quickened vnto an holy and heauenly life So Origen The testimony of the spirit Orig. in 8. Cap. ad â—om is an hability giuen by the Spirit not to doe all things for feare but for loue towards God So Ambrose also vpon the same words of the Apostle calleth it an hability giuen by the Spirit of God to leade a life fitting the name of the sonnes of God whereby our heauenly Fathers marke is seene in vs. And this these holy men learned of the holy Apostle Saint Peter Giue saith he all diligence to ioyne to your 2 Pet. 1. 10. faith vertue to your vertue knowledge to knowledge temperance to temperance patience to patience brotherly kindnesse to brotherly kindnesse loue c. and hereby make your calling and election sure for if you doe such things ye shall neuer fall For whereas God hath promised to be a gracious God and louing Father to all such as trust in him loue him and feare him and are carefull to obserue his Lawes and are truly sorrowfull for their daily transgressions and sinnes How can it otherwise be but that the faithfull hauing by their dutifull conuersing with God in the holy exercises of hearing his holy Word and of prayer obtained these graces in some sufficient measure How can it I say otherwise be but that thereby they should be certainly perswaded that God is their louing and gracious God and that they are his beloued people For it is impossible that the promises of God made to his people concerning this matter should be void and without effect Walke saith the Lord in my Statutes and keepe Ex. 20. 19. my iudgements and do them and sanctifie my Sabbaoths and they shall be a signe betweene me and you that ye may know that I am your God Of the certainty and euidency of the truth thereof the Apostle Saint Paul was so confident that he appealeth to euery faithfull mans experience among the Romans concerning the same saying Know ye not that to Rom. 6. 16. whomsoeuer ye giue your selues as seruants to obey his seruants ye are to whom ye obey whether it be of sinne vnto death or of obedience vnto righteousnesse The faithfull then being well witting to their own hearts that they haue giuen themselues to God and are carefull to performe the works of faith loue holinesse and righteousnesse according vnto the rule of Gods word in obedience vnto God doe so throughly know hereby that they do an acceptable seruice vnto God and that they are his obedient seruants that they doe greatly reioyce therein with the Apostle This is our reioycing euen the 2 Cor. 1. 12. testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly purenesse c. Now if it be obiected that the faithfull know not their owne hearts nor the true nature of these diuine graces nor the right notes and markes of the holy workes that proceed from them and therefore albeit they are indued with these graces and performe these works yet they cannot know that they are the seruants of God We answer first that that obiection is in direct tearmes flat contrary to the testimony of the Prophet before alleaged where the faithfull being commanded to do their works according to the rule of Gods Commandements being from their hearts made carefull thereof are thereby assured that they are the obedient seruants of the Lord. Secondly we answere that all men doe in part know their owne hearts and their thoughts words and workes and that the faithfull doe in some measure know the true nature of all heauenly graces and the right notes of their true fruits All men doe know themselues in part because God hath giuen to all a conscience to be a witnesse together with themselues not onely of their words and workes but also of the 1 Cor. 2. 11. very thoughts and purposes of their hearts as the names of conscience doe sufficiently declare For no man knoweth our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conscientia hearts but God and our selues and therefore conscience is a knowledge that we haue of our owne wayes together with God Euery one then by the light of his conscience knoweth Mens non potest non intelligere quod intelligit Nemo nescit se velle quod vult Prou. 14. 10. what he himselfe knoweth and vnderstandeth what he himselfe vnderstandeth and perceiueth what he himselfe thinketh desireth willeth speaketh or doeth Euery one knoweth saith Salomon for what his owne heart is sorrowfull and in what it reioyceth and none else but God onely Euen the very wicked by the meanes of their consciences are made witting to their owne wayes How much more are the faithfull by the light of the word For by the clearenesse of the heauenly doctrines their hearts are opened and they are enabled Act. 16. 14. in some good measure to know themselues and to know God Heb. 18. 11. Iohn 6. 45. Act. 2. 17. and to vnderstand what belongeth to a sound faith and to an holy and godly life For the faithfull know that such an apprehension and knowledge of Christ as causeth all things to be as dung to them in respect thereof is a sure signe of a sanctified minde lightened with the cleare sight of a true faith They know that to desire to inioy the loue of God aboue all other things whatsoeuer and to be willing and ready to conuerse with God and with Christ in the daily and religious exercises of the word of God and prayer and to loue the brethren because they loue God and are beloued of God are true tokens of true Christian loue They know also that to be truly sorrowfull for offending so louing and gracious a God as he hath declared himselfe to be in Christ and in that respect to feare to offend him and to be carefull to walke in all his righteous Lawes are sure signes of true repentance and of the right feare of God and of sincere holinesse and righteousnesse And they knowing in their owne consciences that they haue by the gracious worke of the Spirit of God such a faith loue repentance feare and righteousnesse know that they are in Gods fauour and loue and that they are his faithfull seruants We know saith St. Iohn speaking in the name of all the faithfull that we are of God 1 Iohn 5. 29. and that the whole world lieth in wickednesse We know that the Sonne of God is come and hath giuen vs a minde to know him which is true and we are in him that is true that is in his Sonne Iesus Christ this same is very God and eternall life And againe we know that we are translated from death 1 Iohn 3. 14. to life because we loue the brethren And that he speaketh thus in the name of all the faithfull we may vnderstand in that in the like asseueration he changeth the person saying If ye know that God is righteous know ye that he that doth righteousnesse is borne of
Aug cont Maximin lib 3 c. 19. before they come to passe it was not then that GOD first knew that Abraham feared him But as the Spirit of GOD is said to pray and to groane because hee maketh vs to pray and to groane so GOD is said to know when hee maketh vs to know Now I know then is as much as if hee had saide Now I haue made thee to know or I haue made it knowne to others also that thou fearest mee The which truth may further appeare by the very name that Abraham gaue to the place where the Lord spake vnto him at that time and by the addition ioyned thereto For Abraham called the name of the place The Lord will see as it is said this day In the mount will the Lord be seene Now the Lord doth see his faithfull seruants by taking notice of their sincere minds towards him and by prouiding for them and bestowing on them all necessary blessings and the Lord is seene of them in the spirituall gifts of faith and loue and all other graces giuen vnto them for the manifestation of his fatherly loue and affection towards them For when God by the light of the Gospell doth so make manifest vnto the faithfull his fatherly loue in Christ that they esteeme it as their highest happinesse and doe in all sincerity desire to inioy it as their greatest good they cannot but know that they beleeue and loue God seeing these are the most certaine properties of them both Now as a faithfull man may know that he loueth God so he may also know that he loueth the brethren By this saith Saint Iohn we know that 1 Iohn 3. 14. we are translated from death to life because we loue the brethren Wherupon Saint Austin speaketh after this manner Let a Aug. in 1. Ep. Ioh. tract 3. man looke into his heart and see if he haue loue and then let him say I am borne of God Now to what end doth Saint Austin command a man to looke into his owne heart and to seeke to find loue there if in seeking he cannot find and know whether it be there or no If then the Lord hath giuen to any one the sincere loue of God and of his Christian Brethren hee may know that he is indued therewith and thereby he may know himselfe to be in Gods loue to his owne vnspeakeable comfort and ioy the which being a great griefe and corrasiue to the Diuell he therefore seeketh by all meanes to hinder the same QVEST. XLI The Cup in the Eucharist is not to be taken away from the Lay people A man may as well ordaine a Sacrament or any essentiall part thereof as he may take away the one or the other but no man nor Angell can ordaine a Sacrament or any essentiall part thereof seeing he cannot make any grant or giue any assurance of these spiritual blessings and gifts which are only in the Lords hands and at his owne disposition neither ought he then to mangle or maime any part of the euidence that God hath giuen to the faithfull for their better assurance thereof But the Cup of the New Testament is an essentiall part of the Sacrament of the Body and Bloud of Christ whereby the pardon of their sinnes is sealed vp to the faithfull therefore it ought by no meanes to be taken away from the Lay people Yea whereas the faithfull are as well partakers of the Bloud of Christ as of the Body why should they not also be as well partakers of the visible signe of the one as of the other Act. 10. 47. Can anyman saith S. Peter forbid water that these should not be baptized which haue receiued the Holy Ghost as well as we So vpon the like reason it may be said Can any man forbid the Lords people to be pertakers of the Holy signe of his bloud with the Priests seeing they are partakers of the Bloud it selfe as well as they Especially seeing all the people of God ought to be most ready and willing to shed their owne bloud in the defence of the Faith of Christ why should they then be depriued of the Sacred signe of his Bloud whereby they are to be strengthened and confirmed for the couragious performance of that so great and weighty a worke How do we saith Saint Cyprian Cypr. ad Cornel. lib. 1. cap. 2. teach and perswade the people to shed their Bloud for the confession of the name of Christ if we deny them the Bloud of Christ that is the Sacrament of his Bloud For none can take from them the participation of the Bloud it selfe QVEST. XLII Matrimony is lawfull for the Ministers of the Gospell It is as lawfull in the time of the Gospell for the Ministers thereof to vse the same remedy against sinne and to enioy the same helpes and comforts of this life as it was for the high Priest and the residue of his brethren vnder the time of the Law But Matrimony was ordained for the auoiding of fornication Gen. 2. 18. and for to be an helpe in things concerning this life vnto the Priests vnder the Law and why should it not be so vnder the Gospell The Gospell requireth in the Ministers thereof as great if not greater labour about their spirituall worke then was required of the Priests vnder the Law why should they then not haue the same helpers as they had to supply their roomes for the better dispatch of their temporall affaires that so they may haue the more leasure to be imployed about their spirituall businesses And are not the Ministers of the Gospell especially in these last and worst dayes subiect to the like temptations of sinne as others were in former ages why should these then be more debarred from the remedy then they were especially whereas the Commandement of the Apostle is giuen generally to all For the auoiding of fornication 2 Cor. 7. 2. let euery man haue his owne wife and let euery woman haue her owne husband but where the remedy against this sinne is the authorised permission thereof by man with a Si non castè tamen cautè there I must needs confesse is farre lesse need of the remedy appointed by God QVEST. XLIII The Nailes Speare and Crosse wherewith Christs pretious Body was tormented are not to be worshipped The Souldiers that vsed the Nailes Speare and Crosse to torment the most precious body of our most blessed Sauiour are not to be worshipped why then should the Nailes Speare and Crosse be worshipped which were the instruments of the routragious cruelty The Nailes and shooe of an horse that striketh therewith and killeth any meane person but casually are by the Law found guilty of the death of him that is slaine therewith how can we then otherwise iudge of the Nailes Speare and Crosse which were of a malitious purpose vsed to shed our blessed Sauiours most pretious Bloud and to take away his life from him for can that which
is a double iustification The first by grace and the second by the merit of our owne workes But his doubling is flat contrary to the simplicity of the Gospell For the Apostle plainly auoucheth that not onely at the first we are reconciled vnto God by Christ and are brought into his fauour and loue and are iustified and saued by his Bloud but much more that we are brought to the end of our saluation and to our full and finall glorification by the very same meanes God saith the Apostle setteth out his loue toward vs seeing while wee were yet Rom. 5. 8. sinners Christ dyed for vs much more then being iustified by his bloud we shall be saued frō wrath by him For if when we were enemies we were reconciled vnto God by the death of his Sonne much more being reconciled we shall be saued by his life In the which words of the Apostle it is manifestly and distinctly set downe that as it is the grace of God in Christ whereby we are reconciled vnto God and iustified at the first so it is the very selfe-same grace of God in Christ that doth saue vs at the last And Greg. Moral lib. 2. cap. 4. so a Bishop of Rome it selfe in her better times hath taught saying The first grace begat me in faith being naked and the very self-same grace shall saue me being naked take me vp into glory Wherefore if we desire to be partakers of the fruit of our redemption wrought for vs by Christ let vs not so meanly thinke thereof as if he should haue begun it onely by his obedience and left it to be finished by our selues Let vs not imagine that he paid but a part of our ransome and a parcell of the price that was to be tendred to God for the full purchase of the glorious inheritance of the Kingdome of Heauen and left it to our selues to discharge the rest Or if we cannot but confesse that he paid the whole summe and the full price let vs not impute to the God of all mercy and the most excellent Patron and Patterne of all Pitty such an hard and vniust kind of dealing as if he should exact againe a new payment at our hands for that which was fully purchased and paid for before Vndoubtedly if our title to the heauenly inheritance by the obedience and righteousnesse of Christ be sufficient good why should we seeke after any other title Seeing Law and reason teacheth vs this that that thing Quod semel neum est non potest ampliue fieri meum Quisemel factus est dominus non potest ex alia causa fieri dominus Quia nomo potest acquirere dominium rei suae which is once iustly mine cannot be made more mine And he that is once made a right owner of a thing cannot againe by another title be made owner of the same thing seeing no man can get againe the Dominion of that which was his own before If then our first title to our Iustification and Saluation by the free and vndeserued mercy of God in Christ be good and sufficient then we cannot afterward lay any claime thereunto by the broken and forged title of our owne workes QVEST. LIII The going on pilgrimage to see or to touch the true reliques of the Holiest of the Saints doth not bring any sanctification at all The seeing and touching of holy persons themselues doth not sanctify any much lesse the seeing or touching of their reliques They that receiue Christ by faith are made the Sonnes Ioh. 1. 12. of God and are renewed to his image in righteousnesse and true holinesse and not such as imbrace and kisse him with their bodily hands and mouthes for then Iudas the Traitor should haue been made a Saint Wherefore if we desire to haue any benefit by visiting the Saints we ought daily and diligently to visite the Scriptures wherein the pictures of their piety are most liuely painted out that so we may be rauished with the admiration thereof and be stirred vp to follow them by an holy imitation And so concerning the Saints which liued since the Apostles times if we be desirous to visite them also wee ought to get their learned bookes which are the best Images of their Almās speech is the image and glasse of his minde Erasm in praefat Hieron ad Guili Warramum holy soules that by their sound and Orthodoxe doctrines which are set downe therein we may be directed in the right way of piety and godlinesse But so it is saith Erasmus complayning of the superstitious folly of many of his time we kisse the shooes of the Saint and their handkerchers albeit loathsome for filth but as for their Bookes which are their best reliques we relinquish hauing little regard of them Their Coat or Shirt we lay vp in a chest adorned with gold and precious stones but as for their writings vpon the which they bestowed much labour and in the which still liueth here with vs that which is in them their chiefest good we leaue them to be consumed with wormes and rust QVEST. LIV. The faithfull that are sanctified by Regeneration may and ought to assure themselues of their full and finall glorification If God was found of the faithfull when they sought him not and made himselfe manifest vnto them when they asked Rom. 10. 20. not after him much more when they turne vnto him hee will turne to them when they draw nigh to him he wil draw nigh Iac. 4. 8. Matth. 7. 7. to them when they seeke him he will be found of them For if when they were enemies they were reconciled vnto God by the death of his Sonne much more may they rest assured of his loue being reconciled vnto him and made his stedfast friends If God for Christs sake offered them a pardon being Traitors and Rebels and standing vp in armes against him certainly he will suffer them to enioy the benefit of that pardon when they haue humbly submitted themselues and are become his loyall subiects If God doth forgiue vnto his all their grieuous sinnes which they willingly and wittingly committed before their effectuall Calling to the estate of grace will he not forgiue their sinnes of infirmity which they afterward commit against the resolute purpose of their owne hearts if he did deliuer them from domineering and raiguing sinnes will he not in the end deliuer them fully from all such sinnes whose power and strength are already in part weakened by their daily repentance and stedfast faith The Lord said Dauid that deliuered 1 Sam. 17. 37. me out of the hand of the Lyon and the Beare will also deliuer me out of the hand of this Philistin Vnto the which words happily the Apostle alluding saith of himselfe And I also was deliuered out of the hand of the Lion And thereupon was confident that the Lord would deliuer him from euery euill worke and would preserue him to his heauenly Kingdome
for him by Christ being in particular his Redeemer and Sauiour who hath tendred to God a full satisfaction for the discharge of his sinnes So protesteth the mother in the name of all her children My beloued Cant. 2. 16. is mine and I am his and whom may we ioyne next to the mother but her best and deerest daughter My soule saith Luk 1. 47. he doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit reioiceth in God my Sauiour So Iob I am sure that my Redeemer liueth So Dauid Iob 19 25. Psal 19. 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be alwaies acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer So Saint Paul I liue by the faith of the Gal. 2. 20. Sonne of God who hath loued me and giuen himselfe for me So an ancient Peere of the Church whose workes haue beene thought by some worthy to be fathered vpon Saint Austine I come more sweetly to my Iesus then to any of the Saints So Saint Austine himselfe in his Epistle to Dardanus O good Iesu O the Redeemer of my soule wherewithall shall I requite thy clemency or satisfie thy goodnesse for not shedding better bloud for thine elect then thou diddest for my sinnes So Saint Cyrill vpon these words Let his bloud be vpon vs and our children To what end should I haue wealth and hope for the inheritance of the goods of this world seeing already I am heire of thy most precious bloud and redeemed with thy most glorious death Why should not I very much esteeme of my selfe seeing thou hast shed as much bloud for me as thou hast done for all the world So Saint Bernard vpon these words of our blessed Sauiour I haue earnestly desired to eate this Passeouer with you before I suffer O good Iesu O the loue of my soule who among mortall men doth desire to make his life perpetuall as thou didst desire to loose thine for me What delight wilt thou take in the world to come with thine elect seeing here vpon earth thou didst call that day wherein thou didst suffer Easter that is a great and solemne festiuall day O good Iesi O the Redeemer of my souâ—e doe not I happily owe thee as much as all the world oweth thee seeing I haue cost thee as much bloud as all the world hath done Lastly we may ioine to these Saint Ambrose as one that is ioined with them in the same faith I will not saith he glory Ambros de Iacob vita beata cap. 6. because I am iust but because I am redeemed will I glory I will not glory that I am void of sinne but for that my sinnes are remitted vnto me I will not glory for that I haue profited any or for that any hath profited me but for that Christ is an aduocate to the Father for me and for that his bloud was shed for me By all which confessions which these holy persons made of their faith we may perceiue that it is the proper worke of true faith not onely to beleeue that Christ is our Sauiour in particular and that he shed his bloud as precisely for vs as well as for any other of the residue of the faithfull but also that thereby our sinnes are forgiuen in particular vnto our selues For it is not enough as Saint Bernard saith to beleeue that Bernard Ser. 2. de Annunciat thy sinnes cannot be done away but by him against whom thou hast offended and who himselfe cannot offend but thou must proceed further and beleeue also that thy sinnes are forgiuen euen to thy selfe To doubt of the most singular vertue of the bloud of Christ to purge all the sinnes of all the faithfull were infidelity euen so for any one that beleeueth himselfe to be one of the faithfull to doubt whether his sinnes are forgiuen to himselfe is to betray his hypocrisie seeing whatsoeuer he professeth yet either he beleeueth not himselfe to be one of the faithfull or else he beleeueth not the truth of the promise of the pardon of sinne that God hath made by all the Prophets Act. 10. 43. to all that beleeue Why Manasses himselfe that was a grieuous murtherer of Gods deare Saints and a greater Idolater then many of the Heathen yet when he felt Gods mercy in giuing him repentance he was perswaded that God was his God and louing Father and had saued and delâ—uered him from all his iniquities and sinnes No maruell then that Ezechias the Father of Manasses Esay 38. 17. who walked before God in truth and with a perfect heart and did that which was good and acceptable in his sight and therefore knew himselfe to be accepted of God did make this profession after he was deliuered from his dangerous sicknesse saying Behold for felicitie I had bitter griefe but it was thy pleasure to deliuer my soule from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sinnes behinde thy backe No maruell likewise that Dauid a man after Gods owne heart resoluing with true sorrow of soule to confesse his sinnes had a certaine assurance of the pardon of them as he himselfe testifieth saying I thought I will confesse my sinnes against my Psal 3â— 5. selfe and thou forgauest the iniquitie of my sinne For the which benefit being so gratious and great he calleth vpon his soule againe and againe to be thankfull vnto God in the best manner that possibly he could doe saying Praise the Lord Psal 1â—3 1. O my soule and all that is within me praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits which forgiueth all thy sinnes and healeth all thine infirmities There be two things that hinder this comfortable assurance in all the faithfull more or lesse especially in the time of some grieuous tentation As first the small measure of faith and other spirituall graces and the great strength of their earthly and carnall affections And secondly the remnants of distrustfull feare of vtterly falling away from God caused by their manifold and daily fals but the small measure of faith and of other graces of sanctification ought not to hinder the assurance of the faithfull because a little faith is a true faith aswell as a great faith seeing more or lesse doth not change Magis minus non variant speciem Iohn 3 16. Apocol 3. 8. the nature of a thing a little faith then is as true a signe of Gods loue as a great the Couenant of grace being made not only with them that haue a great faith but a little also euen with all that truly beleeue The Church of Thiatyra had but a little strength yet she was accepted with God aswell as the other Churches that had greater For workes of pietie are accepted with God according to that a man hath and not according 2 Cor. 8. 12. Matth. 13. 23. to that he hath not The ground that brought forth fruit thirtie sold
the Apostle hath Cura quasi cor vreas painefulnesse and it brâ—edeth that care that burneth and scorcheth the heart and â—ormenteth the soule and it hastneth those Apoc. 21. 8. that willingly entertaine it towards the horrours of hell and excludeth them from the ioyes of Heauen How then ought all the sincere Professors of the Gospell to be thankefull to God for that he hat sent his Gospell vnto them and hath opened theeir eyes thereby so to apprehend his vnspeakeable loue in Christ reuealed therein that therby they are effectually stirred vp to loue God especially seeing as the Apostle saith there is no feare in loue but perfect loue 1 Ioh. 4. 18. casteth out feare For as a chast spouse is not iealous of her kind husband and a dutiful sonne is not so fearefull as to think that his tender-hearted Father will withdraw his loue froÌ„ him so the true Church of Christ being his beloued Spouse and her legitimate children being the children of God will not be fearefull distrustfull whether God will change his kind affection towards them with-draw from them his tender loue Nay vndoubtedly the true Church is alwayes ready to professe and say My beloued is mine and I am his he is my beloued and still loueth me and therefore I will continually loue him and reioyce for euer in his constant loue And so vndoubtedly the legitimate children of the true Church are ready and willing to confesse with their elder brother Saint Paul We liue yet not we now but Christ liueâ—h in vs and in that we now liue in the flesh we liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who hath loued vs and giuen himselfe for vs. And verily such a confession is set downe by the Wiseman in the name of all the Saints Though we sinne say they all Sap 15. 2. yet we are thine for we know thy power but we sinne not knowing that we are thine In which words foure remarkeable points of doctrine are deliuâ—red vnto vs First that the Saints in this life auouch that they are the Lords in his fauour and in his loue and that we may vnderstand how certainly they are assured thereof they double the same asseueration saying that they doe not goe by guesse or stand vpon blinde hope but that they know indeed that they are the Lords Secondly the meanes are â—et downe whereby they know that they are Gods euen because he hath giuen to them a true knowledge of himselfe We are thine say they for we know thy power Thirdly they auouch that their sinnes of ignorance and infirmity doe not take from them this assurance of their faith For say they though we sinne yet are we thine Fourthly they auouch that this assurance of Gods loue is a most powerfull meanes to keepe them that they doe not willingly giue themselues ouer to sinne For say they we sinne not knowing that we are thine And therefore herein also the iudgement of the Church of Rome is contrary to the plaine and direct euidence giuen in by all the Saints in that they affirme that the assurance of Gods loue is a spurre to sinne whereas the Saints auouch and that no doubt vpon their owne experience that it is a bridle to restraine from the same Grace concealed from such as are left to their owne headstrong affections may be an occasion that many are carried headlong into sinne but grace reuealed giueth grace reuoketh from sinne and prouoketh vnto all good workes The grace of God saith the Apostle that bringeth Tit. 2. 11. saluation vnto all men hath appeared and teacheth vs that we should deny vngodlinesse and worldly lusts and that we should liue iustly and soberly and godly in this world Wherefore in that the Church of Rome not onely willeth coÌ„mandeth her followers to doubt of their saluation and to feare whether they be in the estate of grace but also disgraceth the security of saluation giuen to the faithfull by the Gospell of Christ being the powerfull instrument of God to worke faith grace it is euident that she is the mother of infidelity and not of faith and that she leadeth her disciples to hellish horrours and terrours the iust reward of fearefull infidelity and not to ioy vnspeakeable and glorious the happy fruit and 1 Pet. 1. 8. issue of a confident Christian faith as Saint Peter testifieth And thus haue I shewed in the clearing and demonstrating of these three last propositions what manner of knowledge that is which I affirme to be all one with sauing faith as first Phil. 1. 10. a wise discerning knowlege wher by we so apprehend Gods loue in Christ reuealed vnto vs in the Gospell as that we esteeme and embrace it as ouâ— highest happinesse and our chiefest good Secondly a sanctifying knowledge whereby we are not onely set in a right course but also are guided to walke constantly in all holy wayes that so we may be made Tit. 1. 1. meete to be partakers of Gods loue And thirdly a comforting and chearing knowledge whereby we haue a certaine assurance of Gods fatherly loue in this present life albeit not Rom. 8. 15. without many conflicts with distrustfull feares and shall at the last be brought to the quiet and peaceable possession 1 Ioh. 5. 19. thereof in the life to come CHAP. VII The vtility and dignity of faith and the great difficulty to attaine thereunto THe vtilitie and dignitie of faith doth hence appeare in that it causeth the faithfull to behold in Christ as in a miraculous mirrour of Gods matchlesse mercy an incomparable treasure of his vnspeakeable loue and to cleaue constantly to it as to their highest happinesse and chiefest good and maketh them desirous from the very bottome of their hearts to make manifest their thankfulnesse vnto him by their sincere obedience to all his Commandements and bringeth also peace of conscience vnto them by giuing them an assurance of the pardon of their sinnes and of their receiuing into grace and fauour with God And not only so but also for that it causeth them continually to fight against their spirituall enemies that would make them to breake their Couenant with God and in the end giueth them a full conquest ouer them al. This is saith the Apostle 1 Iohn 5. 4. speaking to the faithfull the victory that is the principall weapon whereby the victory is gotten and the world ouercome euen your faith And therefore it is not without cause that the Apostle Saint Paul exhorteth the faithfull that aboue all they should take vnto themselues the shield of faith because thereby they Ephes 6. 16. might quench all the fiery darts of the Deuill And verily faith is the first and the chiefest of all those diuine and heauenly graces that are wrought in the hearts of Gods children by the holy Ghost and it is the fountaine and root of all the rest and therefore in diuers places where they are
they are to be honoured for imitation but not to be adored for Religion And againe we worship the Saints with charity but not with seruice neither doe we build temples vnto them For according vnto the censure of the Synode of Ments the Saints which haue shut vp the course of their liues with a blessed end ought worthily to be honoured of vs as the worthy members of Christs body but not with that honour which is due vnto God but with that reuerent regard of society and loue wherewith holy men may be honoured of vs here in this life The like is to be said concerning the worship of Angels I fell said Saint Iohn confessing his owne double fall at the Angels feet to worship him but he said vnto me See thou doe it not for I am thy fellow seruant and one of thy brethren which haue the testimony of Iesus Apoc. 19. 10. câ— 22. 9. worship God By which words of the Angell vttered once and againe we Seruus est domini seruus may iustly collect that seeing a seruant among men is a seruant of his Lords only not of any one of his fellow seruants and is bound to serue the one onely and not the other therefore seeing all the faithfull haue but one Lord all Angels and Saints being their fellow seruants they ought to deuote themselues Eâ—hes 4. 5. 2. 29. onely to the Religious seruice of God and not vnto the seruice of any Angell or Saint We take it to be a great absurdity and indignity also for one that is admitted into the family of an earthly King to betake himselfe to the seruice of a subiect and is it not a greater indignity for one that by baptisme is admitted into the family of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to betake him to the seruice of an Angell or Saint In Oxford wee are sworne Non suscipere gradum Simeonis that is when we haue taken an higher degree of dignity in the Schooles not to take a lower degree And shal we then when we haue receiued this high degree of honor to be admitted among the seruaÌ„ts of the Almighty Creator of heauen earth shall we I say debase our seâ—ues so low as to seeke for admission into the seruice of a weake creature Let the Romanists then if they list deuote themselues vnto the seruice of the Saints and giue to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 diuine worship but let the true seruants of God be carefull to giue diuine seruice onely to God QVEST. XXXIX The faithfull are made righteous before God by the righteousnesse of Christ imputed to them If by the disobedience of the first Adam many were made Arguments drawen from things that haue the same proportion of reason Rom. 5. 19. 2 Cor. 5. 21. Rom. 8. 34. sinners why by the obedience of the second Adam may not many be made righteous If our sinnes were imputed vnto Christ when hee was pure from all sinne why may not his righteousnesse be imputed vnto vs albeit we be stayned with all sinne If Christs sufferings and death are made ours and we thereby are deliuered from condemnation Why may not his righteousnesse as well be imputed vnto vs that wee may thereby obtaine our Iustification especially seeing he was 1 Cor. 1. 30. made as well righteousnesse for vs as he was redemption Nay may not his righteousnesse which was subiect to the Law Gal. 4. 4. for vs be imputed vnto vs by the Lords endlesse goodnesse and mercy that we may be made righteous thereby as well as the surplussage of the righteous workes of the Saints who yet were not crucified for vs may bee imputed by the Popes 1 Cor. 1. 13. Pardons and Indulgences to all such as will pay well for them QVEST. XL. The faithfull may as well know themselues to be indued with true loue as with true faith Doctor Bishop auoucheth that the faithfull cannot so well know themselues to be indued with true loue as with true faith for that faith is seated in the vnderstanding which is the lighter and loue in the will which is the darker part of the soule As if the spirituall soule had situation of parts as well as the materiall body Or as if the distinct powers of the soule were not therefore said to be placed in the distinct members of the body because in them there are diuers originalls of her manifold Organicall instruments whereby she produceth her manifold and different operations whereas shee her-selfe is wholly in the whole body and in euery part thereof But be it so that the soul as wel as the body may be coÌ„pared to an house or Temple in the which there may be Roomes some lightes and some darker yet may not the same cleare Candle of Gods word lighten our will as well as our vnderstanding and so make knowne vnto vs our loue as well as our faith Yea whereas the will is reasonable by participation from the vnderstanding the vnderstanding hiding nothing from the will whereof it hath notice it selfe why then is not the will lightened with that selfe-same lustre as the vnderstanding it selfe is nay whereas the light of naturall reason addeth her axiomes to the instructions of the word of God for the opening of the nature of loue rather then of faith why Dilectic est simul viuendi fruendique electio Anima est non vbi animat sed vbi amâ—t Prou. 14. 10. should not loue be better known then faith The heart saith Solomon knoweth the bitternesse of his soule and the stranger shall not intermeddle with his ioy The heart of a man knoweth what it loueth and ioyeth in as well as what it hateth and is offended withall Verily if our Sauiour Christ had not well vnderstood that Simon Peters owne heart was well witting to it selfe of his great loue that he bare vnto him he would not haue demaunded of him againe and againe Simon Iohannah louest thou me Ioh. 21. 15. more then these neither would Peter haue so confidently answered him Lord thou knowest that I loue thee So if the Church had not knowen and felt euen the vehement paâ—gs of her loue towards her Bridegroome shee would not haue sent word vnto him by her Messengers that she was euen Cant. 5. 8. Aug in Ps 49. sicke of loue There is saith Saint Austin a kinde of glorying in the conscience when thou knowest that thy faith is sincere thy hope certaine and thy loue without dissembling In Saint Austins iudgement then our hope and loue may be knowne as well as our saith seeing otherwise wee could not reioyce in them When Abraham was ready at the commandement of GOD to haue slaine his sonne Isaacke Gen. 22. 12. GOD calleth vnto him saying Now I know that thou fearest mee viz. with a filiall feare that proceedeth from loue seeing for my sake thou hast not spared thine onely Sonne GOD saith Saint Austin knoweth all things