that may rightly direct vs to the very creator of the world Therfore not in vayne he hath added the light of his worde that therby he mought be knowen to saluacion And this prerogatiue he hath vouchesaued to geue to vs whom it pleased him more nerely and more familiarly to draw together to himselfe For because he saw the mindes of al men to be carried aboute with wandering and vnstedfast motion after he had chosē the Iewes to his peculiar flocke he compassed them in as it were with barres that they should not wander out in vanitie as other did And not withoute cause he holdeth vs with the same meane in the true knowledge of himselfe For otherwise euen they should quickly swarue away that seme to stand stedfast in comparison of other For as olde men or poore blind or they whose eies ar dimme sighted if you lay a faire boke before them though they perceiue that there is somewhat written therin yet can they not reade two words together but being holpen with spectacles set betwen them and it they begin to reade distinctlye so the Scripture gathering vp together in our mindes the knowledge of God whiche otherwise is but confused doeth remoue the mist and plainly shewe vs the true god This therefore is a singular gifte that to the instruccion of his church God vseth not onely dumme teachers but also openeth his owne holye mouth not onely publisheth that there is some God to bee worshipped but also there withal pronounceth that he himself is the same God whō we oughte to worship and doeth not onely teache the electe to loke vpō God but also presenteth himselfe vnto them to be loked vppon Thys order hath he kept frō the beginning towarde his churche beside these common instruccions to geue them also hys worde Whiche is the righter and certainer marke to knowe him by And it is not to be douted that Adam Noe Abraham and the rest of the fathers by this help attained to that familiar knowledge which made them as it wer seuerally differente from the vnbeleuers I speake not yet of the proper doctrine of faith wherwith they wer enlightened into the hope of eternall life For that they myght passe from death to life it was nedefull for them to knowe God not only to be the creatoure but also the redemer as doutlesse they obteined both by the worde For that kinde of knowledge wherby was geuen to vnderstande who is the God by whō the worlde was made and is gouerned in order came before the other and thē was that other inwarde knowledge adioined which onely quickeneth dead soules wherby God is knowen not onely to be the maker of the worlde and the onely authour and iudge of all thinges that are done but also to be the redemer in the person of that mediatour But because I am not yet come to the fal of the world
fallynge awaye mankinde became accursed did degenerate from hys firste estate wherin is intreated of Original sinne NOt without cause hath the Knowledge of himself ben in the olde prouerbe so muche commended to man For if it be thought a shame to be ignoraunt of all thynges that pertayne to the course of mans lyfe then muche more shamefull is the Not knowinge of our selues whereby it commeth to passe that in taking counsel of any thinge necessary we be miserably daseled yea altogether blinded But how muche more profitable this lesson is so muche more dylygentlye muste we take heede that we do not disordrely vse it as we see som of the Philosophers haue done For they in exhortinge man to knowe himselfe do withall appoint this to be the ende why he should know hymselfe that he shoulde not be ignorant of his owne dignitie and excellencie and nothinge els do thei will him to beholde in himselfe but that wherby he may swell with vaine confidence be puffed vp with pride But the knowledge of oure selues first standeth in thys pointe that considering what was geuen vs in creation howe bountifully God contynueth hys gracious fauoure towarde vs we may knowe howe great had ben the excellencie of oure nature if it had continued vncorrupted we may withall thinke vpon this that ther is nothing in vs of oure owne but that we haue as gotten by borrowing all that God hathe bestowed vpon vs that we maye alwaies hang vpon hym Then that we cal to minde oure miserable estate after the fal of Adam the feeling wherof may throwe downe al gloryinge and truste of our selues ouerwhelme vs with shame truely humble vs. For as God at the beginning fashioned vs like his owne image to the end to raise vp our mindes both to the study of vertue to the meditation of eternall life so least the so greate noblenesse of oure kinde whiche maketh vs different from brute beastes shoulde be drowned wyth our slouthfulnesse it is good for vs to knowe that we are therfore endued with 〈◊〉 vnderstandinge that in keping a holly honest lyfe we shulde â—â—â—cede on forwarde to the appointed ende of blessed immortalitie 〈◊〉 firste dignity can not come in our minde but by by on the other 〈…〉 heauy sight of oure filthines shame doth thruste it selfe in presâ—â—â—â—â— sins we in the person of the fyrste man are fallen from oure 〈◊〉 estate where vpon groweth the hatred and lothinge of oure sel 〈…〉 true humilitie and there is kyndeled a newe desire to seeke for God in whome euery of vs maye recouer those good thinges whereof we are founde altogither voyde and emptye This thinge surely the truth of God appointeth to be sought in examinynge of oure selues I meane it requyreth suche a knowledge as maie bothe call vs away froÌ„ all confidence of oure owne power making vs destitute of al matter to glory vpon may bringe vs to submission Whiche rule it behoueth vs to keepe if we wyll attaine to the true marke bothe of right knowledge welldoinge Neyther yet am I ignoraunt howe muche more pleasant is that other opinion that allureth vs rather to consider oure good thinges than to loke vpon oure miserable nedynesse and dishonore whiche ought to ouerwhelme vs with shame For ther is nothynge that mans nature more coueteth than to be stroked with flattery and therfore when he heareth the giftes that are in hym to be magusyed he leaneth to that syde wyth ouermuche lyghtnes of belefe whereby it is so muche lesse to be maruelled that herein the greatest parte of men haue perniciously erred For sith ther is naturally planted in all mortall menne a more than blynde loue of them selues they do moste willingly perswade themselues that there is nothinge in them that they ought woorthyly to hate So wythout any maintenance of other this moste vaine opinion dothe eche where gett credit that man is aboundantly sufficient of hym selfe to make hym selfe liue well and blessedlye But if there be any that are contente to thinke more modestly howe soeuer they graunt somewhat to God leaste they shoulde seeme arrogantly to take all to them selues yet they so parte it that the principall matter of glorye and confidence alway remayneth with them selues Nowe if there come talke that with her allurementes tickeleth the pride that already of it selfe itcheth within the bones ther is nothinge that may more delite them Therefore as any hath with his extollinge moste fouourably aduaunced the excellency of mans nature so hathe he been accepted with the well lykynge reioisement in manner of all ages But what soeuer suche commendacion there be of mans excellency that teacheth man to reste in him selfe it dothe nothinge but delyte with that her swetenesse and in dede so deceyueth that it bryngeth to moste wretched destruction all them that assent vnto it For to what purpose auaileth it for vs standynge vpon all vaine confidence to deuise apoint attempt and gooe about those thinges that we thinke to be for oure behoofe and in our fyrste beginninge of enterpryse to be forsaken and destytute of sounde vnderstandinge and true strengthe and yet to go on boldely tyll wee fall downe into destruction But it can not otherwise happen to them that haue affiaunce that thei can do any thing by theyr owne power Therefore if any man geue heede to suche teachers that holde vs in consyderynge onely oure owne good thynges he shall not profyte in learninge to knowe hym selfe but shall be carryed violently awaye in to the worste kynde of ignoraunce Therefore where as in this poynte the trueth of God dothe agree with the common naturall meanynge of all men that the second part of wisedome consisteth in the knowledge of oure selues yet in the verye manner of knowinge there is muche disagreement For by the iudgement of the fleshe a man thinketh that he hathe then well searched himselfe when trustinge vpon his owne vnderstandinge integrytie he taketh boldenes encourageth him selfe to doinge the dueâ—ies of vertue biddinge battell to vices trauayleth with al his study to bende himselfe to that whiche is comly and honest But he that loketh vpon and trieth himselfe by the rule of Gods iudgement â—inneth nothinge that maye raise vp his minde to good affiance and the more inwardely that he hathe examined him selfe the more he is discouraged tyll beinge altogether spoyled of all confydence he leaueth to himselfe nothinge towarde the well orderinge of his lyfe And yet wold not God haue vs to forgette the firste noblenes that he gaue to oure father Adam whiche ought of good righte to awake vs to the studie of righteousnes and goodnes For we can not consider either oure owne firste estate or to what ende we are created but we shal be pricked forwarde to studye vpon immortalitie to desire the kyngedome of God But that consideratioÌ„ is so farre from putting vs in courage that rather discouraging vs it throweth vs doune to
mark to leade vs to the knowlege of God And we know God in this life none otherwise but by hope faith Therfore when I name faithe and hope I comprehend al these things together And so ther remain these three Hope Faith Charitie that is to say how great diuersitie of gifts so euer ther be thei ar al referred to these Among these the chefe is charitie â–ª c. Out of the third place thei gather If Charitie be the bond of perfection then it is also the bond of righteousnesse which is nothing els but perfection First to speake nothing howe Paul ther calleth perfection when the membres of the Churche wel set in ordre do cleaue together to graunt that we are by charitie made perfecte before God yet what newe thing bring thei forth For I will alwaie on the contrarie side take exceptioÌ„ sai that we neuer come to this perfectioÌ„ vnlesse we fulfil al the parts of charity therupoÌ„ I wil gather that sith all meÌ„ ar most farr froÌ„ the fulfilling of charitie therfore al hope of perfection is cutt of from them I wil not go through al the testimonies which at this day the folish Sorbonistes rashly snatch out of the scriptures as thei first come to hande do throw them against vs. For some of theÌ„ are so worthi to be laughed at that I my selfe also can not rehearse them vnlesse I wold worthily be compted fond Therfore I wil make an end when I shal haue declared the saieng of Christ wherw t thei maruelously please theÌ„selues For to the lawyer which asked him what was necessarie to saluatioÌ„ he answered if that wilt entre into life kepe the coÌ„maundemeÌ„ts What wold we more sai thei when we are coÌ„maunded by the author of grace himself to get the kingdom of God by the keping of his coÌ„maundemeÌ„ts As though forsoth it were not certain that Christe teÌ„pered his answeres to theÌ„ with whom he saw that he had to do Here a doctor of the law asketh of the meane to obteine blessednes not the onely but with doing of what thing men maye atteine vnto it Bothe the person of him that spake the question it self led the Lord so to answer The lawyer being filled with the persuasioÌ„ of the righteousnes of the law was blinde in conscience of works Againe he sought nothing els but what wer that works of righteousnes by which saluatioÌ„ is gotteÌ„ Therfore he is worthily seÌ„t to the law in which ther is a perfect mirrore of righteousnes We also do with a loude voice pronounce that the commauÌ„demeÌ„ts must be kept if life be sought in works And this doctrin is necessary to be knoweÌ„ of ChristiaÌ„s For how shold thei flee to Christ if thei did not acknowledg yâ— thei ar falleÌ„ froÌ„ the way of life into the hedloÌ„ge downefal of death But how shold thei vnderstand how far they haue straied froÌ„ the way of life vnlesse thei first vnderstande what is that way of life For theÌ„ thei are taughte that the sanctuarie to recouer saluacion is in Christ wheÌ„ thei see how great difference there is betwene their life yâ— righteousnesse of God whiche is conteined in the keping of the law The summe is this that if saluation be sought in workes we muste kepe the coÌ„maundements by whiche we are instructed to perfect righteousnes But we must not stick fast her vnlesse we wil faint in our midde course for none of vs is able to kepe the coÌ„maundemeÌ„tes Sith therfore we are excluded froÌ„ the righteousnesse of the law we must of necessity resort to an other helpe namly to the faith of Christ. Wherfore as here the lord calleth back the doctor of the law whom he knew to swel with vaine confidence of works to the lawe wherby he may learne that he is a sinner subiect to the dreadful iudgement of eternal death so in other places wtout making mention of the law he coÌ„forteth other that are already humbled with suche knowledge with promise of grace as Come to mee all ye that laboure are loden I wil refresh you ye shal finde rest for your soules At the laste when thei are weary with wresting the Scripture thei fal to suttleties sophisticall argumentes Thei cauil vpon this that faith is in some places called a worke therupon thei gather that we do wronfully set faith as contrarie to workes As thoughe forsothe faithe in that it is an obeying of the will of God dothe with her own deseruing procure vnto vs ryghteousnesse and not rather bycause by embracing the mercie of God it sealeth in oure heartes the righteousnesse of Christe offred to vs of it in the preaching of the Gospell The readers shal pardoÌ„ me if I do not tarry vpon confuting of suche follies for thei themselues withoâ—t any assaulte of other are sufficiently ouerthrowen with theyr owne feeblenesse But I will by the way confute one obiection whyche seemeth to haue some shewe of reason least it shold troble some that ar not so well practised Sith coÌ„mon reason teacheth that of contraries is all one rule and all particular sinnes are imputed to vs for vnrighteousnesse thei say it is meete that to al particular good workes be geueÌ„ the praise of righteousnesse Thei do not satisfie me which answer that the damnation of men proprely proceedeth from only vnbelefe not froÌ„ particular sinnes I do in dede agree to them that vnbelefe is the fouÌ„taine roote of all euels For it is the firste departinge from God after which do folow the particular trespassinges against the law But wheras they seeme to set one selfe same reason of good and euell workes in weieng of righteousnesse or vnrighteousnesse therein I am compelled to disagree from them For the righteousnes of workes is the perfecte obedience of the lawe Therfore thou canst not be righteous vi works vnlesse thou do folow it as a streight line in the whole coÌ„tinuall course of thy life From it so sone as thou haste swarued thou arte fallen into vnrighteousnesse Hereby appeareth that righteousnesse commeth not of one or a fewe works but of an vnswaruing and vnweried obseruing of the wil of god But the rule of iudging vnrighteousnesse is most coÌ„trarâ— For he that hath coÌ„mitted fornicatioÌ„ or hath stolen is by one offence gylty of death bicause he hath offended against the maiestie of God Therefore these our suttle arguers do stumble for that thei mark not this saieng of Iames that he which sinneth in one is made gylty of al bicause he that hath forbidden to kil hath also forbidden to steale c. Therfore it ought to seeme no absurditie when we saie that death is the iuste rewarde of euery sinne bicause thei are euery one worthy of the iuste dyspleasure and vengeance of God But thou shalt reason foolishly if on the contrarie side thou gather that by one good worke man may be reconciled to God whiche with many sinnes deserueth his
doutefull and vncertayne they demaunde by what miracles it is confirmed they aske whether it be mete that it should preuayle agaynste the consente of so many holy Fathers and the moste aunciente custome they presse vpon vs to cōfesse it to be schismaticall whiche moueth warr againste the Chirche or that the Chirche hath lyen dead in many ages in whiche no suche thyng hath ben heard of Last of all they saye that there nede no argumentes for say they it may by the frutes be iudged of what sorte it is namely which hath bredde so huge a heape of sectes so many turmoyles of seditions so great licentiousnesse of vices Truely full easy it is for them to triumph vpon a forsaken cause before the lyght beleuing and ignorant multitude But if we might also haue our turne likewise allowed vs to speake verily thys sharpe heate woulde sone be cooled wherewith they doe so with full month and as licentiously as vnpunishedly some agaynst vs. Firste whereas they call it newe they dooe greate wrong to God whoe 's holy worde deserued not to be accused of newenesse To them in dede I nothing dout that it is new to whom Christ is new and hys Gospell is new But they which knewe that preaching of Paule to be olde that Iesus Christ dyed for our synnes and rose agayne for oure iustification shall fynde nothyng newe among vs. Wheras it hath long lyen hidden vnknowen and buried that is the fault of the vngodlynesse of men Nowe sithe it is by the bountifulnesse of God restored to vs it ought at least by ryght of full restitution to receiue agayne the title of auncientie Out of the same fountayne of ignorance springeth thys that they take it for doutful and vncertayne Thys verily is it which the Lorde by hys Prophet complayneth that the oxe knew hys owner and the asse hys masters stall but hys people knewe not hymn But howsoeuer they mocke at the vncertaintie of it if they were dryuen to seale theyr owne doctrine with their owne blood and with losse of their lyfe men mighte see howe much they set by it But farre other is our affiance which dredeth neyther the terrors of death nor yet the very iugement seate of God Wheras they require miracles of vs they deale vnreasonably wyth vs. For we coine no new Gospell but holde fast the selfe same Gospell for confirming of the truth wherof al the miracles do serue that euer Christ and his Apostles haue done But thys thyng they haue speciall aboue vs that they can euen to thys day confirme their faith with cōtinuall miracles Yea but rather they allege miracles which may weakē a minde other wyse wel stablished they are so eyther tryflyng and worthy to be laughed at or vayne and lyeng And yet although they were neuer so monstruous they oughte not to haue ben of any value agaynste the worde of God forasmuche as the name of God oughte both in euery place and euery time to be hallowed whether it be by miracles or by naturall order of thynges Thys false color myght paraduenture haue made the better shew if the Scripture did not informe vs of the lawful ende and vse of miracles For Marke teacheth that the sygnes which folowed the preaching of the Apostles were sett fourth for the confirming of it Likewyse Luke also sayth that the Lord dyd beare wytnesse to the worde of his grace when signes and wonders were shewed by the handes of the Apostles Wherwith wholly agreeth that sayeng of the Apostle that when the Gospell was preached saluation was confirmed by thys that the Lorde did beare witnesse to it with signes and wonders and diuerse powers But those thinges whiche we heare to be the sealinges of the Gospel shal we turne to the destroyeng of the credit of the Gospell those thinges which are appointed onely to stablishe the trueth shal we applye to confirming of lyes Therefore it is mete that the doctrine whiche as the Euangelist sayeth goeth before miracles be firste examined and tryed If that be allowed then it maye lawfully take confirmation of miracles But of a true doctrine as Christe teacheth thys is the marke if it tende not to the seking of the glorie of men but of God Sithe Christe affirmeth thys to be the profe of doctrine miracles are wrongfully estemed whiche are drawen to any other ende than to glorifie the name of God alone And we oughte to remember that Satā hath hys miracles which although they be iuggling deceites rather than true powers yet are suche as may decciue the ignorante and vnskillfull Magicians and enchaunters haue been alwaye famous in miracles wonderfull miracles haue nourished idolatrie whiche yee doe not proue to vs that the superstition of Magicians and idolatrers is lawfull And wyth thys batterynge ramme in olde tyme the Donatistes dyd shake the simplicitie of the common people for that they excelled in miracles Therefore we doe nowe make the same answere to oure aduersaries which Augustine then made to the Donatistes that the Lorde hath made vs ware agaynste suche miracle workers when he foretold that there shold come false Prophetes which with lyeng signes and diuers wonders shold if it were possible bryng the elect into error And Paule hath geuen warning that the kyngdome of Antichrist should be with all power and signes and lyeng wonders But these miracles say they are doon not of idoles not of sorceres not of false prophetes but of the Saintes As though we knewe not that this is the craft of Satan to transfigure himselfe into an Angell of lyght In olde tyme the Egyptians worshipped Ieremie which was buried among them with sacrifices and other diuine honors Did not they abuse the holy Prophet of God to idolatrie And yet by suche worshipping of his tombe they obteined that they thought the healyng of the styngyng of serpentes to be the iust rewarde therof What shall we say but that this hath ben and euer shall be the moste iust vengeance of God to sende strength of illusion to them that haue not receiued the loue of truth that they may beleue lieng Therfore we want not miracles and those certaine and not subiecte to cauillations As for miracles whiche they bring foorth for themselues they are mere illusions of Satan forasmuch as they leade awaye the people from the true worshippyng of their God to vanitie Moreouer they do sclaunderously sett the Fathers agaynst vs I meane the auncient Fathers and the writers of the age as yet more vncorrupted as though they had them for mainteners of their vngodlynesse by whose authoritie if the debate were to be ended the better part of the victorie to speake euen most modestlie wold bend to our side But wheras many thynges haue ben excellentlye well and wisely written of those Fathers and in some thynges that hath happened to them which is wont to happen to mē these good naturall children forsothe accordyng to the rightenesse that they haue bothe
studye to loue and honor him withall oure harte ¶ The .xv. Chapter What a one man was created wherin there is entreated of the powers of the soule of the image of God of free wyll and of the first integritie of nature NOw must we speake of the creation of mā not only because he is among all the workes of God the moste noble and most excellente example of his iustice wisdome and goodnesse but also because as we said in the beginning we cannot plainly and perfectly know God vnlesse we haue wtall a mutuall knowledge of our selues Although the same knowledge be of two sortes the one to knowe what we were created at the first beginning the other to know what our estate began to be after the fall of Adam for it were but to smal profit for vs to knowe our creation vnlesse we did also in this lamentable fall knowe what is the corruption and deformitie of our nature yet at this time we wil be contente with descriptiō of our nature when it was pure And before we descende to this miserable estate wherunto man is nowe in thraldome it is good to learne what a one he was created at the beginning For we must take hede that in precisely declaring only the natural euils of man we seme not to impute them to the author of nature For vngodlinesse thinketh her self to haue sufficient defense in this color if it may lay for her selfe that whatsoeuer fault she hath the same did after a certaine maner procede from God sticketh not if she be accused to quarell with God and to lay the fault vpō him wherof she is worthely accused And they that would seme to speake somwhat more reuerently of the maiestie of God yet do willingly seke to excuse their own wickednesse by nature not considering that therin though not openly they blame God also to whoe 's reproche it shoulde fall if it were proued that there is any fault in nature Sith then we see that our fleshe gapeth for all the wayes to escape wherby she thynketh the blame of her own euils may any way be put of frō her we muste diligently trauail to mete with this mischiefe Therefore we must so handle the calamitie of mankinde that we cut of all excuse and deliuer the iustice of God from al accusation Afterwarde in place conueniente we shall see howe far men be nowe from that purenesse that was geuen to Adam And first we must remember that in this that man was taken out of earth and claye a bridle was putte vppon his pride for there is no greater absurditie than for them to glory in their excellencye that do not onely dwell in a cotage of clay but also are themselues in parte but earth and ashes But forasmuche as God did not onely vouchesaue to geue life vnto an earthen vessell but also it was his pleasure that it shoulde be the dwelling house of an immortall Spirite Adam might iustly glory in so great liberalitie of his maker Now it is not to be doubted that man consisteth of soule body and by the name of soule I meane an immortall essence and yet created whiche is the nobler parte of him Sometime it is called the Spirite Albeit whē these two names Soule and Spirite are ioyned together they differ one from the other in signification yet when Spirite is sett by it selfe it meaneth as muche as Soule As when Salomon speaking of death sayeth that then the Spirite returneth to him that gaue it And Chryste commending his Spirite to his father and Stephen his Spirite to Chryst doe both meane none other thing but that when the soule is deliuered from the prison of the fleshe God is the perpetual keper of it As for them that imagine that the Soule is therfore called a Spirite because it is a breath or a power by god inspired or poured into bodyes which yet hath no essence both the thing it selfe and all the Scripture sheweth that they do to much grosly erre True it is that while men are fastened to the earth more than they oughte to bee they waxe dull yea because they are estranged from the Father of lightes they are blinded with darkenesse so that they do not thinke vpon thys that they shal remaine aliue after death And yet is not that lighte so quēched in darkenesse but that they be touched with some feling of immortalitie Surely the conscience which discerning betwene good and euil answereth the iudgement of God is an vndouted signe of an immortal Spirite For how could a motion without essēce atteine to come to the iudgement seate of God and throwe it selfe into feare by finding her own giltinesse For the body is not moued with feare of a Spiritual peine but that falleth only vpō the soule Wherby it foloweth that the soule hath an essence Moreouer the very knowledge of God doth proue that the soules which ascende vp aboue the world are immortal for a vanishing liuelinesse wer not able to atteine to the fountaine of lyfe Finalli forasmuch as so many excellent giftes wherwith mans minde is endowed do cry out that there is some diuine thing engrauen it there are euen so many testimonies of an immortal essence For that sense which is in brute beastes goeth not out of the body or at lest extendeth no further than to thyngs presently set before it But the nimblenesse of the minde of man which veweth the heauen and earth secretes of nature and comprehending all ages in vnderstandyng and memory digesteth euery thyng in order and gathereth thynges to come by thinges past doth playnly shewe that there lyeth hydden in man a certayne thing seuerall from the body We conceiue by vnderstanding the inuisible God and Angelles which the body can not doe We know thynges that be right iuste and honest which are hidden from the bodily senses Therefore it muste nedes be that the Spirite is the seate of thys vnderstandyng Yea and our slepe it selfe which astonieth a man and semeth to take life away frō him is a plaine witnesse of immortalitie forasmuch as it doth not only minister vnto vs thoughtes of those thinges that neuer were done but also foreknowinges of things for time to come I touch these thinges shortly which euen prophane writers do excellently sette oute with more gorgeous garnishment of wordes but with the godly reders a simple putting in minde of them shall be sufficient Nowe if the soule were not a certayne thing by it selfe seuerall from the body the Scripture would not teache that we dwell in houses of clay that by death we remoue out of the Tabernacle of the flesh that we do put of that which is corruptible that finally at the last day we may receiue rewarde euery man as he hathe behaued hymselfe in hys bodye For these places and other that we do eche where cōmonly light vpon do not only manifestly destinguish the soule from the body but also in geuing to the soule the name of
men to be made gilty for one mans faulte and so the sinne to become coÌ„mon Whiche semeth to haue ben the cause why the oldest Doctours of the churche did but darkely touche this pointe or at leaste did not set it out so plainely as was conuenient And yet that fearefulnesse coulde not bryng to passe but that Pelagius arose whose prophane inuention was that Adam sinned only to his owne losse and hurted not his posteritie So through this sutteltie Satan wente about by hidyng the disease to make it incurable But when it was proued by manifest testimonie of Scripture that sinne passed froÌ„ the firste man into al his posteritie he brought this cauillation that it passed by imitation but not by propagation Therfore good men trauailed in this pointe and aboue al other Augustine to shewe that we are corrupted not by forein wickednesse but that we bryng with vs from the wombe of our Mother a viciousnesse planted in out begetting whiche to denie was moste greate shamelesnesse But the rashenesse of the Pelagians and Celestians will not seeme marueylous to hym whiche by the writinges of that holy manne shall perceyue howe shamelesse beastes they were in all other thynges Surely it is not doubtfully spoken that Dauid confesseth that he was begotten in iniquities and by hys Mother conceyued in Sinne. He doeth not there accuse the sinnes of his Father or Mother but the better to sette forth the goodnesse of God towarde hym he begynneth the confession of hys owne wickednesse at hys verie begettyng For asmuche it is euident that that was not peculiar to Dauid alone it followeth that the common estate of all mankynde is noted vnder hys example All we therefore that descende of vncleane sede are borne infected wyth the contagion of Sinne yea before that we see the lighte of thys lyfe we bee in the sight of God filthie and spotted For who could geue cleane of the vncleanesse not one as it is in the boke of Iob. We heare that the vncleannesse of the parentes so passeth into the chyldren that all wythoute anye exception at theyr beginnynge are defiled But of this defilynge we shall not finde the beginnyng vnlesse we goe vp to the fyrste parente of all vs to the wellhed Thus is it therefore that Adam was not onely the progenitour but also the roote of mans nature and therefore in his corruption was all mankynde worthelye corrupted whyche the Apostle maketh playne by comparynge of hym and Christe As sayeth he by one manne Sinne entred into the whole worlde and death by Sinne and so death wente ouer all menne for asmuche as all haue sinned so by the grace of Christ righteousnesse and lyfe is restored vnto vs. What will the Pelagians here prate that Adams sinne was spred abroade by imitation Then haue we no other profite by the righteousnesse of Christe but that he is an example sette before vs to followe Whoe canne abide suche robberie of Gods honour If it be out of question that Christes righteousnesse is oures by communication and thereby lyfe it followeth also that they bothe were so loste in Adam as they be recouered in Christe and that Sinne and death so crepte in by Adam as they are abolished by Christ. The wordes are playne that many are made righteous by the obedience of Christe as by the disobedience of Adam they were made sinners and that therefore betwene them two is this relation that Adam wrappyng vs in his destructâ—ion destroyed vs with hym and Christe with his grace restored vs to saluation In so clere light of trueth I thinke we nede not a longer or more laborious profe So also in the firste Epistle to the Corinthians when he goeth aboute to stablishe the godly in the trust of the resurrectioÌ„ he sheweth that the life is recouered in Christ that was loste in Adam He that pronounceth that wee all are dead in Adam doeth also therewithall plainely testifie that we were infected with the filth of sinne For damnation coulde not reache vnto them that were touched with no giltinesse of iniquitie But it canne be no waye playnelier vnderstanded what he meaneth than by relation of the other member of the sentence where he teacheth that hope of life is restored in Christe But it is well enough knowen that the same is done no other waye â–ª than when by meruellous maÌ„ner of communicating Christ poureth into vs the force of his righteousnesse As it is wrytten in an other place that the spirite is life vnto vs for righteousnesse sake Therefore wee maye not otherwyse expounde that whyche is sayde that we are dead in Adam but thus that he in sinnynge dyd not onely purchace mischiefe and ruine to hymselfe but also throwe downe our nature hedlonge into like destructioÌ„ And that not only to the corruption of hym selfe whych perteyneth nothyng to vs but bicause he infected al his sede with the same corruptioÌ„ wherinto he was fallen For otherwise that sayeng of Paule could not staÌ„d true that all are by nature the sonnes of wrath yf they were not already accursed in the wombe And it is easelye gathered that nature is there meante not suche as it was create by God but suche as it was corrupted in Adam For it were not conuenient that God shold bee made the authour of Death Adam therefore so corrupted hym selfe that the infection passed from hym into all hys ofsprynge And the heauenly Iudge hym selfe Christe doeth also playnely enough pronounce that all are borne euell and corrupted where he teacheth that what soeuer is borne of fleshe is fleshe and that therefore the gate of lyfe is closed agaynste all menne vntill they be begotten agayne Neyther for the vnderstandynge thereof is any curiouse disputation nedefull whyche not a little combred the olde wryters whether the soule of the sonne do procede by deriuation from the soule of the father bycause in it the infection principally resteth We must be coÌ„tent wyth this that suche giftes as it pleased the Lorde to haue bestowed vpon the nature of man he lefte them wyth Adam and therefore when Adam loste them after he had receyued them he lost them not only from himselfe but also from vs all Whoe shall be carefull of a conueyance from soule to soule when he shall heare that Adam receyued these ornamentes whyche he loste no lesse for vs than for hymselfe that they were not geuen to one manne alone but assigned to the whole nature of manne Therefore it is not agaynste reason yf he beynge spoyled nature bee lefte naked and poore yf he beyng infected wyth Sinne the infection crepeth into nature Therefore from a rotten roote arose vp rotten branches whiche sent their rottennesse into the other twigges that spronge out of them For so were the chyldren corrupted in the father that they also were infectiue to theyr chyldren that is to saye so was the beginnynge of corruption in Adam that by continuall flowynge from one to an other it is
should aske what haue the wicked to doe with Gods spirite which are altogether estranged from God For where it is saide that the spirite of God dwelleth in the faythfull onely that is to be vnderstanded of the spyrite of sanctification by the whyche we are consecrate to God him felfe to be his temples yet doeth he neuerthelesse fyll moue and quicken all thynges wyth the vertue of the same spirit and that accordyng to the propertie of euery kinde whyche he hath geuen to it by lawe of creation If it haue ben the Lordes will that we shoulde be holpen by the trauaile and seruice of the wicked in naturall Phylosophie Dialectike the mathematicall knoweledges and other lette vs vse it leaste yf we neglecte the giftes of God willingly offred in them we suffer iuste punishmeÌ„t for our slouthfulnesse But leaste any shoulde thinke a manne to be blessed when vnder the elementes of this world there is graunted vnto him so great an abilitie to conceiue truth it is also to be added that all this power to vnderstande and the vnderstandyng that followeth thereof is a vanishyng and transitorie thyng before God where there is not a stedefaste fundation of trueth For Augustine teacheth most truely whom as we haue sayd the Master of the Sentences the other Scholemen are compelied to assent vnto as the free giftes were taken from man after his fall so these naturall giftes which remayned were corrupted Not that they can be defiled of themselues in asmuch as they come from God but bicause they cease to be pure to a defiled manne that he should haue no prayse of them Lette this bee the summe that it is seene that in all mankynde is reason whyche is propre to our nature whyche maketh vs to differ from brute beastes as brute beastes doe differ in sense from thynges without lyfe For where as there be borne certayne naturall fooles and idiotes that defaulte obscureth not the generall grace of god But rather by such sight we are put in mynde that what is lefte vnto our selues ought iustely to be ascribed to the kindenesse of god bicause if he had not spared vs our rebellion had drawen wyth it the destruction of our whole nature But whereas some doe excelle in sharpenesse of conceiuyng some other doe passe in iudgement some haue a quicker witte to learne this or that arte in this variete God setteth forth his grace vnto vs that no manne shoulde clayme to him selfe as his owne that whyche floweth from gods mere liberalitie For howe becometh one more excellente than an other but that in common nature myght appere aboue other the speciall grace of God whyche in omittyng many sayeth openly that it is bounde to none Byside that god poureth in singular motions according to the callyng of euery manne Of whiche thyng we meete with many examples in the bokes of the Iudges wher it is sayde that the spyrite of the Lorde â—â—ad them whome he called to rule the people Finally in euery noble arte there is a speciall instruction By whyche reason the strong men followed Saul whose heartes the lord had touched And when his ministring in the kingedome was propheeyed of Samuel sayde thus The spirit of the lord shall come vpon thee and thou shalt be an other man And this was continued to the whole course of gouernemente as after it is spoken of Dauid that the spirite of the Lorde came vpon him from that daye forwarde But the same is spoken in an other place as touchinge particular motions yea in Homere men are sayde to excell in witte not onely as Iupiter hathe dealte to euerye manne but also as the tyme requyred And truely experience teacheth whyle many tymes suche men stande amased as were moste sharpe and deepewytted that the wittes of men are in the hand and will of God to rule them at euerye moment for whyche reason yt is sayde that the taketh witte from the wyse that they maye wander oute of the waye But yet in thys diuersitie wee see remaynynge some markes of the Image of God whyche dooe make difference betwene all mankynde and other creatures Now is to be declared what mans reason seeth when it commeth to the kyngedome of God and to that spirituall insight whyche consysteth chyefely in three thynges to knowe God and hys fatherly fanoure towarde vs wherein oure saluation standeth and the waye to frame oure lyfe accordynge to the rule of hys lawe Bothe in the first two in the seconde proprely thei that are most wytty are blinder than molles I denye not that there bee here and there readde in Phylosophers concerninge God many thynges well and aptely spoken but yet suche as dooe alwaye sauoure of a certayne gyddy ymagynation The Lorde gaue them in deede as ys aboue sayde a lyttle taste of his godheade that they should not pretende ignoraunce to coloure their vngodlynesse and many tymes he moued them to speake many thynges by confession wherof them selues myght be conuinced But thei so sawe the thynges that they sawe that by suche seynge they were not directed to the trueth muche lesse did attaine vnto it lyke as a wayfaringe man in the myddest of the feylde for a sodayne momente seeth faire and wyde the glysterynge of lyghtninge in the night time but wyth suche a quickely vanishinge sight that he is soner couered againe with the darkenesse of the night than he can stirre his foote so farre is it of that he canne be brought into his way by such a helpe Besyde that those smale droppes of truthe wherwyth as it were by chaunce they sprincle their bokes with howe many and howe monstruous lyes are they defyled Fynally thei neuer so muche as smelled that assurednesse of Gods good will towarde vs without whiche mans witte muste nedes be filled with infinitie confusion Therefore mans reason neither approcheth nor goeth towarde nor ones directeth syghte vnto thys trueth to vnderstande whoe is the true god or what a one he will be towarde vs. But bicause we being dronke with a false persuasion of oure owne deepe insight do very hardely suffer oure selues to be persuaded that in matters of god it is vtterly blynde and dull I thynke it shall bee better to confyrme yt by testymonyes of Scripture than by reasons Thys dothe Ihon very well teache in that place whiche I euen nâ—w alleged when he wryteth that lyfe was in God from the beginnyng and the same lyfe whyche shoulde be the lyghte of men and that the lighte did shine in darkenesse the darkenesse coÌ„prehended it not He sheweth in deede that mans soule is lightened with the brightnesse of gods light so that it is neuer altogether without some small flame or at leaste some sparcle of it but yet that with suche a light he comprehendeth not God And why so bycause mans quickenesse of wit as toward the knowledge of God is but mere darkenesse For when the holy ghost calleth men darkenesse he at ones spoyleth
it vs doth argue our need let no man nowe doubte to confesse that he is so much able to vnderstande the misteries of God as he is enlightened with his grace He that geueth to him selfe more vnderstanding is so much the more blinde for that he doth not acknoweledge his owne blindenesse Nowe remaineth the thirde pointe of knowyng the rule of well framynge of life whiche we doe rightly call the knoweledge of the workes of righteousnesse wherein mans wit semeth to bee of somewhat more sharpe sight than in the other two before For the Apostle testifieth that the Gentiles whiche haue no lawe while they doe the workes of the lawe are to themselues in stede of a lawe and do shewe the lawe written in their heartes their consciēces bearing them witnesse and their thoughtes accusyng them within themselues or excusing them before the iudgement of God If the Gentiles haue righteousnesse naturally grauē in their mindes surely we can not say that we are altogether blynde in the order of life And nothing is more cōmon than that man by the lawe naturall of whiche the Apostle speaketh in that place is sufficiently instructed to a right rule of life But let vs waye to what purpose this knowledge of the lawe is planted in men then it shall by and by appeare howe far it bringeth them toward the marke of reason and truthe The same is also euident by the wordes of Paul if a man do marke the placing of them He had sayde a litle before that they whiche sinned in the lawe are iudged by the lawe they that haue sinned without lawe do perishe without lawe Because this might seme vnreasonable that the gentils should perish without any iudgement going before he by and by addeth that their conscience is to them in steade of a lawe and therfore is sufficient for their iust damnation Therfore the ende of the lawe naturall is that man may be made inexcusable And it shal be defined not il after this sorte that it is a knowledge of conscience that sufficiently discerneth betwene iust and vniust to take away from men the pretence of ignoraunce while they are proued gilty by their owne testimony Such is the tendernesse of man toward him selfe that in doing of euyls he alway turneth away his mynde so muche as he may from the feling of sinne By whiche reason it semeth that Plato was moued to thynke that there is no sinne done but by ignorance That in dede were fitly sayd of him if mens hypocrisie went so farre in hiding of vices that the mynde might not knowe itselfe gilty before God But when the sinner seking to escheue the iudgement emprinted in him is now and then drawen back vnto it and not suffered so to winke but that he be compelled whether he wil or no some time to open his eies it is falsly sayd that he sinneth only by ignoraunce Themistius sayth more truly which teacheth that vnderstanding is seldome deceiued that it is blyndenesse when it goeth any further that is whē he cometh down to the speciall case Euery man if it be generally asked wil affirme that manslaughter is euell but he that conspireth to kil his enemies deliberateth vpon it as on a good thyng The adulterer generally will condemne adulterie but in his owne priuately he will flatter himself This is ignoraunce when a man cōmyng to the speciall case forgetteth the rule that he had lately agreed vpon in the generall question Of whiche thyng Augustine discourseth very finely in his exposition of the first verse of the .lvij. Psalme albeit the same thyng is not continuall For sometime the shamefulnesse of the euell deede so presseth the conscience that not deceyuynge him selfe vnder false resemblance of a good thing but wittingly and willingly he runneth into euell Out of whiche affectiō came these sayinges I see thee better and allowe it but I followe the worse Wherefore me thinke Aristotele hath very aptely made distinction betwene Incontinence and Temperance Where incontinence reigneth he sayeth that there by reason of troubled affection or passion knoweledge is taken away from the minde that it marketh not the euell in his owne acte which it generally seeth in the like and when the troubled affectiō is cooled repentaunce immediatly foloweth But intemperaunce is not extinguished or broken by feeling of sinne but on the other side obstinately standeth still in her conceyued choyse of euell Now when thou hearest iudgement vniuersally named in the difference of good and euell thinke it not euery sounde perfect iudgement For if mās heartes are furnished with choise of iust and vniust only to this ende that they should not pretēde ignorance it is not then nedefull to see the trueth in euery thyng But it is enough and more that they vnderstande so farre that they canne not escape awaye but beyng conuict by witnesse of their conscience they euen now already beginne to tremble at the iudgement seate of God And if we wil trie our reason by the lawe of God whych is the exampler of true righteousnesse we shal finde howe many wayes it is blinde Truely it atteineth not at all to those that are the chiefe things in the First table as of confidence in God of geuyng to hym the prayse of strength and righteousnesse of callyng vpon his name of the true kepyng of Sabbat What soule euer be naturall sense did smell out that the lawful worshippyng of God consisteth in these and like thinges For when prophane men will worshippe God although they be called awaye a hundred times from theyr vaine trifles yet they alwaye slyde backe thither agayne They denie in deede that sacrifices dooe please God vnlesse there be adioyned a purenesse of minde wherby thei declare that they tonceyue somewhat of the spirituall worshippyng of God whyche yet they by and by corrupte with false inuentions For it can neuer be persuaded thē that al is true that the lawe perscribeth of it Shall I saye that that wit excelleth in any sharpe vnderstandynge whych can neyther of it selfe be wise nor harken to teachyng In the commaundementes of the Second table it hath some more vnderstandyng by so much as they came nerer to the preseruation of ciuile felowshyppe among menne Albeit euen herein also it is founde many times to faile To euery excellēt nature is semeth moste vnresonable to suffer an vniuste and to imperious a manner of gouernyng ouer them if by any meane he may put it away and the iudgement of mās reason is none other but that it is the part of seruile and base courage to suffer it patiently and againe the part of an honest and free borne heart ▪ to shake it of And reuenge of iniuries is rekened for no fault among the Philosophers But the lorde condempning that to muche noblenesse of courage cōmaūdeth his to kepe the same patience that is so ill reported among men And in all the keping of the lawe our vnderstandinge marketh
of God vnlesse that so excellent a benefite should come vnto them from els where than from themselues Also how could the right of priesthode remaine in force among them who by filthinesse of sinnes were abhominable to God vnlesse they had ben consecrate in a holy head â–ª Wherefore Peter doth very aptly turne that sayeng of Moses where he teacheth that the fulnesse of grace the taste whereof the Iewes had taken vnder the law was geuen in Christ Ye are sayeth he a chosen kinred a kingly priesthode For to this ende tendeth that turnynge of the wordes to shewe that they to whome Christ appered by the Gospell haue obteined more than their fathers bicause they are all endued bothe with priestly and kingly honour that trustyng vpon their mediatour they maye freely be bolde to come forth into the sight of God And here by the waye it is to be noted that the kingdome whiche at length was erected in the house of Dauid is part of the law conteined vnder the ministerie of Moses Wherupon foloweth that as well in all the kinred of the Leuites as in the posteritie of Dauid Christ was set beâ—ore the eyes of the olde people as in a doble loking glasse For as I sayd euen now they could not otherwise be before God eyther kinges or priestes which were both the bondslaues of sinne of death defiled by their owne corruptioÌ„ Hereby appereth that that sayeng of Paule is moste true that the Iewes were holden as vnder the keping of a Scholemaister til the sede came for whose sake the promise was geuen For bicause Christ was not yet familiarly knowen they were like vnto children whose weakenesse could not yet beare a full knowledge of heauenly thinges but how thei were by ceremonies as it were led by the hand to Christ is before spokeÌ„ may be better vnderstand by many testimonies of the Prophetes For although it was coÌ„maunded them to come dayly with newe sacrifices to appease God yet Esaye promiseth that al their sinnes shal be cleansed with one only sacrifice Wherewith Daniel agreably sayeth The priestes apointed of the tribe of Leui did enter into the Sanctuarie but of the only priest it was ones sayd that by an othe he was chosen of God to be a priest for euer according to the order of Melchisedech At that time the anointing with oyle was visible but Daniel by his vision pronouÌ„ceth that there shal be an other manner of anointyng And bicause I will not tarry vpon many examples the authour of the Epistle to the Hebrewes eueÌ„ from the .iiij. chapter to the xi doth largely and plainely enough shew that the ceremonies are nothing worth vaine til we come to Christ. As concerning the ten coÌ„maundementes that lesson of Paule is likewise to be kept in minde that Christ is the ende of the law vnto saluation to euery one that beleueth And an other lesson that Christ is the Spirit that quickeneth the letter whiche of it selfe slayeth For in the first of these two he meaneth that righteousnesse is vainely taught by commaundementes vntill Christ doe geue it bothe by free imputation and by the spirite of regeneration Wherefore he worthyly calleth Christ the fulfilling or ende of the law Bycause it should nothing profit vs to knowe what God requyreth of vs vnlesse he did succour vs faynting and oppressed vnder the yoke and vntolerable burden In an other place he teacheth that the lawe was made for transgressions that is to bryng menne to humilitie beyng proued gilty of theyr owne damnation And bycause this is the true and only preparation to seke Christ what so euer he teacheth in diuerse wordes do al very well agree together But bicause he then was in contentioÌ„ with peruerse teachers which fained that we do deserue righteousnesse by the workes of the law to confute their errour he was compelled somtime to speake precisely of the bare lawe whiche yet otherwise is clothed with the couenant of free adoption But now it is good to know how being taught by the morall law we are made more inexcusable that our owne giltynesse maye moue vs to craue pardon If it be true that we be taught perfectioÌ„ of rightousnesse in the lawe then this also followeth that the absolute keping thereof is perfect righteousnesse before God that is whereby a man maye be demed and accompted righteous before the heauenly throne of iudgement Wherfore Moses when he had published the law doubted not to protest before heauen and earth that he had set before Israell life and death good and euell And we maye not denie but that the reward of eternal saluation belongeth to the vpright obedience of the lawe as the lord hath promised it Agayne yet it is good to examine whether we performe that obedience vpon desert whereof we may conceiue a trust of that reward For to what small purpose is it to see the rewarde of eternall life set in kepynge of the lawe vnlesse we further knowe whether we maye by that waye attaine to eternall life But herein the weakenesse of the law doth shewe it selfe For bycause that kepyng of the law is founde in none of vs al we are excluded from the promises of life and doe fall into curse onely I doe not nowe tell what doth come to passe but what needes muste so come to passe For where as the doctrine of the lawe is far aboue the power of manne he maye in deede a far of loke at the promises but yet not gather any fruite of them Therefore this one thing remayneth that by the goodnesse of them he may the better weye his owne miserie while he considereth that all hope of saluation beyng cut of death dothe certainely haÌ„g ouer him Do the other side do presse vs terrible penal lawes which do holde entaÌ„gled fast bound not only a few of vs but euery one without exceptioÌ„ they presse vs I say do pursue vs with vnappeasable rigour so that we may se most present death in the law Therfore if we loke only vpoÌ„ the lawe we can do nothing but be discouraged be confounded despeire for asmuch as by it we are al damned cursed kept far of from the blessednesse that he offreth to them that worship him Wilt thou say then Doth the lord so mock vs â–ª For how finally doth it differ from mocking to shewe forth a hope of felicitie to allure exhort men vnto it to protest that it is layed open for vs wheÌ„ in the meane season the entrie vnto it is forclosed impossible to be come to I answere although the promisses of the lawe in so much as they are conditional do hang vpon the perfect obedience of the law which can no where be found yet are they not geuen in vaine For when we haue lerned that they shal be voide and of no effect vnto vs vnlesse God embrace vs with his free goodnesse without regarde of
yet this hath still place with vs that we should mere at apointed dayes to the hearyng of the worde to the breakyng of the misticall bread and to publike prayer then that to seruauÌ„tes and laboreâ—s be graunted their rest from their labour It is out of doubt that in commaundyng the Sabbat the Lord had care of bothe thâ—â—â— thinges The first of them hath sufâ—icâ—ent testimonie by the only vse of the Iewes to proue it The second Moses spake of in Deuteronomie in these wordes that thy man seruant and thy mayde seruaÌ„t maye reste as well as thou remember that thou thy selfe didst serue in Egypt Againe in Exodus that thy Oxe and thy Asse maye rest and the sonne of thy boâ—dâ—woman maye take breath Who can denie that bothe these thinges do serue for vs aswell as for the Iewes Meâ—â—â—ges at the church are commaunded vs by the word of God â–ª and the necessitie of them is susficiently knowen in the very experience of life 〈◊〉 they be certainely appointed and haue their ordinarie daies 〈◊〉 can they be kept All thinges by the sentence of the Apostle are to be done comly and in order among vs. But so farre is it of that coÌ„â—â—â—esse and order can be kepte without this policie and moderation that there is at hand present trouble and ruine of the church if it bee dissolued Now if the same necessitie be among vs for relete whereof the Lord apointed the Sabbat to the Iewes let no man saye that it belongeth nothyng vnto vs. For our moste prouident and tender father willed no lesse to prouide for our necessitie than for the Iewes â—ut thou wilt saye why do we not rather dayly mete together that the difference of dayes maye be taken awaye I would to God that wâ—re graunted and truely spirituall wisedome was a thynge worthy to haue dayly a pece of the time cut out for it But yf it can not be obteined of the weakenesse of many to haue dayly metinges and the rule of charitie doth not suffer vs to exact more of them why should we not 〈◊〉 the order whiche we see layed vpon vs by the will of God I am compelled here to be somwhat long bicause at this day many vnquiet spirites do rayse trouble concernyng the Sondaye They crie out that the Christian people are nourished in Iewishnesse bicause they kepe some obseruation of dayes But I answere that we kepe those dayes without any Iewishnesse bicause we do in this behalfe far differ from the Iewes For we kepe it not with streight religion as a ceremonie wherein we thinke a spirituall misterie to be â—iâ—ured â–ª but we reteine it as a necessarie remedie to the kepyng of order in the church But Paul teacheth that in kepyng thereof they are not to be iudged Christians because it is a shadow of a thing to come Therefore he feared that he had labored in vayne amonge the Galathians bycause they did still obserue dayes And to the Romanes he aâ—â—â—â—meth that it is superstition if any man do make differeÌ„ce betwene daye and daye But whoe saâ—yng these mad men only dothe not see of what obseruyng the Apostle meaneth For they had no regarde to this political ende and the order of the church but wheras they kept them still as shadowes of spirituall thinges they did euen so muche darken the glory of Christ and the light of the Gospell They did not therfore cesse from handy workes bicause they were thinges that dyd call them away from holy studies and meditations but for a certayne religion that in cessinge from worke thei did dreame that thei still kept their misteries of olde time deliuered them The Apostle I saie inueyeth against this disordered difference of daies not againste the lawefull choice of daies that serueth for the quietnesse of Christian feloweship for in the Churches that he himselfe did ordeine the Sabbat was kept to this vse For he appoynteth the Corynthians the same daye wherin thei shoulde gather the collection to releue the brothren at Hierusalem If they feare superstition there was more danger thereof in the feaste dayes of the Iewes than in the Sundayes that the Christians nowe haue For so as was expediente for the ouerthrowinge of superstition the daie that the Iewes religiouslye obserued is taken awaie and so as was necessarie for keepinge of comclinesse ordre and quiet in the Churche an other daye was appoynted for the same vse Albeit the olde fathers haue not without reason of their choise put in place of the Sabbat daie the daie that we call Sundaie For whereas in the Resurrection of the Lorde is the ende and fullfyllinge of that reste whereof the olde Sabbat was a shadowe the Christians are by the very same daye that made an ende of shadowes put in mynde that thei shoulde no longer sticke vnto the shadowishe ceremonie But yet I do not so reste vpon the numbre of seuen that I wolde binde the Churche to the bondage thereof Neither wil I condemne those Churches that haue other solemne dayes for their meetinges so that thei be withoute superstition whiche shall bee if thei be onely applyed to the oseruation of Discipline and well appoynted ordre Let the summe hereof be thys as the trueth was geuen to the Iewes vnder a figure so is it deliuered vs without any shadowes at all Firste that in all oure life longe we sholde be in meditation of a continuall Sabbat or rest from oure owne workes that the Lorde may worke in vs by his spirit then that euery man priuately so ofte as he hath leysure shoulde diligently exercise himselfe in godly calling to minde the workes of God and also that we al sholde keepe the lawefull ordre of the Churche appoynted for the hearinge of the woorde for the ministration of the Sacramentes and for publike prayer thirdely that we shoulde not vngently oppresse them that bee vnder vs. And so do the trifelynges of the false prophetes vanish awaie that in the ages paste haue infected the people wyth a Iewyshe opinion that so muche as was ceremoniall in this commanudement is take away whiche thei in their tongue call the appoyntinge of the seuenth daye but that so muche as is morall remayneth whiche is the keeping of one daie in the weke But that is nothinge ells in effect than for reproche of the Iewes to change the daye and to keepe still the same holinesse in their minde For there still remaineth wyth vs the lyke signification of mysterie in the daies as was amonge the Iewes And truely we see what good thei haue done by such doctrine For thei that cleaue to their constitutions do by theise as muche as exceede the Iewes in grosse and carnall superstition of Sabbat so that the rebukinge that are readde in Isaie do no lesse fittly serue for them at these dayes than for those that the Prophete reproued in hys tyme. Butte this generall doctrine is principally to be kept
necessitie prouoketh his wrath bicause it is a breache of the law vpon whiche the iudgement of God is pronounced without exception and that the sinnes of the holyones are veniall or pardonable not of their owne nature but bicause they obteyne pardon by the mercie of God The. ix Chapter ¶ That Christ although he was knowen to the Iewes vnder the law yet was deliuered only by the Gospell BYcause it pleased God in the olde time not vainely by expiations and sacrifices to declare himself a Father and not in vayne he did consecrate a chosen people to himselff euen then without doubte he was knowen in the same image wherein he now appereth to vs with full brightnesse Therefore Malachie after that he had bidden the Iewes to take hede to the law of Moses to continue in studie thereof bicause after his death there should come a certaine interruption of the office of the Prophetes did forthwith declare that there shuld arise a sonne of righteousnesse In which wordes he teacheth that the lawe auaileth to this purpose to hold the godly in expectation of Christ to come but yet that there was muche more light to be hoped for when he should be come in deede For this reason doth Peter say that the Prophetes did make searche and diligently enquire of the saluation that is now opened by the Gospell and that it was reueled vnto them that they should minister not to themselues nor to their owne age but vnto vs those thinges that are declared by the Gospel Not that their doctrine was vnprofitable to the people in olde time or nothing auailed themselues but bicause thei enioyed not the treasure which God sent vnto vs by their hand For at this day the grace wherof they testified is familiarly set before our eyes And wheras they did but a litle sippe of it there is offred vnto vs a more plentiful enioyeng therof Therefore Christ himself whiche affirmeth that he had witnesse borne him by Moses yet extolleth the mesure of grace wherby we excel the Iewes For speaking to the Disciples he sayd Blessed are the eyes that see that whiche ye see blessed are the eares that here ath at whiche ye heare For many kinges Prophetes haue wished it haue not obteined it This is no smal coÌ„mendation of the reuelyng of the gospel that God preferred vs before the holy fathers that excelled in rare godlinesse With whiche sentence that other place disagreeth not where it is sayd that Abraham saw the daye of Christ and reioysed For though the sight of a thing farre distant was somwhat darke yet he wanted nothyng to the assurance of good hope And thense came that ioye whiche accompanied the holy Prophet euen to his death And that sayeng of Iohn Baptist No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten that is in the bosome of the father hath declared him vnto vs doth not exclude the godly whiche had ben dead before him froÌ„ the â—elowship of the vnderstandyng light that shineth in the persone of Christ. But coÌ„paryng their estate with oures he teacheth that those misteries which thei saw but darkly vnder shadowes are manifest to vs as the author of the episte to yâ— Hebrewes doth wel set out sayeng that God diuersly and many wayes spake in olde time by the Prophetes but now by his beloued Sonne Although therefore that only begotten one which is at this day to vs the brightnesse of the glory the point of the substance of God the father was in olde time knowen to the Iewes as we haue in an other place alleaged out of Paule that he was the guide of the old deliuerance yet is it true whiche the same Paule els where teacheth that God which coÌ„maunded the light to shine out of darknesse hath nowe shined vpon our heartes to set forth the knowledge of the glorie of God in the face of Iesus Christ bicause when he appered in this his image he did in a maner make himself visible in comparison of the darke and shadowish forme that had ben of him before And so much the more fowle and detestable is their vnthankefulnesse peruersnesse that are here so blinde at midde daye And therefore Paule sayth that their mindes are darkened by Satan that they should not see the glorie of Christ shining in the gospell though there be no veile set betwene them and it Now I take the Gospell for the clere disclosyng of the misterie of Christ. I graunt truely that in that respect that Paul calleth the gospel the doctrine of fayth al the promises that we here and there finde in the law concernyng the free forgeuenesse of sinnes whereby God reconcileth men to himself are accompted partes therof For he coÌ„pareth faith against these terrors wherewith the conscience should be troubled vexed if saluation were to be sought by workes WherupoÌ„ foloweth that in takyng the name of the gospel largely there are coÌ„teined vnder it all the testimonies that God in old time gaue to the fathers of his mercie and fatherly fauour But in the more excellent signification of it I saye it is applied to the publishyng of the grace geuen in Christ. And that meanyng is not only receyued by common vse but also hangeth vpon the authoritie of Christ and the Apostles Whereupon this is proprely ascribed vnto him that he preached the Gospell of the kingdome And Marke maketh his preface in this maner The beginnyng of the Gospell of Iesus Christ. And there is no neede to gather places to proue a thing sufficiently knowen Christ therefore by his coÌ„myng hath made clere the life and immortalitie by the Gospell By whiche wordes Paule meaneth not that the fathers were drowned in darknesse of death vntil the sonne of God did put on flesh but clayming this prerogatiue of honour to the gospell he teacheth that it is a newe and vnwonted kinde of message whereby God performed those thinges that he had promised that the truthe of his promises shuld be fulfilled in the persone of the Sonne For although the faithful haue alway found by experieÌ„ce that same sayeng of Paule to be true that in Christ are all the promises yea and Amen bycause they were sealed in their heartes yet bicause he hath accomplished al partes of our saluation in â—his flesh therefore that selfe liuely deliueryng of the thinges rightfully obteyned a newe and singular title of prayse Whereupon cometh that sayeng of Christ Hereafter ye shall see the heauens open and the Angels of God ascendyng and descendyng vpon the sonne of manne For though he seme to haue relation vnto the ladder shewed in a vision to the Patriarch Iacob yet he setteth out the excelleÌ„cie of his coÌ„ming by this mark that he opened the gate of heauen to all men that the entrie thereof maye be stand familiarly open to all men But yet we must take hede of the deuelish imagination of Seruet
deseruyng and the whole summe thereof is fulfilled in Christ. Whoe then dare make the Iewes without Christ with whome we heare that the couenant of the gospell was made whereof Christ is the only fundation Whoe dare make them strangers from the benefite of free saluatioÌ„ to whom we heare that the doctrine of the righteousnesse of fayth was ministred But that we dispute not longe of an euident matter we haue a notable sentence of the Lord. Abraham reioysed that he might see my daye he sawe it was glad And the same thing which Christ there testifieth of Abraham the Apostle sheweth that it was vniuersal in the faithful people wheÌ„ he sayth that Christ abideth yesterday this daye and for euer For he speaketh not there only of the eternall godhed of Christe but also of his power whiche was continually opened to the faythfull Wherefore bothe the blessed Uirgin and Zacharie in their songes do say that the saluation reueled in Christ is the performance of the promises whiche God in olde time had made to Abraham and the Patriarches If the Lord in geuyng his Christ discharged his olde othe it can not be sayd but that the ende therof was alway in Christ and euerlasting life Yea and the Apostle doth make the Israelites egall with vs not only in the grace of the couenant but also in signification of Sacramentes For meanyng by examples of punishmentes wherewith the Scripture reciteth that they were corrected in the olde time to make the Corinthians afrayde that they should not runne into the like offenses he beginneth with this preface that there is no cause why we should chalenge any prerogatiue vnto our selues to deliuer vs from the vengeance of God which they susteined for asmuch as the Lord did not only graunt vnto them the same benefites but he hath gloriously set forth his grace among them with the same tokens As yf he should haue sayd If ye trust that ye be out of peril bicause both Baptisme wherewith ye be marked and the Supper which ye dayly receyue haue excellent promises and in the meane time despisyng the goodnesse of God ye are liceÌ„tiously wanton Know ye that the Iewes also were not without such sacramentes against whom yet the Lord did most seuerely put his iudgementes in execution They were Baptized in passyng ouer the Sea and in the cloude wherewith they were defended from the burnyng heate of the sonne They saye that that same passage was a carnall Baptisme whiche after a certayne proportion answereth to our spirituall Baptisme But yf that were allowed true the Apostles argument could not procede which meaneth here to haue this taken away from the Christians that they thinke that they excell the Iewes by the prerogatiue of Baptisme Neyther is that whiche by and by after foloweth subiect to this cauillation that they did eate the same spirituall meate that we eate and dronke the same spiritual drinke whiche he expoundeth to be Christ. To ouerthrowe this sentence of Paule they obiecte that whiche Christ sayth Your fathers did eate Manna in the wildernesse and are dead he that eateth my fleshe shall not dye for euer Whiche two places are very easily made to agree together The Lorde bycause he then talked to hearers that sought only to bee filled with foode of their belly but cared not for the meate of the soule tempered his talke somewhat to their capacitie but specially he frameth the comparison of Manna and of his bodye accordynge to their sense They required that he to gette himselfe some credite woulde approue his power with doynge some suche miracle as Moses dyd in the wildernesse when he obâ—eyned Manna from Heauen But in Manna they conceyued nothynge but the remedie of carnall hunger wherewith the people was then vexed but they pearced not to that hyer misterie whiche Paule hath respect vnto Christ therefore to shewe howe muche greater a benefite they ought to loke for at his hande than that which they reported that Moses dyd bestow vpon their fathers frameth this comparison If it were a great miracle in your opinion and worthye to be remembred that the Lorde by Moses ministred fonde from Heauen to his people to susteine them for a smal time that they should not perishe for hunger in the wildernesse gather hereby howe muche more excellente is the meate that geueth immortalitie We see why the Lord passed ouer that thyng whiche was principall in Manna and spake onely of the bacest profit of it euen bycause the Iewes as it were of purpose to reproche hym dyd caste Moses in his teeth whiche succored the necessitie of the people with remedie of Manna he answered that he is the minister of a muche hyer grace in comparison whereof the carnall fedynge of the people whiche alone they so muche estemed ought of righte to be nothyng regarded But Paule bycause he knewe that the Lord when he rayned Manna from heauen dyd not only poure it downe for the seding of their belly but also dyd distribute it for a spirituall misterie to be a figure of the spiâ—ituall quickenynge that is had in Christ dyd not neglecte that parte that was most worthy of consideration Wherfore it certainely and clerely foloweth that the same promises of eternall and heueÌ„ly life whiche nowe the Lord vouchesaueth to graunt vnto vs were not only communicated vnto the Iewes but also sealed with very spiritual SacrameÌ„tes Of whiche mater Augustine disputeth largely agaynst Faustus the Manichee But yf the readers had rather to haue testimonies alledged vnto them out of the lawe and the Prophetes whereby they may perceyue that the spirituall couenant was common also to the fathers as we heare by Christ and the Apostles I will also follow that desire and so muche the more willingly bycause by that meane the aduersaries shal be more surely conuinced so that they shall haue afterwarde no waye to dallye And I will beginne at that profe whiche although I knowe that the Anabaptistes pride will thinke verye fonde and in a manner to bee laughed at yet shall muche auayle with suche reders as are willyng to learne and haue their sounde wit And I take it as a principle confessed that there is suche effectuall force of lyfe in the worde of God that whome so euer God vouchesaueth to be partakers therof it quickeneth their soules For this sayeng Peter hath alwaye ben of force that it is the incorruptible seede whiche abideth for euer as he also gathereth out of the wordes of Esaye Now sithe God in the old time bound the Iewes vnto him with this holy bouÌ„d it is no doubt that he did also seuer them into the hope of eternal life For when I saye they embraced the worde whiche should ioyne them â—â—yer to God I take it for the maner of coÌ„municatyng it not that generall manner whiche is poured abrode throughout the heauen and earth and all the creatures of the world whiche although it do quickeÌ„ all thinges
the ende of thys present life From thense did spring vp that consideration whiche the faythfull oftentimes vsed for a comforte of thir miseries and remedie of patience It is but a momente in the Lordes displeasure and life in his mereye Howe did they determine afflictions to ende in a moment that were in affliction in a manner of their life longe where dyd thei espye so longe an eâ—duringe of Godes kindenesse whereof thei scarsely felt any lyttle taste If thei hadde sticked faste vpon the earthe they coulde haue founde no such thing but bicause thei loked vpon heauen thei acknowledged that it is but a moment of time while the Lord exercise his holy ones by the crosse but that his mercies wherein thei are gathered together do last the worldes age Againe they did â—oresee the eternall and neuer endinge destruction of the vngodlye whiche were as in a dreame happy for one daie Wherevpon came these sayinges The remembrance of the righteous shall be in blessing butte the name of the wicked shall rotte Precious is the deathe of the Saintes in the sighte of the Lorde but the deathe of the wicked moste euell Againe in Samuel The Lorde shall keepe the feete of the holy and the wicked shall be put to silence in darkenesse Whiche do declare that thei well knewe that howesoeuer the holy were diuersly carryed aboute yet their laste ende is lyfe and saluation and that the prosperitie of the wycked is a pleasaunt waye whereby thei by little and little slide forwarde into the gulfe of deathe Therefore thei called the deathe of suche the destruction of the vncircumcised as of them from whome the hope of the resurrection was cutte awaie Wherefore Dauid coulde not deuise a more greuous curse than this Let them be blotted out of the boke of life and not be written with the righteous But aboue all other notable is that sayeng of Iob I knowe that my redemer liueth in the last daie I shal rise againe out of the earth and in my fleshe I shall see God my sauioure This hope is layed vp in my bosome Some that haue a mynde to make a shewe of their sharpe witte do cauill that this is not to be vnderstanded of the last resurrection but of the firste daye that Iob loked to haue God more gentle to him whiche although we graunt them in parte yet shall wee enforce them to confesse whether they wyll or noe that Iob coulde not haue come to that largenesse of hope if he had rested his thoughte vpon the earthe Therefore we muste needes confesse that he lifted vp his eyes to the immortalitie to come whiche sawe that his redeemer would be present with him euen lyeng in his graue For to them that thinke only of his present life death is their vttermost desperation whiche very death coulde not cutt of Iobs hope Yea though he kill me said he neuerthelesse I will still hope in him And let no trifler here carpe against me and saie â–ª that these were the sayenges but of a fewe whereby ys not proued that suche doctrine was among the Iewes For I wyll by and by answer him that these fewe dyd not in these sayenges vtter any secret wisedome wherevnto onely certayne excellente wittes were seuerally and priuately suffred to atteine â–ª but that as thei were by the holy Ghoste apointed teachers of the people so they openly published those misteries of God that were to be vniuersally learned and ought to be the principles of the common religion among the people Therefore when we heare the publike oracles of the holy Ghoste wherein he spake of the spirituall lyfe so clerely and plainely in the Churche of the Iewes it were a pointe of vntolerable stubbournesse to sende them away only to the fleshly couenant wherin is mention made of nothing but earth and earthly wealthinesse If I come downe to the latter Prophetes there wee maye freely walke as is oure owne felde For yf it were not harde for vs to gett the vpperhande in Dauid Iob and Samuel here it shall be muche more easye For God kepte this distribution and ordre in disposinge the couenant of hys mercye that howe muche the nearer it drewe on in processe of tyme to the full perfourmance thereof with so muche greater encreasementes of reuelation hee dyd daye by daie more bryghtly shewe it Therefore at the beginning when the firste promise of saluation was made vnto Adam there glystered oute but as it were smale sparkles of it After hauinge more added vnto it a greater largenesse of light began to be put forth whiche from thense fourth brake out more and more and displayed her bryghtnesse farther abroade till at length all the cloudes were dryuen awaye and Christe the sonne of righteousnesse fully lyghtned the whole woorlde We neede not therfore to feare that wee fayle of testimonies of the Prophetes if we seeke them to proue oure cause but bicause I see that there wyll aryse a huge deale of matter wherevpon I shoulde bee constrained of necessytie to tarrye longer than the proportioâ— of my purpose maye beare for it woulde so growe to a worke of a great volume and also bicause I haue already by those thinges that I haue saide before made plaine the waye euen for a reader of meane capacitie so as he maye goe forwarde wythoute stumbling therefore I wyll at this present absteine from long tediousnesse whyche to do ys no lesse necessarie but geuing the readers warning before hande that they remembre to open theyr owne waye with that key that we haue fyrste geuen them in theyr hande That is that so ofte as the Prophetes speake of the blessednesse of the faithfull people whereof scarscely the leaste steppes are seen in this present life thei maye resorte to this distinction that the Prophetes the better to eâ—presse the goodnesse of God did as in a shadow expresse it to the people by temporall benefites as by certaine rough drawing of the portraiture therof but that the perfect image that thei haue painted therof was suche as might rauish mens myndes out of the earh and out of the elements of this worlde and of the age that shal perishe and of necessitie rayse it vp to the considering of the felicitie of the lyfe that ys to come and spirituall We wyll be content with one example When the Israelites being carryed awaye to Babylon sawe their scattering abroade to be like vnto deathe they coulde hardely be remoued from thys opinion that they thought that al was but fables that Ezechiel prophecied of their restitution bicause thei reckened it euen all one as if he had tolde them that rotten carcases shoulde be restored againe to lyfe The Lorde to shewe that euen that same difficultie coulde not stop him from bringing hys benefite to effect shewed to the Prophete in a vision a field full of due bones to the which in a moment with the onely power of hys worde he restored
appeareth sufficiently though it were but by this that while we muste liue in warfare vnder the crosse during the whole course of oure life our estate is harde and miserable what then sholde it profite vs to be gathered together vnder the dominion of a heauenly kinge vnlesse we wer certaine to enuy the frute therof out of the state of this earthly life And therefore it is to be knowen that whatsoeuer felicitie is promised vs in Christ it consisteth not in outward coÌ„modities that we shold leade a merry and quiet life florish in wealth be assured from al harmes flowe full of those deliteful thinges that the flesh is wont to desire but that it wholy belongeth to the heauenly lyfe But as in the worlde the prosperous desired state of the people is partly mainteyned by plentie of good thinges and peace at home and partely by strong forceable defenses wherby it maie be safe against outward violence so Christe also dothe enriche his with all thynges necessarie to eternall saluation of soules and fortifieth them with strength by whiche thei mai stande inuincible against al assaultes of spiritual enemies Whereby we gather that he reigneth more for vs than for himself and that both within without that being furnished so farr as God knoweth to be expedient for vs with the gyftes of the spirite wherof we are naturally empty we maie by these fyrste frutes perceaue that we are truely ioyned to God vnto perfect blesednesse And then that bearinge vs bolde vpon the power of the same spirit we may not doubt that we shall alwaie haue the victorie against the Deuell the worlde and euery kinde of hurtfull thinge To thys purpose tendeth the a unswer of Christe to the Pharises that bicause the kingedome of God is with in vs it shal not come with obseruation For it is likely that bicause he professed that hee was the same kinge vnder whome the souereigne blessinge of God was to be hoped for they in scorne requyred hym to shewe fourth his signes But hee bycause thei who otherwise are to muche bent to the earth shoulde not foolishly rest vpon worldly pompes byddeth them to enter into their owne consciences bycause the kingdome of God is righteousnesse peace and ioye in the holy ghosâ—e Hereby we are breefely taughte what the kingedome of Christ auayleth vs. For bycause it is not earthly or fleshly subiecte to corruption but spirituall he lifteth vs vp euen to eternall lyfe that we maie patienth passe ouer this life in miseries hunger cold coÌ„tempt reproches and other greues contented with this one thinge that oure king will neuer leaue vs destitute but succoure vs in oure necessities till hauing ended oure warre we be called to triumph For suche is his manner of reigning to communicate with vs all that he hathe recâ—iued of his father Nowe whereas he armeth and furnisheth vs wyth power and garnisheth vs with beautie magnificens enricheth vs with wealth hereby is ministred vnto vs moste plentyfull matter to glorie vpon also bold courage to fight without feare against the Deuell sinne and death Finally that clothed with hys righteousnes wee may valiantly ouercome al the reproches of the world and as he liberally filleth vs with his giftes so we againe for oure parte may bring forth frute to his glorye Therfore his kingly anointing is set forth vnto vs not done with oyle or ointmeÌ„tes made with spices but he is called the anointed of god bicause vpoÌ„ him hath rested the spirit of wisdome vnderstaÌ„ding couÌ„sel strength and feare of God Thys is the oyle of gladnesse wherewpth the Psalme reporteth that he was annoynted aboue his fellowes bicause if there were not suche excellencie in hym we shoulde be all needy and hungry For as it is already saide hee is not priuately enriched for hym selfe but â—o poure his plentie vpon vs being hungry and drie For as it is sayde that the father gaue the spirite to his sonne not by measure so there is expressed a reason why that all we shoulde receiue of his fulnesse and grace for grace Oute of which fountaine floweth that liberall geuinge whereof Paule maketh mention whereby grace is diuersly distributed to the faithful according to the measure of the gyfte of Christe Hereby is that whiche I saide sufficiently confyrmed that the kyngedome of Christ consisteth in the spirite not in earthly delytes or pompes and therefore we muste forsake the woorlde that we maye be partakers of it A visible signe of this holy anoyntinge was shewed in the baptisme of Christe when the holy ghooste rested vpon him in the lykenesse of a doue That the holy ghooste and hys gyftes are meante by the woorde Anoyntinge oughte to seeme neither noueltie nor absurditie For we are none other waie quickened specially for so muche as concerneth the heauenly lyfe there is no droppe of lyuely force in vs but that whiche the holy ghoste poureth into vs whyche hathe chosen his seate in Christe that from thense the heauenly rychesse mighte largely flowe oute vnto vs whereof wee are so neady And whereas bothe the faythfull stande inuincible by the strengthe of their king also his spiritual richesse plenteously flow out vnto them thei are not vnwoorthyly called Christians But this eternitie wherof we haue spoken is nothynge derogate by that sayeng of Paule Then he shall yelde vp the kyngdome to God and the Father Againe â–ª the sonne hym selfe shall be made subiecte that God maye be all in all thynges for hys meaninge is nothynge els but that in that same perfect glorie the administration of the kyngedome shall not bee suche as it is nowe For the father hathe geuen all power to the sonne that by the sonnes hande he maye gouerne cherishe and susteine vs defende vs vnder hys sauegarde and helpe vs. So whyle for a lyttle time we are waueringe abroade from God Christ is the meane betweene God and vs by lyttle and lyttle to brynge vs to perfect conioyning wyth God And truely whereas he sytteth on the right hande of the father that is as muche in effecte as yf hee were called the fathers deputee vnder whome is the whole power of his dominion bycause it is Gods will to rule and defende hys Churche by a meane as I maie so call it in the person of hys Sonne As also Paule dothe expounde it in the fyrste chapiter to the Ephesians that he was sette at the ryght hande of the father to be the heade of the Churche whyche is his body And to no other meanynge tendeth that whyche hee teacheth in an other place that there is geuen hym a name aboue all names that in the name of Iesus all knees shoulde bowe and all tongues confesse that it is to the glorie of God the Father For euen in the same woordes also hee setteth oute in the kingedome of Christe an ordre necessarye for oure presente weakenesse So Paule gathereth ryghtely that God shall then bee by
the definition of it and the propreties that it hathe are declared BUt al these thinges shal be easy to vnderstand when there is shewed a plaine definitioÌ„ of fayth that the readers may knowe the force and nature thereof But fyrste it is conuenient to call to minde againe these thynges that haue ben already spoken that syth God doth appoint vs by his law what we ought to do if we fall in any point thereof the same terrible iudgement of eternall death that he pronounceth doth rest vpon vs. Againe that forasmuch as it is not only hearde but altogether aboue oure strength and beyond all oure power to fulfill the lawe if we only beholde our selues wâ—ie what estate is worthy for our deseruinges there is no good hope left but we lie cast away from God vnder eternall destruction Thirdly this hath ben declared that there is but one meane of deliuerance to drawe vs out of so wretched calamitie wherin appeareth Christ the Redeemer by whose hand it pleased the heauenly father hauing mercie vpon vs of his infinite goodnesse clemencie to succoure vs so that we wyth sounde faith embrace thys mercie and with constant hope rest vpon it But now it is conuenient for vs to weie this what manner of faith this ought to be by which al thei that are adopted by God to be hys chyldren do enter vpon the possession of the heauenly kingdome forasmuch as it is certaine that not euery opinion nor yet euery perswasion is sufficient to bring to passe so great a thing And with so much the more care study must we loke about for and searche out the natural propretie of faith by how muche the more hurtfull at thys day is the erroure of many in this behalf For a great part of the world hearing the name of faith conceiueth no hier thing but a certaine common assent to the historie of the Gospel Yea when thei dispute of faith in the scholes in barely callynge God the obiecte of faithe thei do nothinge but as we haue saide in an other place by vaine speculation rather draw wretched soules out of the right way thaÌ„ direct them to the true mark For wheras God dwelleth in a light that none can atteine to it behoueth of necessitie that Christe become meane betweene vs and yt For whyche cause he calleth hym selfe the light of the world in an other place The way the Truth the Life bicause no man commeth to the father which is the fountaine of life but by him bicause he onely knoweth the Father by him the faithful to whome it pleaseth him to disclose him According to this reason Paule affirmeth that he accompteth nothing excellent to be knowen but Christ and in the .xx. chapiter of the Actes he saith that he preached faith in Christ c. And in an other place he bringeth in Christ speakeinge after this manner I wil send thee amonge the Gentiles that thei maye receiue forgeuenes of sinnes porâ—ion among holy ones by the faith which is in me And Paule testifieth that the glorie of God is in his person visible vnto vs or whiche is all one in effect that the enlightning of the knowledge of Gods glorie shineth in his face It is true in dede that faith hath respect only to the one God but this also is to be added that it acknowledge him whome he hath sent euen Iesus Chrste Bicause God himselfe shoulde haue lyen secret and hydden farre from vs vnlesse the brightnesse of Christe did cast his beames vpon vs. For this entent the father left al that he had with his onely begotten sonne euen by the coÌ„municatinge of good thynges wyth him to expresse the true image of his glorie For as it is saide that we must be drawen by the spirit that we maie be stirred to seeke Christ so againe we ought to be admonished that the inuisible father is no where els to be sought but in this image Of whiche mater Augustine speaketh excellently well whiche entreating of the marke that faith should shoote at saith that we must know whether we must goe and which waie and then by by after he gathereth that the safest waye against all erroures is he that is both God and man For it is God to whome we go and man by whom we go and bothe these are founde no where but in Christe Neyther dothe Paule when he speaketh of faith in God meane to ouerthrowe that whiche he so ofte repeteth of faith that hath her whole stay vpon Christe And Peter dothe most fittly ioyne them bothe together saieng that by him we beleue in God Therefore thys euell euen as innumerable other is to be imputed to the Scholemen whiche haue hidden Christe as it were with a veile drawen before hym to the beholdyng of whome vnlesse we be dyrectly bent we shall alwaie wander in many vncertaine mazes But bysyde thys that with theyr darke definition they doe deface and in a manner bring to naught the whole force of faithe they haue forged a deuyse of vnexpressed faith wyth which name thei garnyshing theyr most grosse ignorance doe with greate hurte deceyue the silly people yea to saye truely and plainely as the thinge is in deede thys deuyse doth not only burie but vtterly destroye the true faithe Is this to beleue to vnderstand nothing so that thou obediently submitte thy sense to the Churche Faythe standeth not in ignorance but in knoweledge and that not onely of God but of the wyll of God For neither do we obteine saluation by thys that wee eyther are ready to embrace for true whatsoeuer the Churche appoynteth or that we do committe to it all the office of searchyng and knowing but when we acknowledge God to be a mercifull father to vs by the reconciliation made by Christ and that Christe is geuen vs vnto ryghteousnesse sanctification and lyfe By thys knoweledge I saye not by submitting of oure sense we atteine an entrie into the kyngedome of heauen For when the Apostle saith that with the hearte we beleue to righteousnesse and wyth the mouthe confession is made to saluation hee sheweth that it is not enoughe if a man vnexpressedly beleue that whiche he vnderstandeth not nor seeketh to learne but he requyreth an expressed acknowleging of Gods goodnesse in whyche consysteth oure ryghteousnesse In dede I denie not such is the ignorance wherwith we are coÌ„passed that ther now be herafter shal be many thinges wrapped hidden from vs till hauing put of the burden of our flesh we come nerer to the presence of God in which very thinges that be hidden from vs nothing is more profitable than to suspend our iudgment but to stay our mind in determined purpofe to kepe vnitie with the Churche But vnder thys coloure to entitle ignoraunce tempered with humilitie by the name of faith is a great absurditie For faith lieth in knoledg of God of Christ not in reuerence of the
that abideth in the remnaÌ„tes of the fleshe riseth vp to assaile the faith that is inwardly conceiued But if in a faythfull minde assurednesse be mixed with doubtfulnesse come we not then alwaye to this pointe that faith staÌ„deth not in a certaine and clere knowledge but in a darke doubtefully entangled knowledge of Gods will toward vs No not so For though we be diuersly drawen with sondry thoughtes yet are we not therefore by and by seuered from fayth though we be vexed with tossyng vp and downe of distrustfulnesse yet are we not therefore drowned in the bottoÌ„lesse depth thereof and though we be shaken yet be we not thrust â–ª downe out of our place For this is alwaye the ende of this battell that faith doth at length with wrastling ouercome those hard troubles wherwith when she is so besieged she semeth to be in danger Let this be the sunnne of all So sone as any droppe of fayth be it neuer so small is poured into our heartes we by and by beginne to beholde the face of God milde and pleasant and louyng towarde vs yet the same we see from a farre of and far distant from vs but with so sure sight that we know we are not deceiued FroÌ„ thense forward howe muche we profit as we ought continually to profit as it were by procedyng further we come vnto so much the nerer and therfore certainer beholdyng of him and by very continuance he is made more familiar vnto vs. So we see that the minde enlightened with the knowledge of God is first holden wrapped in much ignorance which by litle and litle is wyped awaye Yet the same minde is not so hindered by beyng ignoraÌ„t of some thinges or by darkly seyng that which she seeth but that she enioyeth a clere knowledge of gods wil toward her which is the first and principal point in fayth For as if a man beyng shut vp in pryson haue beames of the sunne shinyng in sidelong at a narrowe windowe or as it were but half glummeryng he wanteth in deede the free beholdynge of the sunne yet he seeth with his eyes an vndoubted brightnesse thereof and receyueth the vse of it so we beyng â—ounde with the fetters of an earthly body howe so euer we be on eche side shadowed with muche darkenesse yet we are sufficiently enlighâ—ened vnto perfect assurednesse by the light of God extendyng his beames of light vpon vs though it be but a litle to shew forth his mercie Both these pointes the Apostle very wel teacheth in diuerse places For when he sayth that we know vnperfectly and prophecie vnperfectly and see by a darke speakynge as by a glasse he sheweth howe sclender a litle portion of the true godly wisedome is geuen vs in this present life For though those wordes do not expresly shewe that our faith is vnperfect so long as we grone vnder this burden of the flesh but that it happeneth vnto vs by our owne imperfectioÌ„ that we haue neede to be continually exercised in learning yet he secretly declareth that that thinge whiche is infinite can not be comprehended by our small capacitie and narrowe compasse And this Paule reporteth of the whole church but vnto euery owne of vs his owne dulnesse is a hinderance staye that he can not come so nere as were to be wished But how sure and vndeceuiable a taste of it self euen a small droppe of faith doth make vs fele the same Apostle sheweth in an other place where he affirmeth that by the Gospell we beholde the glory of God with vncouered face hauing no veile betwene vs and it so effectually that we be transformed into the same image In such entanglemeÌ„tes of ignorance there muste needes be wrapped together bothe muche doubtyng and feareful tremblyng specially for asmuch as our heart by a certaine natural instinct of it self is enclined to vnbeleuingnesse Byside that there be tentations which bothe infinite in number and diuerse in kinde do ofteÌ„times with great sodeine violence assayle vs. But specially our owne conscience oppressed with heauy burden of sinnes lyeng vpon it dothe sometime lament and grone with it selfe and sometime accuseth it selfe sometime secretely murmureth and sometime is openly troubled Whether therfore aduersities do shew an apparance of the wrath of God or the conscience doth finde in it selfe any profe or matter of his wrath from thense vnbelefe doth take weapons and engines to vanquish fayth withall whiche are alway directed to this ende that we thinkyng God to be our aduersarie and hatefully bent agaynst vs should bothe not hope for any helpe at his hande and also be afrayde of him as of our deadly enemie To beare these assaultes faith doth armie and fortifie her self with the worde of God And when such a tentation assayleth that God is our enemie bicause he is sharpe against vs faith in the other side answereth that euen when he punisheth he is also mercifull bicause his chastisement cometh rather of loue than of wrath When faith is striken with this thought that God is a reuenger of iniquities â–ª agaynst that stroke he setteth his pardon redy for al offenses so oft as the sinner resorteth to the mercifulnesse of the Lord. So a godly minde how so euer it be in maruelous wise tossed and vexed yet at length riseth vp aboue all daÌ„gers and neuer suffreth the confideÌ„ce of Gods mercie to be plucked awaye from it But rather what so euer contentions do trouble and wery it in the ende they turne to the assurednesse of this coÌ„fidence And herof this is a profe that the holy ones wheÌ„ they thinke themselues moste of al pressed with the vengeance of God yet euen then do make their complayntes to the same God and when it semeth that they shal not be heard at all euen then neuerthelesse they call vpon him For to what purpose were it to make their moane to him from whome thei hoped for no comfort truely they would neuer finde in their heartes to cal vpon him vnlesse they beleued that there were some helpe at his hande prepared for them So the Disciples in whome Christ blameth their smalnesse of fayth coÌ„playned in deede that they perished but yet they called to him for helpe And when he rebuketh them for their small fayth yet he doth not reiect them from the nuÌ„ber of his nor maketh them of the number of the vnbeleuers but stirreth them to shake of that fault Therefore we affirme againe that whiche we haue aboue spoken that the roote of fayth is neuer plucked out of a godly heart but sticketh so faste in the bottome that howe so euer it be shaken and seme to bende this waye or that waye the light thereof is so neuer quenched or choked vp but that it lyeth at leaste hidden vnder some embers and by this token is playnely shewed that the word which is an vncorruptible sede bringeth forth frute like to it selfe the spryng whereof doth neuer whither and vtterly perish â–ª
the olde man to forsake the world flesh to bidde our lustes farewel to be renewed in the spirit of our minde Morouer the very name of mortificatioÌ„ doth put vs in minde how hard it is to forget our former nature bicause we therby gather that we are not otherwise framed to the feare of God nor do learne the principles of godlinesse but when we are violently slaine with the worde of the Spirit and so brought to nought euen as though God should pronounce that to haue vs to be accompted amonge his children there needeth a death of all our commune nature Both these thinges do happen vnto vs by the partaking of Christ For yf we doe truely communicate of his death by the power there of our old man is crucified the body of sinne dieth that the corruption of our former nature maye liue no more If we be partakers of his resurrection by it we are raised vp into a newnesse of life that maye agree with the righteousnesse of God In one worde I expouÌ„d repentance to be regeneration which hath no other marke wherunto it is directed but that the image of God which was by Adams offence fowly defaced in a maÌ„ner vitterly blotted out may be renewed in vs So the Apostle teacheth wheÌ„ he sayth but we representyng the glory of God with vncouered face are transâ—ormed into the same image out of glorie into glorie as by the spirit of the Lord. Againe Be ye renewed in the spirit of your minde and put on the new man whiche is created accordyng to God in righteousnesse and holinesse of truth Agayne in an other place puttyng on the new man whiche is renewed after the knowledge and image of hym that created him Therefore by this regeneration we be by the benefit of Christ restored into the righteousnesse of God from which we were fallen by Adam After which manner it pleaseth the lord wholly to restore all those whome he adopteth into the inheritance of life And this restoryng is fulfilled not in one moment or one day or one yere but by continuall yea and sometimes slowe procedynges God taketh awaye the corruptions of the fleshe in his elect cleanseth them from filthinesse and consecrateth them for temples to himself renewyng all their senses to true purenesse that they maye exercise themselues all their life in repentance and knowe that this warre hath no ende but in death And so much the greater is the lewdenesse of that filthy rayler apostata Staphylus whiche foolishly sayth that I confound the state of this present life with the heauenly glorie when I expounde by Paule the image of God to be holinesse and true righteousnesse As though when any thing is defined we should not seke the whole fulnesse perfection of it And yet we denie not place for encreasces but I saye that howe nere any man approcheth to the likenesse of God so much the image of God shineth in him That the faithful may atteyne hereunto God assigneth them the race of repentance wherin to runne all their life long The children of God therfore are so deliuered by regeneratioÌ„ from the bondage of sinne not that hauing now obteined the ful possessioÌ„ of libertie thei should fele no more trouble by their flesh but that thei shold haue remayning a continual matter of stryfe wherwith they maye be exercised and not only be exercised but also maye better learne their owne weakenesse And in this point all wryters of sound iudgement agre together that ther remaineth in maÌ„ regenerate a feding of euel from whense continually spryng desires that allure and stirre him to sinne They coÌ„fesse also that the holy ones are still so holden entangled with that disease of lusting that they can not withstand but that somtime they are tickled and stirred either to lust or to couetousnesse or to ambition or to other vices Neither is it needefull to labour muche in searchyng what the old writers haue thought herein for asmuche as only Augustine may be sufficient for it whiche hath faithfully with great diligence gathered al their iudgemeÌ„tes Therfore let yâ— readers gather out of him such certaintie as they shall desire to learne of the opinion of antiquitie But there may seme to be this differeÌ„ce betwene him vs that he when he graunteth that the faithfull so long as they dwell in a mortal body are so holden bound with lustes that they can not but lust yet dareth not call that disease sinne but beyng coÌ„tent to expresse it by the name of weakenesse he teacheth that then only it becoÌ„meth sinne when either worke or consent is added to conceite or receiuyng that is when will yeldeth to the first desire but we accompt the very same for sinne that maÌ„ is tickled with any desire at al against the law of God Yea we affirme that the very corruption that engendreth such desires in vs is sinne We teach therfore that there is alway sinne in the holy ones vntil they be vnclothed of the mortall body bycause there remaineth in their fleshe that peruersnesse of lustyng that fighteth against vprightnesse And yet he doth not alway forbeare to vse the name of Sinne as when he sayth This Paule calleth by the name of sinne from whense spryng all sinnes vnto a fleshly concupiscence This asmuch as perteyneth to the holy ones loseth the kingdome in earth and perisheth in heauen By which wordes he confesseth that the faithfull are gilty of sinne in so much as they are subiect to the lustes of the fleshe But this that it is sayd that God purgeth his church froÌ„ al sinne that he promiseth that grace of deliuerance by Baptisme fulfilleth it in his elect we referre rather to the giltinesse of sinne thaÌ„ to the very matter of sinne God truely performeth this by regeneratyng them that be his that in them the kingdome of sinne is abolished for the holy ghost ministreth theÌ„ strength whereby they get the vpper hand and are conquerors in the battell but it cesseth only to reigne not so to â—well in them Therfore we so say that the olde man is crucified the law of sinne abolished in the children of God that yet there remayne some leauynges not to haue dominion in them but to humble them by knowledge in conscience of their owne weakenesse And we confesse that the same are not imputed as if they weare not but we affirme that this coÌ„meth to passe by the mercie of God that the holy ones are deliuered from this giltinesse whiche otherwise should iustly be reckened sinners and gilty before God And this sentence it shall not be hard for vs to coÌ„firme for asmuch as there are euident testimonies of the scripture vpoÌ„ their matter For what wold we haue more plaine than that which Paul crieth out to the Romanes chap. vii First both we haue in an other place shewed and Augustine proueth by strong reasons that Paule
prisonment or shame or sickneâ—â—e or losse of pareÌ„tes or children or any other like thing do greue vs we must think that none of these thinges doth happen but by the wil prouidence of God and that he doeth nothyng but by most iust order For why do not one innumerable dayly offenses deserue to be chastised more sharply and with more greuous correction than such as the mercifull kindnesse of God layeth vpoÌ„ vs Is it not most great equitie that our flesh be tamed as it were made acquainted with the yoke that she doe not wantonly grow wild according to her nature Is not the righteousnesse truth of God worthy that we shuld take peine for it But if there appere an vndoubted righteousnesse in our afflictions we can not without vnrighteousnesse either murmure or wrastle against it We heare not now that cold song We must geue place bicause we so muste of necessitie but we heare a liuely lesson ful of effectualnesse We must obey bycause it is vnlawfull to resist we must suffer patiently bycause impatience is a stubbornesse agaynst the righteousnesse of God But now bicause that thing only is worthy to be loued of vs which we know to be to our safetie and benefite the good father doth this waye also comfort vs when he affirmeth that euen in this that he afflicteth vs with the crosse he prouideth for our safetie But if it be certayne that troubles are healthful for vs why should we not receyue them with a thankfull and well pleased minde Therefore in patiently suffryng them we doe not forceably yeld to necessitie but quietly agree to our owne benefit These thoughtes I say do make that how muche our mindes are greued in the crosse with naturall felyng of bitternesse so much thei be cheared with spiritual gladnesse WherupoÌ„ also foloweth thankes geuyng whiche can not be without ioye But if the prayse of the Lord thankes geuyng procedeth of nothing but of a chereful ioyful heart there is nothing that ought to interrupt the same praising of God and thankesgeuyng in vs hereby appereth howe necessarie it is that the bitternesse of the crosse be tempered with spirituall ioye The .ix. Chapter ¶ Of the meditation of the life to come BUt with what so euer kinde of trouble we be distressed we must alwaye loke to this ende to vse our selues to the contempt of this present life therby be stirred to the meditatioÌ„ of the life to come For bicause God knoweth wel howe much we be by nature enclined to the beastly loue of this world he vseth a most fit meane to draw vs back and to shake of our sluggishnesse that we shuld not stick to fast in that loue There is none of vs that desireth not to seme to aspire endeuour al their life loÌ„g to heaueÌ„ly immortalitie For we are ashamed to excel brute beasts in nothing whose state should be nothing inferiour to oures vnlesse there remaine to vs a hope of eternitie after death But if you examine the deuises studies doynges of euery man you shall finde nothyng therin but earth Hereupon groweth that senslesnesse that our minde beyng daseled with vaine glistering of richesse power honors is so dulled that it can not see far Our heart also beyng possessed with couetousnesse ambition lust is so weyed downe that it can not rise vp hier Finally al our soule entangled with enticementes of the flesh seketh her felicitie in earth The Lord to remedie this euell doth with coÌ„tinual examples of miseries teach this of the vanitie of this present life Therfore that thei should not promise theÌ„selues in this life a souÌ„d quiet peace he suffreth them to be many times disquieted troubled either with warres or vprores or robberies or other iniuries That they should not with to much gredinesse gape for fraile transitorie richesse or rest in the richesse that they already possesse somtime with banishment sometime with barrennesse of the earth somtime with fire somtime by other meanes he bringeth theÌ„ to pouertie or at least holdeth them in measure That they should not with to muche ease take pleasure in the benefites of mariage he eyther maketh them to bee vexed with the frowardnesse of their wiues or plucketh theÌ„ downe with ill childreÌ„ or punisheth theÌ„ with waÌ„t of issue But if in al these things he tenderly beareth with them yet least they should either swell with foolish glorie or inmeasurably reioyse with vaine confidence he doth by diseases dangers set before their eyes how vnstable vanishing be al the goods that are subiect to mortalitie Then only therfore we rightly profit in the discipline of the crosse when we learne that this life when it is considered in it self is vnquiet troublesome innumerable wayes miserable in no point fully blessed that all those that are reckened the good thinges thereof are vncertaine fickle vaine corrupted with many euels mixed with them And herupoÌ„ we do determine that here is nothing to be sought or hoped for but strife and that wheÌ„ we thinke of our crowne then we muste lifte vp our eyes to heauen For thus we muste beleue That our minde is neuer truely raysed to the desire and meditation of the life to come vnlesse it haue first conceyued a contempt of this present life For betwene these two there is no meane the earth must either become vile in our sight or holde vs bound with intemperate loue of it Therfore if we haue any care of eternitie we must diligeÌ„tly endeuour to loose our selues froÌ„ these fetters Now bicause this preseÌ„t life hath many flatteryng pleasures wherewith to allure vs a great shewe of pleasantnesse grace swetenesse wherwith to delite vs it is much behoueful for vs to be now and then called away that we be not bewitched with such alluremeÌ„tes For what I pray you would be done if we did here enioy a continual concourse of good things felicitie sithe we can not with continuall spurres of euels be sufficiently awaked to consider the miserie thereof Not only the learned doe knowe but also the common people haue no Prouerbe more common than this that mans life is like a smoke or shadow and bycause they sawe it to bee a thyng very profitable to be knowen they haue set it out with many notable senteÌ„ces But there is nothyng that we do either more negligently consider or lesse remember For we goe aboute all thinges as though we would frame to our selues an immortalitie in earth If ther be a corps caried to burial or if we walk amoÌ„g graues then bicause there is an image of death before our eyes I graunt we do maruelously well discourse like Phylosophers vpon the vanitie of this life Albeit we do not that coÌ„tinually for many times al these things do nothing moue vs. But when it happeneth our Philosophie lasteth but a while which so sone as we turne our backes wanisheth awaye leaueth no
thinking of the heaueÌ„ly life or froÌ„ study to garnish thy soule But this was long ago truely sayd of Cato that there is great carefulnesse of trimming our body great carelesnesse of vertue And it is an old prouerbe that they whiche are much busied in care of their body ar commoÌ„ly carelesse of their soule Therfore although the libertie of the faithfull in outward thinges is not to be restrained to a certain forme yet truely it must be subiect to this law to beare very little with theyr owne affections but contrariwise still call vpon them selues with continually bent mynde to cut of all shew of superfluous plentie muche more to restraine ryotous excesse and to take diligent hede that they do not of helpes make to them selues hinderaunces The other rule shal be that they that haue but small and sclender rychesse may learne to lacke pacieÌ„tly that they be not carefully moued with immeasurable desire of them whiche pacieÌ„ce they that kepe haâ—â—e not a litle profited in the Lordes schole as he that hath not at least somewhat profited in this behalf can scarcely haue any thing wherby â—o proue him selfe the scholar of Christ. For beside this that the most part of other vices do accompanie the desire of earthly thinges he that beareth pouertie impatiently doth for the moste part bewray the contrarie disease in abuÌ„dance I meane hereby that he whiche wil be ashamed of a poore cote wil be proude of a costly cote he that will not be content with a hungry supper will be disquieted with desire of a deintier and would also intemperately abuse those deinties if he had them he that hardly and vnquietly beareth a priuate base estate will not absteine from pryde if he climbe to honors Therfore let all them that haue an vnfained zele of Godlinesse endeuour to learne by the Apostles example to be full and huÌ„gry to haue store and suffer want The Scripture hath also a third rule wherby it tempereth the vse of earthly thinges of whiche we haue spoken sumwhat when we entreated of the preceptes of charitie For the Scripture decreeth that al earthly thinges are so geuen vs by the bountifulnesse of God and apointed for oure coÌ„moditie that they may be as things deliuered vs to kepe wherof we must one day yelde an accompt We must therfore so dispose them that this saying may continually sound in our eares yeld an accoÌ„pt of thy â—aylywike Therwithall let this also come in our mynde Whoe it is that asketh suche an accompt euen he that hath so muche commended abstinence sobrietie honest sparing and modestie and abhorreth riotous sumptuousnesse pride ostentation and vanitie whiche alloweth no other disposing of goodes but suche as is ioyned with charitie whiche hath already with his own mouth condemned all those deliteful thinges that do withdrawe a mans mynde from chastitie and cleannesse or doe dull his wit with darkenesse Last of all this is to be noted that the Lorde biddeth euery one of vs in al the doinges of his life to haue an eye to his calling For he knoweth with how great vnquietnesse mans wit boyleth with howe skipping lightnesse it is caried hether and thether how gredy his ambitioÌ„ is to holde diuerse thinges at ones Therfore that all thinges shoulde not be confounded with our follie and rashenesse he hath apointed to euerie man his duties in seuerall kindes of lyfe And that no man rashly runne beyond his bondes he hath named all suche kyndes of lyfe vocations Therfore euery mans seuerall kinde of life is vnto him as it were his standing apointed him by God that they should not all theyr life vncertainly wander about And this diuision is so necessary that al our doinges are measured thereby in his sight and oftentimes contrary to the iudgemeÌ„t of mans reason and Philosophie There is no dede accompted more noble euen among the Phylosophers than for a man to deliuer his contrie from tyrannie but by the voice of Gods iudgemeÌ„t the priuate man is openly condemned that layeth hand vpon a tyrant But I wil not tarry vpon rehearsing of examples It is sufficient if we knowe that the calling of the Lord is in euery thing the beginning and fundation of well doing to whiche he that doth not diriect himself shal neuer kepe a right way in his doinges He may paraduenture somtime do somwhat seming worthy of praise butte whatsoeuer that be in the sight of men before the throne of God it shal be reiected moreouer there shal be no conuenient agrement in the partes of his life Therfore our life shall then be best framed when it shal be directed to this marke For then no man caried with his owne rashenesse will atteÌ„pt more thaÌ„ his calling may beare because he knoweth that it is not lawful to passe beyond his bondes He that shal be a man of base estate shal contentedly liue a priuate life least he shold forsake the degree wherin God hath placed him Againe this shal be no smal relefe to cares labors greues and other burdens when a man shall know that in all these thinges God is his guide The more willingly the magistrate will execute his officeâ— the housholder will bynd him selfe to his dutie euery man in his kinde of life will beare and passe through the discommodities cares tediousnesse and anguishes therof when they are perswaded that euery maÌ„s burden is laid vpon him by God Hereupon also shal growe singular coÌ„fort for as muche as there shal be no worke so filthy vile if it be such a one as thow obey thy calling in it but it shineth is most precious in the sight of God The aleuenth Chapter ¶ Of the iustification of Fayth and fyrst of the definition of the name and of the thyng I Thinke I haue already sufficiently declared before howe there remayneth for men being accursed by the lawe one only helpe to recouer saluation agayne what Faith is and what benefites of God it bestoweth vpon man and what fruites it bringeth fourth in hym The summe of all was this that Christ is geuen vs by the goodnesse of God and coÌ„ceiued and possessed of vs by faith by partakyng of whome we receiue principally twoo graces the first that being reconciled to God by his innocencie we may nowe in stede of a iudge haue a merciful father in heauen the second that being sanctified by his Spirite we maye geue our selues to innocencie and purenesse of lyfe As for regeneration whiche is the second grace we haue alredy spoken of it as muche as semed to be sufficient The manner of iustification was therfore lesse touched because it serued well for our purpose first to vnderstande both how the Faythe by whiche alone we receiue frely geuen righteousnesse by the mercie of God is not idle from good workes and also what be the good workes of the holy ones wherupon part of this question entreateth Therfore they are first to be throughly discussed and so discussed that we must
shoulde be made partakers of the nature of God As though we weare nowe suche as the Gospell promysed that we shal be at the last comming of Christe yea Iohn telleth vs that we shall then see God as he is because we shal be lyke vnto hym Only I thought good to geue a small taste to the readers that I doe of purpose passe ouer these trifles not for that it is harde to confute them but because I wyll not be tedious in a superfluous worke But in the seconde point lurketh more poyson where he teacheth that we are righteous together with God I thynke I haue alredy sufficiently proued that although this doctrine were not so pestilent yet because it is colde and frutelesse and of it selfe so vayne that it melteth away it ought worthely to be vnsauorie to sounde and godly Reders But this is an intolerable wickednesse vnder pretense of double rightuousnesse to enfeble the earnest assuraunce of saluatioÌ„ and to cary vs aboue the cloudes that we shold not embrace by faith the grace of propitiation cal vpon God with quiet myndes Osiander scorneth them that teache that this worde Iustifying is a lawe terme because we must be ryghteous in dede And he abhorreth nothing more thaÌ„ to say that we be iustified by free imputation But if God do not iustifie vs by acquiting and pardoning what meaneth that saying of Paul God was in Christe reconciling the worlde to hym selfe not impuâ—ynge to men their synnes For hym that had done no synne he made synne for vs that we might be the rightuousnesse of God in him First I wynne thus muche that they be iudged righteous that be reconciled to God The manner howe is declared for that God iustifieth by forgeuyng as in an other place iustification is set as contrary to accusatioÌ„ which comparing of them as contraries doth clerely shewe that it is a phrase borrowed from the vse of the lawe And there is no man beyng but meanely practised in the Hebrewe tongue if he haue a sober brayne that is ignoraunt that this phrase came from thence and whereunto it tendeth and what it meaneth Nowe where Paul sayeth that Dauid described the ryghteousnesse without workes in these wordes Blessed are they whose synnes are forgeuen Let Osiander aunswere me whether this be a full definition or but halfe a one Truely Paul bryngeth not in the Prophet for a witnesse as though he taught that forgeuenesse of sinnes is but a part of righteousnes or a thing that ioyneth with other to the iustifiyng of man But he includeth whole ryghtuousnesse in free forgeuenesse pronouÌ„cing the man blessed whose sinnes are couered to whom God hath forgeuen iniquities to whom he imputeteh no traÌ„sgressions He doth measure iudge suche a mans felicitie thereby because he is not this way righteous in dede but by imputatioÌ„ Osiander taketh exception and saieth that this should be sclaunderous to God and contrary to his nature if he should iustifie them that in deede remayne styll wicked But we must remember as I haue already sayde that the grace of iustifying is not seuered from regeneration although they be seuerall thynges But because it is more than sufficiently knowen by experience that there abide alwayes in the righteous some reÌ„nantes of sinne it must nedes be that they be farre otherwyse iustified than they be reformed into newnesse of lyfe For this later point of reformation God so beginneth in his elect and throughout the whole course of their life by litle and litle and sometime slowly procedeth in it that thei be alway before his seate in danger of the iudgemeÌ„t of death But he iustifieth them not by partmeale but so that thei may freely as clothed with the purenesse of Christ appere in heauen For no portion of righteousnesse could appease our consciences tyll they be satisfied the God is fully pleased with vs because we be righteous in his sight with out exception Whereupon foloweth that the Doctrine of iustification is misturned yea ouerturned from the very foundation when doubtinge is cast into mens myndes when the affiance of saluatioÌ„ is shaken wheÌ„ thee free and dredlesse inuocation is hindred yea when quiet and tranquillitie with spirituall ioye is not staâ—lyshed Wherupon Paul gathereth an argument by contraries to proue that the inheritance is not by the lawe For by this meane faith should be made voide whiche if it haue respect to workes is ouerthrowen because none of the moste holy shall therin finde wherupon to trust This differeÌ„ce of iustifiyng and regeneratyng whiche two thinges Osyander confoundinge together calleth two sortes of righteousnesse is very wel expressed by Paul For speaking of his reall righteousnesse in dede or of the vprightnesse wher with he was endued whiche Osiander nameth essentiall righteousnes he lamentably crieth out Wretche that I am who shal deliuer me from the body of this death But fleing to the righteousnesse whiche is grounded vpon the only mercie of God he gloriously triumpheth ouer both life death reproches hunger sworde and all aduersities Whoe shall accuse the electes of God whome he iustifieth For I am surely persuaded that nothing shall seuer vs from his loue in Christ. He plainely publisheth that he hath the righteousnesse whiche alone fully sufficeth to saluation before God so that the wretched bondage whiche he knowyng to be in him selfe did a litle before beuayle his estate may not mouish nor any way hinder his boldnesse to glorie This diuersitie is sufficiently knowen and so familiar to al the holy ones that grone vnder the burden of iniquities yet with victorious confidence do mount vp aboue all feares As for this that Osiander obiecteth that it disagreeth with the nature of God it falleth vpon him selfe For although he clotheth the holy ones with a double rightuousnesse as it were with a furred garment yet he is compelled to confesse that without forgeuenesse of synnes they neuer pleased God If that be true then at least let him graunt that thei which are not righteous in dede are accompted righteous according to the apointed proportion of imputation as they call it But howe far shall a sinner extend this free acceptation that is put in place of ryghteousnesse shall he measure it by the pounde or by the ounce Truely he shall hang doubtefull and waueryng to this side and that side bicause he may not take vnto him so much righteousnesse as shal be necessarie to stablish confidence It is happy that he that wold binde God to a law is not iudge of this cause But this shal staÌ„de stedfast that thou mayest be iustified in thy sayenges and ouercoÌ„me when thou art iudged But howe great presumption is it to condemne the chefe iudge when he freely acquiteth that this answer maye not be in force I will haue mercie vpon whom I wil haue mercie And yet the intercession of Moses which God did put to silence with this sayeng tended not to this ende
it to serue an absurditie whiche I say that God foresaw not onely the fall of the first man in him the ruine of his posteritie but also disposed it after his owne will For as it belongeth to his wisedome to foreknow all thinges that shal be so it belongeth to his power to rule and gouerne all thinges with his hand And this question Augustine very well discusseth as he doth other sayeng We most holsomly confesse that which we most rightly beleue that the God and Lord of all thinges which created all thinges very good and foreknew that euell thinges should spring out of good and knewe that it more perteyned to his almighty goodnesse euen of euell thinges do well than not to suffer them to be euell that he so ordered the life of Angels and men that in it he might firste shewe what free will could do and then what the benefit of his grace and iudgement of iustice could do Here they runne to the distinction of will and permission by which they will haue it graunted that the wycked doe perish God only permittyng but not willyng it But why should we saye that he permitteth it but bycause he so willeth Howebeit it is not likely that man by himself by the onely permission of God without any his ordinaÌ„ce brought destruction to himself as though God apointed not of what condition he would haue the chiefe of his creatures to be I therefore wil not dout to coÌ„fesse simply with Augustine that the will of God is a necessitie of things that what he willeth it must of necessitie come to passe as those things shal truely come to passe which he hath foreseen Now if for excuse of themselues and of the vngodly eyther the Pelagians or Manichees or Anabaptistes or Epicureans for with these â—ower seâ—tes we haue to do in this question shall obiect against vs necessitie wherewith they be bound by the predestination of God they bryng nothing fit to the purpose For if predestination be nothing els but a dispensation of righteousnesse of God which is hidden in deede but yet without faulte For asmuch as it is certayne yâ— they were not vnworthy to be predestinate to that estate it is also as certayne that the destruction is moste righteous whiche they entre into by predestination Moreouer their destruction so hangeth vpon the predestination of God that bothe cause and matter thereof is founde in themselues For the first man fell bicause the Lord so iudged it to be expedieÌ„t why he so iudged is vnknowen to vs yet it is certaine that he so iudged for no other reason but bicause he saw that therby the glorie of his name should be worthily set forth When thou hearest mentioÌ„ of the glorie of God there thinke of his righteousnesse For it must be righteous that deserueth prayse Man therefore falleth the prouidence of God so ordeyning it but he falleth by his owne fault The Lord had a litle before pronounced that all the thinges whiche he had made were very good Whense therfore coÌ„meth that peruersnesse to man to fall away from his God Least it should be thought to be of creation the Lord with his coÌ„mendation allowed that which came from himself Therfore by his owne euelnesse he corrupted the nature whiche he had receiued pure of the Lord and by his fall he drewe his whole posteritie with him into destruction Wherefore let vs rather beholde an euident cause of damnation in the corrupted nature of mankinde whiche is nerer to vs than searche for a hidden vtterly incoÌ„preheÌ„sible cause thereof in the predestination of God Neyther let it greue vs so far to submit our wit to the vnmeasurable wisdome of God that it may yeld in many secretes of his For of those things which it is neyther grauÌ„ted nor lawfull to know the ignorance is well learned the couetyng of knowlege is a kinde of madnesse Some maÌ„ paâ—happes wil say that I haue not yet brought enough to subdue that wicked excuse But I verily confesse that it can neuer be brought to passe but that vngodlinesse will alway grudge murmure against it yet I think that I haue spoken so much as might suffice to take away not only all reason but also all color of gainesayeng The reprobate wold be thought excusable in sinning bicause they can not escape the necessitie of sinnyng specially sithe such necessitie is cast vpon them by the ordinaÌ„ce of God But we denie that they are therby wel excused bicause the ordinaÌ„ce of God by whiche they coÌ„plaine that thei are destinate to destruction hath his righteousnesse vnknoweÌ„ in deede to vs but yet most certaine WherupoÌ„ we coÌ„clude that they â—eare no euel which is not layed vpon them by the most righteous iugemeÌ„t of God Then we teache that they do ouerthwartly which to seke out the beginning of their daÌ„natioÌ„ do bend their eyes to the secret closets to the counsel of God and wink at the corruptioÌ„ of nature froÌ„ whense their daÌ„nation springeth And this withstandeth the thei caÌ„ not impute it to God for yâ— he witnesseth of his owne creation For although man is create by the eternal prouideÌ„ce of God to that calamitie wherunto he is subiect yet the mater therof he toke of himself not of God for asmuch as he is by no other meane so loste but bicause he wente out of kinde from the pure creation of God into a corrupt vnpure peruersness Now the aduersaries of Gods predestination do sclander it also with a third absurditie For wheÌ„ we impute it to nothing els but to the choise of the wil of God that thei are made free froÌ„ the vniuersal destructioÌ„ whoÌ„ he maketh heires of his kingdome therby thei gather that there is with him accepting of persones whiche the Scripture euery where denieth therefore that either the Scripture disagreeth with it self or that in the electioÌ„ of God there is respect of deseruinges First the scripture in an other sense denieth that God is an accepter of persones thaÌ„ as they iudge it For by the name of Persone it signifieth not a man but those things which beyng seen with eyes in man are wont to procure either â—auor grace dignitie or hatred coÌ„tempt shame as richesse wealth power nobilitie office contree excellencie of beautie such other on the other side pouertie neede basenesse vilenesse conteÌ„pt and such other So Peter and Paule do teache that the Lord is not an accepter of persones bicause he putteth not differeÌ„ce betwene the Iewe the Grecian to refuse the one embrace the other for only respecte of nation So Iames vseth the same wordes wheÌ„ he mindeth to affirme that God in his iudgement nothing regardeth richesse But Paule in an other place speaketh thus of God that in iudgyng he hath no consideration of freedome or bondage Wherefore there shal be no coÌ„trarietie if we shal say that God accordyng to the will of his good pleasure without
from thys care for verily these promyses haue respect to the time to come All that my Father geueth mee shall come to me and him that shall come to mee I will not cast him oute of doers Againe This is the will of him that sente me the Father that I lose nothing of al things that he hath geuen me but may raise them vp againe in the last day Againe â–ª My shepe heare my voice and thei folowe me I knowe them and I geue them eternall life and thei shall not perishe for euer neither shall any man take them out of my hande The Father which gaue them to me is greater then all and no man can take them out of the hande of my Father Now when he pronouÌ„ceth Euery tree whiche my Father hathe not planted shall be plucked vp by the roote he signifieth on the coÌ„trary side that thei can neuer be plucked from saluation which haue roote in God Wherewith agreeth that saieng of Ihon If thei had ben of vs thei had not at all gone out from vs. Herevpon also commeth that noble glorieng of Paul against Life and Death present thinges and thinges to come which glorieng must nedes be grounded vpon the gift of continuance Neyther is it any doubt that he directeth this saieng to all the faithfull In an other place the same Paul saith He that hath begonne in you a good worke shal ende it euen vntil the day of Christ. As also Dauid when his faith fainted leaned vpon this stay Thou shalt not forsake the worke of thy handes And nowe neither is this doubtfull that Christ when he prayeth for all the faithfull asketh the same thinge for them whiche he asketh for Peter that their faith maye neuer faint Whereby we gather that thei are out of danger of falling awaie bycause the sonne of God askinge stedfaste continuance for their godlinesse suffered no deniall What woulde Christe haue vs to learne hereby but that wee shoulde truste that we shall perpetually be safe bicause we are ones made his But it dayly happeneth that thei whiche semed to be Christes do agayne reuolt from him fal yea in the very same place where he affirmeth that none had perished of them which were geuen him of the Father yet he excepteth the sonne of perditioÌ„ That is true in dede but this is also as certaine that such did neuer cleaâ—e to Christ with that aâ—fiance of heart with whiche I sate that the assurednesse of our election ys stablished Thei went out from vs saith Ihon but thei were not of vs. For if thei had ben of vs thei had still taried with vs. Neither do I deny that thei haue like signes of calling as the elect haue but I do not graunt that thei haue that sure stablishment of election which I bidde the faithfull to fetche out of the worde of the Gospell Wherfore let not suche examples moue vs but that we quietly reste vpon the promise of the Lord where he pronounceth that al thei are geuen to him of the Father which receiue him with true faith of whom sith he is their keper Pastor none shal perishe Of Iudas we shal speake hereafter Paule doth not counsell Christians from assurednesse altogether butte from carelesse and loose assurednesse of the fleshe whiche draweth wyth it pride presumptioÌ„ and disdaine of other and quencheth humilitie and the reuerence of God bringeth forgetfulnes of grace receiued For he speaketh to the Gentiles whome he teacheth that thei ought not proudly vngently to reproche that Iewes for this that the Iewes beinge disherited thei were set in their stede Feare also he requireth not wherew t thei sholde be dismaied stagger but whych framing vs to the humbler receiuing of the grace of God shold abate nothing of the affiance therof as we haue said in an other place Beside that he doth not there speake to euery maÌ„ particularly but to the sectes theÌ„selues generally For when the Churche was diuided into two parts enuie bred dissensioÌ„ Paul putteth the GeÌ„tiles in minde that their beiÌ„g supplied into the place of the peculiar holy people ought to bee to theÌ„ a cause of feare modesty And amoÌ„g theÌ„ ther wer many puffed vp with glory whose vaine bostiÌ„g it was profitable to beat downe But we haue in an other place shewed that our hope is extended to the time to come euen beyonde death that nothing is more contrarye to the nature of it than to doubte what shall become of vs. That saieng of Christ of many being called but few chosen is very il takeÌ„ after that maÌ„ner Ther shal be nothing doubtful if we hold faste that which ought to be clere by the things aboue spokeÌ„ that ther ar two sorts of calling For ther is an vniuersal calling wherby through the outward preaching of the word God calleth al together to him euen them also to whom he setteth it forth vnto that sauour of death vnto matter of more greuous coÌ„demnatioÌ„ The other is a special calling whiche for the most part he vouche saueth to geue only to the faithful wheÌ„ by the inward enlightning of his spirit he maketh that the word preached is setled in their hearts Yet somtime he maketh theÌ„ also partakers of it whoÌ„ he enlightneth but for a time afterward by the deseruiÌ„g of their vnthankefulnes forsaketh theÌ„ striketh theÌ„ with greater blindenes Nowe when the Lorde sawe the Gospel to be published far wide to be despised of many but to be had in due price of fewe he describeth to vs God vnder the persoÌ„ of a Kinge which preparinge a solemne feaste sendeth his messingers rounde about to bidde a greate multitude to be his gestes and yet can get but a fewe bicause euery one allegeth lettes for his excuse so that at length he is compelled vpon their refusal to cal out of the hie waies euery one that he meteth Hetherto euery man seeth that the parable must be vnderstand of the outward callinge He addeth afterward that God doth like a good maker of a feast which goeth aboute the tables to chere his gestes If he finde any not clothed with a weddinge garment he wil not suffer him with his vncleanlines to dishonoure the solemnitie of the feast This part of the parable I grant is to be vnderstand of them which enter into the Church by the profession of faithe but are not clothed with the sanctification of Christ. Suche dishonors and as it were botches of his Churche the Lorde wyll not suffer for euer but as their fylthinesse deserueth he wil caste them out Therfore few ar chosen out of a great numbre of them that are called but yet not with the calling by which we say that the faithfull ought to iudge their election For that general calling is also common to the wicked but this special Calling bringeth with it the spirit of regeneratioÌ„ which is the
earnest seale of the inheritance to come wherw t our hearts are sealed vp agaiÌ„st the day of the lord In a suÌ„me sith hypocrites boast of godlines as wel as the true worshipers of god Christ pronouÌ„ceth that at length thei shal be cast out of the place which thei wrongfully possesse as it is said in the psalm Lord who shall dwell in thy tabernacle The innocent in handes the man of a pure heart Againe in an other place This is the generation of theÌ„ that seke God of them that seeke the face of the God of Iacob And so dothe the Spirite exhorte the faithful to sufferance that thei take it not greuously that the Israelites be mingled with theÌ„ in the Church for at length their visor shal be plucked from them thei shal be cast out with shame The same reason is of the exception euen now alleged where Christ saith that none perished but the sonne of perdition It is in dede an vnpropre speache but yet not darke For he was not accompted among the shepe of Christe for that he was one in dede but bicause he kept the place of one And where in an other place the Lorde affirmeth that hee was chosen with the Apostles that is spokeÌ„ onli in respect of the ministerie Twelue saith he haue I chosen one of them is a Deuel that is he had chosen him to the office of an Apostle But when he speaketh of choosing to saluacion he denieth him far away froÌ„ the numbre of the choosen saieng I speake not of al I know whome I haue choosen If a man do in bothe places confound the word of Choosing he shal miserably entangle himselfe if he make differeÌ„ce nothing is more plaine Therfore Gregory teacheth very ill pestilently when he saith that we know only our calling but are vncertaine of our election wherby he moueth al men to feare trembling vsing also this reasoÌ„ but bicause we know what we be to day but what we shal be we know not But in the place he sufficiently declareth how he stumbled at this blocke For bicause he hanged election vpoÌ„ the merites of works he had mater enough more to discourage the minds of men but he colde not strengthen theÌ„ which did not remoue theÌ„ from theÌ„selves to the affiance of the goodnes of God Herof the faithful haue som taste of that which we haue determined at the begiÌ„ning the predestinatioÌ„ if it be rightly thought vpoÌ„ bringeth not a shaking of faith but rather the best strengthening of it And yet I denie not that the holy ghoste frameth his talke to the smale measure of oure sense As wheÌ„ he saith In the secret of my people thei shal not be in the rowle of my seruants thei shal not be writen As though God did beginne to write in the booke of life them whom he reckeneth in the numbre of his wheras yet we know euen by the witnesse of Christe that the names of the children of God are from the beginning written in the boke of life But in these wordes is only expressed the casting away of them which semed the chefe among the electe as it is saide in the Psalme Let them be blotted out of the boke of life and let them not be written with the righteous But the electe are neither immediatly from the wombe nor al at one time by calling gathered together into the flocke of Christe but as it pleaseth God to distribute his grace to them But ere thei be gathered together to that chefe shepeherd thei are scattered abroad and sâ—ray in the common deserte and differ nothinge from other sauing that they be defended by the singular mercie of God from fallinge into the extreeme hedlong downefall of deathe Therefore if you loke vpon them selues you shall see the offspring of Adam which fauoreth of the coÌ„mon corruption of the whole masse That they be not carried into extreeme and dispeâ—red vngodlynesse this comÌ„eth not to passe by any goodnesse naturally planted in them but bicause the eye of God watcheth and his hand is stretched out to their saluation For thei the dreame that froÌ„ their very natiuitie there is planted in their heartes I wote not what sede of election by the vertue whereof thei are alwaie enclined to godlynes to the feare of God thei both are not holpeÌ„ to proue it by the authoritie of Scripture also are confuted by experience it selfe Thei do in dede bring forth a fewe examples to proue that the elect euen before their enlightning were not vtterly strangers from religioÌ„ that Paul in his being a Pharisee liued vnreprouable that Cornelius was by almes praiers accepted of God such other Of Paul we grant to them of Cornelius wee saye that they are deceiued For it appeareth that he was then already enlightned regenerate so that he wanted nothing but the clere reueling of the Gospel But what wil thei wring out by these fewe examples that al the elect are alway endued with the spirit of godlinesse No more than if a man by shewing the vprightnesse of Aristides Socrates Zenocrates Scipio Curius Camillê° other sholde therof gather that al thei that are left in blindnesse of idolatrie wer desirous folowers of holines honestie Yea and the Scripture in more places than one openly crieth out againste them For the state which Paul describeth of the EphesiaÌ„s before their regeneracioÌ„ sheweth not one grain of this sede Ye were saith he deade with defaultes sinnes in which ye walked according to the time of this worlde according to the prince of the â—yre which now worketh in the obstinate children among whome we all also were somtime conuersant in the lustes of our flesh doing those thinges that liked oure fleshe minde And we were by nature the children of wrath as other also were Again Remembre that ye were somtime wtout hope lacked God in the world Againe Ye were somtime darkenesse but now ye are light in the lord walke as the children of light But paraduenture thei wil haue these thinges to be referred to the ignorance of the true God wherew t thei denie not that the elect are holden before that they be called Albeit this were a shamelesse cauilling sith he therof concludeth that thei ought nowe noe more either to lie or to steale yet what will thei answer to other places as is that place to the Corynthians where when he had pronounced that neither whoremongers nor idolatrers nor adulterers nor weakelinges nor buggerers nor theues nor couetous men shal be heires of the kingedome of God he by by addeth that thei wer wrapped in the same haynous offenses before that thei knew Christ but now that thei are bothe washed by his bloode made free by his Spirit Againe an other place to the Romaines As ye haue geuen your membres bond to vncleannesse to iniquitie
voice of the sonne of God and shall come forth they that haue done good into the resurrection of life but they that haue done euel into the resurrection of iudgement Shal we say that soules rest in the graues that they lieng there may heare Christ and not rather that at his coÌ„maundement the bodies shal returne into the liuelinesse which they had lost Moreouer if we shal haue new bodies geneÌ„ vs where is the likefashioning of the head and the membres Christ rose againe was it with forgyng to himselfe a newe body No but as he had sayd before Destroy this teÌ„ple and in three daies I wil bulde it vp he toke againe the same body which he had before borne mortall For he had not much profited vs if a new body beyng put in place the olde body had ben destroyed which was offred vp for a sacrifice of satisfactorie cleansing We must also holde fast that felowship whiche the Apostle preacheth That we rise againe bicause Christ hath risen againe for nothyng is lesse probable than that our flesh in whiche we beare about the mortifieng of Christ should be depriued of the resurrection of Christ. Whiche verily appered by a notable example when at the risyng agayne of Christ many bodies of the Saintes came out of the graues For it canne not bee denied that this was forshewyng or rather an earnest of the laste resurrection whiche we hope for suche as was before in Enoch and Elias whome Tertullian calleth New possessors of the resurrection bycause they beyng in body and soule deliuered from corruption were receyued into the kepyng of God I am ashamed in so cleare a matter to spende so many wordes but the readers shall contentedly beare this trouble with me that no hole maye be open for frowarde and bolde wittes to deceyue the simple The flyeng spirites wyth whome I nowe dispute bryng forth a fained inueÌ„tion of their owne brayne that at the resurrection there shal be a creation of new bodies What reason moueth them to thinke so but bicause it semeth to them incredible that a carion consumed with so long cotteÌ„nesse shold returne into his auÌ„cient state Therfore only vnbeleâ—e is the mother of this opinion But vs on the other side the Spirit of God eche where in the Scripture exhorteth to hope for the resurrection of our flesh For this reason baptisme as Paule witnesseth is to vs a seale of the resurrection to come and likewise the holy Supper allureth vs to the trust thereof when we receyue with our mouth the Signes of spiritual grace And truely the whole exhortation of Paule that we geue our meÌ„bres to be weapons vnto the obedieÌ„ce of righteousnesse shold be cold vnlesse that were ioyned whiche he addeth afterward He that hath raised vp Christ froÌ„ the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies For what should it profit to applie our feete handes eyes and tonges vnto the seruice of God vnlesse they were partakers of the frute reward Which thing Paul plainly confirmeth with his owne wordes sayeng The body not to fornication but to the Lord and the lord to the body And he that hath raised vp Christ shall also rayse vp vs by his power More plaine are those wordes which folow that our bodies are the teÌ„ples of the holy ghost the meÌ„bers of Christ. In the meane time we see how he ioyneth the resurrection with chastitie holinesse as a litle after he sayth that the price of redemption perteineth also to the bodies Now it were not resonable that the body of Paul in which he hath borne the prinâ—es of Christ in which he honorably glorified Christ shold lose the reward of the crowne Whereupon also came that glorieng We loke for the redemer from heaueÌ„ which shal make our vile body like fashioned to the body of his brightnesse And if this be true that we must by many afflictions entre into the kingdome of God no reason suffreth to debarre the bodies from this entrie which God both exerciseth vnder the standard of the crosse honoreth with the praise of victorie Therfore of this matter there arose among the Saintes no douting but that they hoped to be coÌ„panioÌ„s of Christ which remoueth into his owne persone al the afflictions wherewith we are proued to teache that they bring life Yea and vnder the law he exercised the holy fathers in this faith with an outward ceremonie For to what purpose serued the vsage of burieng as we haue already shewed but that they should know that there is new life prepared for the bodies that are layed vp Hereunto also tended the spices and other signes of immortalitie wherewith vnder the law the darknesse of faith was holpen eueÌ„ as it was by the sacrifices Neither was that maÌ„ner bredde by superstitioÌ„ for asmuch as we see that the Spirit doth no lesse diligently reherse burialles than the chefe misteries of faith And Christ commendeth that worke as a special worke truely for none other reson but bicause it lifteth vp our eyes froÌ„ beholding of the graue which corrupteth destroyeth all to the sight of the renewyng Moreouer the so diligent obseruing of the ceremonie whiche is praysed in the Fathers sufficiently proueth that it was to them a rare pretious help of faith For neither would AbrahaÌ„ haue so carefully prouided for the burieng place of his wife vnlesse there had ben set before his eyes a religion and a profit hier than the world namely that garnishing the dead body of his wife with the signes of the resurrection he might coÌ„firme both his owne faith the faith of his household But a clerer profe of this thing appereth in the exaÌ„ple of Iacob which to testifie to his posteritie that the hope of the promised land was not euen by death fallen out of his minde coÌ„maunded his bones to be caried thether I besech you if he was to be clothed with a new body shold he not haue geuen a fond coÌ„manÌ„dement coÌ„cerning dust that shold be brought to nothing Wherfore if their authoritie of the Scripture be of any force with vs there caÌ„ be required of no doctrine either a more clere or more certaine profe For this euen children vnderstand by the wordes of ResurrectioÌ„ raysing vp againe For neither can we cal it the Resurrection of that which is now first created neither shold that sayeng of Christ staÌ„d fast Whatsoeuer the Father hath geuen me it shal not perish but I wil rayse it vp in the last day To the same purpose serueth the word of Sleping which perteineth only to the bodies WherupoÌ„ also burieng places were called Coemeteria â–ª Sleping places Now it remaineth that I speake somwhat of that manner of the resurrection I vse this word bicause Paul calling it a misterie exhorteth vs to sobrietie bridleth the libertie to dispute like Philosophers freely suttelly of it First we muste holde as
we haue sayd that we shall rise againe in the same fleshe whiche we beare as touchyng the substance but the qualitie shal be other As when the same flesh of Christ whiche had ben offred for sacrifice was raysed vp againe yet it excelled in other qualities as yf it had ben altogether an other flesh Which thing Paule declareth by familiar examples For as there is all one substance of the fleshe of a man and of a beast but not al one qualitie as all starres haue like matter but not like brightnesse so he teacheth that though we shal kepe stil the substance of our body yet there shal be a change that the state of it may be muche more excellent The body therefore that we maye be raysed vp agayne shal not perish nor vanish awaye but puttyng of corruption it shal put on vncorruption But for asmuch as God hath al the elementes ready at his becke no hardinesse shall hinder him but that he may commaund both the earth waters fier to rēder that which semeth to be cōsumed by them Which also Esay testifieth though not without a figure where he sayth Beholde the Lord shal goe forth of his place that he maye visit the iniquitie of the earth and the earth shall discouer her bloud and shal no more hide her dead But there is to be noted a difference betwene them that haue ben dead long before and those whō that daye shall finde aliue For we shall not all slepe as Paul sayth but we shall all be changed that is to saye it shall not be of necessitie that there be a distance of time betwene death and the beginnyng of the seconde life bycause in a moment of time and in the twyncling of an eye the sound of the trompet shall pearce to rayse vp the dead vncorruptible and with a sodeyne change to fashion agayne the liuing into the same glorie So in an other place he comforteth the faythful whiche muste die bycause they whiche shall then remayne aliue shal not goe before the dead but rather they shall first rise agayne whiche haue slept in Christ. If any obiect that sayeng of the Apostle that it is apointed to all mortalll menne ones to dye it is easy to answere it with sayeng that when the state of nature is changed it is a kinde of death and is fittly so called And therefore these thinges agree wel together that all shal be renewed by death when they shall put of their mortall bodie and yet that it is not necessarie that there be a seueryng of the bodie and the soule where there shal be a sodeyne changyng But here ariseth a harder question by what right the resurrection whyche is the singular benefit of Christe is common also to the wicked and the accursed of God We knowe that all were in Adam condemned to death Christ came the resurrection and lyfe Came he to geue life to all mankinde vniuersally without choyse But what is more agaynst reason than that they should by their obstinate blindenesse obteyne that which the godly worshippers of God do obteine by onely faith Yet this remaineth certaine that there shal be one resurrection of iudgement and an other resurrectiō of life and that Christ shall come to seuer the Lambes from the Goates I answer that this ought not to seme strange the likenesse whereof we see in dayly experience We see that in Adam we were depryued of the inheritance of the whole worlde and that we are by no lesse iuste reason debarred from common foode than from the eatyng of the tree of lyfe Whense then commeth it to passe that God doth not onely make his sunne to ryse vpon the good and euell but also as touchyng the vses of this present lyfe his inestimable liberalitie continually floweth forth to them with large plentuousnesse Hereby verily we knowe that those thinges whiche properly belong to Christ and his members doe also ouerflowe to the wicked not that it is their rightfull possession but that they maye be made the more inexcusable So the wicked do oftentimes finde God beneficiall by more than meane proues yea suche as somtime do darken all the blessinges of the Godly but yet do turne to their greater damnation If any man obiect that the resurrection is not fitly compared to fadynge and earthly benefites here also I answere that so sone as they were estranged from God the fountayne of life they deserued the death of the Deuell whereby they should be vtterly destroyed Yet by the maruelous counsell of God there was founde a meane state that out of lyfe they mighte liue in death No more absurditie ought it to seme yf the resurrection happen to the wicked whiche draweth them agaynst their willes to the iudgement seate of Christ whome nowe they refuse to heare for their mayster and teacher For it were a small peyne to be consumed awaye with death yf they were not to suffer punishment for their obstinacie broughte before the iudge whose vengeance they haue without ende and measure prouoked agaynst themselues But although we muste holde that whiche we haue sayd and whiche that notable confession Paule before Felix conteyneth that he loketh for the resurrection of the righteous and wicked yet the Scripture oftentimes setteth forth election together with the heauenly glorie to the only children of God Bicause Christ proprely came not to the destruction but to the saluation of the worlde Therefore in the Crede there is made mention of the blessed life only But for as much as the Prophecie of death swallowed vp by victorie shall then and not till then be fulfilled let vs alwaye haue in mynde the eternall felicitie the ende of the resurrection of the excellencie whereof yf all thinges were spoken whiche the tonges of men where able to speake yet scarcely the smallest parcell thereof should bee expressed For howe so euer we truely heare that the kyngdome of God shal be stuffed full with bryghtnesse ioye felicitie and glorie yet those thynges that are spoken of are moste farre remoued from our sense and remayne as it were wrapped in darke speaches vntill that daye come when he himselfe shall geue to vs his glorie to be seene face to face We know sayth Iohn that we are the chyldren of God but it hath not yet appered But when we shal be lyke to him then we shal see him such as he is Wherfore the Prophets bicause thei could by no wordes expresse the spiritual blessednesse in it self did in a manner grosly portray it out vnder bodily thinges But for as much as the feruentnesse of desire must with some tast of the swetenesse be kindled in vs let vs chefely cōtinue in this thought that if god do as a certaine fountaine which can not be drawen drie cōteyne in him the fulnesse of al good things nothing is beyōd him to be coueted of them that tend toward the soueraigne good and the
due honor to take it to him selfe this is the chiefe token that we ought to folowe in seekyng out of Antichrist specially where suche pride procedeth euen to the publike dissipation of the Chirche Sithe therefore it is certaine that the bishop of Rome hath shamelessely conueyed away to himself that whiche was the chiefe propre thing to God alone and Christ it is not to be douted but that he is the capitaine and standerdbearer of the wicked and abhominable kyngdome Nowe let the Romanists goe and obiect antiquitie against vs. As if in so great alteration of all thynges the honor of the See might stand where there is no see Eusebius telleth how God that there might bee place for his vengeance remoued the Chirch that was at Hierusalem to Pella That whiche we heare to haue been ones doone might be ofter doone Therfore so to byâ—de the honor of supremicie to a place that he which is in dede the moste hatefull enemie of Christ the hyest aduersarie of the Gospell the greatest waster and destroyer of the Chirche the moste cruel slaughterman butcher of the saints shold neuerthelesse be accompted the vicar of Christ the successor of Peter the chief bishop of the Chirche onely because he occupieth the see that was ones the chiefest of all that verily is to muche to be scorned and foolishe I speake not how great difference there is betwene the popes chauncerie and a well framed order of the Chirche Howbeit this one thyng may wel take away all dout of this question For no man that hath his right wit wil think the bishoprike enclosed in leade and bulles muche lesse in that schoole of fraudes and deceites in wiche thyngs the Popes spirituall gouernement consisteth Therfore it was very well sayd by a certain man that that Chirche of Rome which is bosted of is long agoe tourned into a court which onely is nowe seene at Rome Neither doo I here accuse the faultes of men but I shew that the Papacie it selfe is directly contrary to the true order of a Chirche But if we come to the persones of men it is well enough knowen what maner of vicars of Christ we shall fynde Iulius forsoothe and Leo and Clement and Paule shal be pillers of the christian faith and the chiefe expositours of religion whiche neuer knew any other thyng of Christ than that whiche he had learned in Lucians schole But why doo I recken vp thre or fower Popes as though it were doutfull what maner of forme of religioÌ„ the Popes with their whole college of Cardinals haue sins long ago professed and at this day doo professe For first this is the principall article of that secret Diuinitie that reigneth amoÌ„g them That there is no God the seconde That all things that are writen and taught concernyng Christ are lies and deceits the third That the doctrine of the life to come and of the last resurrection are more fables They doo not all thinke so and fewe of them speake so I grauÌ„t But this hath long ago begon to be the ordinarie religioÌ„ of Popes Wheras this is very well knowen to all that knowe Rome yet the Romishe Diuines ceasse not to bost that by Christes priuilege it is prouided that the Pope can not erre because it was said to Peter I haue praied for thee that thy faith should not faint What I pray you winne they by mocking so shamelessely but that the whole world may vnderstand that they are come to that extremitie of wickednesse that they neither feare God nor stande in awe of men But let vs imagine that the vngodlynesse of those Popes whom I haue spoken of is hidden because they haue neither published it by prechinges nor by writinges but onely haue bewrayed it at their table and in their chamber or at least within walles of houses But if they will haue this priuilege to be of force whyche they pretende they must nedes wipe Iohn the .xxii. out of the number of Popes who openly affirmed that soules are mortall that they die together with the bodies vntil the day of resurrection And that you may perceiue that the whole See with her principall staies was then wholly fallen none of all the Cardinals withstode so great a madnesse but the schoole of Parise moued the king of Fraunce to compell him to recant it The king forbade his subiectes to communicate with him vnlesse he did out of hande repent and the same as the maner is he proclaimed by a heralde The Pope compelled by this necessitie abiured his error This example maketh that I neede not to dispute any more with my aduersaries about this that they say that the see of Rome and the Bishops thereof can not erre in the fayth because it was saide to Peter I haue praied for thee that thy faith may not fainte Truely he fell with so fowle a kinde of fall from the right faith that he is a notable example to theim that come after that they are not all Peters whiche succede after Peter in the bishoprike Howbeit this is also of it selfe so childishe that it nedeth no answere For if they will drawe to Peters successours whatsoeuer was spoken to Peter it shall â—olowe that they are all Satans for asmuche as the Lord said this also to Peter Go behinde thou Satan because thou art an offence to me For it shal be as easye for vs to turne backe this later sayeng against them as it shal be for them to obiect the other agaynst vs. But I list not to striue with them in playeng the foole Therefore I returne thether from whense I made digression So to bind the place Christ and the Holy ghost and the Chirch together that whosoeuer sit in that place although he be the deuil yet he must be iudged the vicar of Christ and the hed of the Chirche because it was ones the seate of Peter I say this is not only wicked sclauÌ„derous to Christe but also to great an absurditie and against coÌ„mon reason It is already long ago sins the bishops of Rome are either without all religion or the greatest enemies of religion Therfore they ar no more made the vicars of Christ by reason of the seate which they occupie than an idoll when it is set in the temple of God is to be taken for God Now if their maners be to be iudged vppon lette the Popes them selues answere for them selues what one thing at al there is in them wherein they may be knowen for bishops First wheras there is such life at Rome they not only winking at it but also as it were with secret countenance allowyng it this is vtterly vnmete for bishops whoe 's duetie is with seueritie of discipline to restraine the licentiousnesse of the people But I wil not be so rigorous against them to charge them with other mens faultes But where as they themselues with their owne household with almost the whole college of
than eche one seuerally neither is it my meaning that thys is so spoken in common to the faithful as though they were al alike endued with the Spirite of vnderstanding and doctrine but because it is not to be graunted to the aduersaries of Christ that they should for the defense of an euill cause wrest the Scripture to a wrong sense But omitting this I simply cōfesse that which is true that the lord is perpetually presēt with his ruleth them with his Spirite And that this Spirite is not the Spirite of error ignorance lyeng or darkenesse but of sure reuelation wisedome trueth light of whō they not deceitfully may learne those thinges that are geuē them that is to say what is the hope of their calling what be the richesse of the glory of the inheritaunce of God in the saintes But wheras the faythful euen they that are endued with more excellent giftes aboue the rest do in thys fleshe receiue onely the firste frutes a certaine tast of that Spirite there remaineth nothing leeuer to them thā knowing their own weakenesse to hold themselues carefully within the boundes of the worde of God least if they wander farr after their own sense they by by stray out of the right waie in so much as they be yet voide of that Spirite by whoe 's only teaching truth is discerned from falshode For all men do confesse with Paule that they haue not yet atteined to the marke Therfore they more endeuor to daily profiting than glory of perfection But they wil take exception say that whatsoeuer is particularly attributed to euery one of the holy ones the same doth throughly fully belong to the Chirche it selfe Although this hath some seming of truth yet I deney it to be true God doth in dede so distribute to euery one of the members the giftes of his Spirite by measure that the whole body wanteth nothing necessarie whē the giftes are geuē in cōmon But the richesse of the Chirche are alway such that there euer wāteth much of that hiest perfection which our aduersaries do bost of Yet the Chirche is not therefore so lefte destitute in any behalf but that she alway hath so much as is enough For the Lord knoweth what her necessitie requireth But to holde her vnder humilitie and godly modestie he geueth her no more than he knoweth to be expedient I know what here also they are wont to obiecte that is that the Chirche is clensed with the washing of water in the worde of life that it might be without wrincle and spot and that therfore in an other place it is called the piller and stay of truth But in the first of these two places is rather taught what Christ daily worketh in it than what he hath allredy done For if he daily sanctifieth purgeth polysheth wypeth from spottes all them that be his truely it is certayne that they are yet besprinkled with some spottes and wrincles and that there wanteth somwhat of their sanctificatiō But how vayne and fabulous is it to iudge the Chirch alredy in euery part holy and spottlesse wherof all the members are spotty and very vncleane It is true therefore that the Chirche is sanctified of Christe But onely the beginning of that sanctifieng is here seen but the ende and full accomplishment shall be when Christe the holiest of holy ones shall truely and fully fill it with his holinesse It is true also that the spottes and wrincles of it are wiped awaye but so that they be daily in wiping awaye vntill Christe with his comming dooe vtterlye take awaye all that remaineth For vnlesse we graunt this we must of necessitie affirme with the Pelagians that the righteousnesse of the faithfull is perfect in this life and with the Cathani and Donatistes we muste suffer no infirmitie in the Chirch The other place as we haue ells where seen hath a sense vtterly differing from that which they pretende For when Paule hath instructed Timothee and framed him to the true office of a Bishop he sayeth that he did it to this purpose that he should knowe how he ought to be haue himselfe in the Chirch And that he should with the greater religiousnesse and endeuor bend himselfe thereunto he addeth that the Chirch is the very piller stay of truth For what ells do these wordes meane but that the truth of God is preserued in the Chirch namely by the ministerie of preaching As in an other place he teacheth that Christ gaue Apostles Pastors and Teachers that we should no more be caried about with euery winde of doctrine or be morked of men but that being enlightened with the true knowledge of the Sonne of God we should altogether mete in vnitie of Faith Wheras therfore the truth is not extinguished in the world but remayneth safe that same cōmeth to passe because it hath the Chirche a faithful keper of it by whoe 's helpe ministerie it is susteined But if this keping standeth in the ministerie of the Prophetes and Apostles it foloweth that it hangeth wholy herupō if the word of the Lord be faithfully preserued doe kepe hys puritie But that the reders may better vnderstande vpon what pointe thys question chefely standeth I wil in fewe wordes declare what our aduersaries require and wherin we stande against them Where they say that the Chirche can not erre it tendeth herunto thus they expounde it that forasmuch as it is gouerned by the Spirite of God it may goe safely without the worde that whether soeuer it goeth it can not thinke nor speake any thing but truth that therfore if it determine any thing wtout or beside Gods worde the same is no otherwise to be estemed than as a certaine Oracle of God If we graūt that first point that the Chirche can not erre in thinges necessarie to saluation this is our meaning that this is therfore because forsaking al her own wisdome she suffreth her selfe to be taught of the Holy ghost by the word of God This therfore is the difference They set the authoritie of the Chirch without the worde of God but we wil that it be annexed to the worde and suffer it not to be seuered from it And what maruel is it if the spouse and scholar of Christ be subiect to her husbande scholemaister that the cōtinually and ernestly hāgeth of his mouth For this is the order of a wel gouerned house that the wife should obey the authoritie of the husbande thys is the rule of a wel ordered schoole that the teaching of the scholemaster alone should there be heard Wherfore let the Chirche not be wise of her selfe not thinke any thing of her selfe but determine the ende of her wisdōe where he hath made an ende of speaking After thys maner she shal also distruste all the inuentions of her owne reason but in those thinges wherin it stādeth vpō the word of God she shall wauer
succoured that they may wynde themselues out of this distresse But to take awaye all dout at ones I say that all vowes being not lawful nor rightly made as they are nothing worth before God so oughte to be voide to vs. For if in contractes of men those promises only doe bynde in which he with whom we contract would haue vs bounde it is an absurditie that we should be driuen to the keping of those things which God doth not require of vs specially sith our works are no otherwise right but when they please God and when consciences haue this testimonie that they please hym For this remaineth certaine whatsoeuer is not of Faith is sinne Whereby Paule meaneth that the worke which is taken in hande with douting is therefore faulty because Faith is the roote of al good workes by which we are assured that they be acceptable to God Therefore if it be lawfull for a Christian man to goe about nothing without this assurednesse if by faulte of ignorance they haue taken any thing in hande why shoulde they not afterwarde geue it ouer when they be deliuered from errors Sithe vowes vnaduisedly made are such they do not onely nothing binde but are necessarily to be vndone Yea what if they are not onely nothing estemed but also are abhominable in the sight of God as is aboue shewed It is nedelesse to discourse any longer of a mater not nedefull This one argumente semeth to me to be enough to pacifie godly consciēces and deliuer them from all dout that whatsoeuer workes doe not flowe out of the pure fountaine and be not directed to the lawfull ende are refused of God and so refused that he no lesse forbiddeth vs to goe forewarde in them than to beginne them For hereupon foloweth that those vowes which procede of error and superstition are both of no value before God and to be forsaken of vs. Moreouer he that shall knowe this solution shall haue wherewith he may defende againste the sclaunders of the wicked them that departe from monkerie to some honest kynde of lyfe They are greuously accused of breache of Fayth and periurie because they haue broken as it is commonly thoughte the insoluble bonde wherewith they were bounde to God and to the Chirch But I say that there was no bonde where God doth abrogate that whiche man confirmeth Moreouer admitting that they were bounde when they were holdē entangled with not knowing of God and with error nowe sins they are lightened with the knowlege of the truth I say that they are therewithall free by the grace of Christe For if the crosse of Christe haue so greate effectualnesse that it looseth vs frō the curse of the law of God wherw t we were holdē bonde how much more shal it deliuer vs frō forein bondes which are nothing but the snaring nettes of Satan To whomsoeuer therfore Christ shineth with the lighte of his Gospell it is no doute that he looseth them from all snares whiche they had put vpon themselues by superstition Howbeit they want not yet an other defense if they were not fitt to liue vnmaried For if an impossible vow be a sure destruction of the soule whom the Lorde would haue saued and not destroied it foloweth that we ought not to continue therin But howe impossible is the vowe of continēce to them that are not endued with a singular gift we haue alredy taught and experience speaketh it though I holde my peace For neither is it vnknowen with how great filthinesse almost all monasteries do swarme And if any of them seme honester and more shamefast than the rest yet they are not therfore chast because they suppresse and kepe in the fault of vnchastitie So verily God doth with horrible exāples take vengeance on the boldnesse of men whiche forgetting their owne weakenesse do against nature couet that which is denied them and despising the remedies which the Lord had geuen them at hande do trust that they can with stubbornnesse and obstinatie ouercome the disease of incontinence For what ells shall we cal it but stubbornnesse when one being warned that he nedeth mariage and that the same is geuen him of the Lord for a remedie doeth not onely despise it but also bindeth himselfe with an othe to the despising of it ¶ The .xiiii. Chapter Of Sacramentes BYside the preaching of the Gospell an other helpe of like sort is in the Sacramētes of which to haue some certaine doctrine taught is much behouefull for vs wherby we may learne both to what ende they were ordeined and what is now the vse of them First it is mete to consider what is a Sacramente It semeth to me that this shal be a playne and propre definition if we say that it is an outwarde signe wherwith the Lord sealeth to our cōsciences the promises of his good wil toward vs to susteine the weakenesse of our Faith and we againe on our behalues doe testifie our godlinesse towarde him as well before him and the Angels as before mē We may also with more brefenesse define it otherwise as to call it a testimonie of Gods fauor towarde vs confirmed by an outwarde signe with a mutuall testifieng of our godlinesse towarde him Whether soeuer you choose of these definitions it differeth nothing in sense from that definition of Augustine which teacheth that a Sacramēt is a visible signe of a holy thig or a visible forme of inuisible grace but it doth better and more certainly expresse the thing it selfe For wheras in that brefenesse there is some darknesse wherin many of the vnskilfuller sort are deceiued I thought good in moe wordes to geue a fuller sentence that there should remaine no dout For what reason the olde writers vsed this worde in the sense it is not hard to see For so oft as the olde translater would rēder in Latine this Greke worde Mysterion mysterie specially when diuine maters were entreated of he translated it Sacrament So to the Ephesians That he might make knowen vnto vs the Sacrament of his will Againe if yet ye haue heard the distribution of the grace of God which is geuen to me in you because according to reuelatiō the Sacrament was made knowen to me To the Colossians The mysterie which hath ben hiddē from ages and generations but now is manifested to his Saintes to whom the Lord would make knowen the richesse of this Sacramente c. Againe to Timothee A great Sacrament of godlinesse God is opēly shewed in the flesh He would not say a secret least he shoulde seme to say somwhat vnder the greatnesse of the thinges Therfore he hath put Sacrament in stede of Secret but of a holy thing In that significatiō it is somtime founde amōg the ecclesiastical writers And it is well enough knowen that those which in Latine are called Sacramentes in Greke are Mysteries which expressing of one thing in twoo seuerall wordes endeth all the contention And hereby it came to passe that
Wherfore this honor was to be geuen them ▪ vntill they refused it beyng offred them and by their owne vnthankfulnesse brought to passe that it was caried away to the Gētiles Neither yet with howe great obstinatie soeuer they continue to make warre against the Gospell ought they to be despised of vs if we consider that for the promises sake the blessing of God doth yet stil remain among them as verely the Apostle testifieth that it shall neuer vtterly departe from thence because the giftes and callyng of God are without repentance Beholde of what force is the promise geuen to the posteritie of Abraham and with what balance it is to be weyed Wherefore althoughe in discernyng the heires of the kyngdome from bastardes and strangers we nothyng doute that the only election of God ruleth with free right of gouernement yet we also therwithall perceiue that it pleased hym peculiarly to embrace the sede of Abraham with his mercie and that the same mercie might be the more surely witnessed to seale it with circumcision Nowe altogether like state is there of the christian Chirche For as Paule there reasoneth that the Iewes are sanctified of their parentes so in an other place he teacheth that the children of christians receiue the same sanctification of their parentes Wherupon is gathered that they are worthily seuered from the rest which on the other syde are condemned of vncleannesse Nowe who can doute but that it is moste false which they do therupon conclude that say that the infantes which in olde tyme were circumcised dyd only figure spiritual infantie which ariseth of the regeneration of the worde of God For Paule dothe not so suttelly play the Philosopher where he writeth that Christ is the minister of Circumcision to fulfill the promises which had bene made to the Fathers as if he saide thus Forasmuche as the couenant made with Abraham hath respecte to his sede Christe to performe and discharge the promise ones made by his Father came to saluatiō to the nation of the Iewes Se you not how also after the resurrectiō of Christe he iudgeth that the promise of the couenant is to be fulfilled not onely by way of allegorie but as the very wordes do sounde to the carnal seede of Abraham To the same entent serueth that which Peter in the second Chapter of the Actes declareth to the Iewes that the benefite of the Gospell is due to them and their sede by right of the couenant and in the Chapter next folowyng he calleth them the children of the testamente that is to say heires From which also not muche disaccordeth the other place of the Apostle aboue alleged where he accompteth and setteth Circūcision emprinted in infants for a testimonie of that cōmunion which thei haue with Christ. But if we harken to their trifles what shal be wroughte by that promise wherby the Lorde in the seconde article of his law vndertaketh to his seruantes that he wil be fauourable to their sede euen to the thousandth generation Shall we here flee to allegories But that were to triflyng a shift Or shal we say that this is abolished But so the law should be destroyed which Christ came rather to stablish so farre as it turneth vs to good vnto lyfe Lett it therfore bee out of controuersie that God is so good and liberall to his that for their sakes he wil haue also their children whome they shall begett to be adnumbred among his people Moreouer the differences which they go about to put betwene Baptisme and circumcision ar not only worthy to be laughed at and void of all color of reson but also disagreeyng with them selues For when they haue affirmed that Baptisme hath relation to the first day of the spiritual battell but circumcision to the eighth when mortification is already ended by and by forgetting the same they turne their song and call circumcisiō a figure of the flesh to be mortified but Baptisme they call buriall into which none ar to be put til they be alredy dead What dotages of phrentike men can with so great lightnesse leape into sondry diuersities For in the fyrst sentence Baptisme must go before circumcisiō by the other it is thrust backe into the later place Yet is it no newe exāple that the wittes of men be so tossed vp and downe when in stede of the most certain word of God they worship whatsoeuer they haue dreamed We therfore say that that former difference is a mere dreame If they listed to expounde by way of allegorie vpon the eyghth day yet it agreed not in that maner It were muche fitter accordyng to the opinion of the old writers to referre the numbre of eighth to the resurrection whiche was done on the eighth day wherupon we knowe that the newnesse of life hangeth or to the whole course of this presente lyfe wherein mortification oughte alwaye to goe forward till when life is ended mortification it selfe may also be ended Howbeit God may seme to haue mynded to prouide for the tendernesse of age in differryng circumcision the viii day because the wound shold haue ben more dangerous to the children newe borne and yet red from their mother Howe muche stronger is that that we beyng deade before are buried by Baptisme when the scripture expressely cryeth to the cōtrarye that we are buried into death to this entente that we should dye and from thenseforth shoulde endeuor to this mortification Nowe a likewise handlyng it is that they cauill that women ought not to be baptised if Baptisme must bee framed like to Circumcision For if it be most certaine that the sanctifieng of the sede of Israel was testified by the signe of Circumcision thereby also it is vndouted that it was geuen to sanctifie bothe males females But the onely bodyes of male children were marked with it which myght by nature be marked yet so that the women were by them after a certaine maner cōpanions and parteners of circumcision Therefore sending farre away suche follies of theirs lette vs sticke faste in the lykenesse of Baptisme circumcision whiche we most largely see to agree in the inward mysterie in the promises in vse in effectualnesse They thynke also that they bring forth a most strong reason why childrē are to be debarred from Baptisme when they allege that they ar not yet for age able to vnderstand the mysterie there signified That is spiritual regeneration which can not be in the first infātie Therfore they gather that they are to be taken for none other than the childrē of Adam till they be growen to age mete for a second birth But the truth of God echewhere speaketh against all these thynges For if they be to be lefte among the children of Adam then they are left in death forasmuch as in Adam we can do nothyng but dye But contrarywise Christ cōmaūdeth them to be brought vnto hym Why so because he is life Therfore that he may geue life to
they exhort theÌ„ that they might the more familiarly declare to the men of their age that the Gentiles should be called into the true felowshippe of religion Like as also they are wont altogether to describe by figures of theyr law the truth that was deliuered by the Gospell So they set for turning to the Lord asceÌ„ding into Ierusalem for the worshipping of God the offring of al kindes of giftes for larger knowlege of him which was to be geuen to the faithfull in the kyngdome of Christe dreames and visions That therfore whiche they allege is like vnto an other prophecie of Esaye where the Prophet foretelleth of three altars to be set vppe in Assiria Egipte and Iurye For first I aske whether they do not graunt that the fulfillyng of this prophecie is in the kingdome of Christ. Secondly wher be these altars or when they were euer set vp Thirdly whether they think that to euery seuerall kyngdome is apointed a seuerall temple such as was that at Ierusalem These things if thei wey I think they wil confesse that the Prophet vnder fygures agreeable with his tyme prophecieth of the spiritual worship of God to be spred abrode into the whole world Which we geue to them for a solution But of this thing sithe there do euery where examples commonly offre them selues I wil not busie my selfe in longer rehearsall of them Howbeit herein also they are miserably deceiued that they acknowlege no sacrifice but of the Masse wheras in dede the faithfull do nowe sacrifice to the Lord do offer a cleane offring of which shal be spoken by and by Nowe I come downe to the third office of the Masse where I must declare howe it blotteth oute the true and onely deathe of Christe and shaketh it oute of the remembrance of menne For as among men the strength of a testament hangeth vppon the death of the testator so also our lord hath with his death confirmed the testament whereby he hath geuen vs forgeuenesse of synnes and eternal righteousnesse They that dare varie or make newe any thing in this testamente doo denye hys death and holde it as it were of no force But what is the Masse but a new and altogether diuerse testameÌ„t For why Doth not euery seueral Masse promise new forgeuenesse of sinnes new purchasing of righteousnesse so that now there be so many testaments as there be Masses Let Christ therfore come again and with an other death confirme this testament or rather with infinite deathes confirme innumerable testamentes of Masses Haue I not therfore said true at the beginning that the only and true death of Christ is blotted oute by Masses Yea what shall we say of this that the Masse directly tendeth to this ende that if it be possible Christ should bee slayne agayne For where is a testamente sayeth the Apostle there of necessitie must be the death of the testator The Masse sheweth it selfe to be a new testament of Christ therfore it requireth his death Moreouer the hoste which is offred must necessarily be slayne and sacrificed If Christ in euery seuerall Masse be sacrificed then he muste at euery moment bee in a thousande places cruelly slayen This is not myne but the Apostles argument If he had neded to offer him selfe ofte he muste ofte haue dyed sins the beginning of the worlde I knowe that they haue an answere in redinesse whereby also they charge vs with sclander For they say that that is obiected agaynst them which they neuer thought nor yet canne And we knowe that the death and life of Christ is not in their hande We loke not whether they goe aboute to kill hym onely our purpose is to shew what maner of absurdity foloweth of their vngodly and wicked doctrine Which self thing I proue by the Apostles owne mouth Though they crye out to the contrarye a hundred tymes that this sacrifice is vnbloody I wil deny that it hangeth vpon the wyll of men that sacrifices should change their nature for by this meane the holy and inuiolable ordinance of God shold faile WherupoÌ„ foloweth that this is a sure principle of the Apostle thâ—â— there is required sheding of blood that washing may not be wanting Now is the fourth office of the Masse to be entreated of namely to take awaye from vs the fruite that came to vs of the deathe of Christe while it maketh vs not to acknowlege it and thinke vpon it For who caÌ„ call to mynde that he is redemed by the death of Christ when he seeth a new redemption in the Masse Who can truste that sinnes are forgeueÌ„ him when he seeth a newe forgeuenesse Neither shall he escape that shall say that we do for no other cause obteyn forgeuenesse of sinnes in the Masse but because it is alredy purchased by the death of Christ. For he bringeth nothyng els than as if he would boste that Christ hathe redemed vs with this condition that we shoulde redeme our selues For such doctrine hath ben spred by the ministers of Satan and such at this day they mainteyn with cryenges out with swerd and fier that we wheÌ„ in the Masse we offer vp Christ to his Father by this work of offring do obteine forgeuenesse of sinnes and are made partakers of the passion of Christ. What now remaineth to the passion of Christ but to be an example of redemption whereby we may learne to be our owne redemers Christe him selfe when in the Supper he sealeth the confidence of pardon doth not bidde his disciples to sticke in that doing but sendeth theÌ„ awaye to the sacrifice of his deathe signifieng that the Supper is a moniment or memorial as the common spech is whereby they may learne that the satisfactorie clensing sacrifice by which the Father was to be appeased must haue ben offred but ones For neither is it enough to know that Christ is the onely sacrifice vnlesse the onely sacrificing be ioyned with it that our faith may be fastened to his crosse Nowe I come to the conclusion namely that the holye Supper in which the Lord had left the remembrance of his passion grauen and expressed is by the settyng vp of the Masse taken away defaced and destroyed For the Supper it selfe is the gift of God whiche was to be receiued with thankesgeuing The sacrifice of the Masse is famed to pay a price to God which he may receiue for satisfaction Howe muche difference there is betwene to geue and to receiue so much doth the sacrifice differ from the Sacrament of the Supper And this truely is the moste wretched vnthankfulnesse of man that where the largesse of Gods bouÌ„tie ought to haue beÌ„ acknowleged thanks to be geuen therin he maketh God his dettor The Sacrament promised that by the death of Christe we are not onely ones restored into life but are continually quickned because then all the partes of our saluation were fulfilled The sacrifice of the Masse singeth a farre other song that Christ must
Sacrament is extreme vnctioÌ„ which is not done but of the Prest that in extremes so thei terme it with oile coÌ„secrate of the Bishop with this forme By thys holy anointing by his most kind mercy God pardoÌ„ thee whatsoeuer yâ— hast offeÌ„ded by seing by hearing by smelling feling tasting They faine that there be twoo vertues of it the forgeuenesse of sinnes ease of bodily sicknesse if it be so expedieÌ„t if not the saluation of the soule They say that the institution of it is set of Iames whose wordes are these Is any sicke among you Let hym bryng in the Elders of the Chirch and let them pray ouer hym anointing him with oyle in the name of the Lorde and the prayer of Fayth shal saue the sicke man and the Lord shal rayse hym by and if he be in synnes they shal be forgeuen hym Of the same sorte is thys anointing of which we haue aboue shewed that the other layeng on of handes is namely a playerlike hypocrisie whereby without reason and without frute they woulde resemble the Apostles Marc rehearseth that the Apostles at their first sending according to the commaundement whiche they haue receiued of the Lord raised vp dead meÌ„ cast out deuils cleansed leprous meÌ„ healed the sicke and that in healing of the sicke they vsed oyle They anointed sayth he many sicke meÌ„ with oyle and they were healed Hereunto Iames had respect when he commauÌ„ded the Elders to be called together to anoint the sicke man That vnder such Ceremonies is conteined no hyer mysterie they shall easily iudge which marke how great libertie the Lorde and his Apostles vsed in these outwarde thinges The Lord going about to restore sight to the blinde maÌ„ made cley of dust spittle some he healed with touching other some with his word After the same maner the Apostles healed some diseases with the word only some with touching other some with anointing But it is likely that this anointing was not as al other things also wer not causelesly put in vre I graunt yet not that it shold be a meane of healing but only a signe that the dulnesse of the vnskilful myght be put in mynde from whense so great power proceded to thys ende that they should not geue the prayse therof to the Apostles And that the Holy ghost and hys gyftes are signified by oyle it is a common and vsual thing But that same grace of healinges is vanished awaye like as also the other miracles which the Lord willed to be shewed for a tyme wherby he might make the new preaching of the Gospel maruelous for euer Therefore though we grauÌ„t neuer so much that anoynting was a Sacramente of those powers which wer theÌ„ ministred by the hands of the Apostles it now nothing perteineth to vs to whom the ministratioÌ„ of such powers is not coÌ„mitted And by what greater reasoÌ„ do they make a SacrameÌ„t of this anointing than of al other signes that are rehearsed to vs in the Scripture â–ª Why do they not appoint some Siloah to swymme in wherinto at certaine ordinarie recourses of tymes sicke men may plunge themselues That say they should be done in vaine Truely no more in vayne than anoyntyng Why do they not lye along vpon dead men because Paule raysed vp a dead childe with lyeng vpon hym Why is not cley made of spittle dust a Sacrament But the other wer but singular examples but this is geueÌ„ of Iames for a commaundemeÌ„t Uerily Iames spake for the same time when the Chirch yet stil enioied such blessing of God They affirme in dede that there is yet stil the same force in their anointingâ— but we finde it otherwise by experieÌ„ce Let no maÌ„ now maruel how thei haue with such boldnesse mocked soules which they know to be senslesse blinde when they are spoyled of the word of God that is of their life light sith they are nothing ashamed to go about to mocke the liuing and feling senses of the body Therfore they make themselues worthy to be scorned whyle they bost that they are endued with the grace of healinges The Lord verily is present with his in al ages and so oft as nede is he helpeth their sicknesses no lesse thaÌ„ in olde tyme but he doth not so vtter those manifest powers nor distributeth miracles by the handes of the Apostles because this gift both was but for a tyme and also is partly falleÌ„ away by the vnthankfulnesse of men Therfore as not wtout cause the Apostles haue by the signe of oile opeÌ„ly testified that the grace of healinges coÌ„mitted to them was not their owne power but the power of the Holy ghost so on the other side they are wroÌ„gdoers to the Holy ghost which make a stinking oile of no force to be hys power This is altogether like as if one would say that al oyle is the power of the Holy ghost because it is called by the name in Scripture that euerye doue is the Holy ghost because he appered in that forme But these thiÌ„gs let them loke to So much as for this preseÌ„t is enough for vs we do most câ—rtainly perceiue that their annointing is no Sacrament whiche is neyther a Ceremonie ordeined of God nor hath any promise For when we require these twoo thinges in a Sacrament that it be a ceremonie ordeined of God that it haue a promise of Godâ— we do there wtal require that the same Ceremonie be geuen to vs and that the promise belong vnto vs. For no man doth affirme the Circumcision is nowe a Sacrament of the Christian Chirch althoughe it both was an ordinance of God and had a promise knitt vnto it because it was neither commaunded to vs nor the promise which was adioyned to it was geueÌ„ to vs wiâ—h the same conditioÌ„ That the promise which they proudely bost of in their annointing is not geuen to vs we haue euidently shewed and they theÌ„selues declare by experience The Ceremonie ought not to haue ben vsed but of them that were endued with the grace of healinges not of these butchers that can more skill of slayeng and murthering than of healing Howbeit althoughe they obteyne thys that that which Iames commaundeth concerning annointing agreeth with thys age which they are most farr from yet eueÌ„ so they shal not haue much preuailed in prouing of their vnction wherwith they haue hetherto annointed vs. Iames wylleth that all sicke men be annointed these men infecte with their fatt liquor not sicke men but corpses half dead when the lyfe lieth alredy laboryng at the toppe of their lippes or as they themselues terme it in extremes If they haue in their Sacramente a present medicine wherby they may either ease the sharpenesse of diseases or at the least may bryng some comfort to the soule they ar to cruel that do neuer heale in time Iames willeth that the sicke maÌ„ be annointed of the Elders of the
is at any tyme present And because they would not simply mocke the Chirch howe long a roaw of errors lyes deceites and wickednesses haue they knitte to one error so that a mā may say that they did nothing but seke a denn of abhominations when they made of matrimonie a Sacrament For when they ones obteyned this they drew to themselues the hearing of causes of matrimony for it was a spiritual mater which profane iudges might not medle with Then they made lawes whereby they stablished their tyrannie but those partlye manifestly wicked against God and partlye most vniust toward men As are these That mariages made beetwene yong persones without consent of their parentes shoulde remayne of force and stablished That the mariages be not lawfull betweene kinsfolkes to the seuenth degree and if any suche be made that they be diuorced And the very degrees they faine against the lawes of all nations and against the ciuile gouernement of Moses That it be not lawfull for a manne that hath putte awaye an adulteresse to mary an other That spirituall kinsfolkes maye not bee coupled in mariage That there be no mariages celebrate from Septuagesime to the vtas of Easter in three weekes before Midsommer nor from Aduent to Twelftide And innumerable other like which it were long to reherse At length we must crepe out of their myre wherein our talk hath nowe taried longer than I woulde Yet I thinke I haue somewhat profited that I haue partly plucked the lyons skynnes from these asses The .xx. Chapter Of ciuile Gouernement NOw whereas we haue aboue set twoo kindes of gouernement in man and whereas we haue spoken enough of the one kinde which cōsisteth in the soule or in the inward man and hath respect to eternal life this place requireth that we speake somwhat also of the other which perteineth only to the ciuile and outward righteousnesse of manners For the course of this matter semeth to be seuered from the spiritual doctrine of faith which I toke in hande to entreate of yet the proceding shal shew that I do rightfully ioyne them together yea that I am of necessitie compelled to doo it specially sithe on the one side mad and barbarous men doo furiously goe aboute to ouerthrowe this order stablished by God and on the other side the flatterers of princes aduauncing their power without measure sticke not to set it against the empire of God himself Unlesse both these mischeues be met withall the purenesse of faith shal be lost Beside that it is no smally for our behofe to know how louingly God hath in this behalf prouided for mankinde that there may florishe in vs a greater desire of godlinesse to witnesse our thankfulnesse First ere we enter into the thing it selfe we must hold fast that distinction which we haue aboue set least as it commonly happeneth to many we vnwisely mingle these two things together which haue altogether diuerse consideration For when they heare that libertie is promised by the Gospell whiche acknowlegeth among men no king and no magistrate but hath regarde to Christe alone they thinke that they can take no fruite of their libertie so long as they see any power to haue preeminence ouer them Therfore they think that nothing shal be safe vnlesse the whole world be reformed into a new fashion where may neither be iudgementes nor lawes nor magistrates nor any such thing which they thinke to withstande their libertie But whosoeuer can put difference betwene the body and the soule betwene thys present and transitorie life and that life to come and eternal he shal not hardlye vnderstande that the spiritual kingdome of Christ and the ciuile gouernemēt ar thyngs far a sonder Sith therfore that is a Iewish vanitie to seke and enclose the kingdome of Christ vnder the elementes of this worlde let vs rather thinking as the Scripture plainely teacheth that it is a spirituall fruite whiche is gathered of the benefite of Christ remember to kepe within the boūdes thereof thys whole libertie which is promised and offred vs in him For what is the cause why the same Apostle which biddeth vs to stand and not to be made subiecte to the yoke of bondage in an other place for biddeth bond seruantes to be carefull of their state but bicause spirituall libertie may very wel agree with ciuile bondage In which sense also these his sayenges are to be taken In the kingdome of God there is no Iew nor Grecian no male nor female no bondeman nor freeman Againe There is no Iew nor Grecian Circūcision Uncircūcision Barbarian Scythian Bondman Freman but Christe is all in all Whereby he signifieth that it maketh no mater in what estate thou be among men nor vnder the lawes of what nation thou lyuest forasmuche as in these thynges consisteth not the kyngdome of Christ. Yet dothe not this distinction tende hereunto that we shoulde thynke that the whole order of policie is an vncleane thyng not perteyning at all to christian men So in deede doo the phrentike men that are delited with vnbridled licentiousnesse crie out and boste For sithe we bee dead by Christ to the elementes of this worlde and being remoued into the kyngdome of God do sitte among the heauenly ones they thinke that it is vnworthy for vs and farre benethe our excellence to be occupied with these prophane and vncleane cares that are busied about affaires not perteinyng to a christian man To what purpose saye they are lawes without iudgements and iudgement seates But what hath a Christian man to do with iudgements themselues yea if it be not lawfull to kill wherto serue lawes and iudgementes among vs But as we haue euen nowe geuen warning that this kynde of gouernement is seuerall from that spirituall and inward kyngdome of Christ so it is also to be knowen that they nothyng disagree together For the Ciuile gouernement dothe nowe beginne in vs vpon carth certaine beginnyngs of the heauenly kyngdome and in this mortall and vanishyng life doth as it were entre vpon an immortall and incorruptible blessednesse but the entent of this spirituall gouernement is so long as we shall lyue among mē to cherish mainteyne the outward worshippyng of God to defend the sound doctrine of godlinesse and the state of the Chirche to frame our lyfe to the felowship of men to fashion our maners to ciuile righteousnesse to procure vs into frendship one with an other to norish common peace and quietnesse all whiche I graunt to be superfluous if the kyngdome of God suche as it is nowe among vs do destroy this present life But if the will of God be so that we while we long toward the heauenly countree should be wayfaryng from home vpon the earth and sithe the vse of such waifaryng nedeth such helpes they whiche take them from man do take from him his very nature of man For wheras they allege that there is so great perfection in the Chirche of God that her
to Daniell to seale vp the vision and the Prophete not onely that the prophecye whyche is there spoken of shoulde be stablished in assured credit but also that the faythfull shoulde learne wyth contented mynde to want the Prophetes for a time bicause the fulnesse and closing vp of all reuelations was at hande Now it is to be noted that the title of commendation of Christ belongeth to these three offices For we know that in the tyme of the law as well the Prophetes as Preestes and Kynges were anoynted with holy oyle For whyche cause the renoumed name of Messias was geuen to the promised Mediator But thoughe in deede I confesse as I haue also declared in an other place that he was called Messias by peculiar consideration and respect of his kyngedome yet the annointinges in respecte of the office of prophet of preeste haue their place and are not to neglected of vs. Of the fyrste of these twoo is expresse mention made in Esaie in these woordes The spirite of the Lorde Iehoua vpon me Therefore the Lorde hathe annoynted me that I shoulde preache to the meeke shoulde brynge healthe to the contrite in hearte shoulde declare deliuerance to captiues shoulde publishe the yere of good wyll c. We see that he was anoynted wyth the Spirit to bee the publisher and witnesse of the grace of the Father And that not after the common manner for he is seuered from other teachers that hadde the lyke office And here againe is to be noted that he toke not the anoyntinge for him selfe alone that he myghte execute the office of teachinge but for his whole bodie that in hys continuall preachinge of the Gospell the vertue of the Spirit shoulde ioyne wythal But in the meane tyme thys remayneth certayne that by thys perfection of doctrine whiche he hathe broughte an ende is made of all prophecys so that they doe diminish his authoritie that beinge not content wyth the Gospell doe patche any forain thynge vnto it For that voyce whyche thundered from heauen saienge This is my beloued Sonne heare him hathe auaunced hym by singular priuilege aboue the degrees of all other Then thys oyntement is poured abroade from the heade vnto all the membres as it was forespoken by Ioel your chyldren shall prophecie and youre daughters shall see visions c. But where Paule sayth that he was geuen vs vnto wysedome and in an other place that in him are hidden all the treasures of knowledg and vnderstandin he this hathe somewhat an other meaninge that is that oute of hym there is nothinge profitable to knowe and that they whyche by fayth perceaue what hee is haue comprehended the whole infinitnesse of heauenly good thynges For whyche cause hee writeth in an other place I haue compted it precious to knowe nothinge but Iesus Christe and him crucified whiche is moste true bycause it is not lawfull to passe beyonde the simplicitie of the Gospel And herevnto tendeth the dignitie of a prophetes office in Christ that we might knowe that in the summe of the doctrine whiche hee hathe taught are conteined all poyntes of perfect wisedome Nowe come I to hys kingdome of whyche were vayne to speake if the readers were not firste warned that the nature thereof is spirituall For thereby is gathered bothe to what purpose it serueth and what it auaileth vs and the whole force and eternitie therof and also the eternitie whyche in Daniel the angell dothe attribute to the person of Christe and agayne the Angell in Luke dothe woorthily applie to the saluatiō of the people But that is also double or of two sortes for the one belongeth to the whole bodie of the Churche the other is propre to euery membre To the firste is to bee referred that whyche is saide in the Psalme I haue ones sworne by my holynesse to Dauid I wyll not lye his seede shall abide for euer hys seate shall bee as the Sunne in my syghte yt shal be stablyshed as the Moone for euer and a faythfull wytnesse in heauen Neyther is it doubtfull but that God dothe there promise that he will be by the hande of his sonne an eternal gouerner and defender of his Churche For the true perfourmance of thys prophecie canne be founde noe where els but in Christ for asmuche as immediatly after the deathe of Salomon the greater parte of the dignitie of the kingedome fell awaie and was to the dishonoure of the house of Dauid conueyed ouer to a priuate man and afterwarde by little and lyttle was diminished tyll at length it came to vtter decaie wyth heauy and shamefull destruction And the same meaninge hathe that exclamation of Esaie Whoe shall shewe fourth his generation For he so prnounceth that Christe shall remayne aliue after deathe that he ioyneth hym wyth hys membres Therefore so ofte as we heare that Christe is armed wyth eternall power let vs remembre that the euerlastinge continuance of the Church is vpholden by this support to remayne stil safe among the troublesome tossinges wherewith it is continually vexed and amonge the greuous and terrible motions that threaten innumerable destructions So when Dauid scorneth the boldnesse of hys enemies that goe aboute to breake the yoke of God and of Christe and saith that the kinges and peoples raged in vayne bycause he that dwelleth in heauen is strong enough to breake their violent assaultes he assureth the Godly of the contynuall preseruation of the Church and encourageth them to hope well so ofte as it happeneth to be oppressed So in an other place when he saithe in the person of God fitte on my righte hande till I make thine enemies thy foote stoole he warneth vs that howe many and strong enemies so euer do conspire to besege the Churche yet they haue not strengthe enoughe to preuaile agaynste that vnchangeable decree of God whereby he hathe apointed hys sonne an eternall kinge wherevpon it foloweth that it is impossible that the Deuell with all the preparation of the woorlde maye bee able at any time to destroy the Churche whiche is grounded vpon the eternall seate of Christe Now for so muche as concerneth the speciall vse of euery one the very same eternall continuance ought to raise vs vp to hope of immortalitie For we see that whatsoeuer is earthly and of the worlde endureth but for a time yea and is very fraile Therefore Christe to lifte vp oure hope vnto heauen pronounceth that his kingdome is not of this worlde Finally when any of vs heareth that the kingdome of Christe is spiritual let him be raised vp with this saieng and let him pearce to the hope of a better lyfe and whereas hee is nowe defended by the hande of Christ let hym looke for the ful frute of this grace in the world to come That as we haue sayde the force and profite of the kingedome of Christe can not otherwise be perceiued by vs but when wee knowe it to be spirituall
witnesse it Butte if any man will leape from the mere goodnesse of God to the worthinesse of workes he shal be nothing holpen by these testimonies to the stablishing of his errour For you caÌ„ gather nothing rightly therof but the mere inclinatioÌ„ of Gods tendernes towarde vs forasmuche as to encourage vs to wel doinge although the seruices whiche we do to him are not worthy of so muche as his onely loking vpon them yet he suffreth none of them to be loste But thei more enforce the woordes of the Apostle whiche when hee comforteth the Thessalomans in troubles reacheth that the same are sent to them that thei maye be accoÌ„pted worthy of the kingedome of God for whiche thei suffer For saith he it is righteous with God to render trouble to theÌ„ that trouble you but to you rest with vs when the lorde Iesus shal be shewed from heauen But the authore of the epistle to the Hebrues saith God is not vnrighteous that he sholde forget your work the loue which you haue shewed in hys name for that you haue ministred to the saintes To the firste place I answer that there is no worthinesse of merit spoken of but bycause God the father willeth that we whome he hathe chosen to be hys chyldren shoulde be made like to Christie his firste begotten sonne as it behoued that hee shoulde firste suffer and then entre into the glorie apointed for him so muste we also by manye tribulations entre into the kingdome of heaueÌ„ Therfore when we suffer tribulations for the name of Christe there are as it were certayne markes printed vpoÌ„ vs wherew t God vseth to marke the shepe of hys stock After this maÌ„ner therfore we are accoÌ„pted worthy of the kingdome of God bicause we beare in oure body the markes of oure lord master which ar the signes of the childreÌ„ of God To this purpose make these saiengs That we beare about in our body the mortificatioÌ„ of Ieâ— Christ that his life maye bee shewed in vs. That we bee fashioned like to his suffringes that we may come to the likenesse of his resurrection from the dead The reason whiche is adioined serueth not to proue any worthinesse but to confirme the hope of the kingdom of God as if he had said As it agreeth with the iust iudgmente of God to take vengeance of your enemies for the vexations that thei haue done to you so agreeth it also to geue to you release and reste from vexations The other place whiche teacheth that it so becommeth the righteousnesse of God not to forgett the obediences of them that be his that it declareth it to be in a maÌ„ner vnrighteous if he shold forget them hath this meaning God to quickeÌ„ our â—outhfulnesse hath geuen vs assurance that the laboure shall not bee vaine which we shal take for his glorie Let vs alwaye remembre that this promise as all other shold bring vs no profit vnlesse the free couenaunt of mercie went before wherevpon the whole assurednesse of our saluacion shold rest But standing vpon that couenant we ought assuredly to trust there shal also not want rewarde of the liberalitie of God to oure workes howsoeuer thei be vnworthy The Apostle to confirme vs in that expectation affirmeth that God is not vnrighteous but wil stand to his promise ones made Therefore thys righteousnesse is rather referred to the truth of Gods promise than to his iustice of rendring due Accordyng to which meaning there is a notable saienge of Augustine which as the holy maÌ„ sticketh not to reherse often as notable so I think it not vnworthy that we should continually remeÌ„bre it The lord saith he is faithful which hath made himself decter to vs not by receyuing any thinge of vs but by promising all thinges to vs. There are also alleged these saienges of Paul If I haue al faithe so that I remoue mouÌ„taines out of their place but haue not charitie I am nothing Again Nowe there remaine hope faith charitie but the greatest amoÌ„g these is charitie Again Aboue all things haue charitie which is the boÌ„d of perfectioÌ„ By the first two places our Pharises affirme that we are rather iustified by charitie than by faith namely by the chefer vertue as thei saie But this fond argument is easily wyped away For we haue in an other place already declared that those things whyche ar spokeÌ„ in the first place perteine nothing to true sayth The other place we also expound of true faith thaÌ„ which he saith that Charitie is greater not that it is more meritorious but bicause it is more fruteful bicause it exteÌ„deth further bicause it serueth mo bicause it remaineth alway iÌ„ force wheras the vse of faith coÌ„tinueth but for a time If we haue regard so excellence the loue of God shold worthily haue the chefe place of whiche Paul here speaketh not For he enforceth this thing onely that we shold with mutuall charitie edifie one an other in the Lord but let vs imagine that charitie dothe euery waie excell faithe yet what man of sounde iudgement yea or of sound braine wil gather thereof that it doth more iustifieâ—punc The power of iustifieng which faith hath consisteth not in the worthinesse of the worke Our iustification standeth vpon the onely mercie of God the deseruing of Christ which iustificatioÌ„ when faith taketh holde of it is said to iustifie Now if you aske our aduersaries in what cause they assign iustification to charitie thei wil answer that bicause it is a dutiefull doing acceptable to God therfore by the deseruing therof righteousnesse is imputed to vs bi the acceptatioÌ„ of the goodnes of God Here you see how wel the argument procedeth We say that faith iustifieth not bicause by the worthinesse of it selfe it deserueth righteousnes to vs but bicause it is an instrument by whyche we freely obteine the ryghteousnesse of Christ. These men omitting the mercy of God and passing ouer Christ where the summe of righteousnesse standeth do affirme that we are iustified by the benifite of charitie bicause it excelleth aboue faith euen as if a man wolde reason that a king is fitter to make a shooe than is a shooemaker bicause he is an infinite way more excellent This only argument is a plaine example that all the Sorbonicall schooles doo not so much as taste with the vttermoste part of their lippes what the iustification of faith is But if any wrangler do yet carpe and aske why in so small distance of place we take the name of faith in Paul so diuersly I haue a weightie cause of this exposition For sithe those giftes whyche Paul rehearseth are after a certaine maÌ„ner vnder faith hope bicause thei perteine to the knowledge of God he contemneth them al by way of recapitulation vnder the name of faith hope as if he shold say by the prophecie tonges the grace knowledg of interpretation tend to this