of God for if man were accounted righteous for his holinesse or loue he might impute his saluation to his owne desert for perfect loue deserueth loue and holinesse will chalenge life as of due debt But affiance implieth a humble loyall and duetifull subiection acknowledging the vnworthines basenesse insufficiency and weakenesse of man and together the mercy goodnesse loue fauour bounty trueth and power of God This reason is vsed for this purpose Ro. 3. 27. what law or meanes of saluation doth take away all boasting from man and so giueth all the glory of our saluation to God not the law of workes or inherent holinesse but the law of faith yea of all the graces which are in man faith onely hath in it this naturall property to make a man partaker of Christes death and righteousnes and so of saluation For euen as a tennant inioyeth his house and landes not for that he loueth or feareth his lord or for any vertue wherwith he is indued but only because he doth depeÌ„d on his Lord and so doth purchase vnto him worship and honour by relying himselfe wholly vpon his loue fauor liberality constancy ability riches so standeth the case with man in respect of his saluation For no grace saue onely this affiance on God and on his mercy in Christ can conuey vnto vs remission of sinnes and eternall life In the which respect it is commonly said in holy scripture that faith doth iustifie not as it is a parte of mans holinesse whereof no one part no not all the partes of it if any one be wanting will serue to make a man righteous before God but as it hath in it this proper vertue to make the death of Christ the death of the beleeuer so the righteousnes arising of the said death the righteousnes of the beleuer For he that hath suffered death is iustisied from sin Thus much of the obiect nature attributes of euangelical faith It remaineth that before we proceed to the rest of the partes of mans holines we should declare the relatioÌ„ which is betwixt faith them It hath bene said of faith in general that it is as it were the root froÌ„ the which other graces do spring in that it tieth vs to God the fountain of al graces as to the only giuer of all happines the which thing is true of this euangelicall faith after a special manner For in that it ioineth vs to Christ it maketh vs partakers of the spirit of Christ or rather causeth an increase of all spirituall graces For regeneratioÌ„ is although not in time yet in nature before faith Therefore this faith is made the subiect of the spirituall life of the new man euen as the hart is in the body the fountaine of heat Gal. 2. 20. I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in me in that I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the sonne of God who hath loued me and giuen his life for me And Act. 15. 9. Peter saith that God did purifie the hartes of the gentils that is as it is expounded verse 8. worke sanctification in them by faith In the which respect it is compared to the foundation of a house where vpon the whole buylding standeth and to the roote of a tree which giueth heate sappe and life to all the partes of it Coll. 1. 23. If ye continue founded and established in fayth and to a fountaine of liuing water Ioh. 7. 38. He that beleeueth in me out of his bellie shall flow riuers of the water of life And therfore it is put before all other graces 2. Pet. 1. 5. Ioyne to your fayth vertue and to your vertue knowledge temperance patience godlynes brotherly loue and kyndnes Hence it is that it is vsually distinguished from the rest of the partes of sanctification they being called by the name of loue or of the holy ghost 1 Tâ—ess 3. 6. Tymothie hath brought vs tydinges of your fayth and loue So it is saide Act. 6. 5. That Stephen was a man full of fayth and of the holy spirit not that faith it selfe is not a worke of the holy spirite and a parte of the spirituall holynesse of man but because it is the first worke of Gods spirite and the foundation of mans holinesse and saluation who must be by fayth freed from sinne and death before he can be endued with positiue holynesse and life Thus the Apostle doth often exhorte vs to fanctification and holynesse of life by an argument drawen from iustification which is the proper effect of faith as we may see Ro. 6. 14. sinne shall not haue dominion ouer you because you are not vnder the lawe but vnder grace But it may be asked how iustification doth bring foorth sanctification especially seing that to mans reason it is rather a motiue to a wicked and dissolute life that by the multitude and hainousnesse of our sinnes the mercy of God whereby they are pardoned might the more appeare Rom. 3. 7. and 6. 1. We answere that iustification doth of necessitie bring foorth sanctification and that diuers wayes For first the sense of the vnspeakeable loue of God whereby we are deliuered from eternall damnation doth inflame the hart of the beleeuers with a greate loue of God the which cannot be shewed any other way then by keepeing his commaundementes and by laboring to glorifie his holy name by a holy life Secondly God doth saue the faythfull not as stockes or stones without requiring anie worke action or duety at their handes but so as that he maketh them to be his fellow workers not that man can do any thing of him selfe without the grace of God but that man being endued and renewed by grace doth after a sort worke his owne saluation not by any naturall vertue but by the power of Gods spirite and therefore as Christ taketh away the guilte of sinne being committed so the faythful ought to endeuor that sin be not coÌ„mited Otherwise if they shoulde still of set purpose committe sin they should crosse Christ in the worke of their owne redemption defiling theÌ„ selues with sin whom he hath clensed with his bloud yea they should crucifie him againe treade vnder foote his bloude as a vile thing Thirdly the faithfull doe labour for sanctification as for the onely testimony of the soundnesse of their fayth and of the truthe of their iustification For fayth without the other partes of holynesse is but adeade and vnprofitable fayth Lastly the faythfull man knoweth that fayth is not of it selfe without the rest of sanctification sufficient for the attaining of saluation For although it alone dothfully iustify that is bring perfect remission of all manner of sinne whatsoeuer yet before that a man can enter into the kingdome of heauen he must be endued with perfect positiue holinesse the which cannot be made perfect in the worlde to come vnlesse it be begun and carefullie sought after
men outwardly and ciuilly honest may be reckoned yet there is no age country or story which doth not aford many examples of men who haue exceeded in impietie against God and in iniustice towarde men and in all manner of wicked behauiour the ordinarie and common sorte of sinfull men by manie degrees The cause of this encrease of sinne is the crooked and corrupt diposition of mans wil which is wholly bent and set vpon sinne and doth so greedely and insatiably pursue after it as that vnlesse it be restrained by some meanes it can not rest till it come to the highest degree of wickednes For the which purpose it imployeth all the partes and faculties of the body and soule yea all inwarde and outwarde blessings what soeuer it maketh the minde deuise newe wayes of commiting sinne newe excuses pretenses coulours and defences for it being commited so that the greater gifts of the minde and of body that a man hath ceaued the fitter instrumentes hath his will and his corrupt desires to encrease sinne Here of it commeth that not idiots simple and vnlearned men not the weakest in body or the basest in condition not the poorest nor the youngest but the most witty learned strong noble rich aged are these notorious wicked ones The most horrible monsters in all outrage of sinne which any story doth mention were greate Emperours and mighty men as Nero Caligula and such other and who are so wretched couetous worldly so peruerse and obstinate in ignoraunce superstition infidelitie yea in hatred of all goodnesse as are they who by yeares haue gotten wisedome experience riches and honour so that we may easely acknowledge the trueth of that the Apostle writeth 1. Cor. 1. 26 Not many noble wise riche or great men are called to the sincere obedience of the gospell Hence it is that sinne doth more abound in this last age of the worlde then it did in old times wherein men were more rude simple and ignoraunt then children are in these daies who are so soone ripe and expert in all wickednesse as if they had bene borne perfect men not weake infauntes and no maruaile seeing that this last age is as it were a common sinke wherein all the sinnes errours heresies superstitions all the shifts craft deceipte yea all the wicked inuentions and practises of all ages are gathered together And therefore it bringeth foorth so great multitudes of expert practitioners in sinne who besides that which their owne inuention doth afford are furnished with the examples tryed experiments of all ages This the spirit of God hath foretold in the scripture as we see it is come to passe Math. 24. 12. Because iniquity shall abound in the latter times the loue of many shall waxe colde 2. Tim. 3. 1. This knowe that in the last daies shall come perilous times for men shalbe louers of their owne selues coueteous proude cursed speakers disobedient to parentes vnthankefull vnholy without naturall affection truce breakers false accusers intemperate fierce hauing no loue to those who are good traitours headie high minded louers of pleasures more then of God hauing a shew of godlinesse but denying the power thereof And againe 2. Pet. 3. 3. This first vnderstand that in the latter daies shall come mockers walking after their owne lustes saying where is the promise of his comming In these and other places of scripture the spirite of God hath foretolde and euen painted out the great corruption and sinfulnesse of these daies that we might beware least that we be drawen away by the infidelity and other hainous sinnes which raigne euerywhere so saue our selues as out of the fyer from this froward godlesse generation wherein we liue Lastly as the excellencie of naturall giftes and outward blessings being abused is the meanes of the excessiuenesse of sinne not of it selfe but by the corrupt disposition of our nature so the spirituall graces of God bestowed vpon men liuing in the Church doe often by the iust iudgement of God worke the same effect and that in far greater measure For as it is impossible that among heathen men they who are of smal wit capacity knowledge strength and riches should be wicked in so high a degree as they who excell in the foresaid respectes so it is not possible that any who hath not receiued some of the spirituall graces of God shoulde come to so high a degree of sinne as they in whome it hath pleased God to worke that shadowe of regeneration which hath beene declared in the former chapter Hence it is that none can fall into that extreame impiety which is the highest degree of sinne euen the sinne of the deuill and his Angels called in scripture the sinne against the holy Ghost which can neuer be forgiuen but they who did sometime before receiue grace from God to see loue and obey the trueth Heb. 6. 5. It is impossible that they who were once made partakers of the holy Ghost if they fall namely into this sinne which is an open wilfull and desperate hatred of God of his glory of his religion of his feruants and of all good thinges as many of the hebrewes did to whome this was written should be renewed by repentance This excellency of spirituall graces abused was the meanes whereby the wicked Angels fell into that extreamitie of sinne wherein they are and so it commeth to passe in men in whom this sinne by reason of the monstrous hugenesse of it is rare and happeneth not but in those who for their cruell spitefull desperate and malitious hatred to God and to the godly are rather to be counted diuels incarnate then reasonable men For it is harde for a Christian who hath once knowen God to cast away all feare of God and shame of men and for to burst forth into such outrage Yet as the scripture hath not for nought taught vs it so it commeth to passe although seldom yet oftner then it is well marked This encrease of sinne called supernaturall because it cannot happen but in a man after a sorte regenerate is taught by christ in the parable of the euil spirite which retourning to the place out of the which he was cast goeth not alone but taketh with him seuen other wicked spirites euerie one worse then himselfe and so the ende of that man is worse that is farre more sinfull then the beginning Euen as we see it commeth to passe in naturall thinges as namely in water which after it hath bene a little warmed becommeth more colde then if it had neuer had any heate in it And so men who haue had some heate of religion kindled in their heartes by the spirite of God if they contemne and abuse the saide graces become more wicked and irreligious then they who neuer knewe what religion ment CHAPTER VII Of the decrease of renewed holinesse ALthough the faithfull man being nowe truely regenerate by the spirit of God may boldely boast and
giuen and hee shall haue abundaunce And it is said of diuers in the booke of the Acts that they were full of faith and of the holy ghost This abundance in the minde is called Plerophoria a certaine and vndoubted perswasion said to be in Abraham Rom. 4. 21. Hereof cometh abundaunce of faith of loue Rom. 5. 3. and 15. 13. and of all graces as 1. Thess. 1. 3. the Apostle mentioneth the worke of their faith their laborious loue and their patient hope And 2 Thess. 1. 3. that their faith superaugescit that is encreaseth aboue the common and ordinarie measure and that their loue did abounde accordingly This aboundaunce of grace is to be seene in the prophets Apostles martyrs and many other of the seruantes of God who therefore are made types and patterns for vs to imitate and set before our eyes as lanternes full of light and as shining and blazing starres that we might both admire and labour to ouertake them in their excellent graces and especially in their particular vertues For thus the scripture mentioneth the vprightnesse of Enoch who walked with God in all his waies the patience of Iob. Iam. 5. 11 the faith of Abraham the meeknesse of Moses the courage of Iosua the faithfulnesse of Samuel the absolute perfection of Dauid being a man according to Gods owne hearte the wisdome of Salomon the zeale of Phinies Iosias and many others Thus Paule mentioneth his owne painefulnesse in preaching the gospel to be farre aboue the labours of the rest of the Apostles Thus he sayeth Rom 16. 7. That Andronicus and Iunia were men notable among the Apostles and of Timothie that none was like to him in faithful labour and care for the good of the church Philip. 2. 20. The notes and markes whereby this abundaunce may be knowen are these a burning zeal of gods glorie of setting forwarde his worship and gospel a vehement hatred of idolatrie and all shadowes of superstition a tender and bountifull loue toward the godly a minde vndaunted with any torment death or miserie a constant course of godlinesse in all outward chaunges whatsoeuer as the Apostle sayeth of him selfe Philip. 4. 13. That he coulde want and abounde be full and empty and that he coulde do all thinges a life free from any grosse sinne an extraordinary contempt of all worldly pleasures Lastly a manner of freedom from being either ouercome or almost tempted by any grosse sinne For although the corruption of flesh and the impudencie of Sathan who was not ashamed to tempt Christ to commit sin be so great that no man be he nener so holy may lay away his weapons and be secure in respect of temptations yet by the blessing of God and a long practise of all godlinesse the faithfull come sometimes to such a surpassing strength in grace that as the couragious horse going into the battel scorneth the feareful sounds noyse of the trumpets so this godly man wherof we speake in this chapter laugheth at the temptations of Sathan and the entisementes of the world yet not presuming on his owne strength but relying himselfe wholly on the mighty power of the spirite of God The meanes of attaining to this high degree of holinesse is to seeke it by earnest prayer at the handes of God from whom onely commeth euery good and perfect gift But the meanes which God vseth in giuing it are diuerse some good some euil in themselues and therefore not to be vsed by vs of the first sort are all holy exercises appointed by God for the begetting continuall encrease of grace to the carefull diligent long and continuall vse whereof God doth often graunt this happie successe euen as he blesseth the diligent and painfull hand with greate plenty in temporall thinges Of the second sort is the abundaunce of sinne before regeneration the which it pleaseth God some time to chaunge into this abundaunce of grace as we see that the highest floudes follow the lowest ebbes This God doth to make manifest the great power and efficacy of his spirit in renewing the elect which is able to bringe the greatest measure of holinesse out of the greatest wickednes as cleare light out of palpable darkenes This Christ teacheth vs. Luk. 7. 41. In the parable of the two debters whereof the greater had greater cause and also a greater measure of loue And in the example of the woman verse 47. Who loued much because many sinnes were forgiuen vnto her sowhere sinne doth abound there grace aboundeth much more Yea for this purpose God doth sometimes vse the hote fiercenesse of affections and the violent disposition of nature the which as of it selfe it carieth a man headlong into the most outragious sinnes so being sanctified by Gods spirite it becommeth the whetstone of holinesse Thus was the Apostle Paule both naturally and spiritually affected and therefore being an infidell he was a most superstitious pharisie more then mad in persecuting the church and becomming a faithfull man passed all others in vnquenchable zeale of Gods spirite Lastly as touching this abundance of grace no man can attaine so high a degree of it as that he may sitte downe as being at his iorneis end but as the greater riches that a man hath the greater is his gaine desire and encrease of riches so the more holinesse that any man hath the more carefully ought and the more fruitfully may he laboure in encreasing it Phil. 3. 13. Brethren saieth the Apostle I count not that I haue attained vnto any such perfection But still I doe forget that which is behinde and endeuore my selfe to that which is before That is I doe not minde that holinesse which I haue already receaued but doe continually thinke on that which I doe want as yet CHAP. IX Of celestiall holinesse ALthough we haue now gone as far in declaring the renewed holinesse of man as any man can in this worlde either in hauing or in practising it yet we are not here to rest as being come to the end of our iorney For if the aforesaid aboundaunce of spirituall graces which be it neuer so great cannot possibly be voide of sinne be absolutelie the highest degree this inconuenience which is in no wise to be admitted would of necessitie follow that man doth not in regeneration recouer as good a state and as great a measure of holinesse by the mercy of God in christ as he had in his first creation and lost by his owne sinne in Adam And therefore we are to goe on a little further in this treatise and in our desire till we come to such an absolute perfection of renewed holinesse as is free from the least spot of sinne whatsoeuer This perfection may without all question yea must necessarely be attained vnto For man can not be perfectly happie by enioying the presence of God into the which nothing being sinfull can enter as long as he is imperfectly holy Yet he
maketh a speidie gainfull and happie voiage howsoeuer if that she chaunce to meete with a rocke or to runne vpon some sand she is in greater danger then if she had made lesse hast and borne a lower saile So where the strength and force of these affections is wanting there is as lesse danger in respect of sudden falles so lesse abilitie of aspiring to any high degree of holines for that the graces of the holy spirit wanting their sailes or being be calmed for want of winde often lie floting vp and dowen and doe not make so euident or notable progresse in their course Of these renewed affections the most notable is called loue an affections so often commended vnto vs and so highly extolled in the scriripture as if it contained not one part onely but euen the wholle substance of created holinesse in the which respect it is saide to be The fulfilling of the lawe Math. 22 40. Rom. 13. 8. and the one halfe of renewed holinesse the which is vsually cōprised in these two words Faith and Loue which is sayde 1. Cor. 13. 13. To be greater then faith But that we giue neither more nor lesse to this affection then is due vnto it this is to be held that holinesse whether created or recreated doth not consist either in any one or in a fewe but in many graces amongest the which loue hath the first place assigned vnto it yea often the denomination either of the wholle holinesse of man or more commonly of the holinesse of all the practicall faculties Not as if it were the only grace for there are many distinct graces euen as many as there are distinct faculties of mans soule required in perfect holinesse or yet as if it were the chiefe grace for faith hath the first place although in nature it be not so excellent as loue which is an heroicall grace being the foundation and as it were the subiect and ground-worke not onely of loue but also of all other graces and of all holinesse whether created or renewed Why then is loue more spoken of and inculcated in the scripture then faith or any other grace We answere that the spirit of God hauing continually in enditing the scripture respect to the capacitie of men propoundeth and commendeth vnto them holinesse not so much in grosse and in generall as in some particulars which are more easely surely and certainly conceaued then the generall in the which respect loue is preferred before faith as being more euident apparant and sensible and therefore a more sure and infallible marke and note of generall holinesse The great appearance of loue ariseth of these two causes First because whereas faith hath relation to God onely loue extendeth it selfe both to God and men Secondly where as faith lieth hidden in the heart and minde loue is outward practical and therefore more apparant and sensible Againe loue is preferred before all other practicall graces because holinesse consisteth as partly in duties to be performed in respect of our selues so cheifely in duties to be perfourmed to others namely to God and to men the which a man cannot performe as he ought vnlesse he beare a loue and a harty desire of the good both of God and of man Thus much of loue in generall The particulars of it are these First the regenerate man loueth God aboue all the thinges in the worlde desiring his good in the aduancement of his glory much more then his owne saluation From the which fountaine of the loue of God springeth the loue of all men but especially of the Godly who are renewed according to the image of God in holinesse and iustice Psal. 16. 3. All my delite is in the holy ones which are here on earth and cheiflie in those which excell in vertue This loue of the saintes is an infallible signe of true regeneration and of the true loue of God namely whenas a man loueth an other hartelie and vehemently euen as it were his owne naturall sonne or brother for this cause onely he being otherwise astraunger vnto him for that he seeth in him manifest signes and argumentes of true and vnfained godlinesse 1. Ioh. 3. 14. We knowe that we are translated from death to life because we loue the brethren And Ioh. 13. 35. By this shall all men knowe that ye are my disciples if ye loue one another Nowe we come to the other fountaine of loue namely selfe-loue the which also hath place in the regenerate although in an other manner then in carnall men For they loue themselues yet so as that they loue God more by infinite degrees and their brethren as themselues Againe they doe not shewe or vse this selfe-loue in prouiding earthly and sensuall pleasures for their bodies but in procuring the eternall saluation of their soules and yet they doe and ought to loue themselues more then they doe any other yea to be more carefull for the good estate of their owne bodies and soules then of the bodies and soules of their brethren Yet this must be vnderstood in equall comparison for a faithfull man ought not to loue his owne bodie and to desire the safetie thereof more then the eternall saluation of his brother the which ought to be procured yea with the losse of our owne temporall liues Ioh. 3. 16. As Christ laide downe his life for vs so we ought to lay downe our liues for our brethren Yet a man neede not depriue himselfe of life for the safetie of the temporall life of his brother being a priuate man nor of eternall life for the procuring of his eternall saluation If any man doe here obiect the examples of Moses Paul of whom the one desired to haue his name blotted out of the booke of life and the other to be accursed from Christ for the good of the Iewes We āswere that the Iewes were then to be cōsidered not simplie as mē but as the whol visible church of God the confusion whereof coulde not but be a great hinderaunce to Gods glory the which ought to be procured euen with the eternall confusion of our owne soules if the case doe so require For so Moses alledgeth that if God did destroy his owne people the Egiptians who were spitefull enimies to God and his worshippe would laugh at their distruction and blaspheme God himselfe And so we cannot doubte but that the glory of God shall be wonderfully enlarged by the conuersion of the Iewes and therefore it may be more desired then our owne saluation From this fountaine of selfe loue flow the afore saide streames of speciall loue whereby the faithfull man is affected more to those who doe any way come neare himselfe then to those who are estraunged from him This partial loue is good and lawefull for why shoulde not man encline and cleaue more to those whom God hath ioyned more nearely vnto him Hence commeth the speciall loue due to parentes which cannot be wanting but in him
paper they for their owne exercise or in any other good intente these in hope of some honest aduantage and both of them in a Christian desire of profiting others let not that trouble thee The losse is their owne and it is lawfull for them to doe with their owne what they list we speake of priuat censures not of publick restraint vse mennes writings and giftes if thou thinke them for thy purpose otherwise take their good meaning and ours among the rest not the worst of all others in good part and so leaue them to their likers or to their losse Lastly we desire the friendly reader to put to his helping hand to this worke which we haue taken in hande to amend what soeuer is any way amisse to adde to this imperfect and light delineation of mans soule not onely the essentiall partes which are wanting but also the sinnewes of strong proofes and argumentes yea the cleare colours of examples and other illustrations and Lastly to further our endeauours if he think them any way profitable for the Church of Christ by harty good will and earnest prayer BVt especially I do intend and commend this treatise vnto you my beloued countrimen and kinsfolke the inhabitauntes of the towne of Barwicke euen to all that in the saide towne doe call on the name of the Lorde Iesus being there vnto moued by nature it selfe which would wringe euen out of a flinty hearte speciall affection and harty loue to the natiue soyle Yea what is more meete or more needfull in all reason and equity then that we shoulde retourne the first fruites of our laboure thither from whence we came and where we had our first being and beginning Accept I pray you at my handes this poore mite in steade of some riche pledge of vnfained loue Who knoweth but that by the blessinge of God this small graine of mustardseed the simplest of a thousand bookes euery where extant being carefully receaued by you into your mindes and heartes as into good ground may sende foorth plentifull fruite of spirituall knowledge and vnfained obedience vnto eternall life and may growe to that bignesse that the birdes of the ayer may builde their nestes in the braunches of it for so I hope that you acknowledging this simple and vnlearned peece of worke to be the fruite of your owne feilde will euen in that respect the more willingly eate of it and perhaps the more happily digest it to the encrease of that stature and strength whereunto you haue already attained in Christ. In whome I doe earnestly desire that you may growe from grace to grace labouring to glorifie him by a holy and vnblameable life as he hath shewed himselfe most mercifull and bountifull vnto you He hath powred foorth his blessings both temporall and spirituall vpon you with a full hand he hath giuen vnto you greater plentie of thinges needfull for the preseruation of the body then to any other place in the land beside he hath freed you from the dregges and reliques of poperie wherewith the whole country farre and neare euen a hundred miles from you is infected as with a common plague you haue godly learned preachers of the worde of God although not many yet moe then some scores of miles in the countrey will afforde and lastly you haue leasure and opportunitie of seruing God and vsing all the meanes of your saluation greater then any other hath as all men knowe What wanteth then but onely this that you be not wanting to your selues but carefull in vsing these singular blessings to your owne edification and eternall saluation That so your Church may be renowmed in all places as florishing in the multitude not of verball professours mocking God and deceauing themselues with an outwarde shew of religion but of sincere and sounde Christians seruing God in spirite and trueth and labouring to kepe a good conscience in the wholl course of their liues both towardes God and towardes their brethren Thus crauing pardon of you for my boldnesse in this behalfe I commend you to God and to the worde of his grace which is able to builde you further and to giue you an inheritaunce among those that are sanctified The lorde be with you all now and euermore Amen Written this first of Aprill 1596 your harty well-willer and countriman T. M. The argument of the treatise following THE last and chiefe end why God in the beginning made the world with all thinges therein contained was the setting foorth of his glory the which before the creation did shine in and to himselfe onely whereas now all the creatures doe praise his holie name For the effecting whereof it was needfull that the creature should be endued with a kinde of excellencie so great as that it might manifest the glory of the power wisedome and goodnesse of God and yet so meane that it should not in any respect be comparable to the excellency of the creator Hence it is that the state of all thinges in the worlde euen of the most excellent creatures is kept downe and debased from the state of God as in many other respectes so especially in this that the one is momentanie variable and diuerse the other being eternall constant and the same for euer So we read Exod. 3. 14. whenas God would euen paint out the excellency of his owne nature and distinguish himselfe from all other thinges whatsoeuer doe any way exist he saith that his name is I will be who I wil be or who I am that is I am not a changable creature but the Almighty Iehoua in whome there is no shadowe of chaunge But it is farre otherwise with the creature wherein there is no permanent state to be found And to let passe the baser sort of them which are made for corruption and to be consumed in the vse let vs consider the state of the most excellent creatures euen those which being endued with reason were made according to the image of God to wit Angels and men of whose estate the scripture witnesseth that it is not onely chaungeable but also straungely chaunged For it being in the first creation most happie glorious and holy became afterward most impure wretched and vile Neither doth it stay here but by the mercy of God man is restored to his first excellency So we read Iob. 4. 18. 19. behold in his seruantes he will not trust no not in his Angels wil he put any confidence how much lesse in men dwelling in howses of clay whose foundation is in the dust c Neither can it be otherwise for God hath his being from himselfe but the creature dependeth on God by whome it was made and therefore can neither exist nor continue in any estate longer then the good pleasure of God doth permit This mutability of the creature appeareth chiefly in man whose diuerse states being three in number we doe indeuour to lay open in this treatise The first is the state of the first creation of
holinesse of life and all happinesse The second is the estate of the fall of sinne of death and of all miserie The third is the state of regeneration of righteousnesse of saluation and of eternall glory These three estates we desire to declare out of the word of God which entreateth plentifully of the two latter but more sparingly of the first for that it continued a verie short time Yet we may learne the doctrine of it also out of the scripture especially by these meanes first out of the example of Adam Eua and Christ the which three onely of all mankinde liued in this estate Secondly out of the state of the Angels which agreeth with the state of man in many respectes and therefore we doe often in the two first estates speake of the Angels not of set purpose but as by the way and for the further illustration of the state of man who in his creation agreeth with all the Angels and in his fall with the reprobate sort of them Thirdly we may consider the innocency of man in those thinges which the scripture speaketh of God to whom it often giueth the person of man not polluted with sinne but remaining in his first purity and lastly we may gather what was the state of the first creation by the state of regeneration the which being nothing else but the renewing of the first estate will giue vs great light for the vnderstanding of it Further this is to be marked that by the state of innocency we do not meane those fewe daies onely wherein Adam did continue innocent but also the whole progresse and course of this state as it would haue beene if man had not fallen at all the which supposed continuance of the state of innocencie differeth much from that actuall estate wherein Adam was before his fall for he was not at the first endued with any such actuall perfection of holinesse and happinesse but that he was daily to encrease in both these respectes as God should reueale himselfe more more vnto him Lastly this treatise is diuided into three parts each part into diuers chapters which in the two former partes haue each of them three Sections according to the three diuers states of man the which may be considered in the table following eyther seuerally by the reader going downe in the seuerall columnes or in comparison with the other two in the ouerthwarte lines The first part Ch Section 1. Section 2. Section 3 1 Of the state of innocency and life pag. â— Of the state of sinne and death pag. 5 Of the state of râ—â—generation saâ—â—uation pag. 1â— 2 Of the happines wherein man was created pag. 29 Of his miserable estate since the fall pag. 41 Of the eternall happinesse of maâ— pag. â— 3 Of created holinesse pag. 38 Of the sinfulnesse of man pag. 41 Of renewed hâ—â—linesse pag. â— 4 Of faith in generall and of legall faith pag. 59 Of infidelitie pag. 70 Of euangelicalâ— faith pag â— 5 Of hope pag. 106. Of desperation pag. 108 Of renewed 〈◊〉 hope pag. â— 6 Of the feare of God pag. 122. Of the want of the said feare pag. 126 Of renewed 〈◊〉 pag. â— 7 Of filiall subiection pag. 133. Of the want of filial subiectioÌ„ p. 139 Of filial subiect 〈◊〉 renewed pag. â— 8 Of seruile subiection pag. 160. Of seruâ—le rebellion pag. 163 Of seruile subiecâ—â— renewed pag. â— 9 Of mans subiection to God as to his teacher pag. 171. Of mans rebellion against God his teacher pag. 175 Of mans subieâ—â— to God his teaâ—â— renewed pag ◠〈…〉 subiection of the creature pag. 185 Of mans rebellion against his creator pag. 189 Of mans subiection to his creator renewed pag. 192  〈…〉 〈…〉 Of mans subiectioÌ„ to God as to a husband pag. 195  The second part Section 1 Section 2. Section 3. Of the image of God in man in his pure estate pa. 202 Of mans deformity or vnlikenesse to God pag. 213 Of the renewed image of God in man pag. 215 Of the created holinesse of the minde pag. 217 Of the sinfulnesse of the minde pag. 238 Of a renewed minde pag 248 Of mans conscience in his pure estate pag. 252 Of a corrupt coÌ„science pag 254 Of a renewed coÌ„science certenty of saluation pag. 263 Of the holinesse of mans memorie pag. 270 Of the sinfulnesse of the memorie pag. 274 Of a renewed memory pag. 276 Of the created holinesse of the will pag. 279 Of the sinfulnes of the will pag. â—93 Of the renewed will of man pag. 311 Of the affections specially of loue hatred pag. 318 Of corrupt affections pag. 326 Of renewed loue and hatred pag. 330 Of holy ioy and sorrow pag. 336 Of corrupt ioy sorrow pag. 342 Of renewed ioy and sorrow p. 345 The third part Of the chaunges hapning in the three estates pag. 349 Of the changes of created holinesse pag. 353 Of the naturall decrease of sinfulnesse pag. 358 Of the supernaturall decrease of sinfulnesse pag. 363 Of the particulars in this supernaturall decrease of sinfulnesse pag. 374 Of the naturall supernaturall encrease of sinfulnes pa. 380 Of the decrease of renewed holinesse pag. 388 Of the encrease of renewed holinesse pag 414 Of celestiall holinesse pag 424 OF THE THREEfold state of man The first parte of this treatise wherein is handled the first part of mans holinesse and sinfulnesse to wit his due subiection to God with the contrarie rebellion CHAP. I. Section 1. Of the state of innocency and life FOR the enlarging of Gods glory the which is the ende of the creation of the world it was needful that of the creatures some should be indued with vnderstanding For euen as the strength wisedome and beauty of a man cannot purchase vnto him any commendation or credite vnlesse some others besides himselfe doe marke knowe and acknowledge those excellent parts of nature and industrie in like maner the heauens the ayre the water and the earth although they be decked and replenished with starres birds fishes beasts and many other admirable creatures and doe containe in them infinite matter of Gods glorie yet they could not any iot encrease that glory which God had before the creation vnlesse there were some other creatures able to obserue conceiue declare admire and extoll the power wisedome and goodnesse of God shining in these thinges For this cause God after that he had made the higher and the lower world the one consisting of the heauens the other of the elements he sawe it needfull for the illustration of his glory to create Angels and men to be the inhabitants and as his tenaunts of these glorious palaces yea to behold and confesse the excellency of his workemanshippe in themselues and in the rest of the creatures For the which purpose he gaue vnto them faculties of vnderstanding and speaking with many other which he denied to the rest Thus we see the excellent state of Angels and men beeing made to be witnesses and
preachers of the glorie of God and so being admitted into the presence of God are there to beholde his glorie yet with this differēce that the Angels doe behold it more clearely in heauen and man more obscurely in earth Heerein consisteth the good estate of these creatures in that they are thus made partakers of the glorious presence of God and so ioyned to God For heereof it commeth that they are both happy and holy it being impossible that any thing which is ioyned to God who is happinesse and holinesse it selfe shoulde eyther lacke any good and pleasant thing or be any way polluted so that this coniunction of the reasonable creature with God wherein the excellency of this first estate consisteth is of two sortes the first may be called externall personall or locall whereby Angels and men enioying the presence of God are in place and after an outwarde manner ioyned to God this kinde of coniunction is perfect happinesse the other kinde is inwarde and spirituall when as the inwarde faculties of the creature as his minde and will doe wholly cleaue to God alone This kinde of coniunction is perfect holinesse and it is the meanes or the condition of the former coniunction for as soone as the creature ceaseth to be holie in the same moment it ceaseth to be happy and is straight way cast out of the presence of God So that the goodnesse of this first state consisteth in two things happinesse and holinesse from both which it hath the denomination from the first it is called the state of life for the scripture speaking to man speaketh after the manner of men vnto whome nothing is so acceptable as life because in it all pleasures are enioyned From the second it is called the state of innocencie because in it man stoode righteous and free from all guilt of sinne before God Sect. 2. Of the state of sin and death IN the next place we are to consider the seconde state of man as farre different from the first as is death from life sinne from innocencie darkenesse from light wretchednesse from happinesse vsually and fitly called the fall of mankinde Forvnto the absolute perfection o◠the aforesaid felicity this onely was wanting that it was mutable First of the causes authors and workers of this lamentable ruine secondly of the manner of it The actors in this tragedie are three God Sathan and Man all which haue a stroke in this action yet after a farre diuerse manner euen as their natures are diuerse For the first as the holy glorious and happy state of man so this sinful vile and miserable condition commeth from God yet not after the same sort for the good estate is properly directly immediately and wholly wrought by God but he doth onely suffer the euill state to be brought to passe by euill instruments yet this his permission is not idle but effectuall and working for God is not an idle looker on as if he had cast off the care of the world and of his creatures and left all at sixe and seauen as we vse to speake but hee hath a parte in this worke in that he did in his eternall counsell make an immutable decree of this fal of man and the meanes therof and that for the setting forth of his glorie which is the ende of all his decrees and actions whatsoeuer For howsoeuer it may seeme to derogate from the glorie of God that the reasonable creature beeing the fairest floure in his garden and the most excellent parte of his workmanshippe shoulde so soone be troden vnder foote and brought to nought yet in trueth GOD is greatly glorified by this meanes for hereby it appeareth first that God onely is constant eternall and the same for euer in that his most excellent creatures are so variable Rom. 3. 4. Let God be true and euerie man a lyar as it is written that thou mightest bee iustified in thy sayings and ouercome when thou art iudged For the which purpose the consideration of the shortnesse of the first state maketh very much for although it cannot be certainly defined howe long it continued yet this is agreed vpon by all that neither the Angels themselues nor yet man continued many daies in their innocency but fell away from God soone after that they were created Secondly the fall of these creatures doth shewe that God is iust in punishing sinne Thirdly it maketh a way for the state of saluation and so doth illustrate the mercy of God whereby he is most of all glorified yea the power wisedome trueth patience and in briefe the whole glory of God is by this meanes set forth and enlarged Thus much of the first actor The other two are the instruments whereby God bringeth his eternall counsell to passe and yet to all reason of man considering the whole storie of mans fall and the particulars thereof they are the onely agents the first authors and chiefe workers of this woefull state God hauing no hande or dealing in this matter but onely barely permitting them to doe what they list For the further declaration whereof it is needfull that wee make a narration of the particulars of this action and that by supposing GOD to speake to his reasonable creatures to witte Angelles and men in this manner You see howe that I haue made you the most excellent of all my creatures indueing you onely with a reasonable mind and will whereby you may knowe loue obey and honour me and so consequently enioy my presence wherein happinesse doth consist As long as you continue holy by obeying my worde so long shall you continue happie by enioying my presence But if at any time you doe by disobeying my commaundement loose this your holinesse you can no longer haue anie place in my presence or any fellowship with mee no more then darknesse and light can be together but shall incontinently be cast out of my sight and so become most wretched and miserable And therefore looke vnto your selues and to your owne estate beleeue these my promises and threatnings to be true content your selues with that state and degree wherein I haue placed you obey all my commaundements for the perfourmance whereof you are endued with all graces and faculties needfull so shal you be happie otherwise you shall die for euer In this most louing and fatherly counsell which God in the beginning gaue to his children being created after his owne similitude the reasonable creature resteth for some shorte time but afterward maketh this reply although not in word yet in minde and heart yea in deed and in outward action Wee hauing considered your wordes and our present state do see and find that neither the one is wholly true nor the other so happy as you doe make it we confesse that we are in betrer state then other creatures yet we cannot heerein rest for we see a higher degree of honour glory pleasure and happinesse yea a greater measure of knowledge whereof we knowe that
hauing greater means of knowing beleeuing and obeying God then man had on earth yea their sinne came from themselues by the suggestion of their owne mindes and the inclination of their wils but man sinned by their prouocation temptation and delusion who as if they had committed a small offence in sinning themselues did adde to their owne sinne the sinne of mankind Moreouer it was not needfull that God should restore these rebels to their former state for the illustration of his loue towardes this creature forsomuch as there are yet in heauen in the state of happinesse many thousands of holy Angels which are so many witnesses and preachers of the endlesse loue of God towards them Againe it was needfull for the working of the saluation of the elect that there shoulde be some aduersarye power opposing it selfe and labouring by all meanes to hinder it that so both the graces bestowed on men might be stirred vp and exercised and the power of God preseruing them from so great danger made manifest Lastly by this vncurable state of these Angels it appeareth that there neither is nor yet can be in any creature any such absolute perfection as that it might be able of it selfe by any proper inherent and naturall vertue and strength beeing not supported by the grace of God eyther to keep for euer or to recouer any good happy estate If it be obiected that the Angels may repente and so obtaine saluation wee answere first that it is vnpossible by reason of the nature of their sinne beeing the sinne against the holie Ghost that they shoulde euer truely repent and secondly that if they coulde after some sorte repente yet they are altogether vncapable of saluation because God hath not taken vnto himselfe the nature of Angels as he hath done the nature of man and so by ioyning it to himselfe who is life it selfe made it a liuing and holy nature the which is needfull for saluation as will appeare more at large in the treatise of iustifying faith Chap. 4. Sect. 3. But to leaue these foule spirits in the bottomlesse pit of hell let vs returne to the consideration of this third state of man the which although in substance it be nothing but the first estate restored yet it is to be preferred before it in these respectes First because it is certaine immutable and eternall it being impossible that any who is once brought from death to this state of saluation should returne backe againe but the first state of man was not onely variable but very short and momentanie as hath beene declared This ariseth not of any naturall and inherent strength of man but of the meere grace and loue of God supporting all his elect seruants in this state and watching ouer them least at any time they should fall away Secondly both the partes of the goodnesse of this estate which are the outward and inward coniunction of man with God or more plainely his happinesse and holinesse are greater then they were before The increase of happinesse the next section doth declare and for the other we cannot doubt but that the loue of man yea all the other partes of his holinesse are increased and doubled towardes God who nowe is not onely his Lorde and creator but also his sauiour and redeemer As he must needes loue more to whome manie sinnes are forgiuen then he who is saued by his owne holinesse for life is not of it selfe so acceptable at any time as it is after death Whereof more at large in the laste Chapter of the third parte of this treatise CHAP. II. Sect. 1. Of the happinesse wherein man was created HAppinesse is the enioying of the greatest highest and chiefest good to wit that which is fully perfectly primarely eternally essentially and onely good as is God onely Math 19. 17. There is none good but God onely Thus doe the Angels in heauen enioy God whose face or more plainely whose glory shining as clerely as the grace of a man doth in his face they doe continually behold Likewise man before his fall liued thus happily in the presence of God with whome he had daily and as wee may say familiar conuersation yea God did many waies reueale himselfe and his glory to him especially in the garden wherein he placed him This is perfect felicitie for hee who hath God who is the fountaine of all blessings ioy and pleasures hath all thinges belonging to happinesse Psal. 16 11. Thou shalt make me knowe the path of life for there is fulnesse of ioy in thy face or presence and in thy right hande there are pleasures for euermore From this fountaine of happinesse there flowed many streames euen all blessings whatsoeuer the preseruation or dignitie of the body soule or of the whole person of man did any way require first for his body it was in respect of the outwarde forme and proportion maiesticall beautifull gracious purchasing feare and reuerence of the other baser creatures and fauour euen in the sight of God for whose glory maketh whatsoeuer is any way commendable in the creature this remaneth in parte euen in the corrupt estate 1. Chro. 12. 8. Dauids men of warre had faces like Lyons Act. 7. 20. Moses being new borne was gratious in the sight of God Secondly the body of man was immortall whereof there is no question to be made seing that the scripture doth euery where teach vs that death came in by sinne 1. Cor. 25. 56. the sting whereby death killeth is sinne Rom. 5. 12. by Adam sinne came into the worlde and by sin death If we shoulde examine this doctrine by naturall reason it woulde be found very doubtfull for it may seeme that the body of man being made of earth shoulde of necessitie at length be resolued into earth againe as well as the bodies of all other cretures yea that it consisting of contraries continually fighting and consuming one another coulde not possibly but be at length destroyed For nothing that is deuided in it selfe can continue for euer Yea besides this naturall death mans body may seeme to haue bene subiect to outward violence as if it shoulde haue bene pierced with a sword or throwen downe from a high rocke no reason can shewe howe the immortality of it shoulde be preserued Whereunto we answere first that we are not to doubt of the word of God howsoeuer our shallow heads are not able to sound the depth of it Secondly that we may as wel suppose man to be immortall as to liue almost a thousand yeares as we read Gen. 5. 27. that Methuselā did for we may well thinke that those long liues of the fathers before the flood were euen the reliques of that immortalitie wherewith Adam was endued at the first neither are we to think it impossible to God to endue mans body with such an exact equall temperature as should continue for euer As for violent deaths although we cannot deny but man was
sonne who is of his owne nature and essence euen bone of his bone flesh of his flesh and bloud of his bloud who is a liuely picture yea a liuing image of his owne person representing after a most plaine manner his stature forme beauty strength complexion behauiour and conditions yea who doth raigne ioyntly and equally with him being partaker of his riches treasures glory maiesty power office and authority This death of this prince being decreed by the king his father it is needfull that for the suffering of the course of the law together with the sentence and punishment of death he should debase him to the condition of a subiect yet retaining the aforesaid prerogatiues So that there is in one person the condition and as it were the nature both of a king of a subiect the one maketh that he may be put to death the other maketh that this death tho it be the death but of one person is more then a sufficient ransom for the offence of ten thousand of his subiectes as the people of Israell doe confesse 2. Sam. 21. 17. That it were much better that ten thousand of themselues should perish then that King Dauid whome they call the light that is all the glory of Israell shoulde be in danger of death In like manner there was no way whereby God the glorious monarch of heauen and earth could preserue both his owne iustice and man but that he should giue his owne onely naturall and eternall sonne the brightnesse of his glory the expresse forme and charecter of his Godhead beeing partaker of his owne essence glory maiestie power authority wisedome iustice mercy and in breife of his whole diuine nature to be a ransome for the sinne of man For the which purpose it was needful that he should to his kingly and diuine estate take vnto himselfe the base condition of a subiect and creature and in that condition submit himselfe to the law of God and to the sentence of death pronounced by God the father as by a most iust seuere and righteous iudge By faith in this death of the sonne of God saluation is brought to mankind For it freeth the beleeuer from all manner of guilt of sin whether original or actual whether past present or to come And further as this mediator doth redeeme vs from death and indue vs with perfect righteousnesse by his death so by the vertue of the holy spirit proceeding from his diuine nature the beleeuer is endued although not at the first with perfect holinesse and preserued for euer from falling from this estate Thus wee haue summarily declared the doctrine of fayth as it hath beene published to the worlde by the ministery of the Apostles whose doctrine we doe hartely embrace and openly confesse professing that there is no other name meanes nor mediatour in heauen or earth which can giue saluation then Iesus the sonne of Mary Now that we see what is the obiect of this iustifying fayth we are in the next place to gather out of this doctrine the difference betwixt legall and euangelicall fayth betwixt that fayth wherewith Adam was indued in the state of innocencie that which hath place in this state of regeneration Both kindes are affiance in god for happinesse to be had by the meanes of perfect holynesse but the first kynde looketh directly on the godheade without any mediation the second beholdeth the godheade through the humanitie of Christ as through a vaile or couering for man being now polluted with sinne dare not looke on god without a mediatour as he did before the fall Secondly euangelicall fayth coÌ„teineth in it forgiuenes of sin which was not in the first estate Thirdly the righteousnesse whereby legall fayth trusteth for happinesse is naturall to man inherent in the person of man and his owne but the righteousnesse of the other kynde is borrowed from an other The first kinde maketh man trust in himselfe but the secoÌ„d maketh him to renounce him selfe and to fly to Christ for righteousnesse The first kinde relyeth it selfe on the equity and iustice of god the which rewardeth the righteousnesse of the creature with life But the other flyeth to his loue and mercy in Christ the which pardoneth and saueth a sinner Rom. 4. 5. Legall fayth cannot of it selfe iustify a man it being but one part of mans holynesse called by the diuines Sanctitas Fiduciae that is the holynesse of the affectioÌ„ of trust or coÌ„fideÌ„ce or a holy confidence besides the which there is required for perfect holynesse the holynesse of hope of loue of feare of reuerence and of all the affections yea the holynesse of the will and of the mynde and to be shorte the holynesse of the wholle nature and of all the actions of man so that if we should suppose that Adam did euen in the very moment of sinning and also after he had transgressed gods commaundement still retaine this part of his holinesse to wit affiance in god yet we coulde not thinke that he did continue in the state of life which is lost by one sinne but not kept by one part of holynesse But it is farre otherwise with this euangelical fayth the which although in the owne nature it be but the holynesse of one affection namelie of confidence or affiance as legall fayth is yet it bringeth with it perfect righteousnesse or iustice making the righteousnes of Christes death to belong to the beleeuer In the which respect it is called iustifying fayth not that â—his fayth can be without some measure of â—he other parts of holynesse or giue the possession of eternall glory without perfect â—olynesse but that in the matter of our iuâ—â—ification onely faith hath force in so much â—hat he who beleeueth in the last moment â—f his life as the theefe on the crosse did Luc. â—3 42. hauing neither time to doe any one â—ood worke nor yet strength to speake one â—ood worde or yet almost to thinke a good â—ought is as surely and as fully purged â—â—om all his sinnes as he who hath liued a â—ousand yeares in the greatest measure fayth godlynesse zeale loue patience soâ—ietie chastitie humilitie and of all other â—â—rituall graces whereunto any man can atâ—â—ne in this life For inherent holynesse comâ—only called sanctification be it neuer so â—at is imperfect and therefore as little auailable for our iustification as if it were none at all For imperfect holines doth no more iustify then no holinesse doth neither is there any other account made of it before the iudgment seat of God in the matter of our iustification howsoeuer there be necessary vse of sanctification for saluation as we are hereafter to consider And yet although this one part of mans holynesse doe serue for our iustification we are not thereof to gather that we are saued by it as a parte of inherent holynesse for faith doth not iustifie vs as it is a parte of holynesse but because this affection hath by the
being in happy innocency the holy Angels being in perfect glory yea the brute and senselesse creatures feare in regard of the glorious maiesty of God and shall the faithfull being sinful and miserable not be affected therewith But we know that the seruants of God haue alwaies feared his glorious presence Thus the people of Israell make it an impossible thing that a man shoulde see the glorie of God and liue And Manach Sampsons fafather saith Iudg. 13. 22. We shall die because we haue seene God Further the faithfull are not freed from the feare which the committing of sinne bringeth with it for although they know that no sin tho neuer so hainous can depriue them of the eternal loue of God in Christ or of eternall saluation yet they ought so much the more to feare to displease or dishonour God then Adam did in his innocency because God hath shewed himselfe more louing gratious and bountifull to them in their regeneration then he did to Adam in his first creation for God sheweth his loue farre more in bringing some fewe from the common death of mankind to eternall saluation then he did in creating all in a common state of life Neyther are we to thinke that the faithfull liuing in this worlde are so exempted from sustaining the punishment of sinne as that they doe not in this regard also feare God for although if we speake properly it cannot stand with the iustice and equity of God to punish the faithfull for their sinnes the which he hath already punished to the full in the death of Christ yet the fatherly chastisements which he layeth vpon them for their great presumptuous sinnes to keepe them and others from committing the like are often so sharpe as that they doe not without cause seeme to be grieuous and fearefull punishmentes Hence it is that this sentence is annexed to those grieuous iudgementes which befell any of the people That all Israell may heare and feare the Lord. The vses of this grace are as before to restraine the faithfull from sinne for although that be true which the heathen poet saith Odâ—runt peccare boni virtutis amore oderunt peccare mali formidine poenae yet two motiues are more effectuall then one especially in this corrupt state wherein the faithfull retaining some reliques of their corrupt nature are often frayed from sinne by feare when as the loue of God is not able to restraine them Pro. 16. 6. and 3. 7. and 14. 16. A wise man feareth and escheweth euil In this respect The feare of God is called the beginning of wisedome that is of an holy and vnblameable life Psal. 10. 10. Pro. 11. 7. because the godly man doth alwaies behaue himselfe as in the presence of the great and fearefull God of heauen Hitherto the rest of the vses mentioned in the first section of this chapter are to be referred which it is not needfull to repeate Yet there is one speciall commodity which the faithfull reape by this grace to wit immunity from temporall plagues for euen as it is said of a fierce and roring Lion that in the heate of his rage he spareth those beastes which yeelding themselues to his power doe by feare and trembling aske mercy at his handes so when as God is so prouoked to anger by the sinnes of his seruantes that no praiers or vowes can pacify him yet this submisse feare of his wrath doth quench the burning heat of it by the which meanes it commeth to passe that this feare of God doth not breed any trouble or disquietnes in the minds of the godly but rather freeth them from the feare of all euill whatsoeuer and therefore to conclude this chapter euery faithfull man ought to labour with all care both to haue in his heart and to expresse in his whole life and behauiour this singular grace of the feare of God that so he may call God his feare as he is called the feare of Isaac Gen. 31. 42. 53. where Iacob doth sweare to Laban by the feare of his father Isaac that is by God whom onely and no other thing in the world Isaac feared Thus we are exhorted Heb. 12. 28. Let vs labour to please God with reuerence and feare For euen our God is a consuming fire CHAP. VII Sect. 1. Of the subiection which man in his innocency did owe to God as to his father THus we see the first part of mans subiection with the particular dueties thereof the second kind of subiection is that which the sonne oweth to the father for God was to man in the state of innocency not onely a liege Lord and soueraigne King but also a gracious and louing father and that by vertue of the first creation the which is a kinde of generation For the creator giueth being and existence to the creature as the father doth to the sonne Yet not all the creatures are in this respect to be accounted or called the sonnes of God no more then men doe account those senselesse things which they fashion and make of clay woode or any such matter to be their children although they be their workemanship and therefore there is somewhat else in man which maketh him the sonne of God to wit the likenesse or similitude of man to God for man doth resemble God so as we see the sonne doth his father not in the outward shape of his body for God hath no shape neyther can be resembled to any thing that either is or can be imagined but in the inward holines of his soule the which is called in scripture The image of God whereof more hereafter Yet this is here to be noted that although man be by his originall and naturall state the sonne of God yet he is not so his sonne as is the second person of the Godhead who partaketh the very essence of the father whereas man hath not in him any part of gods essence but onely a shadow or light resemblance of it So that the second person is the sonne of God as is the natural sonne begotten by any man and therefore is of the substance of his father not differing from him in any respect saue only that the one is the father the other the sonne but man is the sonne of God so as he who is a son by some accidentall meanes as by law by adoption by tuition by susception or by any other way beside natural procreation For these sonnes do not participate the nature essence of their fathers but only do resemble them perhaps in countenaÌ„ce conditions name or in some such outward respect whereas in nature kinde and substance they are far differing from them But to proceed Man being not a senselesse or brutish but a reasonable creature is the son of God not he onely but also all the holy Angels who being likewise indued with the image of God are called the sonnes of God Iob. 1. 6. The sonnes of God came on a
obey the voyce of God commanding a holy life but the vnlawfull motions of his sinfull flesh Rom. 6. 16. Know ye not that to whomesoeuer you giue your selues to obey his seruantes you are whether of sinne to death or of holinesse to life Yea a carnall man is a bondslaue solde into the iurisdiction of sinne Rom. 7. 14. that looke as a slaue whome they vsed in old times as they doe still in some countries to buy with money as horse sheepe and oxen was no more his owne man as we say then were the aforesaid brute beastes but was compelled to fulfill his masters will in all thinges whether good or euill so it fareth with man who of the seruant of God is become a most vile slaue of Sathan alwaies attending his will and pleasure and performing the same with all his might and strength yea with all the faculties of his minde and the members of his body The particular functions whereof are by the Apostle cited Rom. 3. 13. Out of the olde Testament His throte is an open sepulchre his tongue speaketh nothing but deceipt his lips whereby he pretēdeth frindship haue vnder thē the poyson of Aspes his mouth full of cursing his feet swift to shed blood so all the rest of the members of a mans body haue their taske allotted vnto them the which they do not grudgingly and vnwillingly as vsually bondslaues do but most readely greedely ioyfully delighting in nothing but in that which they know pleaseth the humour of their master So that all men naturally are in a greater bondage vnder sinne then any of them is vnder their temporall maisters or owners For there is no slaue of so base a minde the which cannot be found among the brute beastes but that tho his body be oppressed and kept vnder chaines yet he desireth freedome and so he being detained against his will keepeth a free minde and will but man being in this most filthy and wretched thraldome thinketh himselfe to be in the most happy state that may be and therefore neither doth nor can desire to be freed from it Lastly as touching the third duety of a seruāt man doth not bring any aduantage of glory to God but doth dishonour him by all meanes leading his life so as if there were no God or as if he neyther could punish sinners for their wickednes nor yet doe any good to the righteous mā yet wil he nil he he shal one day glorify God in being an open spectakle of his wrath and iustice when as he shal heare that sentence pronounced againe by Christ Take this slouthfull and vnprofitable seruant and cast him into vtter darkenesse where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Sect. 3. Of seruile subiection renewed THus we see the wretched estate of man beeing the vassall and slaue of sinne with whome it fareth as it did with Pharaohs seruantes which had sinned against their Lord Gen. 40. For some as they liue so they die in that slauery and therfore they die eternally others to wit the faithful are pardoned restored to their former dignity insomuch that being by Christ reconciled to God they doe boldly enter againe into his presence in the which they doe alwaies stande attending his pleasure obeying his commaundements performing whatsoeuer seruice is enioyned them and so procuring Gods aduantage as good and faithfull seruants do to their earthly maisters Yet not al after the same manner in like measure For as among earthly seruantes so also in the house of God which is his church there are diuers functions and degrees of ministrations and as some seruing immediately directly about the person of their maister are in higher estimation with him so some of the faithfull do serue God in publicke functions and do in greater measure glorifie him then others do In this order are to be accounted the faithfull patriarches preistes prophets Kings magistrates Apostles and ministers whose seruice commeth neare to God and doth directly and properly enlarge his glory and therefore in lue of their long and faithfull seruice God doth rewarde them with this most honorable title calling them his seruantes Thus God calleth Abraham Gen. 26. 24. I will blesse thee for Abraham my seruants sake And Moses Iosu. 1 7. On whome this epitaphe is written Deut. 34. 5. There died Moses the seruant of the Lord. Thus God calleth Dauid often sparing Ierusalem in the midest of his anger For his seruant Dauids sake and thus are Iosua Daniell and others called And all they whose godlinesse faith and loue was greate and notable as Iob others Iob. 1. 8. Yea of late daies the church imitating God herein hath most thankfully and worthily giuen this glorious title to those who haue bene zealous in beating downe superstition and in aduancing the gospell kingdome and glory of Christ. These are gods cheife seruants and as it were the golden vessels of his house besides the which he hath other vessels of honour wherewith he is serued euen all true beleeuers true harted christians who also are Gods faithfull seruants yea although they spende all the daies of their liues in such callings as may seeme to appertaine nothing to God neither any way to set forth his glory For example in the first ages of the gospell manie Christians were bond seruants to infidels whereby it came to passe that they were continually imployed in their maisters affaires the which had no more to do with the seruice of God then darknesse hath with light yet these Christians were accounted Gods faithfull seruants in that they performed faithfull seruice to those infidels Thus we read Col. 3. 22. Seruants obey your maisters in all things not with eye seruice but in simplicitie of heart as those that feare the Lord Yea he addeth and what soeuer ye do do it not as to men but as to God knowing that ye shall receiue a reward for it of the Lord so that a godly and vpright life in what kinde soeuer it be is the true seruice of God Rom. 6. 17. Thankes be vnto God that although ye were once the seruants of sinne yet now ye are made the seruants of righteousnesse and therefore as you did before present your bodies before vncleannesse and all manner of sin readie to commit sin so now present your bodies before righteousnesse as being readie to all holynesse of life This exhortation is carefully to be followed of all that desire to be accounted the seruants of God that as whilst they were in the seruice of sinne they did no manner of seruice to God so now being the seruants of God they labour to shake cleane from their neckes the yoke of sinne For as Christ saith Math. 6. 24. We cannot serue two maisters both God and Mammon but must of necessitie cleaue to the one and forsake the other The which we cannot but do if that we consider that this new seruice is
hearing And therefore men muste be taught religion as children are taught to reade learning one letter to daie and another to morrowe one poynte nowe and the rest hereafter as the prophet complaineth of the dulnesse of the Iewes Esay 28. 13. But it may be heere obiected that if naturall men be so dull and vnable to vnderstande Gods worde they are not to be blamed for not learning and for not doing that which they cannot doe Whereunto we answere that this dulnes of men commeth through their owne defaulte in that they cannot by any meanes be brought to bestowe their naturall giftes their time and labour in learning The which thing if they would once carefully and heartely doe and so continue without being wearie in seeking to knowe GOD and in vsing the meanes of their saluation ioyning with their endeuours heartie prayer to God for his blessing they woulde soone see that it is an easie matter to learne these thinges the which are of that nature that one poynt of them being well learned all the reste will followe of their owne accorde so that all the hardnesse is in beginning to learne Yea GOD is harde at hande and easie to be founde of all that seeke him howsoeuer it be impossible for man by his owne wit or industry without the grace of God to attaine the true and sauing knowledge of God Sect. 3. Of the renewed subiection of man to God his teacher In the third place we are to consider the contrary disposition of those who being renewed by the spirit of God giue thēselues vnto his discipline to be instructed by him in all things For although they attaine to their knowledge by the means and ministerie of man whereby it hath pleased God rather then by his owne voice or by immediate reuelation that the saluation of his elect should be wrought yet not man but God himselfe is the author and worker of this knowledge who as he did in the state of mans innocencie so doth he in his regeneration reueale himselfe and his will vnto them by his holy spirit Iob. 32. 8. There is indeede a spirit iu man but it is the spiration of the almightie that giueth vnderstanding Math. 13. 8. 10. Callnot any man Rabbi maister or doctor For you haue one doctor euen Christ and all ye are brethren That is you are not to thinke that because you heare men preach vnto you that therefore your mindes are enlightned by them for they are your brethren that is men like to your selues who cannot without the speciall worke of my spirit learne any thing themselues much lesse teach others so that Christ is the heade maister in the schoole of his Church who although he be absent from it according to his humaine nature yet he is present in it by his spirit by the which he teacheth the faithfull all things needefull and that without any errour or shaddow of any For as hath bene declared it is impossible that God should deceiue or be deceiued and therefore the holy ghost is called The spirit of truth Ioh. 14. 16. and 15. 26. Christ promiseth that When he commeth he shall leade them into all truth Ioh. 17. 13. And as God is the teacher so the faithfull are his scholers as all those who did beleeue the gospell are vsually in the booke of the actes called Disciples 1 Thess. 4. 9. Men taught by God Ineede not saith the Apostle to write to you of brotherly loue for you are taught of God to loue one another That is the spirit of God hath alreadie engrauen the doctrine of loue in your mindes and heartes and ther fore ye haue not so greate neede and vse of my ministery in this behalfe as they whome God hath not taught after this manner Thus the prophet Dauid often praieth to God that it would please him to instruct him in his commaundements as we may reade often Psal. 119. Lastly they performe to God the second dutie of this subiection which is to beleeue his word in all things reiecting whatsoeuer is contrarie thereunto Yea tho an Angel did preach it frō heauen all antiquitie Churches councels all the wise and learned men in the world do maintaine affirme it yea tho their owne wittes and senses do witnesse the truth of it so that the faithfull may in this respect be cōpared to the scholers of a certaine philosopher named Pythagoras who if they once hearde any thing vttered by their maister they held that as a most certain truth without inquiring any further into it And so among the true disciples of Christ his holy word is of so absolute authoritie as that no doubt is made of anie thing therein contained CHAP. X. Sect. 1. Of mans subiection to his creator THe last and greatest kind of mans subiection is that which he oweth to God as to the creator of all things whereof there is no question to be made and therefore we neede not stand to proue it The duties of this subiection are three The first is to glorifie God the second to be wholly moued in him or by him the third to rest contented in his will For the first as the chiefe and last ende of the creation of the world and of al things therein contained is the glorie of God so it is meete and needefull that all creatures iointly seuerally do performe this dutie of glorifying him Yea there is no creature either so base or so excellent that it should be exempted from this dutie The greatest and mightiest creature must stoupe to the performance of it as the weakest and seelyest thing in the world is able to set forth the glorie of God Psal. 145. 9. 10. The Lord is good to all and his mercie is ouer all his workes All thy workes O Lord shall praise thee They shall shew the glorie and beautie of thy kingdome Thus we see that it belongeth to all creatures to praise GOD as they are exhorted particularlie Psalme 148. and as we reade Reuel 5. 13. And all the creatures which are in heauen on the earth vnder the earth and in the sea all thinges that are in them I hard saying praise honour glory and power be vnto him that sitteth on the throne and vnto the Lambe for euermore Yet they do not all performe this duety after the same manner for those creatures which are void of reason do it onely by giuing to men and Angels matter of the actuall setting foorth of Gods glory For the reasonable creatures are as it were the trumpeters of Gods glory which they do enlarge and publishe as by all other their actions so cheifly by those which tende directly to God himselfe are vsually called the worship of God For although al the actions of man in his pure estate euen the common actions of life as eating and drinking did make for the glory of God yet these do not make the worship of God because
praises of God the godly count the greatest pleasure and happinesse in the worlde Psal. 62. 6. My mouth is filled euen as it were with marrowe and fatnesse that is with the most sweete and pleasant thinges when as I prayse the Lorde saith the prophet and againe Psal. 84. 5. Blessed are they that stande in thy courtes ô God for why they shall euermore be praising thee For although the faithfull might praise God though they liued out of the Church in a wildernesse yet for the greater aduancement of Gods glory they desire and labour that they may praise God not among wilde beastes and trees but in the assembly of Gods people as it were before many witnesses Nowe as touching the second duety of the creature which is to moue onely in the creator and by vertue receiued from him we knowe that as the bodies of the faithfull doe not moue themselues but are moued by the power of the soule within their bodies so neyther their bodies nor soules are moued by any other power but by the holy spirite of God for they doe not thinke their owne thoughtes desire their owne pleasures speake their owne wordes or doe their owne workes but are wholly moued and ordered by the spirite of God Lastly this property of a faithfull man is worthy to be noted that he is not onely patient in regard of the greatest euils which can be laid vpon him in in this worlde as hath beene declared in the chapter of Filiall subiection but also woulde be content if that it shoulde please God to destroy him vtterly and eternally Iob. 13. 15. If God kill me shall I not trust in him so Dauid saith 2. Sam. 15. 26. If I haue found fauour in the eies of God hee wil bring me backe againe to see the place of his worship but if he say I haue no pleasure in him what then beholde here I am let him doe to me whatsoeuer seemeth good in his owne eyes CHAP. XI Of mans subiection to God as to an husband THus wee see the diuers kindes of the renewed subiection of man correspondent to the kindes of created subiection to the which there is one other kinde of subiection to be added the which was not in the state of innocency and therefore coulde not be lost by the fall of man This is the subiection of the wife to the husband by the which bond it hath pleased God of his vnspeakable mercy and loue to tie the faithfull to himself so that they should be to him not onely as subiectes sonnes seruantes schollers and creatures but also as his espoused wife This straunge mariage is celebrated and extolled in that song of songes the which is wholly to be vnderstood of this spirituall mariage betwixt God and the faithfull likewise it is set downe Ephe. 5. verse 22. to verse 33. The husband is the wiues head as Christ is the head of the Church therefore as the Church is in subiection to Christ so ought wiues to be to their husbands This kinde of subiection is called Ephe. 5. 32 A great mysterie and therefore it needeth to be explained after this manner The riches of the loue and mercy of God redeeming man from sinne and death is so exceeding great as that he thinking it a small matter to restore him to that perfect and excellent estate from the which he fell doth aduance him to a higher degree both of holinesse of happines Hence it cōmeth that man is more nearely ioyned to God then he was before both in subiectiō in conformity But what bond of subiectiō can ioine man more neerely vnto God then the sonne is to his father after the which manner man was before ioyned to God as hath beene declared We answere that although this coniunction which is betwixt the sonne and the father be verie great yet the worde of God teacheth vs that a greater may be giuen to wit that which is betwixt the wife and the husband for this coniunction maketh two distinct persons to become one person and one flesh Mat. 19. 5 but that other coniunction hath no such strange effect And therefore it hath pleased god in mercy to tie knit man to himselfe not only with those bonds of subiection wherewith he was tied to him in the state of innocency but also with this newe and most straite bonde taking all the faithfull vnto himselfe not onely as his loyall subiectes as faithfull seruantes as toward schollers as orderly creatures and lastly as naturall sonnes but also as a most deare and beloued wife ioyned to himselfe with such an indissoluble bond of loue on his part and such loyall affection on their partes as shall neuer be broken euen as the husband taketh to himselfe his beloued spouse on whom he will bestowe all his loue riches care and whome he will defend against all euils and dangers whatsoeuer This contract made betwixt GOD and his Church is set downe Ezech. 16. the wordes are many yet worthy to be remembred Nowe when I went by thee and looked vpon thee behold◠thy time was come yea euen the time to wooe thee then spred I my clothes ouer thee to couer thy dishonesty yea I made an oth vnto thee contracted my self with thee saith the Lorde God and so thou becamest mine owne Then washed I thee with water and purged thy bloud from thee and I annointed thee with oyle I clothed thee with broidred worke and shodde thee with badgers skinne and I girded thee about with fine linnen and couered thee with silke I decked thee with costly apparrell I put braselets vpon thy handes a chaine about thy necke and I put a frontlet vpon thy face and earings vpon thine eares and a beautifull crowne vpon thine head Thus wast thou decked with gold and siluer and thy raimente was of fine linnen and of silke and of broidred worke thou diddest eate fine flowre home and oyle marueilous wast thou and thou diddest luckilie prosper into a kingdome and thy name was spread among the heathen forthy beautie c. For the further declaration hereof if we do consider the notable resemblance which is betwixt mariage and this new coniunction of man to God we shall haue greate cause to admire the wisdome of the holy ghost who in enditing the scriptures doth paint out such darke mysteries with so liuely colours and doth so fit earthly types to spirituall thinges The grounde of this newe coniunction whereby man is more nearely firmely and surely tied to God then he was before is the incarnation of Christ wherein our nature was inseparably vnited to the godheade in one person euen as the wife which before was of a diuers kinde bloude and name being now espoused to her husband becommeth one flesh bloude and bone with him yea one person called by one and the same name so that as the wife being thus as it were incorporated to her husband is more nearely
ioyned to him then anie other whosoeuer whether sonne kinsman orfriende and may more confidently looke to be enriched and protected by him so the faithfull being now in the humaine nature of Christ thus espowsed made one person with GOD are more nearely ioyned to him then man was in the state of innocencie wherein God did not take vnto him selfe the nature of man and therefore did not acknowledge man to be as his beloued spouse and a part of his owne person but only as his subiect seruant scholler creature and sonne All which are distinct persons from the King maister teacher creator and father and so may more certainly and vndoubtedly looke to be not only protected and saued from death by the strength of God their new husband but also to be enriched by him with all spirituall and heauenly blessings belonging to a holy and happie estate Thus we see the manner of this new subiection the duties belonging to it are all those which a dutifull wife oweth to her husband as namely that she please him and cleaue inseparably to him For the first as the Apostle writeth 1 Cor. 7. 34. As she that is maried careth for worldly things how she may please her husband so ought the faithfull endeauour by all meanes to please their heauenly husband by being pure both in bodie and soule doing all those things which they know are acceptable in his sight especially by performing the second duty to wit that they renounce all other things in the world and cleaue fast to God without separation euen as the wife forsaketh father mother sisters brethren kinred acquaintance and betaketh her selfe wholly to her husband This dutie of the church to Christ is notably described Psal 45. 11. 12. Heare ô daughter encline thine care forgette thy people and thy fathers house so shall the King haue pleasure in thy beautie for he is thy Lord and worshipp thou him Yea there can no wife haue so good cause to performe all loyall dutie to her husband as the faithfull haue in respect of God For if it should please some greate prince to aduance some base poore and miserable woman to the dignitie of being his wife all men would say that she could not by any duties of subiection shew her selfe sufficiently thankfull how then shall sinfull man who of himselfe is the most wretched creature in the world but is now espowsed to God the King of Kings behaue himselfe in any measure so dutifully as he oâ—â—ht The second part of this treatise wherein is handled the second part of mans holinesse and sinfulnesse to wit his conformitie or likenesse to God with the contrarie vnlikenesse or defermitie CHAP. I Sect. 1. Of the image of God in man in his pure estate IT hath bene declared that the good estate of the reasonable creature whether man or Angel consisteth in this that he be ioyned to God the fountaine of all goodnesse both personally or locally in happinesse and also spiritually in perfect holinesse The which holinesse hath two partes Subiection and Conformitie For so it hath pleased God in greate wisdome to ioyne these two together in his reasonable creatures least that they should be too much either debased by the one or lifted vp by the other For if they had beene made like to God without subiection they woulde easely haue bene brought to thinke theÌ„selues â—quall to God and if they had bene subiect to â—od without any likenes or reseÌ„blance to him â—ey should haue lacked that wherein their â—hole excellencie and dignitie doth consist â— haue bene in the same condition with the â—ute beastes Thus God hath created the â—ule of man in an equal temperament â—f contrarie qualities that so the one might â—ualifie and preserue the other The subâ—ection of man is already declared nowe â—olloweth his conformitie which is that â—arte of mans holinesse wherein he resembleth God or is like vnto God vsuallie â—alled in scripture the image of God for as there is a likenesse and similitude betwixt â—n image and that whereof it is the image so there is in respect of this parte of mans holinesse a likenesse betwixt God and man For the better vnderstanding of this matter and the easier resoluing of those manifolde doubtes which are moued about it it is needfull that we declare what God is to whom we make man to be like The essence of God is so infinite secrete and hidden that it cannot be conceaued in our mindes much lesse expressed in words to the capacitie of others For whereas it is saide Iohn 4. 24. That God is a spirite the meaning is that the nature of God is not visible and sensible but mysticall and wonderfull as are spirites For otherwise the name of spirite as it is giuen to Angels is too grosse to expresse the essence of God Yet it hath pleased God in mercie to make himselfe knowen vnto vs by his properties vsually called by the diuines the attributes of God as his knowledge wisdome iustice mercy loue power eternitie and such other For as we in common speache going about to describe any man doe mention his vertues qualities and conditions saying that he is honest gentle faithfull liberall iust and learned so we haue reuealed vnto vs in scripture no other essence or nature of God but the aforesaide attributes and therefore if we woulde describe God we must say that he is a certaine essence most simple without any manner of composition existing of it selfe and from whom all creatures and actions doe exist being eternall without beginning or ending infinite in knowledge wisdome iustice mercie loue strength power and in all goodnesse holinesse and puritie Thus we see in part what God is now the image of God in the creature is whenas it is like to God in some of the aforesaid â—espectes as when the creature is endued with knowledge wisdome iustice power â—oue mercie or any other of the attributes of God But it may be here obiected that â—f the attributes of God which are his essence may be giuen to any creature then â—t shoulde be partaker of gods nature and so be a God We answere that the attributes of God may be in the creature although not so as they are in God for example God hath strength and the creature hath strength euery one more or lesse Yet there is this difference that the strength of God is essentiall vnto him and a part of his nature but the strength of the creature is a qualitie or accidental thing which may be spared as when we see two sunnes the one is a true substance but the other is onely the reflexion of the beames of the true sunne In God it is primarelie as in the fountaine but the creature hath his strength from God in God it is infinite in the creature it is finite God hath all strength the creature hath but some yea the strength of the mightiest creature is great weakenesse in comparison of the
1. 26. Brethren you see your calling that not many wise men are chosen the reason heereof is euident for it is needful that he who would beleeue the word of God should renounce his own knowledge so farre as it is contrary to the other But the more wit and learning a man hath the more he attributeth to it to himselfe to his own strength Whereas they who haue a small measure of these giftes doe not trust so much vnto them as the wise man witnesseth saying That there is more hope to win a foole to wisedome then one who thinketh or knoweth himselfe to be wise and so is wise in his owne eyes Thus we see the great ignorance of God which is in all vnregenerate men nowe for the knowledge which man hath of the creatures we may say with the prophet Ier. 2. 13. Man hath forsaken God the fountaine of wisedome and then what wisedome can be in him For as he is ignorant of God so is he of the creatures of God being naturallie so void of all manner of knowledge as that he seemeth not to differ from a bruite beast but onely in the outward proportion of his body and the faculty of speaking Nay he is more ignorant then are the brute beasts whereof there are almost none which knoweth not and that without any teacher euen by the secrete instinct of nature what is good and euill for it selfe yea the secret vertue of some hearbes or of other things which may stande them in stede but man being anie way distressed knoweth not how to goe either to God or anie naturall thing for helpe being so farre from knowing other things that he knoweth not the partes temperamentes frame disposition infirmities and diseases of his owne bodie or anie thing belonging to it or the preseruing or healing of it saue only the outward members and fashion of it Neither is there any cause why man should bragge of that greate knowledge which he is able to attaine vnto whenas he giueth himselfe to search it out We do not denie but that God graunteth thus much to the labour of industrious men that they attaine to knowledge some more others lesse but the learnedest philosopher in the world cannot denie but that he is not only actually ignorant of many things but also naturally vnable to pearce into the depth of the wisdome of God in the creatures that by reason of the dulnesse shallownesse of his wit which cannot finde out the true causes formes reasons and vertues of naturall things as why the load-stone draweth iron to it of the which kinde infinite instances might be brought And if they chance to finde out the vertue and qualitie of anie thing it is done not by considering the causes but by marking the effectes and so not by knowledge or anie good cunning as we say but by chance and by experience the schoole-maister of fooles Sect. 3. Of renewed knowledge IT remaineth that we consider how God of his greate mercie and goodnesse doth renewe in all his faithfull seruants this first and chiefe parte of his glorious image We call it the first and chiefe part because that in the worke of regeneration the illumination of the minde with the true knowledge of God both hath the first place and also is the cause of all the rest of mans holinesse For as Christ doth teach Math. 6. 23. If the eye haue light in it it doth enlighten the wholle bodie but if it be darke there is nothing but darknesse in the bodie That is if the minde of man which is the eye of the soule be trulie sanctified and renewed with knowledge there followeth holinesse in all the faculties of the soule and in the whole man But if there be darknesse and ignorance in the minde there is nothing but sin in all the partes of man Neither can it be otherwise for as it is impossible that a man should either trust or hope in God or loue feare obey him or performe any dutie of holinesse vnto God whome he doth not know in his mercie loue goodnesse promises power iustice and the rest of his attributes so is it no lesse impossible that any man should know and be fully perswaded that God is true in his promises mercifull bountifull and iust and not be affected to him accordingly And therfore the first action of the holy spirit framing the new man in the elect is to take out of their mindes their naturall dulnes vnbeleefe and ignorance and to make them able to conceiue vnderstand beleeue and know God Thus the Apostle teacheth Rom. 12. 2. Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mindes that ye may approoue the good and acceptable will of God so Eph. 4. 13. Be renewed in the spirit of your mindes and so put on the new man Thus he praieth for the Colossians Col. 1. 9. That they might be filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all wisdome and spiritual vnderstanding And thus it is saide Act. 16. 14. That whilst Paul preached the gospel although the reprobate did not conceiue or vnderstand it Yet God opened the hart that is the minde of Lidia to beleeue his word This illumination of the minde is the most sensible and euident thing in regeneration and that whereby they that denie the work of the holy spirit in renewing the faithful may most plainly be conuinced for what is more wonderful then that men who before were dull rude simple and vnlearned yea vncapable of any kinde of knowledge should on a sudden become able to comprehend in their minds most stedfastly to expres in words very sēsibly the hiddē mysteries of christiā religiō Yet this experience teacheth to be true the Apostle witnesseth the same The spirituall man discerneth all things This commeth not by anie naturall strength but by the worke of God yet he doth not inspire this knowledge immediatly but by the meanes of the ministerie of his holy word And therefore it behooueth euerie one who would feele in himselfe this wonderfull worke of God in changing his minde to giue himselfe diligently and continually to the hearing reading and meditating of the word of God Lastly this renewed knowledge is not either so greate or yet so generall as was the knowledge of man in his pure estate wherein he knewe God and all other things perfectlie but the faithful know God his word will actions so farre forth only as is needful for their saluation As for the knowledge of the creatures that is to be hoped for in the life to come wherin we hope for our ful adoptiō euen the redētiō of our bodies the senses faculties wherof are whilst we remaine in this life as dul and weake in the faithfull as in the vnbeleeuers And therefore they remaine as ignorant as touching this secundarie knowledge of the sensible creatures as doe the other Yea the knowledge of God as all other partes of
desireth to be laide vp there and preserued But doth the vnregenerate man lay vp in the treasure of his memory that which he hath heard and vnderstood of the word of God surely nothing lesse but as we may plainely see in most men doth straight waies forget and as the prouerbe is he letteth it come in at the one eare and so passing through the minde out at the other without troubling himselfe any more about it Whereby it commeth to passe that many hauing beene continuall hearers of Gods word for the space of many yeares doe not remember any part or iot of it no more then if they had neuer heard of any such matter The reason why the memory is thus wanting in her duety where the minde doth that which belongeth to her part is because diligence care and affection all which are wanting in carnal men in respect of God and his word are needfull for the safe preseruing of things in the memory For as it is truely said by one Senes quae curant meminerunt the oldest man that is doth remember where he laid his golde and no man forgetteth that which he thinketh any way to concerne his good But men thinke that there is no good to begotten by the word of God and therefore as soone as they come from the place where the worde was preached they giue themselues wholly to thinke and talke of worldly matters whereas they should call their memories to account for that which was committed vnto them and so by repeating it and conferring with others about it imprint it firmely in their mindes and memories Sect. 3. Of a renewed memory BVt it is otherwise in the faithfull to whome God giueth as an vnderstanding minde to conceiue so also a firme memory to keepe that knowledge which he doth by any meanes reueale vnto them Hence it is that they are vsually in the scripture distinguished from hypocriticall hearers by this note of laying vp in their heartes that is in their memories For the hypocrite he heareth the worde vnderstandeth it and receiueth it with ioy but goeth no further whereas the faithfull man taketh better holde of it and putteth it into his memory in safe custody as it were vnder locke and key and so maketh it his owne for euer Thus did Dauid remember that God had somtime deliuered him from a Beare and a Lion and hath this ready at hande for his vse 1. Sam. 17. 34. Thus did Mary the mother of Christ lay vp in her heart all the sayings and actions of Christ. Luke 2. 51. And thus ought euery Christian to keepe carefully in his memory whatsoeuer thing he hath seene hearde or red which is of any moment for the increase of holinesse As first and chiefly the whole scripture not the wordes or syllables of it as do the Iewes who greatly brag of their cunning in this behalfe as knowing how oft euerie worde is in the olde testament for that is and endlesse labour and impossible but the chiefe precepts and examples contained in it the which may easely be brought to passe by the daily reading hearing and remembring of some part of it Secondly he ought to keepe in memory all the actions of God which he himselfe or any other hath obserued from time to time as namely his fearfull iudgements vpon sinners his prouidence watching ouer the godly preseruing them from euill yea his fatherly chasticements afflictions laid vpon them in brief whatsoeuer thing may any way further him in the way of godlines For the which purpose he ought to vse all those helpes which are of force for the deep imprinting of these things in his mind as namely the daily remembring of them the applying of them to his present vse the rehearsing of them to others for so they will be made familiar vnto him and his owne foreuer Yea he ought to goe yet further and suspecting the frailty of his memory which being very narrowe and shallow cannot containe many things together and therefore being full it is constrained to let one thing goe as it receiueth another to haue his note booke and therein as in a sure storehouse to register those things which he would remeÌ„ber For if men be so carefull in worldly matters that they wil not trust their memories with their reckonings and matters of moment but wil be sure to note them downe and so make sure worke what a shame is it that we should be so negligent or slothfull in spirituall matters as not to vse this and all other helpes CHAP. V Sect. 1. Of the created holinesse of the will BEsides these faculties of the soule which haue alreadie beene declared and which may be called speculatiue there is an other kinde coÌ„monly called practicall because they are exercised in action as the other are in contemplation This latter kinde is necessarilie in regard of the perfection of mans soule added to the former that as by the one he seeth knoweth what ought to be done so by the other he might moue himselfe to the doing performing of it For howsoeuer they be ioyned to the other not as superiours in authoritie for they are blinde of themselues and therefore must not leade the way or sit at the helme nor as equals for so there might discorde and contention be raised in the soule of man but as inferiours to be guided and gouerned by the light of the minde yet if we speake properly we must confesse that all the outward actions come directly from them and not from the other Whereby it may be easelie gathered that these practicall faculties hauing the greatest stroke in our actions do conteine in them a greate part of mans holinesse and that whereon all the rest doth depend For the will which is the chiefe of these practicall faculties compelleth the members of the bodie to any action but cannot be compelled by the minde For a man doth this or that thing not because he thinketh that it ought to be done but because he will do it so that the will is the absolute monarch in aman and the minde is his wise counseller to whome although this monarch ought to yeelde and in some fort to obey yet he neede not except he list For he hauing the whole authoritie in his owne handes cannot be compelled by any The holinesse of these practicall faculties which is vsuallie in the scripture called loue is their due subiection to the faculties of the mind whereby they are moued to the doinge of those things only which the minde commandeth or rather counselleth For although in the corrupt state of man the holinesse of these faculties cannot be defined by their conformitie to the minde which being it selfe sinfull and out of order cannot be a rule of holinesse to any other part yet in this state of innocencâ—e the minde propoundeth nothing as good to these faculties but that which is indeede good and to be imbraced by them These practicall faculties
this is to be ascribed not to any natural impossibility of sinning which is not to be admitted or supposed in any creature no not in the humane nature of Christ to the which the sinne of mankind could not haue beene imputed if it had beene naturally vncapable of sin but to the loue and grace of God who doth continue vphold them in their holy state not by mangling their nature and detracting any natural faculty as potentiall will or any other but by cōfirming their actuall will in the natural inclination of it to good onelie Lastlie this natural impossibilitie of sinning would make man either a God as hath beene said or which is liker a senselesse stocke not hauing in himselfe perfect life the full power of mouing himself For how can we suppose that Adam shoulde haue been created a liuing and a reasonable creature not to haue beene able to will to eate the forbidden fruit or to do any other thing incident into his nature If it be saide that God might haue confirmed him with his grace We answere that that is true but he neither was bound to doe it neither did or could thinke man worthy of more grace who did abuse so many and so excellent graces as he had by nature Sect. 2. Of the sinfulnesse of the will AS there is nothing but horrible confusion in that cōmonwealth wherein neither the prince can rule nor the people obey the one wanting wisedome and counsell whereby he should make righteous lawes commaunding good and forbidding euill the other due moderation whereby they might be restrained from euill and so the raynes of licentiousnesse being let loose to the furious multitude all is filled with thefts murthers adulteries and all manner of hainous enormities that we may come nearer home making the sēsible misery of the body a type of the spirituall misery of the soule as when one blinde man leadeth another it cannot be but that both of them should fall into the ditch So the case standeth with the sinfull disorderly soule of man wherein the mind being voyd of knowledge is not able to direct the practicall faculties from euil to good And if happily there be some good motion suggested by the minde wherein there is a little light remaining since the first creation yet it is not followed and obeyed but frowardly reiected by the practicall faculties and so the vnderstanding faculties which are darkened blinded by the fall of man leading the practicall faculties which by their owne nature are blind and by sinfulnes peruerse cannot but lead man into the pit of sinne and of eternall destruction But let vs consider these practicall faculties in particular first the will then the affections As all the other faculties of man so also the will hath lost the created holines and what maruaile is it that the will it selfe is sinfull seeing by it all the other faculties of mans soule and body were made sinfull Yea it is more sinfull then the former faculties and so is iustly punished for being the cause of mans sinfulnesse for it doth more if more can be abhorre and refuse good then the minde is ignorant of it The meanes whereby the will became sinfull was the owne default for it being created by God actually onely good and potentially more good then euill did by refusing good and choosing euill make it selfe for euer vnable eyther to choose good or to refuse euill and that by continuing in that wrong way wherein it had made one step in choosing forbidden fruit and by adding one degree of peruersnesse to another till at length it became habituall and naturall to it The sinfulnesse of mans will in this his corrupt state is the actuall and potentiall inclination of it only to euill This definition needeth some explication and proofe it being greatly controuerted and oppugned by many who as if they were not of the progenie of Adam thinke that his fall doth not belong vnto them neither hath taken from them the created holinesse of will and therefore they affirme and defend that the will of man euen in this corrupt estate is if not actually inclined to good yet so free that it may of it selfe incline it selfe and the whole man either to euill whereof no man doubteth or yet to good wherein the whole controuersie standeth But this opinion is not to be receiued for it is an enimie both to gods glorie in that it taketh a way the supernaturall worke of his spirite in regenerating the faithfull and ascribeth the saluation of man not to the loue mercie and power of God but to the naturall faculties and inherent strength of man and also to the saluation of mē whome it deceaueth with a vaine shew of conuersion faith and holinesse And therefore that the truth of this matter may appeare We will first set downe the state of it by shewing what is good and euill and what it is to haue freewill in regard of both or rather either of good or euill Good therefore is to be defined by God who only is good therfore the only rule of goodnes for whatsoeuer in the creature is agreeable to the goodnesse of God that is straigth good as whatsoeuer is disagreeing frō it is crooked euill Yet this goodnesse of God is not that which is essentiall to his nature and cannot be comprehended by anie creature but a finite created and accidentall goodnesse which God hath put into euerie one of his creaturs as a shadow of his infinite goodnesse Now in man this goodnesse is his holinesse and happinesse not deuised by himselfe but appointed by God and reuealed in his word Contrarilie euill is the sinfullnesse and wretchednesse of man yea although it haue neuer so greate an appearance of goodnes holines happinesse yet if it be not that holinesse and happinesse which is agreeable to the will of God it is euil sin misery This goodnes is the obiect of mās wil or the thing wherevnto he enclineth himselfe who in the state of innocencie had power to will choose true goodnes yea he did actuallie choose it being in all his thoughtes wordes deedes faculties and in his whole nature and state made by his owne free-will conformable to the will of God But as touching the will or proper inclinatiō of man in this his corrupt state we do vtterly denie that he is able by any naturall facultie in himselfe by anie imagining inuenting or discoursing by anie wit wisdome learning reading or knowledge by any good education instruction and exercise or ingenerall by anie meanes that a naturall man can vse or that all the men or Angels in the world can vse in his behalfe without the supernaturall worke of Gods spirit changing his nature to incline himselfe to that which is good that is to that holinesse and happinesse which is agreeable to the will of God Or more plainly he cannot say thus with himselfe and doe accordingly This is the
effectuall for happinesse Secondlie these giftes although they be partes of renewed holinesse in the beleeuer in whome they spring from the roote of a true faith yet in an vnbeleeuing vnregenerate man they are not spirituall graces but naturall giftes vnable eyther to sanctifie or to saue him that hath them Thus much of doing good Likewise in the committing of euil a naturall man hath freewill not onely to doe it but also to leaue it vndone for he may sinne if he will and he neede not except he list Of the first no man euer doubted but the second needeth to be explaned in this manner As good so also euill is of two kindes inward and outward the inward corruption of sin cannot be auoyded by any means for beside the originall sinne which is common to the regenerate and to the carnall man it is impossible that the inward faculties of a carnall man should be free from actuall sinfulnesse dulnesse ignorance obliuion and peruersenesse and therefore in regarde of this inward corruption of the faculties of the soule man hath no freewill but sinneth of necessity Againe his outward sinnes are of two sortes the one is of those which are sinnes not in their owne nature but as they come from the inward roote of infidelity as namely all the indifferent actions of a carnall man his eating drinking speaking working buying selling and all other of that kinde Yea his good actions as namely his hearing Gods word his praying his giuing of almes his temperate honest and iust actions all these are sinnes in the sight of God And therefore the carnall man hath not freewill in this kind of outward actions For whatsoeuer he doth it is a sinne and if he doe nothing yet that his doing nothing is sinfull yet in particulars he hath freewill or liberty of not sinning for although he cannot but sin in euery thing that he doth yet it is in his freewill whether he will doe that indifferent thing or no and so whether he will sinne in that particular or no as namely a carnall man purposeth to builde a house if he doe it he cannot choose but sinne because he cannot purge himselfe from infidelity yet he neede not sinne in that particular except he list because he neede not build the house except he list The second kinde of outward sinnes is of those which are sinnes in their owne nature as being directy forbidden in the moral law as idolatry periury murther adultery theft such other in the committing whereof a carnall man hath freewill it being not needfull that he should commit them as we see in many vnregenerate men whose outward liues are irreprouable for the inward force of originall corruption of corrupt desires enclining the will to sinne doth not make any necessitie of any particular sinne because they may be repressed by naturall strength and hindred although not from breaking foorth into any sinne yet from bringing forth this or that particular sin For whenas a man coÌ„mitteth adultery or murther he doth it of a free although a corrupt will and not of any force or necessitie Thus we see in how manie respects the freedome of will remaineth the which being not distinguished from a true and generall good consisting in holinesse and happinesse haue beene the occasion of manie errors in this point of doctrine whilst many haue thought that either a man hath freewil by nature or els he is able by learning and knowledge to get an artificiall freedome of will and that in the worke of regeneration the will worketh together which grace if not strongly yet weakly and faintly as we see a sicke man goeth about his businesse but the word of God teacheth vs to thinke the will of man not only weake but cleane dead in respect of true holines as hath beene declared and that an vnregenerate man is no more able of himselfe to enter and goe on in the way of godlynesse then a deade man is able to goe about the affaires of this temporall life Sect. 3. Of the renewed will of man WHen as that happie hower commeth wherein it pleaseth God of his infinite loue and mercie to call anie of his elect children out of the bondage and slauerie of Sathan into the glorious libertie of the kingdome of Christ he then sendeth downe his spirit into the heart of that man whome he purposeth to call and by the mightie operation thereof doth change him into a new creature taking from him the dulnesse and ignorance of his minde the vntowardnesse of his wil and affections and enduing him with the contrarie graces This change is wholly to be ascribed to this supernaturall working of the spirite and not in anie respect to the naturall force of mans will who howsoeuer perhappes he before his conuersion vsing the outward meanes of regeneration and saluation may after a soâ—â— desire holinesse and eternall life yet he is no more able to work it by himselfe then he was in his creation able to take to himselfe created holinesse before the same were inspired into him by God For the will of man as also all the rest of his faculties is not an agent or worker in this action but only doth suffer the worke of the holie spirit to whome it is as easie to sanctifie the will of that man who abhorreth and detesteth all the outward meanes of holinesse as of him that is so carefull and diligent in vsing them that he might seeme to haue chaunged his owne will from euill to good This we see in the conuersion of the Apostle Paul whose will being most spitefully bent against the Gospell was in one moment chaunged to the true loue of it But how is the will after this worke of regeneration Is it as idle and vnable to doe any thing as before Or is it now able of it selfe without the immediate worke of Gods spirite to choose and doe good We answere that although the holy spirite of God doth neuer forsake him whome he hath once renewed but doth to the ende of his life yea for euer accompanie and assist him yet there is a greate difference to be put betwixt the first act of regeneration and the continual course of renewed holynesse arising thereof For a carnall man is renewed by the sole worke of the spirite of God without any helpe action or motion of his owne will vnlesse we will say that it moueth in that it is moued but a faithfull man being already regenerated doth choose imbrace follow and do good and performe all the duties of renewed holinesse by the proper and inherent facultie and motion of his owne freewill That the renewed holinesse of the will and of all the other faculties of a faithfull man are proper and inherent in him no man can doubt for his knowledge of God and his inclination to good although it were wrought in them by the holy spirit yet it is not the proper holinesse of the holy spirite whose holinesse is
great a chaunge in him as if the obiect did lay violent handes vpon his minde in the which respect they are called passions of the mind and therefore were disclamed by those philosophers which professed constancie and exact vertue yet they containe in them a part of mans holinesse and of the image of God who cannot suffer and in whom there is no shadow of chaunge But thus it hath pleased him to shadowe out his owne incomprehensible nature by the likenesse of our nature resembling it as to the other faculties of the soule of man so also to these affections yea so that a greate parte of his glorie reuealed to his church consisteth in them For although he hath manifested himselfe to the heathen in his wisdome and power shining in the creatures yet in his church he is most glorious and renowned in respect of his mercy compassion and loue in Christ. The which affections as also anger hatred and all the rest are euery where in the scripture attributed to God In man they are then holy whenas they are agreeable to the nature of the obiect as when a man loueth that onely which ought to be loued and hateth that which by the will and word of God ought to be hated and that with due measure and moderation Thus they being ordered by reason and the word of God are not contrary to holinesse but a part of it Yea they are as bellowes blowing vp and encreasing spirituall graces and doe cary man forward to a high degree of holinesse Nowe we are to declare these affections in particular but because the former part of this treatise wherin those affections which imply subiection as faith hope feare and reuerence are already handled is growen in length farre aboue our purpose as also that there may be some place left for the third part of this treatise which in no case may wholly be omitted we will omit the seuerall explication and onely choose out some fewe of them which are the chiefe and of most notable vse In the which ranke the first place is to be giuen to loue being taken not generally for that pleasure which is taken in the fruition of some good thing in the which sense a man is said to loue this or that thing this or that kinde of meate as it is said of Isaac Gen. 27. 9. But as the obiect of it is some reasonable thing to wit God Angels or man in the which sense it is vsually called charity and may be described A hearty and vehement desire of the good of an other arising of an inward pleasure taken in some good which we see in him This affection is first and chiefly to be set on God who onely is good in the fruition of whome there are infinite pleasures And therefore man ought to desire his good in the aduancement of his glory aboue all the thinges in the world For he that loueth father or mother sonne or brother or any creature whatsoeuer more then God is not worthy to enioy those fountaines of pleasures which the fruition of God doth yeelde to the hearty and vehement louer Math. 10. 7. From this loue of God proceedeth the loue of the reasonable creatures which being endued with the image of God are for his sake to be loued Euen as we knowe that he that beareth hearty and vehement loue to his friend cannot but loue his friends sonne being a resemblance of his father Hence it followeth that all the reasonable creatures are not to be loued alike but more or lesse as they are more or lesse endued with the image of God And therefore greater loue was due to Angels then to men and among men to those who did excell others in measure of holinesse and of spirituall graces This is the first streame of loue flowing from the loue of God as from a fountaine beside the which there is an other fountaine of loue namely the naturall affection which euery liuing thing in the world beareth to it selfe whereby it taketh more pleasure in it selfe and doth more desire the good estate of it selfe then of any other thing This naturall loue hath place in man who euen in this his innocent estate doth beare a greater measure of loue to himselfe then to any other creature The which selfeloue is not to be reprehended it being not onely in all liuing creatures but also in God himselfe who as good reason is doth delight more in himselfe then in any other thing and doth more desire his owne glory then the good of any creature From this fountaine of selfeloue flow many streames of speciall loue whereby a man is more affected to those who doe anie waie come nearer vnto himselfe then to the common sort of men In this respect he beareth a greater and as it were a partiall loue to his naturall parentes children and kinsfolkes being of the same substance flesh bloud and bone with himself to his wife who by the institution of God is vnited into one person with him Gen. 2. 24 to his speciall friend who is ioyned with him in a perpetuall couenant of loue Iohn 20. â— The disciple whome Christ loued and is to him as his owne soule Deut. 11. 6. To his acquaintance alliance companions neighbours to all those to whome he is bound by any speciall meanes this loue is to be exercised and declared in the performance of all Christian dueties to our brethren in communicating vnto them al those blessings both temporal and spirituall which we haue receaued from God so farre foorth as their necessity shall any way require If these duties be wanting our loue is eyther verie weake or rather hypocriticall and pretended Thus the Apostle saith that he exhorting the Corinthians to contribute to the Church of Ierusalem did thereby trie the naturalnesse and syncerity of their loue 2. Cor. 8. 8. likewise 1. Iohn 3. 17. 18. He that hath thinges pertaining to the maintenance of this naturall life and seeth his brother want how is the loue of God in him therefore let vs not loue in word and tongue but indeede and trueth Thus much of loue whereunto hatred is contrary the which also hath place and some vse in this state of innocency although not so great as loue hath because there were more good obiectes then euill This affection being contrary to loue is in generall an abhorring from any euill but as it is referred to those thinges which are endued with reason it is a desire of euill to happen to that person which is hated arising of some inward griefe conceiued by meanes of him But what vse could there be of this affection in the state of innocency or who was the obiect of it not God for he is pleasure and good it selfe and therefore doth neither deserue to be abhorred being in no respect euill nor yet giueth any occasion of hatred to man by grieuing him not the Angels nor man himselfe who also are
good both in themselues and towards man and therefore there remaine the wicked spirites only the deuill with his helhoundes on whome this affection is to be exercised The which thing man might lawfully do requiting their accursed and spightfull hatred of God of his glory creatures and specially of man and his saluation with a vehement hatred desiring their eternall confusion not simply because they are sinfull and miserable for they are in that respect rather to be pittied but because of the nature of their sinne which being a desperate hatred of God hath belonging vnto it the imprecation of the Church of God Yet the deuill himselfe the Captaine of this wicked crewe is not so vehemently to be hated as God is to be loued because he is not so euill as God is good for God is simply infinitely and essentially good but the deuill is not infinitely euill because he is a creature nor absolutely for he hath some good in him as is the created might and power of his nature nor essentially for the substance of his nature remaineth vncorrupt as in the holy Angels Sect. 2. Of corrupt loue and hatred OF all the faculties of mans soule none are so much stained with the corruption of sin as are the affectiōs for as the wil is more froward frō good then the minde is ignorant of it so the affections are farre more outragious then the will is froward and no maruaile for they being of so violent a nature as cannot without much a doe be kept in due order by the force eyther of created or renewed holines how great shall we thinke their disorder sinfulnesse to be in this corrupt state wherin they may runne at random as farre as they list being not restrained by any superiour power Whereof it cōmeth that as they being sanctified and set on good doe procure a great encrease of holinesse as hath bene said so they being in a carnall and sinfull man esspecially where they are strong by natur do encrease his sinfulnesse vnto the highest degree the which as it is strong in the other faculties of the soule so in the affectiōs it may well be compared to a mad man set on horsbacke yea on a wild horse which cannot eyther stay himselfe or be staied by any other means till he haue run himselfe out of breath and life in all outrage of sinne The sinfulnesse of the affections consisteth in this that they are moued by contrarie obiectes for those which shoulde be stirred vp by the euilnesse of the obiect to abhorre it doe in that respect embrace it and moue toward it and contrarilie those which shoulde be moued by the goodnesse of the obiect to embrace it doe in that respect abhorre and auoid it as will appeare more plainly in the particulars as namely in loue and hatred the which affections are both common and strong in carnall men yet not holely rightly disposed in them for they doe rather loue that which they should hate and hate that which they shonld loue then loue and hate that which ought to be loued and hated First as touching God on whome man ought to set his whole loue a carnall man doth not know God much lesse loue him it being impossible that one should loue that which he doth not know as it is commonly saide Ignoti nulla cupido Yea if a naturall man doe by anie means attaine to some knowledge of God yet he is as farre of from louing him as he was before and which is more although God doe bestow neuer so many blessinges and pleasures vpon him as what hath he that he hath not receiued from God yet he cannot by them nor by any other meanes purchase his loue so greatly is the affection of man alienated from God Yet we cannot say that man doth by nature hate God for then his fall were as greate as the fall of the deuill and the rest of the wicked spirites which is not to be thought especially seing that we knowe that all men by the instinct of nature delight to haue a God according to their owne Imagination and him they will loue and honour Yet this may be truly-saide that it is naturall for man to encrease as in all other partes of his naturall sinfulnesse so also and especiallie in the want of the loue of God in so much that although not all yet many become haters of God as appeareth Rom 1. 30. For although men especially liuing in the church be restrained by the shame of the world and the feare of punishment from professing them-selues to be haters of God yet in that they doe hate the ministers and seruants of God which do zealously preach and professe his gospel behauing themselues spightfully contumeliously and malitiously towardes them it is euident that in their harts they doe hate God himselfe As Christ witnesseth Ioh. 7. 7. The world cannot hate you but me it hateth because I testifie of it that the workes of it are euil From this fountaine of the want of the loue of God commeth the want of loue towardes men For if the carnall man doe not loue God himselfe surelie it is not like that he loueth man for Gods sake because he is created or recreated after the likenesse of God What then doth sinfull man loue For we haue saide that this affection hath a strong and common vse in this corrupt estate surely he loueth himselfe if that may be called loue and not rather hatred which bringeth to euerlasting destruction and all manner of worldly and fleshly pleasures soft apparrell and to goe brauely sweete meates and to fare daintily faire buildings for outward pompe and vaine-glorie riche coffers without anie scarsitie new pastimes mery cōpanie sleepe ease idlenes warmnes whatsoeuer may please the minde or tickle the outward senses that is the thing which man loueth But what say ye to the streames which come from this self◠loue Doth not man in this sinful estat loue his parentes children wife friends and acquaintance We answere that he loueth all these by the instinct of nature and yet by the encrease of his naturall corruption it doth vsually come to passe as experience doth teach that most naturall men loue neither father nor mother sonne nor daughter sister nor brother wife nor friend kinsman nor neighbour nor any other saue only themselues So that man maketh himselfe an Idol loueing hinselfe wholly and only as he should doe God and bearing no heartie affection either to the godlie for gods sake or to his owne for his owne sake Sect. 3 Of the renewed holinesse of the affections and specially of loue and hatred AS the created so much more the recreated holinesse of man admitteth all the kindes of affections by the violence whereof as it is somtimes hindred and impaired so vsually it is set forward and augmented for euen as a shippe houlding her right course and hauing her sailes filled with a greate gale of wind