your selues with the yoke of bondage There is little reckoning made of me But say that I Paul tolde you that if you bee circumcised since the date of that ceremony is expited and with the entent to ioyne the Lawe with christ which your false teachers bear you in hand you ought to doe say that I said it and you shall find it so that Christ cannot profitte you and that thereby you are euen abolished from Christ and fallen from Grace For as the Oke and the Oliue will not growe in one hole so hee that leaneth as Iohn did vnto Christ must rencunce Moyses Lawe and onely cleaue to Christ and to his grace alone For as Sara and Agar cannot dwell in one house so the liberty of christ and the seruility of Moses cannot rest in one hart * 1 Sam. 5. The Philistines by force may bring the arke of God into the Temple of their god but the arke and Dagon wil neuer agree and our patches and out-worne ragges are not sutable to his scarlet weed His new wine will haue newe bottles and his wine wil not be mixed and as his sacred * Ioh. 19.41 body was laide in a monument where neuer man was laide so his person is there receaued where nothing is receaued but his person and he that is a Christian is nothing but a Christian hee is a not Iewe and a Christian but hee is a Christian Agrippa in the Actes Act. 26.29 was induced to become almost a Christian but almost contented not Paul and Paul wished that all men were christians not almost but altogether so For he that is not altogether so is in no part so There is no * 1 Cor. 1.13 diuiding with Christ neither yet of the Lawe For the Law requireth all or none Because Paul would not ouerbear them with his owne name and authority he sheweth withall aboundantly that the natures of the Gospell are contrary cannot agree And that the rite of circumcision vnder the law requireth the obseruation of the whole law so the false Apostels taught them but the obseruation of the whole Law was impossible yet vpon a supposal If it could bee obserued then fare-well Christ and fare-well Grace But vers 5. The spirit enstructeth our hope not to trust in our selues but teacheth vs to expect a righteousnesse thorough faieth in Christ Which faith verse 6. knoweth no difference between circumcision and vncircumcision for christ is the sauiour of al that beleeue in him thorough faith And because there were euen then at that time false motiues concerning names of thinges aequiuocè and doubtfully termed which indeede were not answerable to their appellations Paul describeth for our better vnderstanding how we shall knowe a true faith to wit by the operation thereof by loue Faith is a faith which woorketh by charity De vniuers Iustificati doct lib. 8. cap. 29. This Paraphrase is plaine and sensible and might suffice but that Master Stapleton and papists wil not suffer the plainest scriptures to passe without their obscure glozing and endlesse corruptions Insteed of which worketh he saith which is wrought by charity For he telleth vs vppon his knowledge in the greeke that the verbe operatur in graeco habet sensum passiuum non actiuum hath a passiue sense in greeke and not an actiue This passeth And not an actiue Henry Steeuen incomparably better skilled in the tongue than master Stapleton in his greek * Tom. 1. con 12.31 Lexicon saith that in the new testâ—ment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is found also in the actiue signification and in the Epistle of Saint Iames Iam. 5.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an effectual operatiue and actiue praying is it not And your Latine translation is operatur which is actiuely taken we gesse And date you presume to for go the same directly against your own trent decree in that respect But you may doe what you list to mainteine your fancies But let vs fellowe you and see what reason may lead you to think that Paul should require a faith wrought by charitie And by the way bee it remembred that your selues date not so translate it For though your Rhemish men in their notes iumble about that your meaning yet their note is beside the text and they translate it as wee doe viz. That it is faith which worketh by charitie and not which is wrought by charitie But now consider if Paul would haue charity work vp faith and faith to be wrought vp and to be perfected by loue to what purpose were that speech but to ouerthrowe the whole tenour of his former endeuour For hee sheweth that wee are not iustified by the Lawe and namely therefore not by circumcision least by the admission of circumcisioÌ„ we should become debters of the whole Lawe both morall and ceremoniall And if you marke loue and charity by reason of the large extent thereof reaching euen to both the tables is called the perfection of the Law so that in requiring Loue he should also exact the whole Lawe which hee purposely laboureth to exclude in the case and action of iustifiyng and therefore veryly Loue is not the worker or former of faith but faith alone iustifieth and this iustifieng faith actiuely woorketh through loue stil I say not in the act of iustifieng before God but in the actions of good liuing in the world But thus Maister Stapleton you can set men a woorke to confute these childish babies of fro-warde wranglers 7 Ye did run wel who did let you that you did not obey the truth 8 It is not the persuasion of him that called you 9 A litle Leauen doth Leauen the whole lump 10 I haue trust in you thorough the Lorde that ye wil be none otherwise minded but hee that troubleth you shal beare his condemnation whosoeuer he be 11 And brethren if I preach circumcision why doe I yet suffer persecution Then is the slaunder of the crosse abolished 12 Woulde to God they were euen cut off which doe disquiet you In Leuiticus Leuit. 10.9 Aaron abstained from wine for the time hee sacrificed whereby was insinuated the great sobriety and marueilous discretion is required in them who are to deale in Gods affaires And as discretion is requisite so is diligence necessary and courage needeful Al these vertues were in Paul in the highest degree Wee haue found it so and so haue obserued them not once nor twise but sundry times as we haue gon along The Galathians ranne wel Paul cheerefullie encouraged them in that race There are stumbling blocks of offence laid in their way Paul seeketh to roule them aside or else helpeth them to ouer-stride them And to that end he reacheth them his hand nay his hope and hands no doubt helde vp to the Lord most earnestly in their behalfe Iacob neuer tooke the toile to obtaine to wife either of Labans daughters that Paul taketh to wedde marry the Galathians firmely to Christ to whome
preciousnesse of the gift 3. the certaintie in receauing 4. and the neede of the receauer 1. The freenesse of the giuer For what is freer than gift And then a gift proceeding of loue Which loued me 2. For the preciousnes of the gift what can bee more precious than the Sonne of God the heire of al Hee gaue himselfe 3. The certainty of receauing is vttered in the specialitie of speaking for mee But O blessed Paul what meane these * Christ is not receaued in a general conceat but by a special applying enclosures Why Is Christ thy Christ Is hee thy Sauiour And is hee not rather the Sauiour of the world That which is thine is none of mine Is it not so In worldly thinges true the right and propriety is in the true owner onely and in him alone and in none other In spirituall rightes it is not so altogether Christ is the Christ of all in generall and in speciall too yet not a diuided Christ but whole and entire whosoeuer hee is In natural thinges see a resemblance hereof the Sunne in the aire is a generall light in the eye a speciall and the sound in the ayre a generall noyce yet seerely discerned in the eare so Christ is a general Sauiour of all that shall bee saued but specially is hee receaued discerned and applied by the eye of faieth which faieth commeth by hearing him generally deliuered but specially applied As take eate take drinke at the Lordes Supper feede on him by thy faieth And blessings so speciallie and certainely taken haue euer a quicker tast in the receauer and prouoke thereby the more thankefulnesse towarde the donor 4. The neede of the receauer appeareth in this * The price of the ransom doth proue the neede of the party and the hainousnes of his trespas who is to bee ransommed that if a lesse ransom would haue doone the deed so great a payment had not needed But somuch it cost to saue one Soule And whereas hee saith Christ gaue himselfe For me it is plaine in how harde a case hee was before that Christ must dy that wee may liue or else wee dy euen as the Ramme was Sacrificed that Isaake might bee saued Wherefore of his perfect mercy and for our pure neede Christ dyed for thee for me and for vs al. Why Christians die though Christ died for them It is but an easie demaunde and soone satisfied why I must dye though Christ died for mee Yet God doubtlesse requireth no double satisfaction hee desireth not to bee twise paied for one debt Notwithstanding nothing is more certaine than that death is the common and vneuitable Lodge and Receptacle of the liuing The Wiseman shall dye as wel as shal the Foole. Dauid when he had * Acts. 13.36 serued his time was reposed to his Fathers and the statute is generall and cannot not be dispensed with al must dye By sin * Rom. 5.12 came in death and as sinne is in al so must all dy If there had beene no sinne there shoulde haue beene no death nor dissolution no not of our mixt bodies no more than there shall be of the very same bodies after their restitution glorification By sinne death entered and must goe ouer all But the question is why wee dye whom Christ hath deliuered both from sinne the cause and from death the consequent of sinne As we are deliuered from sinne not that it bee not but that it sting not so are wee deliuered from death not that it come not but that it conquer not that it lead vs not in a triumph ô death where is thy sting The sting of death is sinne but sinne is doone away and therefore ô graue where is thy victory Death is no Death to a good Christian Thou takest holde of vs not because wee are stung to death but because of a natural necessity indeede inducted thorough sinne at first yet for that the guilt of sinne is taken away death is no right death nowe but a dissolution and a passage to a better life and a very instrument whereby mortality putteth on immortality and whereby we liue for euer And the assurance of our certaine departure hence is hence-foorth a noble monument of the weight of sinne to weane vs from sinning and to win vs to Christ in perpetual thankefulnes for that we are freed from the curse of the Lawe against sinne from the guilt of sinne in it selfe and from the danger of death for sinning and all this by his infinit desert in dying for vs that otherwise should haue died a death euerlasting This grace would not bee abrogated I abrogate not the grace of God this grace of his Gospell Steuen Gardiner Steuen Gardiner in King Edwards time whē he stood much but falsly vpon his innocency and would not yeelde that hee had offended yet at length being asked whether he would accept the Kings pardon or no nay saith he I am learned enough not to refuse the Kings pardon In like manner men may dally and play and vse figge leaues at pleasure truly the greatest wisedome in the end will be to renounce all and craue mercy and stand vpon pardon and to trust vnto Christ and onely in him Grace is reiected when works are annexed And for a good fare-well and end of this Chapter be it remembred and written in the hartes of humble men for euer that wee after the example of our Apostle we disanull not we reiect not we frustrate not we abrogate not we throwe not away the grace of God which necessarily ensueth by meashing or adnexing either the association of Ceremonies or the obseruation of the Lawe vnto his free and absolutely free Grace free in GOD though deserued by Christ our Iesus and onely Sauiour CHAP. III. 1 O FOOLISH Galathians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the trueth to whome Iesus Christ before was described in your sight and among you crucified 2 This only would I learne of you Receaued ye the spirit by the workes of the Law or by hearing of faith 3 Are yee so foolish that after ye haue begun in the spirit ye would now end in the flesh 4 Haue yee suffered many things in vaine If yet in vaine 5 He therefore that ministreth to you the spirite and worketh miracles among you doth he it through the workes of the Law or by the hearing of faith O YEE foolish bewitched and disobedient or incredulous Galathians These are vehement speeches But this vehemency proceeded of great zeale and this zeale for them was grounded vppon many reasons 1. Christ was described before their face and crucified in their sight 2. They had receiued the spirit and the graces of the holie Ghost not by the deeds of the Law for they were Gentils but by the Ghospel preached vnto them And the Law in comparison is flesh and grosse the Ghospel is spirituall Should they beginne with the better and relaps to the worse Be
vehemency of the Apostles woordes thus varied Faith instifieth 1 The first speech is that the iust shal liue by faith This was prooued and sufficiently proued before by the example and faith of Abraham But abundant proofes for the foundation of christian faith are not superfluous and must not bee tedious to eares and minds erected and settled to heare and marke the euidences of their saluation The Prophet Abacuc saith Habak 2.4 that the iust shall liue by faith In the end of the first and in the beginning of the second chapter of his prophesie the Iewes appeere to haue bin in a pitiful case Their enimies were no small enimies The Chaldaeans were a terrible and a feareful people a bitter and a furious nation wel manned and horses as fierse as woolues swifter than the Leopards and of flight like the eagle hasting after her meate These Chaldeans molested the Iews on euery side spoiled them as the East-wind the fruit deuoured them as the great fish deuoureth the smal yea they caught the Iews as it were fish into their nets and * Prosperitie prouender in an excessiue measure marreth man beast they tooke them as fast as they could cast in and pul vp and thereby they grew fat and their portion was great and plenteous And thereupon they wared in loue of their own might and wanton again with their prosperous successe They Sacrificed to their nets they burnt incense to their yarn they were glad in hart stroked their own heads that could deuise and kissed their own handes that had compassed so great matters The Iewes in this hard case what should they doe Round about wheresoeuer they looked they saw present danger and no possible helpe or hope in man Notwithstanding God doth denounce that the pride of the presumptuous that trusted in themselues should come to nothing and the iust should liue by his faith and his people for all this because they trusted in God they were iust euen as the Caldeans were therefore vniust because they crusted in themselues and the Iewes as they were iust so should they liue in god in whom they trusted euen by their faith And therefore their iustification with God was their faith and trust in God and in God alone most then when all helpes els failed as appeareth in their greatest extremities Workes are imperfect Imperfect deedes were no deserts and could not helpe out of bodily calamities much-lesse in cases of saluation euerlasting and the iust man beleeueth not in himselfe much-lesse in his workes his faith goeth out of himselfe and resteth in God through Christ in whom amongst a million or a myriad of Caldeans in the midst of all fierse and false Catholiques our faith in Christ shall neuer faile We are iustified in Christ wee are saued by Christ we liue by Christ And thus is onely faith in him opposed set against all the meritricious or meritorious putatiue deserts of fraile and sinful flesh supposed to be answerable to the law which can neuer bee for if the Iewes could haue doone the Lawe they might haue claimed of God their deliuerance for their good workes For he that doth the things of the Law shal liue in them No they needed and so do all an other redeemer which must saue them all out of the hands of the Law and from our breaches thereof and the Caldeans rage is but a phillip or a flea-biting to the curse of the Lawe Christ redeemeth is the only comfort of a conscience that hath a sense of sin and any tast of true consolation 2 The redemption from this curse is Christ on his Crosse hanged on tree The Iew stumbleth at this faith and the Gentile scorneth this Doctrine but the godly saith in hart that which Ignatius vttered in wordes My loue is crucified The obiect of my faith the ground of my hope the marke the matter of my trust and confidence my delight my loue my life the cause of life euerlasting my ful redemption and perfect saluation my Iesus was Crucified and endured the curse for my sake This was no slender punishment nor small paine and were it the griefe but of a bodily torment it were grieuous but our redemption was not in respect of the paine of the body onely or of the sorrowes of the soule onely but in regarde of the sinnes of both and that not for one man but for the sinnes of the worlde The penitent sinner The better to conceiue the force of this deserued paine and the effect of sinne see it in a repentant sinner he standeth farre off he beateth on his thigh knocketh on his brest hangeth downe head watereth his eies with teares and wearieth his heart with sighes and findeth no rest in his soule for sorrow of sinnes neither should he euer finde rest at all were it not for this redemption which is in Christ The state of a forlorne cast-away For the reprobate who hath no part in this saluation howe many bees hath hee in his head how many pegs in his hart how many very helles in his soul how many trayterous thoughts that trouble him euerlastingly Euen such is the force of sinne where sinners are left to themselues But Christ our blessed Sauiour hath taken that vpon him that we could not beare and hath endured the curse of the Law not for the sinnes of one man or in one kinde but for the sinnes of all the worlde Sufficiently and for al the sinnes of al sortes in all his chosen Effectually to their ful and finall redemption If now there be any that can chalenge any part of this ransome let him commense his action against our Sauiour that hath taken and against Paul that hath prescribed giuen him the whole glory of mans redemption as who only sustained being not onely man but God and man the insupportable waight of sinne in satisfieng for sinne in pacifieng the Father in answering his iustice in enduring the curse and malediction of the Law From what things we are redeemed O my brethren let Papists ride vpon a reed or catch hold on a ragge of a tottered good woorke this and only this is our redemption which hath redeemed vs from the intolerable yoke the importable burden and the insufferable curse of the Lawe from that seruile feare and legall terror which the Lawe induceth wherein Austins short and sweet difference being well vnderstood betwixt the Law and the Gospell appeareth which he deliuered to be in two wordes FEARE and LOVE Wee loue good woorkes vnder the Gospell according to the rule of the Law but we fear not the curse of the Law wanting that perfection which in right it requireth for wee are redeemed and ransomed our debt is paid and our curse was abolished when our Sauiour was crucified Wee loue him and in loue we liue well but in case especially of life euerlasting wee leane to no other redemption than to his Crosse for so we liue as
born and disgested with great constancy and patience And that Paul did neither warp in the Sunne nor shrinke in the water but as gold that melteth but melteth not away so he felt his afflictions yet he fell not vnder them but endured his trials whatsoeuer Thus was Paul amongst them first Now what is hee now Is hee changen They were changed was Paul Doth the Elme forsake the vine which would otherwise fall except it bee vpheld The child is slipt out of the cradle wherein it was laid doth not the Mother and the Nurse run and stoupe to take it vp This is perfect charity and the principal duety Perfect charity omitteth no means to reform mens errors especially of the preacher to Loue and that continually without interruption to loue beyond the desert and aboue the demerits good or bad of any man and to giue our life for the brethren either because they are brethreÌ„ that they may continue so or that they may be brethren if they be not and to loose euen our life or libertie which is as be are as life to win the weake and so to for-goe and become all to saue some Paul omitteth none and continueth all means neither bands or beuty foule or faile neither oyle nor vineger O yee foolish Galathians c. This was a rough speech this was vineger Brethren I beseech you This is a faire entreaty and a supplying oyle He both weepeth and singeth with them and all to imprint a through affection in them toward the trueth And in this affection he requesteth them to be as he was for he was as they were The request is most reasonable that they shoulde bee as Paul was For Paul was right and they were seduced And yet Pauls reason for that he was as they were may seeme no true cause For indeede Paul was not as they were Yet so he saith and argueth For I am as you are The answere is easie and ready Paul was in kindnesse to them as they were to them-selues but in the syncerity of trueth Paul requireth they should be as hee was which now they were not For then what need he desire them to be that they were already Wherefore in kindnes he was as they in acknowledging the truth they were once as he but were not now as once they were and as now Paul was But least Paul might hee thought to reproue them or thus to request them vpon some priuate quarrel and offence giuen or taken and thereby desirous to intimat that they were out of the way with a greedy and hasty humor finding fault euen where no fault was vnder a colorable kindnesse hee protesteth that they neuer hurt him Naie to shew their kindnes to him ward mutually he also speaketh directly of their persons how sometimes they were affected toward him as he was yet vnto them And speaking of them he agniseth 1. How they reuerenced his ministery 2. How they loued his person and 3. Hee expostulateth and reproueth them that they were estranged without iust occasion First Paul beginneth with their vertues howe they loued and reuerenced him and imbraced the truth and thereby sheweth plainly that hee goeth to woork and dealeth with them vpon no malice For they loued him and hee loued them and for loue hee was bolde to reproue them The affected affecteth most And this mutuall conceat giueth a good edge to his perswasions For as in an awger or a perser the point doeth pierse yet the handle and the hast helpeth not a litle so in persuading or dissuading when the matter is as it were hatred with loue and handled with a good liking on both parts it pierseth the better and therby taketh an easier forth force and effect And as in war wheÌ„ it is mollified and softned first the print is receaued with the fayrer impression so when mens mindes are least auerse and most wel-minded to the speaker the speech is the deeper imprinted and soonest preuaileth Paul vseth this wise way and first hee maketh a Catolog of their reuerence kindnes and loue They reuerenced him as the angel of God and reason Mal. 2. For the good minister is the Angell and messenger of the Lorde as appeareth in Malachie the second Chapter and in the Reuelation indiuerse places yea they receaued him as Christ Iesus whose messenger Paul was Neither were they alienated from him beholding his troubles but rather they tooke al that befell him as experiences and arguments and demonstratiue proofes of his inflexible constancy The good vsage or abusinge of Gods ministers God reâ—…ecteth as â—…one to himseâ—fe And heerein they did their duety For hee that contemneth the Embasseter despiseth the sender of the embacie as * 2. Sam. 10. Hanan who abused Dauids messengers abused Dauid himselfe And the ministery is an embacy from Christ Iesus and therfore the Galathians did worthily esteeme Paul as Christ Iesus and therein they reuerenced not so much Paul as Christ euen as he who receiueth the seruant receaueth the maister also Not because he so receaueth the person of the seruant but rather the function of the seruice authorised and warranted by the master In this sense as they reuerenced and receaued Paul and that with an intensiue and pasting loue in so much as they woulde haue pulled out their eies and haue giuen them vnto Paul to haue done him good Exod. 32.3 When the children of Israel gaue their eare-rings I say not their eares but their eare-rings it was much the eare is an instrument of an excellent sense and their eare-rings amongst them were reputed an ornament of the eare but the eie in respects is better and to be preferred before the eare the eie is the guide of the whole body and the comfort of the life Compare the eie with the rest partes thy right foote or hande are necessarie members the one is the supporter and state of thy person the other the executioner of thy actions but the eie is the counseler and direction of al thy doinges yet they woulde giue him euen their very eyes thereby siguifieng that nothing was so neere so deare vnto them as was Paul as was their preacher by whom they counted themselues happy and blessed and verily therein most blessed were they But see the change their loue was as the loue of mother or sister and their mindes as the soft war behold this soft war is now as hard as born And whom they counted their reuerend friende such is the portion of Preachers they recken their greatest enemy The cause is a causelesse cause and that which should be a farther cause of a continual loue Am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth The sunne is offensiue to bleare-eied men But the Galathians were egle-eyed and cannot brook the light of that trueth they once most delited in The mad man hateth no man more than his keeper The foolishmaÌ„ despiseth most his careful teacher The child abideth no man worse
they were espoused But there was 1. some secret leauen to season them in a contrary doctrine 2. likely there was one a more notable troubler of them than the rest though they were 3. many who much disquieted these Churches The least part of the leauen of quarrelers is ouer dangeroâ—… 1 Of the leauen Paul willeth to beware euen of the least part thereof Men make smal reckoning of smal sinnes yet the least forfite forfiteth the whole lease The litle leaking may drown the ship one litle pinte of vineger marreth a pipe of wine a litle leauen sowreth the whole lumpe and causeth it to swell and neuer leaueth till it haue brought the whole lumpe to be of his own nature viz. to be of a soure poutting and proud condition 2 An example hereof may be euen hee whom Paul scriketh at he who perswaded them contrary to their callings who was that notable turmoiler of them Of whom Paul saith who euer he be there is a higher than he there is a iudgement seate hee cannot decline but shall and must abide the verdict that God will giue vpon all such 3 Of this man generally of the rest which purposely made a concision and a rent in the Church of God like vnruly fish breaking the net and disordering all Paul wisheth in respect of gods glory the Churches commodity that they were euen cut off A heauy wish But a necessary when priuy lurckers and whispering corrupters are otherwise like to contaminate all Wo to them by whom offences come And yet there must come offences there must be heresies and there shal be enimies heresies to try our faith and enimies to proue our patience * Inwarde contention worse than outward persecution And while the wind bloeth but into the house there may be meanes to keepe it forth but when it is bred in the house and while the contention is within the womb of Rebecca the contention and strugling is felt with a most sorrowfull feeling who can abide it And yet lo herein is patience and herein is great wisedome patience in praying to God and wishing of him that he would take his own cause into his own hand wisedome in prouiding remedies conuenient according to our callings If any man be giuen to contend wee haue no such custome in the Church of God if any man be like the Salamander that liketh and liueth best in the fire I say in the fire of vnnecessary strife which is not certainly which is not taken from the Lords Altar truely for mine own part I cannot but say and pray ô my soul enter not into such Councels Elias seruant sawe a litle clowd 1 King 18.44 as it were a mans hand at first and afterwards the heauens waxt thicke and blacke and clowdy and a great storme ensued I can not prognosticate what stormes may come God be thanked euer who hath graunted so long a calme but if they must needs come and cannot be diuerted which I most wish then I pray God they fal vpon that sea and vppon those troublesome waters from whence they rise Browne the schismatique I wil not so speake in clouds but that you may know whom I meane directly In deed I meane the man whose opprobrious pamphlets I take some of you haue or haue seene I meane Brown that shameles reuiler of our Sacraments a railer at our ministerie that saucy reprocher of the state and Parlament by name and the very diuider as much as in him lieth of the body of Christ which is his Church The nature of schisme where it entereth and what means it vseth Marke what I tel you the nature of schisme is euer to hunt after and to enter the places where religion is most planted and because the affections of weomen are great where they take the old Pharisie the cunning Iesuit the peeuish Schismatique alwaies inuade widowes housen and young wiues companies specially of the richer sort and when deuotion hath fore-possessed their minds either the one way or the other then come they with their intemperate heate inflaming the aire prepared alreaby so that it may be incensed Gaine by schisms And as these men feed these weomens humors so these weomen fill these mens purses and they gaine more by schisme than they coulde by vnity and to that ende in steede of true preaching of sound doctrine onely certaine debates impetrinent are handled among a sort of the infirmer sex and the regiment and ordering of euery thing are demurred and decided priuatly in places where some one woman or other can finde the husband inclineable or else where the woman is venterous wil and doth giue giue for they cal it giuing largely to heare of these matters of these only And within a while the open Church is refused secret conuenticles taken vp charity is brokeÌ„ al is turned to an eger sharpnes of speech sometimes against preaching at Pauls Reading in towns or studieng in Vniuersities generally against the whole order of this Realme This is a secret souring Leauen this is not as Elizeus meale to sweeten the bitter but as gal added to the sweete to make it most bitter and like a rosted Onnion cut and laid open ready to take euery euil sent in the house where it can finde the least suspicion thereof If there be any imperfection amongst vs as I am sure there is none vrged as an additament to Christ and the * Articles agreeed vpon c. anno 1562. Artic. 20. Scriptures which were a case to by in but if there be any in other matters shal the corne say I will not grow but in the fielde where no weedes growe I will not heare them which teach well and which teach all the trueth in faith but not al the truth which I couÌ„t truthes in other respects And therefore brag and vaunt I had rather defie al and liue alone In the body there are wertes and deformities of diuers sorts some may bee cut off with ease or with no great paine othersome seeme to bee deformities and be not but in the eies of some and yee if they were I say not better a mischiefe than an inconuenience but better an inconuenience than an intolerable mischiefe And these schismes these angry biles these insufferable plagues will grow to an intolerable mischiefe if they be not cut off as Paul wisheth or some other way qualified and asswaged But this much by the way and vpon iust occasion 13 For brethren yee haue beene called vnto libertie only vse it not as an occasion vnto the flesh but by loue serue one another 14 For al the Lawe is fulfilled in one word which is this thou shalt loue thy Neighbour as thy selfe 15 If yee bite and deuoure one another take heede least yee bee consumed one of another 16 I say walke in the spirit and ye shal not fulfil the lusts of the flesh 17 For the fleshe lusteth against the spirit
and the spirite against the fleshe and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot doe the same things that ye would 18 And if ye bee led by the spirit ye are not vnder the Law The Galathians as they were to recognize the state wherein they were placed and the condition whereunto they were called and therein to liue die to stand to that so yet because licentious men may soon abuse the liberty of the gospel Paul deliuereth foorth a caueat and maketh as it were a circle least men take an exorbitant and a wandering course in the waies of their saluation Grace hath superabounded but sinne may not therefore abound Abraham and Abrahams race is iustified and sette at liberty by faith by the promise in the seede through fauour and grace from our sinnes as likewise also from the olde ceremonies shall wee therefore ad sinne to sinne and liue as we list and lust after the flesh and offend euery weake one being called to lead a life after the spirit and that in perfect loue and brotherly charity Phy for shame The nature of man is prone to superstition and bent to ceremonies and ready to take any other way to Heauen than God himselfe prescribeth Of old Spiridion bishop of Cypris Sozo lib. 1. c. 11. a man most renouned known by fame wheÌ„ in a fasting time a stranger came to him coÌ„sidering circumstances he willed his daughter for he was maried to dres such prouision as he had to wit a peece of bacon when it was ready himselfe did eate and bad his ghest doe the like and take part the straunger refused so to do because he was a Christian nay saieth Spiridion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by so much the rather thou shouldest not refuse All things are cleane to the cleane The Scriptures are plaine And I ad God is not the god of meats he careth not for fishers more than for butchers for salt fish more than for powdred beefe for meates too or fro Touch not tast not were Iewish seruices wee are free as Spiridion said euen because we are Christians and so are wee free from the fleshely grosser yoke of the whole Law euen because we are Christians but yet not to liue after the flesh without the rules of the Law and beside the orders of charitable and duetiful consideration A Christian is most free and most bound In two woordes I may seeme to speake contraries but mark what I say yea 1. A Christian is the only freeman 2. Againe a Christian is as much bound though not seruilely bound as anie man els 1 Concerning the curse of the Lawe the degrees and wilfulnes of sinning the slauery of sathan the feare of death the thrall of ceremonies old or new and the bond of damnation a christian man is a free-man 2 On the otherside not onely to serue God whose seruice is perfect freedome but also to serue one another a Christian is most bound of al men Which kind of seruice is no slauery but a willing seruice and dewty and not a compelled doing and seruitude because al is and should bee in a louely performance labored and contended vnto To induce men hereunto the reasons are very forcible 1. The commaundement to loue 2. The excellency of loue 3. The inconuenience in not louing 1 If God command what seeke we farder Ego Dominus I am the Lorde is the conclusion which God euer maketh either in his prohibitions or precents and Hely taught Samuel to say that which we al must say Speake on Lord thy seruant heareth and by hearing is meant obedience in hearing Loue and Charitie 2 The excellency of loue appeareth herein that loue God and loue man also loue God and man and the perfection of the Law could require no more Of so large a compasse is loue and of so excellent a quality But yet the Apostle doth not dispute nowe whether a man can loue in the highest degree but what hee must endeuour to doe being freed from his imperfection and wanting the perfectnesse which is required If we could loue in that measure we ought in that sort we should and in what manner the Law commandeth then might we fulfill the Lawe no doubt But we haue a discharge from that perfection for we are not vnder the Law but yet not without release from contending to perfection for thereunto the spirit leadeth and louingly conductâ—…h vs al along By the spirite is meant the first fruites of the holy Ghost the effects of grace and power of christ working in christians which because some relickes of the old man remaine in vs which the Apostle calleth the fleshe alas this flesh lusteth against the spirit so that we cannot doe what wee would and therefore not what we should For many times we wish to doe lesse than we ought and yet let vs euer endeuour to doe the most Herein the onely way is to go the wayes of loue and charity For loue thinketh nothing harde though it be neuer so hard In louing as the heauens are placed aboue the earth so the God of heauen is to be beloued aboue al his creatures And yet loke what loue we duly and orderly shew to our neighbour hee accepteth as doone to himselfe so that in him and for his sake wee performe it throughly as vsually wee would to our own selues Man hath a natural * self-Selfe-Loue forbidden philauty and self-selfe-loue but God requireth not the euil kinde of loue whereby alwaies and especially in the last daies men shal be louers of themselues but the high degree of hartines in louing others euen as our selues the Law would haue Eate not thy bread alone by thy selfe breake it to the poore Break it with discretion but breake it Iudas the traitors voice was what will yee giue me Cain asked am I the keeper of my brother And why not the keeper But God saue euery innocent Abel from such keepers Yet indeede no man hath greater charity than to giue his life for his brethren I deny not the greatnes Magis aut minus non variant speciem greatnes or litlenes doth not alter the question it is charity to loue and it is the nature of true charity to lay downe our liues for the good of our neighbours euen as Christ Iesus did all that hee did not for himselfe whether in his birth Nobis natus hee was borne for vs or in his life nobis datus he was giuen to vs or at his departure Expedit vobis it was expedient for you that hee should ascend All the actions of our Sauior were commodious and profitable for vs not behoouefull for himselfe Let no man seek his own but the wealth of others saith the Apostle Loue loueth our neighbours all yea and aboue our selues I need not resolue you who is your neighbor The Samaritane in Saint Luke Luc. 10. in compassion and true loue spareth neither his wine nor his oyle nor his
personal pains setting the wounded man on his owne beast and bringing him to the Inne and taking farther order for farther charges requisite knowing that there was a mutuall neighbourhoode not euer by neerenes of place but for necessity and extremity of pure neede And he that loueth cannot lacke the vnderstanding to discerne who is a neighbour Loue is wise and Loue is euer willing to doe any good to any man to the vttermost The inconuenience of diuision 3 If the excellency of louing bee so great the inconuenience of not louing cannot bee little And in not louing is not ment a meere want of charity but which euer ensueth where charitie wanteth a present enducement of the contrarie quality And where the cōtrary affections raign there is snarling and biting and deuouring and a plain consuming one of the other For the diuided house cannot endure And it is an euil land that deuoureth their own inhabitants and the spirit of the lord doth not lightly rest in these whirlewind-spirits such as troubled the Galathians and turmoile impertinently euery place where euer they come without lawefull and necessary cause as if they were made of wild-fier to enflame and burn vp the world O Lord if it be thy wil take away al iust occasion of mislike quench all their furies which seeke occasions there where none are offered The dew and grace of thy holy spirit can doe al this may it please thy goodnes to grant vs this fauour in Christ Iesu So be it Amen 19 Moreouer the works of the flesh are manifest which are adultery fornication vncleannesse wantonnesse Albeit the roote of sinne be deepe and the corruption of fleshly hidde and lurke in the inwarde parts yet the woorks thereof are not obscure but euident to the ey big grosse open and manifest so that a man may soon know that the tree is naught by the vitious fruits it beareth And if a man may iudge of the workman by his workes some of the woorkes of the flesh are adultery fornication vncleannes wantonnes Fornication Adultery Wantonnes breedeth vncleannes vncleannes breaketh forth into sinful fornication where the partes are single and into abominable adultery where either party offending is a married person By the Law of God the adulterer and the adulteresse shal dy moriendo morientur Leuit. 20. there should bee no remedy There were Lawes among the Gentils to the same effect But Iuuenal complaineth Lex Iulia dormis May not wee rather Lex Iehouae dormis Whether Adulterie should be death There is a great deale of questioning about this matter whether the penalty of adultery must necessarily bee death or no for it may be and that it deserueth there is no question Giue me leaue to say thus much that if it were death adulteries woulde bee fewer quarrels of marrying againe after adultery the adultresse liuing would not be so rife and loue to the certaine vndoubtedly known and only children would be much increased betweene the Parents If a man steale xij d hee shall bee hanged if a man abuse twelue mens wiues yet he may liue The peace is broken in my Ox or Horse is the peace kept when my wiue is defiled my daughters deflored Other vices swarme but this is a Noes flud Young men are no niggards Olde men are no wasters countrimen are no ruffins nor townsmē quarrelers But old and yong towne and country had neede to looke better to this vice There is no good giuing place to a flattering sinne Nature is frail and the flesh lusteth against the spirite and there is no sirding at all for a man that standeth vppon a Pinnacle Wherefore all causes yea al occasions of this way sinning must be deuoyded Praeparatiues to vncleannes Shal I be plain or why should I not painting of faces frisling of hair mōsterous starcht supported rufs pride vpon pride in apparel exces of diet minsing dances wanton gestures ribaldry talke amorous ditties vaine discourses Venus court and the Pallace of pleasures and the like wherein there is no Pallas no wit verily no true wisdome all these for the most part are nothing but the ministers many times of much vncleannes and the Apostle who cannot abide any wantonnes would he tolerate these enormities Go to the commandement and study wel the precept Thou shalt not commit adultery and these follies these preparatiues to adultery will soone be forsaken As our Sauiour Iohn 8.4 when talke was about the woman that was taken * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the act hee stooped downe and wrote on the ground so I could desire to speak as if it were vnder a vaut in most secret termes for the amendment of this sinne but the works of darknes are become bould and men are not ashamed of their turpitude and shame and they can looke thorough a white sheete and neuer blush The Israelites made of the house of God the house of iniquity the Iewes of the temple of God a denne of Theeues but these offenders make the Temples of the holy Ghost and the members of Christ that should bee the members of an harlot and the Temples of the holy Ghost they make to be the cage of vncleane birds a very sty for hogs and a stable for horse that neieth after that which is none of his owne O Lord were it not better or is it not the nature of mariage thine holy ordinance that for the * 1 Cor. 7.2 auoiding of fornication euery man should haue his wife and euery woman her husband and beeing in that honorable state should keepe themselues from strange flesh shrouding themselues from all inconueniences vnder the broad vine leafe of thine owne planting If any man or woman among vs haue offended herein let neither him nor her henceforth ad drunckennes to thirst let him not walowe in this mire any more let him rise vp by repentance let him vomit out by confession this surfeiting and let him deepely consider that he is made after the image of God which he should not deface that he is the member of Christ which he may not prostitute and that our bodies are as an holy place if we know so much euen the Temples of the holy spirite which howe it is greeued with these transgressions it hath beene told you at sundry times 20 Idolatry witch-craft hatred debate emulations wrath contentions seditions heresies 21 Enuy murders drunckennes gluttony and such like whereof I tel you before as I also haue told you before that they which doe such things shal not inherit the kingdome of God Paul entendeth not to make a iust beadrol and ful computation of all sinnes that eyther were in the Galathians or might arise out of the flesh or els to marshal euery vice and disorder in a precise order Certaine manifest enormities are onely touched and in the end he addeth and such like and of them al he denounceth that they wil weigh a man to hell and exclude
we loue and so we loue as we beleeue and so wee beleeue as we know and we know in part Ergo we beleeue we loue we liue but in part as wee should And a partial perfection a maimed imperfect performance of the Law alas what can it do It is imperfect so that still and euer when wee haue doone what we can we haue doone but that was but due therefore not deseruing for due is duty and debt and no desert Nay we cannot do so much as we should or if wee could do all yet wee were vnprofitable And therefore this is our refuge and only resolution to cleaue to remission of and vnto the redemption from our sins And with what face can one and the same mouth craue his pardon and challenge his guerdon Beleeue in Christ and trust in merits Once againe this is the trueth we holde and the trust we haue Christ is our redemption The blessing commeth by promise 3 The blessing of Abraham then commeth vnto many promised by God in Christ receiued by faith For the promise of the spirit the spiritual promise requireth no humane fleshly helpe but a firme faith altogither relying vpon the goodnesse of the promiser So that iustification blisse and the heauenly inheritance commeth by promise and if by promise then not by the Law verse 18. This our aduersaries see well inough and yet against the heare Rhemish test pag. 430. I feare me against their own conscience they raue and raile at this truth and call the woordes of the holy Ghost A friuolous a false euasion of heretickes Because wee say That heauen is our reward not due to woorkes not due to the Law but to the promise of God Is this a friuolous or a false or an euidētly false euasion Or is it a shift or an euasion of hereticks Verily if this be heresie we worship our God and receiue his free promise according to the way which you call heresie But in calling vs heretickes you terme Saint Paul an hereticke you charge the holy Ghost with heresie And no maruel * Old ignorant Priestes say that S. Pole was a Sainct but Paul was an heretique Your olde Priestes were woont like bolde blind-baiards to vouch vpon their priesthood that Paul was an hereticke Yea euen the old famous Fugger was content at length that Gesner shuld teach his children some peece of the Testament but in any case they should not bee trained vp in any of Pauls Epistles For doubtles Paul was a very Protestant a perfect professor of the truth which pardoners masse-priests and merit-mongers cried out against In the question of Saluation Paul standeth euer vpon Grace Mercye Fauour Gift Faith and the promise c. And if by these and namely If by promise then not by the Lawe vers 18. But these words sauour of heresie belike ô come not neere them least they infect and make thee an hereticke like vnto Paul Nay my Brethren imbrace them and bind them vp as a treasure and beare in thy brest laie them to thy heart as the onely treacle of thy soule against the daie of temptation and the assault of the cruel find The promise riseth from the goodnes of him who promised not from the deserts of men to whom God made his promise Thy woorkes when thou wast not coulde not prouoke God to promise a due stipend vnto them as deseruing when they were not but his promise was as ishuing out of himselfe and therefore free and gracious and so not meritted and deserued And if this be heresie by this heresie we liue and in this heresie wee trust to ende our daies hoping after this immortality to enioy that free promised inheritance through Iesus Christ our Sauiour 15 Brethren I speake according to man though it bee but a mans testament when it is confirmed no man doth abrogate or addeth thereto There are three principal matters handled by our Apostle in the residue of this chapter 1. First that inuiolably the promise was so to be receiued as it was deliuered 2. Then in whom the promise was made 3. Thirdly when and at what time it was solemnly ordained For the due respect of the promise to bee in sense so constered as it was ment by the intendment of the promiser without adding or alteration the Apostle condescendeth to the capacity of a common example in mans ordinarie experience I speake according to man After the manner of men taking the best way to be vnderstood The plainest teacher is the best teacher Wher by the waie I note that the plainest waie of teathing is best Not to fetch and skir about without distinct proofes in doctrine and fit application Vain affectation in preaching As the ignorant loose talker is no preacher so the curious Corinthian Orator is no right instructer Colours of vaine affectation minsing of phrases brauery of speech pruning euery syllable as the Doue her feathers is not worth a feather Saint Paul speaketh not to shewe himselfe in the wisedom of words Apollo in the Acts is reported to be eloquent but withal his might was out of the Scriptures Lime is white and faire but stone and sand firme and strong downe-right preceptes doe better in the building vp of a good vnderstanding Spiders webbes and curiosities are little woorth plaine parables easie similitudes most familiar and best knowen are euer best God that made the preachers toong could haue made it as woonderfully glorious as man could wish but he will not haue his Ghospell so vttered his Christ so preached our faith so instructed his truth so taught Hee commandeth the conscience he seeketh not to please the itching eare The curious eare is not the good eare And by such intising wordes the simplicity of the Gospell leeseth hir proper effect For the Lorde dealeth with you as with his children and you must attentiuely listen what hee commandeth you by vs and not respect the frame of our sentences or the conueiance of a Rhetorical grace of vtterance Curiosiry in the Countrie O Lord Oxford should not neither doth it sin so deeply in this sinne as doth the country Young men comming latelier from their secular studies and labours in humane learninges come vnto you God be thanked for them and a while retaine some more remnantes and spoiles of Egypt than either their elders doe or themselues will afterward being farther enriched by longer trauel and exercise in the booke of God and will you make and force their ensamples euen against their wils to preiudice a daiely or a weekely endeuour in a discreete a distinct and in a carefull and most plaine manner of deliuery You may not De conducendo loquitur iam Rhetore Thule The countrie now can brooke nothing but a flaring gaudy garish eloquence falsely so called When saint Paul speaketh after the manner of men hee meaneth not thereby to tickle the eares of vaine men but to affect their heartes and to enstruct their