sperare eum diligere To beleeue in God is to hope in him and to loue him And againe Vera plena fides vniuer sa praecepta complectitur A true and complete Faith comprehendeth all the Commandements Hieronymus Osorius in his first Booke de Iustitia hath these words Fides continet omnem religionem atque pietatem omnes enim virtutes ex fide aptè nexeque sunt cum illa sanctissimo vinculo colligatae atque implicitae sunt That is Faith containeth all religion and pietie for all vertues are by Faith consorted and connexed together and with it are bound and intwined in a most holy knot But yet I dare not warrant the Reader that he shal finde these words in Osorius from henceforth seeing in the Index at Madrid these very words are commanded to passe the flames of their Index expurgatorius And in the second booke hee saith Ergo cum Fides totum animum regat in Verbi diuini studium rapiat consequens necessariò est vt non cernatur solum in credendo sed etiam in obediendo Therefore seeing Faith doth gouerne the whole soule and drawe it to the study and loue of Gods Word it followeth necessarily that it is seene not onely in beleeuing but also in obeying But these words also vndergoe the same doome with the former Yea why should Pontificians make it so strange that Faith should haue all other graces inseparably coupled with it seeing that euen their Doctors Aristotle and Cicero doe teach that all morall vertues are conioyned and combined in one and he that hath one hath all and that Iustitia est omnis virtus Iustice is euery vertue It is a maruaile that they haue escaped Purgatory seeing that not euen Gratian himselfe hath had the grace to be fauoured of them his Glosse but bordering vpon Tullies Offices for where he saith Sed quomodo possum habere talem Fidem that is to remoue mountaines non charitatem cum qui habeat vnam virtutem habeat omnes Nonpossem quidem nisi miraculosè that is But how can I haue such a Faith to remoue mountaines and not charity sith hee that hath one vertue hath all I could not haue it but miraculously All these words must out as yee may see in Collat. censurae in Gloss. iuris canon num 84. His excellent Maiesty also in his peerlesse Paraphrase of the Reuelation Chapt. 20. saith That God by Faith onely iustifieth man which not withstanding is done according to his workes because they as the fruits of Faith cannot be separated from it and bear witnesse of the same to men in the earth S. Augustine saith Quid est ergo credere in eum credendo amare credendo diligere credendo in eumâ—re eius membris incorporari What is it then to beleeue in him by beleeuing to loue him by beleeuing to affect him by beleeuing to goe into him and to be incorporated into his members Paulus Fidem quae per dilectionem operatur approbat atque commendat quae vtique sine spe esse non potest proinde nec amor sine spe est nec sine amore spes neque vtrumque sine Fide Paul approueth and commendeth that Faith which worketh by loue which cannot bee without hope therefore neyther is loue without hope nor hope without loue nor both without Faith And vpon the 139. Psalme hee saith Fides sic est in anima vt radix bona quae pluviam in fructum ducit Faith is in the soule as a good roote which bringeth the raine into the fruit And St. Chrysostome saith Fides est Religionis sanctissimae fundamentum charitatis vinculum amoris subsidium Haec sanctitatem firmat caestitatem roberat gubernat sexus gradus prouehit officia cuncta custodit Fides mandaeta tenet praecepta seruat promissae consummat Faith is the foundation of the most holy Religion the bond of charity the supply of loue It confirmes sanctity it strengthens chastity it gouernes all sexes it promotes all degrees it obserueth all offices Faith keepeth the commandements practiseth the precepts accomplisheth the promises And much more to this purpose according to his golden elegancy Ambrose also saith there are in Faith great prerogatiues and dignities What bee they Piety Iustice Sobriety Charity Discipline or good Gouernment And in a word St. Augustine saith In ipsa Fide sunt omnia opera quae diligit Deus in Faith it selfe are all those works which God loueth Thus Faith being in the heart as in the proper subiect of inherency and so consequently in the whole soule and euery faculty thereof as the life and soule of the soule animating euery power and property of it it followeth that as morall iustice is euery morall vertue as the Philosopher speaketh so iustifying Faith which is reckoned for righteousnesse is euery grace and holy vertue as being the liuing roote and holy seede sustaining quickening supplying sanctifying all other graces which are as so many fruits growing vpon this Tree of life as Reuel 22. 2. holy Faith being the foundation whereon all graces are built the ground whereon they grow Hence they haue all their rise motion yea their formall and essentiall goodnesse For whatsoeuer is not of Faith is sinne If we hope not from Faith if we loue not from Faith if we be not patient because wee beleeue and so in the rest Hope Loue Patience and the rest are so many sins For as Faith is the ground or foundation of things hoped for so of things loued of things suffered and the rest And why may not so many habits of grace grow vpon the same roote and stemme of Faith as so many distinct fruits vpon the same Tree of life Yea the Apostle elsewhere also tels vs that from Faith doe spring not onely peace of conscience towards God but accesse vnto all grace reioycing vnder hope of the glory of God Patience Hope Loue c. Thus it is euident by the authority of the holy Scriptures and by the testimonies of ancient Fathers that sauing and iustifying Faith is not a Faith common with Deuils and Reprobates as being in nature and kinde a dead Faith but it is proper and peculiar onely to the Saints and Elect as being a holy and liuing Faith which receiueth not life from any infusion of charity into it but is a liuing roote from whence doe spring and wherein do liue all holy graces as Charity Hope Patience Meeknesse c. That this is called also the Catholicke Faith not because it is common to good and bad or because it hath for the generall obiect of it the Word of God as it is a true History containing things done and to be done whether they be acts precepts threatnings or promises one with another but because it is the Catholicke Faith of the Elect from in and to all ages past present and to come whose generall obiect though it be the whole Word of God
ex eis The number of them that are predestinate vnto the Kingdome of God is so certaine that neyther any can bee added vnto them nor diminished of them This is according to the truth of God 2. Tim. 2. 19. The foundation of God stands sure hauing this seale The Lord knoweth who are his If the Lord know who are his hee knoweth how many are his and if how many there is a certaine number of them else the Lords knowledge were vncertaine Christ saith also I know mine and am knowne of mine yea he calleth his owne sheepe by name Christ knoweth the certaine number of sheepe that belong vnto his fold And their names are inrolled in Heauen Heb. 12. 23. And Christ saith few are chosen in comparison of the residue And Pauperis est numerare pecus Christ the Shepheard can easily number his little flocke Yea hee that numbereth our haires doth he not number the persons of his elect Therefore the seruants of God are sealed in their fore-heads and the number of them is set downe of all the Tribes of Israel Reuel 7. Indeed in the 9. Verse a great multitude did Iohn see which no Man could number But they are certaine with God So the number of Gods elect is certaine as certaine to God as the number of the Starres of Heauen which God calleth all by their names So great is the Lord so great his power and his vnderstanding infinite Obiect But it may be obiected that election appertaineth to all indifferently as being left to euery ones choice For the Scripture saith that God would haue all men to be saued as 1. Tim. 2 4 and Rom 11. 33. God hath shut vp all in vnbeliefe that hee might haue mercy vpon all But these places proue not that Gods election belongeth to all for then the Scripture should bee opposite to it selfe which saith elsewhere That few are chosen But as St. Augustine well noteth this All is simply meant of all the Elect. As he saith Omnes homines vult saluos fieri vt intelligantur omnes praedestinati quia omne genus hominum in eis est sicut dictum est Pharisaeis Decimatis omne olus Luc. 11 42. vbi non intelligendum est nisi omne quod habebant that is God would haue all men to bee saued meaning all the predestinate because in them is all sorts of men as it was said to the Pharisees Yee tithe all kinde of herbes where we are not to vnderstand but all that they had As also St. Ambrose saith Quamuis magna pers hominum Saluantis gratiam repellat aut negligat in electis tamen prescitis atque ab Omnium generalitate discretis specialis quaedam censetur vniuersitas Pro parte mundi totus mundus pro parte hominum omnes homines nominantur Although a great part of men reiect or neglect the grace of the Sauiour yet a certaine speciall vniuersality is accounted in those that are elect and fore-knowne and separated from the generality of All. For a part of the world the whole world and for a part of men all men are named Next this certaine number is elected out of the corrupt masse of mankinde all corrupt in Adams loynes after his fall Therefore the elect are called vessels of mercy and mercy implyes misery Hence the Apostle very aptly compares the corrupt masse of mankinde to a lumpe of Potters clay and clay is nothing but dirt Also an example of Gods election we haue in Iacob and Esau in the same place Rom. 9 which two are set out as types of all mankinde Iacob of the Elect and Esau of the Reprobate Now to what time or condition had Gods act or purpose of separating these two one from the other speciall reference Namely while they were yet vnborne and before they had done good or euill that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of workes but of him that calleth it was said vnto her The elder shall serue the younger Iacob haue I loued but Esau haue I hated So that God did in his eternall purpose elect Iacob and reiect Esau in their Mothers wombe before they had actually done good or euill but not before they had both of them alike contracted the corruption of originall sinne in their Mothers wombe Hence it is that presently after mans fall Gen. 3. the Lord God first reuealeth the mysterie of his will in his eternall purpose towards mankinde in putting an enmity betweene the Serpents seed and the Womans seed both Angels and Men. The Serpents seede are the Reprobate a generation of Vipers of their Father the Deuill The Womans seede there are the Elect first Christ and in him all the Elect who are blessed in him and who with Christ are at continuall enmity with the Serpent and his seede Michael and his Angels fighting against the Dragon and his Angels the bond-womans sonne persecuting the free-womans sonne in an allegory Gal. 4. Thus Gods election had a speciall reference to the corrupt masse out of which he chose vs to saluation So Ezech. 16. Abraham the Father of the faithfull for his natiuity and birth was an idolatrous Amorite Ierusalem the type of Gods Elect was chosen in her bloud ver 5. as the Lord saith None eye pitied thee but thou wast cast out in the open field to the loathing of thy person in the day that thou wast borne and when I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine owne bloud I said vnto thee when thou wast in thy bloud Liue yea I said vnto thee when thou wast in thy bloud Liue. Now this election of God in choosing out of the corrupt masse and lumpe of mankinde such as shall be saued doth necessarily imply that this election is of his free grace as is expressed in the definition which is a point worthy our speciall consideration although indeed this free grace of God is the very life-bloud as it were which runneth through the whole body and filleth euery veine of the definition It is called an election of grace Rom. 11. 5. To this grace it is that the Apostle rauished with the admiration of Gods incomprehensible loue breaking forth into a gratefull acclamation and benediction of God for it as if now hee had but newly come forth or were still in his rapture in the third Heauen referreth and ascribeth the whole worke of our saluation To the praise of the glory of his grace saith he wherein he hath made vs accepted in the Beloued Ephes. 1. 6. And in the seuenth Verse In whom we haue redemption through his bloud the forgiuenesse of sinnes according to the riches of his grace And Chapt. 2. 4. c. God who is rich in mercy for his great loue wherewith hee loued vs euen when we were dead in sinnes hath quickned vs together with Christ by grace ye are saued and hath raised vs vp together c. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindnesse towards vs through Christ Iesus What greater loue what greater grace what richer mercy than for God to cast his eye of fauour vpon vs euen when we were dead in sinnes As the Apostle saith also Rom. 5. 8. God commendeth his loue towards vs in that while we were yet sinners when we were enemies Christ dyed for vs. And in the vulgar Latine set forth by the Diuines of Louain printed at Antwerpe 1584. in the fourth to the Romanes Verse 5. wee finde these words in the Text Ei verò qui non operatur credenti autem in eum qui iustificat impium reputatur fides eius ad iustitiam secundum propositum gratiae Dei Now to him that worketh not but beleeueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is reckoned for righteousness according to the purpose of the grace of God Now these last words are not in our vulgar translations nor in most Greeke Copies but the Louain Doctors haue noted in the margent that they are found in some Manuscripts and Greeke Copies And it were to be wished that they had added no worse than this into that their translation for it is but that which is the generall Doctrine of the Gospell of Christ. For the preaching of the Gospel what is it but a beame of this grace of God shining vpon sinners as Tit. 2. 11. The grace of God that bringeth saluation hath appeared vnto all men And the Gospel is the Gospel of the grace of God Act. 20. 24. And the Word of God is the word of his grace vers 32. And Acts 14. 3. Yea we finde the very same words in the Apostle 2. Tim. 1. 9. Who hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but marke according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen vs in Christ Iesus before the world began but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Sauiour Iesus Christ c. So that the ground of our saluation by Iesus Christ is the meere grace of God by this grace we are saued by this grace we come to inherit eternall life for eternall life is of the grace of God it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the free gift of his grace And wee are heires of the grace of life 1. Pet. 3. 7. The Apostle Paul was so in loue with this grace that all his Epistles are perfumed throughout as it were with this precious oyntment Hee nameth it not so little as a hundreth times The salutation of each Epistle hath grace in it yea the Apostle sets it as his marke at the end of euery Epistle and would haue all his Epistles knowne by that marke to bee his As hee saith 2. Thes. 3. 17. 18. The salutation of Paul with mine owne hand which is the token in euery Epistle so I write The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ bee with you all So that besides other probable arguments I finding this marke at the end of the Epistle to the Hebrewes I conclude it to bee Pauls Epistle No one Apostle ends his Epistle with the prayer and wishing of grace but onely Paul Indeede the Reuelation endeth so The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with you all Amen Thus Gods gracious eternall purpose in electing to saluation such as in his speciall fauour hee was pleased to foreknow being the prime and originall cause whereon depends the whole frame of our effectuall saluation it teacheth vs a maine difference between the first Couenant and the second The first Couenant was made with the first Adam in Paradise which indeed did meerly depend vpon mans will to keep it or to break it Doe this and thou shalt liue This was that first Couenant which Man failing to keep so forfeiting his estate God now makes a second Couenant in the second Adam which he will not as he did in the first hazzard vpon mans will or ability in the keeping of it Gods wisdome well weighing that if Adam in his perfection so easily and quickly brake the first Couenant though hee had both will and power to keepe it how much more man now corrupt and weake would neuer bee able to keepe the second Couenant And therefore to make sure worke God takes a contrary course in the second Couenant which that it may for euer stand firme and immutable hee hath established it vpon the sure foundation of his owne good pleasure and will wherein is no shadow of change Well the conclusion is Gods free grace and fauour is the ground of our election it is the foundation whereon depends our whole saluation wee are elected wee are saued all by grace according to his purpose and grace This grace of God the Pontifician Church cannot away withall as being an enemy to all their Doctrine And therfore the Councell of Trent hath excluded yea and condemned the grace of God as the sole efficient cause of saluation for Ses. 6. Can. 11. the words be Si quis dixerit c. gratiam qua iustificamur esse tantum fauorem Dei anathema sit that is If any shall say that the grace whereby we are iustified is onely the fauour of God let him be Anathema or accursed If Romes Curse were of force then wofull were the case of St. Paul that doth so often mightily magnifie the grace of God in our iustification yea the only grace and fauour of God excluding workes as not hauing the least share with Gods grace therein Nay the whole Word of God which is the Word of his grace and the Gospell of his grace must fall vnder Romes Curse Howsoeuer the equiuocating Romanists would foyst and shuffle in their workes by the name of grace by which indeed they destroy and ouerthrow the grace of God Obiect But say some It is sufficient that wee grant that Gods grace doth manifest it selfe in prouiding for vs and offering vnto vs meanes whereby we may be saued without which meanes because we cannot be saued therefore we are said to be saued by the grace of God Answ. Is that sufficient O enemies of the grace of God and of your owne saluation Will you so limit Gods grace Will ye so eclipse the glory of his grace as to confine it within such narrow bounds Indeede great and infinitely great was Gods loue in so louing the world that he gaue his only begotten Sonne that all that beleeue in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting But did his gift depend vpon mans acceptance that it might be effectuall if man would otherwise not Then as Esay saith Who hath beleeued our report Had not then this great loue of God beene vtterly lost Had not this gift beene such as no man would receiue it For what saith the Scripture All haue sinned and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 come short of the glory of God The naturall man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perceiueth not receiueth not this gift it is farre aboue out of his
super Cant. ser. 71. Ioh. 15. 5. Phil. 2. 13. Esa. 10. 15. Esa. 26. 1â— 2. Sam. 9. 2. Sam. 19. Hâ—â—ace Pro. 20. 6. Gal. 2. 20. 1. Cor. 12. 12. Psal. 133 Ephes. 5. 1 Cor. 6. 17. Psal. 104. Psal. 145. Ephes. 2. 20. 21. 22. Iohn 15. 4. 5. Rom 11. 24. Ephes. 5. 25. Ephes. 4. 15. 16. Reuel 1. 6. Vega l 10. de inaequal grat gloriae iustorune cap. 8. The title whereof is De pulcherrima via concilian di Paulum cum Iacobo quae nobis ex doctrine sancta Synodi illuxit Of the most beautiful way of reconciling Paul with Iames which was intimated vnto vs from the holy doctrine of the Synod Greg. in 7 Psal. poenit in Psa. 51 If it be not a misprinting See the Index printed at Madrid by publick authority Ann. 160â— See also Doctor Iames of Popish corruptions of the Fathers Iames 2. 21. See Deut. 6. 25 the Geneua translation amisse See the vulgar Latine pro Eritque iustitia nostra Erit nostri misericors si custod * In the Pontifician sense Conferre here the term Law opposed to Faith not the Ceremoniall Law to Moral Obiect Luke 1. 74. Exod. 15. 25. Psal. 149. Luke 18. Aug. de peccatorum merit is remissâ—l 2. c. 5 Aug. de verbis Domini ser. 36. Aug. de vtilit necess poenit hom 50. Ambros. in Psal. 118. serm 3. Colos. 2. 19. Matth. 18. â—sa 43. 11. Iob 9 â— Amâ—r de vocat Gent. lib. 1. ca. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Esa. 1. 22. Ier. 6. 30. Rom. 4. 5. Aug. â—onâ—es lib. 10. cap. 2. â— Cor. 1. 30. Arist. polit lib. 2 cap. 8. Tertul. aduers. Hermog lib. Rom. 10. 1. Esa. 43. 11. Stella in Luc. cap. 4. Rom. 11. 6. Concil Trid. Ses. 6. cap. 8. Dan. 2. 33. Rom 6. 1. 2. Baron an 1076 n. 33. Baron an 1074 n. 7. Mat 23. 13. Iob 31. 5. Ambros. in Psalme 43. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Canaan which is as much as to shew grace fauour or mercie Ambros. ibid. Ambros. in epist. ad Hebr. cap. 4. Ambr. in Rom. 9 Ambr. de Iacob vita beata lib. 2. cap. 2. Ambr. in Apol. Dauid Ambros. in Rom. cap. 11. Note 1. Cor. 14. 4. Phil. 3. 9. Possidonius in the beginning of St. Augustines workes See Chemmtius his Examen of iustification * The like speech did venerable Bede vtter at his death saying to his friends I haue so liued among you that I am not ashamed of my life neither feare I to dye because I haue almost gracious Redeemer Remaines Guil. Abbas in vita Bern. lib. 1. cap. 13. Elreidus Riuallensis Remaines Heb. 12. 29. Esay 33. 14. Iames 2. 10. Gal. 3. 10. Esay 29 13. Mat. 7. 22. Bellarm. de iustif l. 5. c. 7. 〈…〉 Greg. Moral l. 35. c. 26. Luther l. artic art 35. Sixtus Sene. bibl sact l. 5. annot 45. Greg. Moral lib. 9 cap. 24. Gasper Contarenus lib. de iustif 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 32. Mat. 23. 13. Gen. 26. 15. Ier. 2. 13. Ioseph de Antiquit Iud. lib. 13. cap. 17. Iohn 4. 21. 23. Esa. 12. 3. Esa. 30. 14. Mat. 9. 22. Iohn 9. Dom. Soto de nat grat â— 2. c. 5. Concil Trid. Sess. 6. c. 15. can 28. * Note the sugar-tongued serpent prâ—faning Scripture by an hypocriticall mis-applying it to others when it directly taxeth seducing Pontificians themselues Vega de mortal verial peccat l. 1. c. 14. Soto de nat grat l. 2. c. 7. Concil Trid. Sess. 6. can 28. Soto de nat grat l. 2. c. 7. Soto ibid. Vega de iustif grat c. qu. 1. Ibid. qu. 2. rat 1. * His meaning is by grace inherent as hope loue c. â—erodot lib. 1. Ibid. quaest â— Acts 26. Esay 47. 10. Vega de iustif grat c. q. 1 propos 5. This beeing that faith which some nâ—uelists call Euangelicall faith which they distinguish in kinde from faith in Christ. Aqu 2. 2. qu. 4. 4. qu. 19. 5. 1. The vanity of the distinction of faith formed and vnformed Leo serm 14. in Natiuit Leo ibid. serm 10. Aug. de peccat merit remis lib. 2 cap. 29. Aug. de nat grat lib. contra Pelag cap 44. 2. Pet. 1. 1. Greg. Moral lib. 16. cap. 13. Greg. super Ezech lib. 2. hom 17. Aug. contr duas Epist. Pelag. ad Bonific l. 3. Obiects Greg. dialog l. 4. c. 2. Fulgent de incarnat grat Dom. nostri Iesis Christi c. 22. Aug. l. 50. homiliarum hom 17. Ibid. Origenin Leuit. c. 3. hom 3. 2 Pet. 1. 1. Chrys. in Rom cap. 3 serm 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. in Iohan cap. 3. S. Basil. dicit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Basil. regul contract definit 80. A comparison Aug. tract 29. in Iohan. Obiection Answ. Soto de nat grat l. 2. 6. 7. Concil Trid. Sess. 6. c. 6. Soto ibid. 1. Ioh. 3. 3. Rom. 4. 13. Marke 1. 15. Aug. Enchirid. cap. 5. a Chrysost. in Genes cap. 15. hom 36. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. in Rom. cap. 10. hom 17. Ambrose in Epist. ad Galat. cap. 3. Soto de nat grat l 2. c. 7. Designatur subiectum fidei esse intellectiuam potentiam c. Enchirid. Concil Colon. Prouincial de sacramento poenitentiae pag. 87. Printed at Paris 1554. Bellar. de iustif lib. 1. cap. 7. The subiect of sauing faith Recordari à Corde dicitur Rom. 11. 18. Rom. 11. 16. Bern. de ordine vitae lib. Heb. 11. 6. Aug. de cognit verae vitae c. 37. Aug. in Iohan. tract 45. ex cap. 11. Iohn 17. 3. Aug. in Iohan. tract 29. Aug. de verbis Apostoli ser. 33. Aug. contra duas Epist. Pelagio ad Bonifac l. 1. c. 3. Bern. flores de fide Hieror Osorius de iustitia l. 1. Ibid. lib. 2. Grat. de consecrat distinct 4. Gloss. * Cap. vlt. Aug. de verbis Apost serm 33. â—om 10. Aug. Enchir. c. 8 Aug. in Psa. 139 Praesatio Chrysost. de fide Abrabae serm Ambros. in Psal. 118. serm 22. Aug. in Psal. 32. Euang. Rom. 5. 1. c. Concil Trid. Sess. 6. cap. 15. 1. Sam. 19. Rom 1. 28. 29. Bern. serm ad Pastores Aug in Epist. Iohan. tract 10. Aug. in Psal. 56. Aug. Epist. 23. Bonifacio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrylost in Epist ad Colos. 1. Chrysost. ad populum Antioch homil 21. Iohn 3. 16. Greg. in Euang. homil 29. tom 2 Ambros. de incarnationis Domini sacramento lib. cap 1. Bellar de libero arbit l. 1. c. 6. Bellar in his fift generall controuersie lib. 2. cap. 31. Et maior Catech Nowell desinitur fides sic This the Church of Engl. doctrine Soto de nat grat l. 2. c. 7. Vega lib. 13. de lapsis eorum reparatione c. 31. Soto ibid. Concil Trid. Sess. 6. cap. 6. ibid. Can. 14 Vega lib. 6. de praepar
the earth of the light of the world they may strongly support thy true Religion season and lighten those places which are dark and vnsauory and all for want of faithfull Ministers thus shall they highly magnifie their office and discharge their stewardship by prouiding and sending painfull labourers into euery corner of thy field Inspire and inflame them Lord with that zeale of thine own wherewith thou didst purge thy Temple from profane merchandize that so they may with the whip-cords of sound Doctrine and wholesome Discipline chase out of thy Church all Heresie and Idolatry Why should the world O Lord complaine and cry Where is the spirit of those ancient Bishops and Martyrs and learned Champions of thy truth as of Cranmer Ridley Latimer Hooper Bucer Peter Martyr Iewel and other faithfull witnesses whose eyther bloud hath beene the seed or preaching and writing the watering of this thy noble Vineyard O keepe farre from vs the spirit of cowardise and lukewarmnesse of ambition and loue of the world lest these infeebling and infatuating our soules wee should proue a generation of peruerse and foolish children pulling downe what our religious fore-fathers with such care and paines mature iudgement and sound knowledge in the truth haue built Stirre vp O Lord the noble hearts of the two honourable Chancellors of our Vniuersities that with the ayde of soueraigne authority they may zealously set themselues to preserue those Fountaines and Nurceries from the mudde of Heresie and the bitter root of Impiety Infuse the spirit of courage zeale vprightnesse and hatred of couetousnesse in aboundance vpon all the reuerend Iudges and Iustices of the Land that they may duely execute the Lawes by freeing the poor innocent from the potent oppressor by cutting downe sinne and cutting off the traiterous ring-leaders to Idolatry Thus thy Church being purged Iustice executed Religion maintained sinne reformed our Couenant with thee renewed our vowes of better obedience and thankfulnesse performed and we through thy merits reconciled to thy Father of mercies thou the great Captaine and Lord of Hosts mayst againe take thy peoples part turne the edge of thy Sword against thine enemies and fill our mouthes with a new song of praise thanksgiuing to thee which sittest vpon the Throne with the Father and the Holy Ghost God blessed for euer Amen The Preface to the Reader CHristian Reader loe here the two great mysteries laid open the one of Godlinesse the summe whereof is Christ beleeued on in the World the other of Iniquity the head whereof is Antichrist beleeued on of the World Two Mysteries incompatible as light and darknesse They are the two bounders disterminating Ierusalem from Babylon This Mysterie of iniquity I meane the Romish doctrine of Iustification is the head-doctrine or source whence all their meritorious satisfactions doe flow And Bellarmine with other Pontificians confesseth Iustification to bee the maine Cardo or hinge whereon hangeth the whole body of controuersies betweene them and the Pretestants Nor was it for nothing that the Councell of Trent so improued all their skill and strength to oppose and oppresse the true Catholicke doctrine of Iustification as whereby the Papall magnificence and the gaine of the Romish Craftsmen for their Diana was endangered So that this their Abortiue was a hatching for seuen moneths so long was this Babylonish Ramme wherewith they would force heauen gates a hammering in the Trent-forge so as the History noteth that the most expert in the Church affirmed That if all the Councels assembled from the Apostles times to that were summed vp together they could not make vp so many Articles as the Trent-Fathers had amassed together in this one sixt Session of that Synod the best part whereof also they were beholden to Aristotle for And no maruaile they were so puzzled for they were to encounter sundry difficulties as first the euidence of Scriptures secondly the concent of ancient Fathers thirdly the powerfull preaching and writings of Luther fourthly the dissent of their Schoolemen and fiftly the diuision of the Councell it selfe some being Thomists some Scotists some Dominicans some Franciscans To satisfie and reconcile all which was more than an Herculean labour But what could be difficult to the Papall Omnipotencie who could send his holy Ghost post from Rome to Trent in a Cloake-bagge which loosed all knots and decided all doubts Nor had the Pope wanting in that Councell the most pregnant wits in the Pontifician world besides a numerous multitude of new titular Bishops as titular for learning as liuing to lay on load of down right voyces to conclude and ratifie whatsoeuer the Pope with his Cardinals in their Conclaue at Rome and his dextrous instruments in the Councell had with no lesse sweat than artifice contriued For the first maine obstacle the euidence of Scripture they are faine to collogue and speake it faire and borrow from it certaine broad Phylacteries wouen with Scripture phrases wherewith the Babylonish Whore partly decks her shamelesse forehead and partly adornes the cobwebbe Robe of her counterfeit selfe-Iustification as Coelestis Pater Iesus Christ the Sun of righteousnesse the author and finisher of our faith The Father of mercies and God of all consolation sent his sonne to redeeme Iewes and Gentiles and that all might receiue adoption of sonnes Him hath God sent forth to be a propitiation for our sinnes in his bloud for this Redemption we ought to giue thanks And ch 7. The Meritorious cause of our Iustification is our Lord Iesus Christ c. O holy Councell Will any suspect the Serpent to lurke vnder such flowers of Paradise Or that they goe about to betray Christ with Hayle Master But in this their profound hypocrisie lyeth the whole Mysterie of Iniquity Si tamen hypocrisis dici debet quae iam latere prae abundantia non valet prae impudentiâ non quaerit as Bernard saith of Romes Clergy in his time If that may be called hypocrisie which neither for the abundancy of it can nor for the impudencie of it cares to conceale it selfe Thus by egregious hypocrisie Arrius deluded the Councell of Nice confessing Christ to be God of God yet denyed his consubstantiality with the Father Thus the second Councell of Nice summoned to decree the erection and veneration of Images makes a goodly Preface giuing thankes to God that they were deliuered from Idols Thus Augustine confesseth how he was seduced by the Manichaean hypocrisie Thus dealeth the Trent Councell And besides her hypocrisie her impudencie displayes it selfe while in this Councell Rome alters the Rule of Faith addes her Traditions Decretals and Canons as a party and equall rule with Scripture guelds the Scriptures of their masculine authoritie and genuine sense closing vp all in the Cabinet of the Popes breast where lodgeth his Infallibilitie And thus the sacred Scriptures which till that Idolatrous Councell of Trent were held the sole and entire Catholicke Canon and rule of Faith must now draw in
appeale to the originall as Vega doth here For indeede the Latine vulgar addeth in the foresaid place of the Apostle Rom. 3. 22. In eum saying Iustitia antem Dei per fidem Iesu Christi in omnes super omnes qui credunt in eum The righteousnesse of God by Faith in Iesus Christ vnto all and vpon all that beleeue in him But note the spirit of the Trent Councell cannot endure to say or heare Credere in Christum to beleeue in Christ. Vega here disclaimes it as not found in the Greeke though the Apostle doth vse this Phrase in the very same Epistle to the Romanes at the least fiue times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to beleeue in him And in the one Gospell of S. Iohn this phrase to beleeue in eum in him is vsed aboue thirty times yet the Councell of Trent in her whole sixt session of iustification doth not so much as once name credere in eum to beleeue in him which may make a man suspect there is something in this phrase which will not agree with the Councels stomacke But for as much as we touched a little before how that Vega attributeth our vnion with Christ to Faith vnformed and that the Councell saith that not faith alone without hope and charity doth eyther perfectly vnite to Christ or make one a liuing member of his bodie to reconcile these two we may easily see how that neyther the Councell doth altogether exclude Faith alone from vniting with Christ sauing that alone it doth not perfectly vnite nor make a liuing member but yet a dead member of Christ as they say nor Vega so admit of faith vnformed to incorporate vs into Christ saue that it doth it imperfectly and makes men only not liuing members So that in this worke of vnion Vega makes this difference betweene Faith formed and vnformed that the vnformed procureth the holy Ghost and righteousnesse and causeth Christ to dwell in vs and faith formed with charity causeth both Christ and the holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts and the Kingdome of heauen to bee within vs. But extricating our selues out of these Romane perplexities and serpentine windings wee may easily see how the Scriptures ascribe our vnion with Christ vnto faith euen by that vsuall phrase of Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Credere in eum to beleeue in him or rather as the phrase importeth to beleeue into him A phrase which the Pontificians doe so much abhorre but such as Augustine doth set forth our vnion with Christ by as we see in that very place alledged out of him by Vega Credere in Christum est credendo in eum ire eiu4 membris incorporari to beleeue in Christ is by beleeuing to go into him to be incorporated into his members And again Hoc est credere in Deum credendo ei adhaerere This is to beleeue in God by beleeuing to adhere or cleaue vnto him As that reuolting generation of Ephraim credidit Deo sed non credidit in Deum non ex fide adhaesit Deo Ephraim beleeued God but did not beleeue in God did not by faith cleaue vnto God And De verbis Domini he saith Qui in Christum credit credendo in Christum veniet in eum Christus quoquo modo vnitur in eum membrum in corpore eius efficitur Hee that beleeueth in Christ by beleeuing in Christ Christ will come into him and he is altogether vnited vnto him or rather in eum into him and is made a member in his body But note here a maine difference betweene St. Augustines sincerity and the Councell of Trents double dealing equiuocation For Augustine in the same place before mentioned saith that this faith which vniteth vs to Christ and Christ to vs hath euer hope and loue inseparably ioyned with it else it is not that faith Quae credit in Christum which beleeueth in Christ or into Christ His words are I lle credit in Christum qui sperat in Christum diligit Christum Nam si fidem habet sine spe aâ— sine dilectione Christum esse credit non in Christum credit Hee beleeueth in Christ who also hopeth in Christ and loueth Christ For if bee haue faith without hope and without loue hee beleeueth that Christ is but beleeueth not in Christ. Yet we see that this holy man ascribeth our vnion with Christ to the act of beleeuing which is the prime property of faith and not to the acts of hoping and louing which are the secondary qualities of it Euen as the act of burning is attributed to the heate of the fire the prime quality of it and not to the light nor to the drinesse of it which are secondary qualities of the fire So that as the fire hath heate hath light hath drieth all of them ioynt qualities in the fire yet it vniteth the combustible matter vnto it selfe or incorporateth it selfe into it not by reason either of the light or of the drieth of it but onely by the heate the prime property of the fire So faith hath beleeuing hath hope hath loue all of them inseparably ioyned vnto faith yet faith vnites the obiect Christ vnto it or vnto the soule not by the vertue of hope and loue but by its most proper act of beleeuing As the same Augustine saith Medicina animae omnium vulnerum vna propitiatio pro delictis hominum est in Christum credere Nec omnino quisquam mundari potest siue ab originali peccato siue ab actuali nisi per fidem coadâ—nentur compaginentur corpori eius qui sine vlla illaecebra carnali conceptus est peccatum non fecit nec inuentus est dolus in ore eius c. The medicine of all the wounds of the soule and the only propitiation for mens sinnes is to beleeue in Christ. Neither can any man be cleansed either from originall or from actuall sinne vnlesse they be by faith vnited and ioynted into the body of him who without any carnall lust was conceiued and did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth But the Trent Councell with her Pontificians will haue hope and loue so ioyned with faith in working our vnion with Christ as indeede they attribute a greater part of this worke to hope and loue than to faith which is all one as to say the fire doth more burne by vertue of his light and drieth than of his heate which is most absurd Further the Apostle sheweth this vnion by faith Ephes. 3. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith Now this dwelling is reciprocall and mutuall for as Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith so wee dwell in him by faith and so by faith are made one with Christ. Againe Rom. 11. 19. 20. Thou wilt say then the branches were broken off that I might bee graffed in Well because of their vnbeleefe they were broken off and thou standest by faith And againe ver 23. If the
as vnto euery faithfull receiuer wheresoeuer the visible signe is administred the inuisible grace signified is together exhibited by vertue of the Sacramentall vnion hauing dependance on Christs promise and reference to the condition of faith in the Communicant So such is the vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer that wheresoeuer faith is there also is Christ with all his graces present to the beleeuer for hee dwels in our hearts by faith Ephes. 3. 17. Fourthly this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer is not naturall or natiue as Bernard cals it as that betweene the soule and the body in man because the one of them may be separated from the other by death but Christ and the beleeuer are neuer separated no not in death for to me to liue is Christ and to dye is gaine Phil. 1. 21. For who shall separate vs from the loue of Christ Rom. 8. 35. vers 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life c. shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. But herein they agree as the body hath no life but from the soule so the soule of euery faithfull man hath no life but in and from Christ as the Apostle saith Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ Neuerthelesse I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in mee and the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who loued mee and gaue himselfe for me And as the soule and the body make one naturall man so Christ and the beleeuer make one spirituall and mysticall Christ and all beleeuers both of Iewes and Gentiles are made one new man not naturall but supernaturall in him Ephes. 2. 15. Fiftly this vnion between Christ and the beleeuer is not â—n artificiall vnion as that betweene the hand and the instrument of the Artificer for the instrument is subiect to wearing to breaking and at length to casting away when there is no more vse of it but we are so in the hand of Christ as we are preserued for euer as Ioh. 10. 28. I giue vnto them eternall life and they shall neuer perish neither shall any man plucke them out of my hand yet herein it agreeth that as the instrument can do nothing of it selfe not moue not work without the hand of the Artificer so we can do no good thing without the hand of Christ mouing and directing vs as himselfe saith Without mee ye can doe nothing for hee worketh in vs both to will and to worke of his good pleasure That as the Hatchet may not exalt it selfe against him that heweth with it but yeelds the praise of the worke to his workeman so saith euery faithfull soule as Esa. 26. 12. Lord thou wilt ordaine peace for vs for thou also hast wrought all our workes in vs or for vs. Sixtly this vnion betwixt Christ and euery beleeuer is not an accidentall vnion as betweene a man and learning whereby he becomes a learned man for an accident may be both present and absent without the destruction of the subiect as a man may be learned or vnlearned he may get learning and lose it againe and be a man still but the learning of the holy Ghost wherewith all the faithfull are inspired cannot be missing without destruction to the soule He is no faithfull man that wanteth the knowledge of God in Christ whom to know is eternall life and not to know is eternall death for all the faithfull are taught of God as Ier. 31. 33. 34. verses Yet herein doth our vnion with Christ resemble the accidentall vnion because as no man is borne learned or borne a Philosopher but is made so by education and instruction so no man is borne by nature the childe of God the scholar of Christ but in time becomes a Christian Philosopher by the instruction of the Word of God and the inspiration of the Spirit of God whereby hee is made a faithfull man and a Disciple of Christ. Seuenthly this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer is not a morall vnion such as is between friends which though it be founded at the best vpon vertue yet it is no lesse mortall than it is morall for if the friendship dye not before the friend dye yet death makes a separation as Dauid lamented the death of his louing friend Ionathan the memory of whom lasted for a while in Dauids kinde vsage of Mephibosheth Ionathans sonne but it soone cooled vpon a small occasion of Mephibosheths false seruant Ziba who by belying his master to Dauid got halfe his masters inheritance from him when himselfe deserued rather to haue beene punished for wronging his master than so rewarded for his dissembling officiousnesse in bringing a present to Dauid of his masters store So friendship is very mortall it dyes often in a mans life time or seldome suruiues death And therefore the Poet said well Foelices ter amplius Quos irrupta tenet copula Nec malis dâ—â—ulsus querimonijs Suprema citiùs soluet amor die O happy and thrice happy they Whom loues knot holds inuiolate Nor loosened till lifes last day By back-complaints begetting hate But the vnion betweene Christ and his faithfull ones though it be somewhat like that betweene morall friends but mortall men as being betweene Christ and his friends as he calleth his faithfull Ioh. 15. 15. I haue called you friends c. yet this friendship between Christ and his excelleth all other friendship The Philosophers could say Amicus est alter idem A friend is another selfe And Animus est non vbi animat sed vbi amat The soule is not where it liueth but where it loueth And Amicorum omnia sunt communia Betweene friends all things are common Now these in comparison as they are in practice amongst men are but in a manner meere sayings nominals rather than realls For as Salomon saith Most men will proclaime euery one his own goodnes but a faithfull man who can find Salomon found one among a thousand which I thinke was the Prophet that told him freely of his folly Such friends few can finde especially such as Salomon was But now whatsoeuer can be spoken in praise of friendship is really true betweene Christ and the beleeuer his faithfull man for they are so mutually each of them alter idem another selfe as that they are indeed oneselfe Their soules and spirits are so interchangeably in each other as the spirit of Christ doth really liue in vs and our soules doe liue in him Wee are in the Spirit and the Spirit of Christ in vs Rom. 8. 9. And Now I liue saith the Apostle yet not I but Christ liueth in mee and the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who loued mee and gaue himselfe for mee Here is true loue indeede where the soule is not where it liueth but where
it loueth And between these friends all things are most freely common He partakes of our flesh we of his spirit Hee of our nature we of his grace He of our infirmities we of his perfections He of our pouerty we of his riches yea Hee of our sinnes which hee bare vpon the Tree wee of his righteousnesse the best Robe He is called the sonne of man we the Sonnes of God He the Lord our righteousnesse and we the Lord our righteousnesse yea He and we one Christ. O incomparable communion O incomprehensible vnion Neuer such an immediate intercourse and community betweene friends And this not for a day or a yeare or for terme of life but for life without terme For as Christs loue to his is from euerlasting so it is to euerlasting it is without beginning and therefore without ending Ioh. 13. 1. So that of this loue betweene Christ and his faithfull friends and brethren we may sing the Psalme of Dauid the burthen whereof is principally the loue between Christ and his brethren Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in vnity It is like the precious oyntment vpon the head that ran downe vpon the beard euen Aarons beard and went downe to the skirts of his garments As the deaw of Hermon and as the deaw that descended vpon the mountaines of Sion for there the Lord commanded the blessing euen life for euermore This Psalme is a mirrour and cleare type of that vnion and communion of grace betweene Christ and the faithfull Behold therefore it is Christ that maketh his faithfull ones to dwell together in vnitie to bee of one minde in the house of God Psalme 68. 6. He it is that perswades Iaphet to dwell in the Tents of Sem the Gentiles to become one Family with the Iew vnder Christ that one head whose type was Aaron From him our head our high Priest flowes downe the oyle of grace vpon vs vnto the skirts of his clothing euen vpon vs whose nakednesse hee hath couered with the skirts of the robes of his righteousnesse of whose fulnesse wee haue all receiued and grace for grace His head is full of the dew of grace distilling vpon the barren Mountaines of his Sion his Church and chosen to poure a blessing vpon it and there to giue life for euermore Such is the vnion betweene Christ his faithfull ones farre passing the loue betweene dearest friends euen that betweene Ionathan and Dauid passing the loue of women Eightly nor is this vnion betweene Christ and the beleeuer a ciuill vnion such as is betweene the King and the Subiect for alas to what dis-vnion and diuision is this subiect too especially where the Pope is Lord Paramount whenas eyther his roaring Buls of excommunication and deposition of Kings or the poysoned steellettoes or pistols of his all-daring brats doe euen teare the head from the body as too lamentable experience hath proued True it is that Christ is our King and we his seruants hee commands vs wee obey him he is our Princely head we his members but his commandements are not grieuous his yoke is easie and his burden light He hath lightened the burden and sweetened the yoke vnto vs by both hauing borne the grieuousnesse and bitternes of it himselfe alone and for the remnant hee both beares it with vs and giues vs strength to beare it yea he hath so loued vs and so shed his loue abroad in our hearts by his holy Spirit giuen vnto vs that as hee can neuer deny vs the grace and protection of a louing Prince so hee hath giuen vs grace neuer to deny him our most humble homage and louing obedience So that neuer was there such a strait bond betweene Prince and People as betweene Christ and the Beleeuer Ninthly this vnion betweene Christ and the Beleeuer is not a coniugall vnion such as is betweene a man and his wife although this be a mysticall resemblance whereby Christ setteth forth his vnion with vs. For this Coniugall vnion suffereth dissolution and death giues the Suruiuer libertie to marry a new mate Not so with Christ and his Spouse This is a band indissoluble The marriage band is but during this life it holds not in heauen for there they neither marry nor are giuen in marriage but this with Christ suffereth no diuorse but death is a degree to the full consummation of it Also the man and the wife are but one flesh but Christ and the beleeuer one spirit In a word this vnion betweene Christ and the Beleeuer is not the vnion of dependency as between the Creature the Creator for this is common to all the Creatures who haue their being life and sustentation in a dependency from the Creator his raine showreth and his sunne shineth vpon the good and euill vpon the iust and the vniust indifferently All depend and waite vpon thee saith Dauid and thou giuest them their meate in due season when thou openest thine hand they are filled with good when thou withdrawest their breath they returne to their dust But the vnion betweene Christ and his although it be an vnion of dependency wherein the Beleeuers eternall well-beeing hath a necessary dependance on Christ yet this dependance is proper and peculiar to the faithfull and not common with any other Creature vnlesse with the elect Angels who depend vpon Christ for the perpetuation of their happinesse So that the faithfull haue their dependance on Christ not onely as their Creator being the eternall Word common with other Creatures but chiefly as their Redeemer and Sauiour proper to them only and that not only for the supply of things temporall but much more of graces spirituall and glory eternall Thus by shewing what kinde of vnion this between Christ and the Beleeuer is not wee come to see the more cleerely what it is The Scripture also setteth forth this vnion by sundry similitudes especially foure as betweene a house and the foundation betweene the vine and the branches or the oliue roote and the tree betweene the man and the wife betweene the head and the members What more neare the foundation and building make one house the vine and branches one tree the man and wife one flesh the head and members one body So Christ and the beleeuer are one spirit Being vnited to Iesus our head hee becomes the Sauiour of vs his body Ephes. 5. 23. Beeing vnited to Christ wee are annoynted with all his titles and graces we are made Kings and Priests to God his Father Beeing vnited to this foundation we become liuing stones growing vp to an holy Temple in the Lord. Being vnited to this Vine this Oliue we partake of the sweetnesse of the one and of the fatnesse of the other Being vnited to this Spouse wee are endowed with all his goods Being vnited to this head wee receiue the rich influence of spirituall life and motion quickning euery member Yea that which is
as at length it comes to iust nothing Not vnlike to Cyrus King of Persia who in his expedition towards and against Babylon being to passe ouer the riuer Gyndes which afforded him no Ford to passe but by shipping one of his holy white steeds proudly assaying to swimme ouer and so being drowned hee thereupon in reuenge of his holy horse vpon that goodly riuer threatned he would so diminish and diuide this riuer as women should easily wade ouer it and not vp to their knees So hee set his numerous Army aworke for a whole yeare to diuide the riuer into three hundred and threescore branches and so being as good as his word passed on the next summer to conquer Babylon So deale the Pontificians with sauing Faith which being as a goodly riuer able to carry the fairest ships of richest fraight bound for the holy Land onely because it will not suffer their proud inherent holinesse by the vertue of its owne strength to passe ouer they doe so cut and mince it as they make it common such is their common Faith for all passengers tagge and ragge to passe through vpon their owne legs Now let vs see which of these branches of Faith Vega in the name of the Councell of Trent and Church of Rome layes speciall hand on whether on the actuall or habituall acquired or infused formed or vnformed Vega shuts out all other Faith from the meaning of the Apostle in all those places where he attributes iustification vnto Faith but onely the actuall Faith All habituall Faith whether acquired or infused he peremptorily excludeth maugre all those that say the contrary of what authority soeuer Now what this actuall Faith is we haue heard by Vega himselfe that it is a credulity or perswasion firme and certaine but vneuident Note here how this Babylonish builder contradicts and confounds himselfe in one breath If this Faith of his be a firme and certain perswasion how is it vneuident and if vneuident how is it a firme or certaine perswasion Indeed this Vneuident helpâ—s ad It is like the picture of Venus drawne by Apelles who being not able to delineate and beautifie her face to the life drawes an artificiall shadow of a vaile or curtaine ouer it But what might bee the meaning of this word Ineuident Surely I finde not Vega very free to explaine himselfe in this point Onely in one place he seemeth to vnderstand by it such an assent or faith as we giue meerly for the authority of him that speaketh And so it may very well be said to be ineuident not onely in regard of any particular perswasion of good towards a mans selfe from him that speaketh but also of the particular truth to be beleeued This ineuident Faith is not vnlike the Iesuiticall blinde obedience when only the authority of the commander is respected not the equitie of what is commanded But the most commodious property of Vega's ineuidence is to leaue it as we finde it ineuident For the maine drift of the Pontificians is to fould vp Faith in a cloud that no man should know it And therefore Vega to dazell our eyes would haue vs beleeue that the Apostle Paul where hee speakes of iustifying Faith meanes not eyther Faith vnformed or Faith formed in particular but Faith in generall O miserable selfe-blinding Cardinall would you also cast a myst before the Apostles eyes that hee should not see what he said was euer impudencie and folly so yoaked together But what 's the reason that Vega will not pitch vpon one certaine and distinct Faith specially meant by the Apostle The reason is not hard to giue For if Vega should say that the Apostle meant Faith vnformed then the expresse words of the Apostle would euidently confute him where he commendeth Faith working by loue And againe if Vega should confesse that the Apostle elsewhere meant that Faith which worketh by loue then it must needes follow that Faith doth truly iustifie and not barely dispose a man to iustification as Vega would haue it But Vega hath another pretty euasion for this For he saith Aliudest c. It is one thing to say that those places of Scripture wherein our iustification is attributed to faith are to be vnderstood of Faith formed and another that they are to be vnderstood of Faith which worketh by loue For although saith he others take these two for one kinde of Faith yet we thinke these two to be most distinct and by no meanes to be confounded together Prius enim est c. For Faith working by loue goes before Faith formed by charity because saith he for this end it workes by loue that it may obtaine the holy Ghost and by it charity wherewith it may be formed O admirable subtilty surpassing all Philosophy all Diuinitie How doth Faith worke by loue before it haue charity Or what is that loue the Apostle speaketh of but charity Or is the Apostles Faith working by loue a Faith vnformed O Vega let me say that to thee truly which Agrippa falsly applyed to Paul Vega thou art besides thy selfe too much learning maketh thee madde For I am sure Vega cannot answer for himselfe as Paul did I am not madde but speake the words of truth and sobriety For Vega's wordes are meere contradictions senslesse and corrupt vnsauory salt Such is his sophisticate Sophistry and frothy wit that it may bee said to him as the Prophet saith to Babylon Thy wisedome and thy knowledge it hath peruerted thee or as the Vulgar hath it Hath deceiuea thee I know their shift is to say There is a loue in man vpon the first grace disposing him to iustification wherby he beginnes to loue God aboue all things And is not this loue the highest degree of charity that can bee If this loue be not charity it is meere vanitie But to sum vp the totall of that which Rome teacheth concerning faith in Iustification as we find it either expressed or implyed in the Councell of Trent illustrated by her most pregnant Interpreters First they allow or acknowledge but one kinde of Faith in the Scriptures common to good and bad Secondly that this is the Catholicke Faith of the Church the obiect whereof is the whole word of God written and vnwritten Thirdly that this Faith is a meere Historicall Faith which may be in the very Diuels and damned Fourthly that this Faith is formed by charity which while it hath it is a liuing faith but losing it it is dead and vnfruitfull Fiftly that this Faith euen without charity dead and fruitlesse as it is yet is sufficient to make a man a Christian and a Beleeuer Sixtly though they admit of no other Faith to Iustification yet that this Faith doth not iustifie by their owne confession but may be in a man that is not iustified Seuenthly that a man hauing this Faith whereby he is made a Christian and a beleeuer yet for all that hee may goe to Hell Lastly notwithstanding all
illustrate the former point concerning the subiect of Faith and the manner of inherency which it hath in a beleeuer and to cleare the truth of it by Scriptures and by ancient Fathers of the Church The Romane-Catholicke doctrine is no lesse absurd and erroneous in the obiect of sauing Faith than in the subiect of it They run from one extreame to another as the Poet saith Dum vitant stulti vitiae in contraria currunt Fooles from one extremity of folly runne into the contrary But as the true Catholicke doctrine although it exclude no part of Gods Word as the obiect of Faith in generall but yet restraineth the speciall obiect of sauing Faith to Christ and the promises of God in him so though it deny not Faith to haue a place of inherency in the vnderstanding yet it intitleth it not onely to the vnderstanding but to the will to the memory to the affections and all the faculties of the soule as so many Manfions to intertain this noble Queene Faith where she may keepe her Court of residence for her selfe and all her train of Graces that attend her Or wee may compare the seuerall faculties of the soule to so many roomes or chambers in the soule wherein as in a magnificent Palace Faith resideth whose presence as a Prince puts life into euery part whose prerogatiue it is to prescribe to each of her virgin hand-maide Graces their proper taskes her selfe putting her owne hand to euery work acting directing assisting adorning the office of each Grace whereby it is made both acceptable to God and profitable to men The Catholicke Doctrine then concerning the subiect of Faith is That Faith inhereth or resideth not onely in the vnderstanding but also in the will in the memory in the affections and in euery faculty of the soule This is the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures and therefore Catholicke The Scripture saith Corde creditur ad iustitiam With the heart man beleeueth vnto righteousnesse And againe it saith Ephes. 3. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith And againe Acts 8. 37. Philip said to the Eunuch If thou beleeuest with all thy heart And againe Acts 15. 9. Purifying their hearts by faith By these and such like places of Scriptures it is euident that the proper subiect of Faith is the heart of man Now by the heart is meant euery power and faculty of the soule and not onely the vnderstanding as Aquinas vnderstandeth the forenamed place of Acts 15. 9. that by purifying of the heart is meant the illuminating of the vnderstanding but also the will the memory the affections and euery faculty of the soule of man First the Sriptures oftentimes by naming the heart meaneth the vnderstanding As Ephesians 1. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vulgar Latine rendreth it word for word Illuminatos oculis cordis vestri The eyes of your heart being illuminated but our English translation hath it The eyes of your vnderstanding being enlightened thereby giuing the true meaning of the place that by the heart there is meant the vnderstanding So the Lord faith Matth. 13. 15. Ne corde intelligant Lest they vnderstand with their heart In 1. Kings 3. 9. Salomon askes an vnderstanding heart In 2. Cor. 3. 15. the vaile ouer the Iewes heart was a note of their blindnesse and ignorance in the mysterie of Christ. Secondly heart in Scripture is often taken for the will As Acts 7. 39. The Israelites in their hearts turned back into Egypt that is their will was so if they had had power So Acts 11. 23. Barnabas exhorts that with purpose of heart they would cleaue vnto the Lord that is with a ready will and constant resolution So 1. Cor. 7. 37. He that stands firme in his heart hauing power ouer his owne will and hath decreed in his heart Thirdly the heart is taken for the memory Luke 1. 66. All that heard laid vp those things in their hearts that is in their memory So Deut. 4. 9. Take heede to thy selfe lest thou forget the things which thine eyes haue seene and lest they depart from thy heart that is from thy memory And Deut. 11. 18. Ye shall lay vp these my words in your heart c. that is ye shall remember them continually as signes bound vpon your hands and as front-lets betweene your eyes Hence it is that the Latines vse Recordari for to remember or to record implying that remembrance is an act springing from the heart Hence also doth our Sauiour call the heart the treasury Matth. 12. 35. which agreeth with the memory called Thesaurus rerum the Treasury of things Fourthly heart in Scripture is also taken for the affections and passions of the soule Matth. 6. 21. Where your treasure is there will your heart be also that is your affection So Rom. 1. 24. God gaue them vp to their owne hearts lusts And Psal 62. 10. If riches increase set not your heart vpon them Thus all the motions and inclinations and cogitations in man are referred to the heart as the prime fountaine whence they all originally flow So all the vertues intellectuall and morall are said to be in the heart we say A wise heart a good heart a valiant heart an humble heart an honest heart c. And the contrary as wee say A foolish heart a wicked heart a faint heart a proud heart a deceitfull heart c. Of a valiant man we say He hath a Lyons heart and of a coward He hath the heart of a Hare and of a meeke man He hath a Lambes heart As Nabuchadnezzar for his pride had a Beasts heart giuen him that is a bruitish disposition to liue like a Beast as hee did Now the issue of all this is that faith is that same radicall grace wherein the whole life of the Saints of God all holy graces haue their being and existence of holinesse and from whence they grow and flow euen as all the branches from the roote and the streames from the fountaine For as the heart is the fountaine of all the faculties of the soule of the vnderstanding of the will of the memory of the affections motions cogitations c. all which are signified by the heart in Scripture so Faith beeing in the heart as in the proper seate and subiect and being said to purifie the heart it giues vs to know the excellent nature of Faith which is to diffuse its vertue to the purifying and possessing of euery part and faculty of the soule For possessing the heart it possesseth and filleth the whole soule It illuminates and informes the vnderstanding it reformes and conformes the will it confirmes it with hope it inflames it with loue it prompts the memory with holy meditations and remembrances of Gods loue and goodnesse it moderates and tempers all the affections and passions it directs the motions and cogitations of the soule to their right end and scope and in a word the office of this faith is to
be the immediate instrument of Gods holy spirit to sanctifie the whole soule and body as the Scripture ascribes the worke of sanctification to faith as the immediate Instrument Acts 26. 18. Sanctified by Faith in me said Christ to his new conuert Apostle The Councell of Trent it selfe confesseth that faith is the roote of other graces Faith say they is the roote of all Iustification placing their iustification in hope and loue c. How then is Faith the roote If it be the roote the roote is not a bare disposition to a tree as they would haue Faith to bee to their iustification A dead roote cannot beare a liuing tree but like roote like tree But a roote naturally produceth and shooteth forth the tree for the life and substance of the tree is originally in the roote and comes from the roote Take away the roote and the tree witherereth for it liues in the roote And the roote giueth life to the tree not the tree to the roote As the Apostle said to the ingraffed Gentile once the Wilde Oliffe Thou bearest not the roote but the roote thee With what reason then can the Pontificians say That charity which is the branch not the roote giues life to the root which is Faith Herein how far themselues differ from senslesse stockes or come short of the vegetable trees I define not Now as the whole tree drawes hislife and nourishment from the roote so all the fruits of holinesse haue their life and nourishment from faith for faith is the roote of them all And as the Apostle saith If the roote be holy so are the branches But Faith the roote of other graces is holy yea most holy as Iude speaketh therfore hope loue and all other graces growing in and from Faith are sanctified by and from Faith for as much as Faith is rooted in Christ from whom it receiues the life as of iustification so of sanctification Hence it is that deuout Bernard saith excellently to this purpose Primum syncera radix sancta fidei in terra humani cordis plantatur cumque fides plenè adulta fuerit velut quaedam magna est Arbor diuersa in se habens poma exquibus reficitur anima plena Deo First the sincere roote of holy Faith is planted in the ground of mans heart and when faith is fully growne vp it becomes as a great Tree hauing in it sundry sorts of Apples wherewith the soule being full of God is refreshed Without Faith saith the Apostle it is impossible to please God But whatsoeuer action proceedeth from Faith therein it pleaseth God By Faith was Abels sacrifice made acceptable to God By Faith Enoch walking with God pleased God And are not all those actions of the Patriarches and Saints of God related in that eleuenth Chapter to the Hebrewes all referred to Faith as the roote from whence they sprang and receiued their life and louelinesse It is Faith that graceth euery action of the iust man for the iust man shall liue by his Faith Whatsoeuer fruite growes not from this roote it is sinne Whatsoeuer is not of Faith is sinne is as true in generall of sauing Faith as it is in particular of the Conscience called Faith by the Apostle Rom 14 23. Now the reason of all this that Faith giues life and beeing to euery grace for as much as euery grace is radically in faith is because where faith is Christ is Now Faith is in the heart and consequently Christ dwelleth in the heart by Faith And if in the heart then in euery part and faculty of the soule and body So that as the soule quickneth euery part of the body so Faith quickneth and sanctifieth euery faculty of the soule As St Augustine saith Fides quae credit in Deum vita animae existit per hanc iustus viuit Faith which beleeueth in God is the life of the soule and by this faith the iust man liueth And elsewhere he saith Vnde mors in anima quia non est fides Vnde in corpore quia non est ibi anima Ergo animae tuae anima fides est Whence is death in the soule because faith is not there Whence in the body because the soule is not there Therefore the soule of thy soule is Faith And as the soule is in the body Tota in toto tota in qualibet parte The whole soule is in the whole body and whole in euery part So Fides tota est in toto tota in qualibet parte Whole faith is in the whole heart and whole in euery faculty of the soule Hence the Apostle making himselfe the instance of the life of faith saith I am crucified with Christ. Neuerthelesse I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in me and the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Son of God who loued me and gaue himselfe for me Christ therefore is not to be found in that part or faculty of the soule where faith is not If Faith bee not in the will Christ is not there and so in the rest And where Christ is not there is no life no sanctification Our wils therefore our memories our affections our motions and cogitations are dead prophane all out of order if Christ be not and liue not in euery one of them And Christ is not in any of them if Faith be not there Hence it is that Faith is all because as the roote it containes all graces In the vnderstanding it knoweth God in the will it hopeth and loueth God in the memory it thinketh of God with thankefulnesse for his mercies in the affections it feareth God it sorroweth for sinne it patiently suffereth it reioyceth in God in all it serueth God How so From Faith it is that the vnderstanding knoweth God in his Sonne Iesus Christ the knowledge of whom is eternall life And therefore Diuines by knowledge in that place vnderstand Faith And St. Augustine saith Intellectus merces est fidei Ergo noli quaerere intelligere vt credas sed crede vt intelligas Vnderstanding is the reward of Faith Doe not therefore seeke to know that thou mayst beleeue but beleeue that thou mayst vnderstand From Faith it is that the will hopes in God loues God and cleaueth vnto him and so in the rest And therefore St. Augustine placeth Faith in the will saying A Domino praeparatur voluntas hominis vt sit fidei receptaculum The will is prepared of the Lord to be the receptacle of faith And againe Omne quod non est ex fide peccatum est Ac per hoc bona voluntas quae se abstrabit à peccato fidelis est quia iustus ex fide viuit Whatsoeuer is not of Faith is sinne And therefore the good will which withdrawes it selfe from sinne is faithfull because the iust man liueth by Faith Hence it is that Bernard saith Credere in Deum est in eum
thou beleeuest in Christ And againe Fidelis propterea vocaris quoniam credis Deo ab eo creditam ipse iustitiam habes sanctitatem munditiam animae in filium adoptionem regnum coelorum Thou art therefore called faithfull because both thou beleeuest God and hast from him granted vnto thee righteousnesse sanctity purity of soule adoption of a sonne and the kingdome of heauen Seeing therefore by the Doctrine of Scriptures and Fathers faith and saluation cannot bee separated mee thinkes the Councell of Trent had done more politickly if with the losse of charity they had suffered faith quite to be lost too rather than retaining it to be damned with it Further for as much as the Pontificians admit of no other faith to Iustification but an historicall faith wee easily grant that which they so much desire That their faith doth not iustifie them at all but may be in them though they go to hell for it as themselues do teach Whereas the faith of beleeuers which beleeue in Christ hath the property to saue not suffer any to perish For Christ saith if we may beleeue Christ rather than the Popes infallibility in the Councel of Trent Whosoeuer beleeueth on the Sonne of man or the Sonne of God shall not perish but hath eternall life And v. 18 He that beleeueth on him is not condemned Yes saith the Councell of Trent he that is a beleeuer may bee condemned though still hee continue a Beleeuer Lastly sith for all this that their Faith cannot iustifie nor saue them yet notwithstanding they wil haue this to be a true Faith though a dead faith I et vs yeelde them this also that the Romane faith is a true dead Faith or a true Faith of the Diuels and damned Else what true Faith is it Gregory once Bishop of Rome saith Vera fides est quae in hoc quod verbis dicit moribus non contradicit That is true faith which in that it professeth in words it contradicteth not in maners And a little after Fidei nostrae veritatem in vitae nostrae consideratione debemus agnoscere tâ—nc enim veraciter fideles sumus si quod verbis promittimus operibus complemus We ought to acknowledge the truth of our Faith in the consideration of our life for then are we truly faithful if that which we promise in words we performe in deeds And St. Ambrose saith Nunquam fides vera turbatur True faith is neuer troubled How is then the Pontifician faith a true faith albeit a dead faith seeing according to Gregory what it professeth in words it contradicteth in deeds and according to Ambrose it is not free from trouble being ouer-whelmed with horrour of Conscience yea St. Hierome saith Cum dilectio proâ—ul abfuerit fides pariter abscedit When charity is away there faith also is gone with it To summe vp all in a word that hath beene said of this point the Notes of difference betweene the true Catholick sauing Faith and the Romane-Catholicke faith are these and such like 1. The true Catholicke iustifying Faith bringeth euery one that hath it vnto saluation and such shall neuer perish Iohn 3. 16. 18. and 1. Pet. 1. 9. The end of sauing Faith is the saluation of our soule But the Romish faith doth not by their owne confession bring euery one of them that hath it vnto saluation Therefore the Romane Catholicke faith is not the true Catholicke iustifying Faith Secondly the true Catholicke sauing Faith is a free gift of Gods grace giuen for Christs sake as Phil 1. 29 Ephes. 2 8. But the Romish faith is no free gift of Gods grace as being in the very Diuels which faith also the Councell of Trent separateth from grace Concil Trid. Sess. 6. cap. 15. saying that grace may bee lost though not faith Therefore the Romish faith is not the true Catholicke sauing faith Whereupon Bellarmine as the mouth of all Pontificians saith Fides infusa non perit gratia recedente vt Catholici omnes fatentur Infused faith perisheth not when grace is gone as all Catholickes confesse So that Pontifician faith is no grace with them and no maruaile then if iustifying faith be in no grace with them also But how is their faith infused This may seeme to make faith a gift of God Let Bellarmine himself resolue it he saith That all men may beleeue if they will when the Euangell is preached and so the Pontifician faith is of them disclaimed to be a speciall gift of Gods sauing grace Thirdly The true Catholicke sauing faith is a confidence in the promises of God in Christ it being the foundation of things hoped for in Christ the speciall obiect of it Heb. 11. 1. But the Romish faith beeing no other in its owne nature but that which is common with the very Diuels by their owne confession is altogether without hope hauing no respect to things hoped for no more than the Diuels for all their faith haue Therefore the Romish faith is none of the true sauing iustifying faith There bee many other differences which follow in this Treatise In stead of adding more to this place it shall suffice to conclude this Chapter with the definition of sauing and iustifying faith which may fitly bee thus defined Iustifying faith is a speciall free gift of God his grace whereby a sinner beleeuing in or into Christ being thus vnited vnto him is made partaker of all Christs merits and righteousnesse and is by the same faith certainly and infallibly perswaded that all his sins are remitted and himselfe in Christ perfectly iustified in Gods sight this faith also as a liuing roote containing in it all other graces as hope loue patience humility c. For the proofe of each part of this definition we neede not here stand vpon as referring both to the foregoing and ensuing Chapters where they are amply proued Now that I call iustifying Faith a gift of God I note the efficient cause of it to be God whereby it is also distinguished from the faith of Diuels which cannot bee called the gift of God Secondly that I call it a free gift of Gods grace as Phil. 1. 29. this excludes all precedent workes in man as merits of congruity or of any preuious repentance making a man acceptable to receiue Faith in Christ which jumps with the merit of congruity Thirdly that I call it a speciall gift I exclude all reprobates from hauing any communion with this Faith it is specially and peculiarly and solely giuen to the Saints Iude 3. speciall also in regard of the nature of it being a gift of grace flowing from Gods special loue in Christ vnto his elect Saints Fourthly whereby a sinner c. I note that whoso hath this Faith is empty of all inherent righteousnesse of his own he must be a sinner the generall subiect wherein Faith dwelleth Fiftly by beleeuing in or into Christ I note the proper act of iustifying Faith differencing
if this assurance were nothing else but a vaine confidence and boasting they say something But while they ioyne this certainty and assurance of Faith with vaine boasting they plainly discouer their masked hypocrisie by mixing and confounding the pure gold of Faith with mans drosse as if they were both one to be faithfully assured and vainly confident But this assurance whatsoeuer it is it must be in Heretickes and Schismatickes Catholickes must haue nothing to doe with it as being a vaine confidence Yet vaine as it is they confesse it to be a great and vehement enemy to the Catholicke Church to wit the Romane-Catholicke Church In which Church none must so certainly beleeue the remission of his sinnes as to exclude all doubting especially in regard of his owne indisposition and infirmity being fearfull of his owne grace and no maruaile if such be full of fearfull doubtings that build their saluation and iustification vpon their inherent grace But the conclusion is peremptory iust like the Serpent's in the third of Genesis beginning smoothly but ending roughly like the Sotherne winde Yee shall not dye at all So Trents conclusion is that no man can know by the certainty of faith whether he haue the grace of God or no. Furthermore the same Councell for the confirmation of the said Chapter to vphold their tottering vncertainty of faith hath planted three or foure Canons full charged with Anathemaes As Can. 12. Si quis dixerit Fidem iustificantem nihil aliud esse quam fiduciam diuinae misericordiae peccata remittentis propter Christum vel eam fiduciam solam esse qua iustificamur anathema sit If any man shall say that iustifying Faith is nothing else but a trust or confidence in the mercy of God remitting finnes for Christ or that this confidence or trust is that onely whereby we are iustified let him bee accursed Faith is then something else than a trust or confidence in Gods mercy What else namely a diffidence in Gods mercy And Can. 13. Si quis dixerit omni hominiad remissionem peccatorum assequendam necessarium esse vt credat certò absque vlla haesitatione propriae infirmitatis indispositionis peccata sibi esse remissa anathema sit If any shall say that it is necessary for euery man for the attainining the remission of sinnes to beleeue certainly and without any doubting of his owne infirmity and indisposition that his sinnes are remitted let him be accursed Note here another by-blow at the certainty of Faith but seeming to bee laid vpon the shoulders of humane frailty and indisposition as if remission of sinnes depended vpon our owne strength and disposition But I maruaile why the Pontificians so much distrust their owne indisposition about the certainty of iustification when they so much dignifie their naturall disposition vnto iustification saue onely that for the loue of their worldly pompe pleasure and profit one speciall proppe whereof is their vncertainty causing the simple seduced people to rest wholly vpon their Priest Pope and Purgatory as their last Sanctuary of their troubled soules they are not disposed to giue God the glory and to seale to themselues the comfort of iustification by the certainty of Faith which certainty of Faith they must needes extreamely hate when to disgrace it they are faine to disparage their owne strength and disposition which otherwise they do so much deifie adore And as if mans disposition in the state of grace being accompanied and assisted with grace came short of that disposition which goes before grace and as if mans disposition were not as able to confirme him in grace as to prepare him vnto grace But wee will not enuie them their indisposition to the assurance of grace no more than wee admire that grace of theirs which can giue no solid comfort and assurance to the soule and conscience But let vs heare what Trent further saith Can. 14. Si quis dixerit hominem á peccaetis absolui ac iustificari ex eo quod se absolui ac iustificari certò credat aut neminem verè esse iustificatum nisi qui credat se esse iustificatum hac sola fide absolutionem iustificationem perfici anathema sit If any shall say that a man is absolued and iustified from sinnes in that respect that hee certainly beleeueth hee is absolued and iustified or that none is truely iustified but hee that beleeueth he is iustified and that absolution and iustification is perfected by this sole faith let him be accursed Note here that the Councell of Trent differeth not one haires breadth from denying faith it selfe to bee absolutely necessary to iustification as wee shall more plainly discouer her minde herein hereafter And Can. 15. Si quis dixerit hominem renatum iustificatum teneri ex fide ad credendum se certò esse in numero praedestinatorum anathema sit If any shall say that a man regenerate and iustified is bound by faith to beleeue that hee is certainly in the number of the predestinate let him bee accursed And to conclude the 16. Canon is also annexed as a blade in this reede Si quis magnum illud vsque in finem perseuerantiae donum se certò habiturum absoluta infallibili certitudine dixerit nisihoc ex specialireuelatione didicerit anathema sit If any shall say by an absolute and infallible certainty that he shall certainly haue that great gift of perseuerance vnto the end except he shall know this by speciall reuelation let him be accursed Thus haue we set downe the whole mysterie of Pontifician vncertainty of faith in grosse as wee finde it ingrossed in the Councell of Trent For the further vnfolding whereof let vs consult the authenticke Commentaries of the Councell But first obserue we here what a deale of paines they haue bestowed about this one point of Vncertainty and that partly for the reasons formerly alledged in the beginning of this Chapter but principally doe they impugne this bulwarke of the Certainty of faith because it is a maine opposite to all their humane inuentions wherewith as so many ragges they haue patched vp their meritorious Capuchin-garment of iustification As the learned Chemnitius hath well obserued in his Examen vpon this point saying Nec sanè nullae sunt cansae c. Nor is it without cause saith hee that the Pontificians doe so eagerly contend for the maintenance of their Vncertainty for they well perceiue that the whole negotiation of Pontifician Merchandize is sustained by this meanes For the conscience seeking some certaine and firme consolation when it heares that faith it selfe euen when it apprehendeth Christ the Mediator ought to doubt of the remission of sinnes it begins to deuise a masse of inuentions as vowes pilgrimages inuocations of Saints Pardons Dispensations Croisadoes Buls Masses and a thousand such like being all but vntempered mortar to build their Castle of Vncertainty in the Ayre The conscience in this case being like the vncleane spirit in
that it is as it ought to be but the contrary rather so neither can he be certaine of any grace receiued by the Sacrament But as the good King Ezechias prayed for the commers to the Sacrament of the Passeouer saying The Lord God pardon euery one that prepareth his heart to seeke God the Lord God of his Fathers though hee be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary that is so exactly as hee ought And the Lord hearkened vnto Hezechias and healed the people So though we come short as the best doe in the performance of holy duties according to that perfection which the Lord requireth yet there is place alwayes left for humble prayer both to procure Gods pardon for our faylings and his speciall grace and blessing in our reuerent vse of his holy Ordinances But this in briefe by the way to confute Vega's folly Secondly he answereth That though there bee no errour nor inuincible ignorance remaining in a man that is to receiue the Sacraments yet saith Vega I do not see it euery way certaine that those things are sufficient which are accounted requisite to iustification with the Sacrament of Baptisme or Penance For it is not certainly receiued of all that these Sacraments doe conferre the first grace As the Master of the Sentences Alexander Hales and Gabriel Biel are of the contrary opinion And sith these opinions saith hee are not condemned expresly by the Church although the opposite opinions be much more probable therefore there is place left for all kinde of doubtings and hesitations about our iustification as well after the receiuing of the Sacraments as before So that there is no more ground whereof to gather the certainty of grace because of the Sacraments receiued than by reason of our owne disposition But his third answer is the maine one he stands vpon for he saith Vtque radicitus totum hoc argumentum subruamus eneruemus dico tandem c. And that wee may ouerthrow this whole argument by the rootes and vtterly disable it I say thirdly c. Here we cannot chuse but erect our expectation vnto some prodigious exployt to be performed by this Champion What will he doc He comes Sampson-like and makes no more reckoning to pull downe the pillars whereon the whole frame of Christian faith standeth than Sampson did to pull downe the house vpon the Philistims heads But let Vega beware hee pull not an old house vpon his owne head Well Dico tandem c. I say once for all that although it may be certaine by faith that any kinde of repentance for sinnes with a purpose of keeping the Commandemets and a desire to receiue Baptisme be together with Baptisme and Penance sufficient to obtaine grace yet it doth not follow that our grace may by faith be certaine vnto vs. For although it may appeare euidently to euery one whether he hath these things or no yet none can be certaine by faith or euidently that he is truely baptized or absolued because there is necessarily required vnto the accomplishing of these and all other Sacraments an intention in the Priest to doe that which the Priest doth as is decreed in the seuenth Session of this our Councell Can. 11. But of that intention in the Priest no man without diuine reuelation can by faith or euidence be certaine And so forth to this purpose Thus doth Vega at one blow stagger the certainty of faith confirmed by the Sacraments nay not onely stagger it but strike it dead if certainty as the Pontificians in their Councell haue decreed must depend vpon the intention of the Priest in the time of consecrating the Sacraments and without the Priests intention the whole Sacrament is voyde and vaine and whether the Priests intention were going a wool-gathering or no no man knoweth Into such a miserable exigent of vncertainty haue the Pontificians implunged themselues as into the very Gulfe of Hell where doubt and despaire dwels Now for those diuine helpes to the natiue certainty of sauing Faith we may summe them vp and reduce them to this gradation As first Gods Word Dictum Iehouae secondly Gods promise thirdly his oath fourthly his hand-writing fifthly his scale sixthly his carnest or pledge 2. Cor. 5. 5. So that God as it were by so many steppes and degrees leades our Faith to the very top of the impregnable Rocke of all infallible and vnmoueable certainty Another accessory testimony confirming the certainty of faith is a good conscience which is not onely conscientia rectè factorum but faciendorum not onely a good conscience in regard of our life past wherein we haue endeauoured to liue vprightly and heartily repented vs of whatsoeuer we haue mis-done eyther by omission or commission but also in regard of the time to come while we resolue in a sincere purpose of heart and endeauour with all our power to serue God in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life Of the good conscience of the life past the Apostle speaketh whereby the certainty of his faith is sealed vp vnto him 2. Tim. 4. 6. 7. I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith Whereupon hee concludes in the certainty of Faith Henceforth is laide vp for mee a Crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall giue mee at that day And of his good conscience for the time to come he speakes Phil 3. 13. Brethren I count not my selfe to haue apprehended but this one thing I doe forgetting those things which are behind reaching forth vnto those things which are before I presse towards the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus Also Heb. 13. 18. Pray for vs for we trust we haue a good conscience in all things willing to liue honestly Now the conscience of a man is weighty and magn◠in vtramque partem as the Orator said It is a powerfull testimony eyther to accuse or to acquite a man As Rom. 2. 15. The Apostles good conscience was a comfortable testimony vnto him Acts 23. 1. So 2. Cor. 1. 12. Our reioyciug is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisedome but by the grace of God we haue had our conuersation in the world Now a good conscience hath many branches eyther as it reflects vpon Faith so it is priuie to the remission of sinnes and reconciliation of the soule with God or as it respecteth our loue both of God and of the godly in especiall Loue is another seale of Faith as 1. Iohn 3. 18 My little children let vs not loue in words neither in tongue but in deed and in truth And hereby wee know that wee are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him And vers 14. We know that we haue passed
from death vnto life because we loue the brethren Yea this is such a badge as all men may know vs to belong to Christ Iohn 13. 35. By this shall all men know that yee are my Disciples if yee haue loue one to another Another seale of the certainty of Faith is affliction for Christs cause Hereupon the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 1. 5. As the sufferings of Christ abound in vs so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And hereupon hee groundeth the certainty of his hope not onely touching himselfe but also the Corinthians themselues vers 7. And our hope of you is stedfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so shall you be also of the consolation Yea the afflictions which Gods children suffer for Christ are occasions and meanes to fasten our faith the more surely vpon God as vers 9. We had the sentence of death in our selues that we should not trust in our selues but in God which raysed the dead The Apologue of the Traueller may be a Morall vnto vs in this matter The Sun and the Winde plaid each their part by turnes to see which could first cause the wayfaring man to cast his cloake off The Winde blowing and blustring vpon him caused him to buckle it closer to him but the Sun working vpon him with his warme rayes at length made him weary of his weede and to cast it aside So preualent are the blasts of afflictions to cause the Christian Pilgrim to buckle his mantle of Faith closer vnto him when as the flattering gleames of outward prosperity doe cause oftentimes a feeble fainting in the soule To this purpose the Apostle saith excellently 2. Cor. 4. 8. We are troubled on euery side yet not distressed we are perplexed but not in despaire persecuted but not for saken cast downe but not destroyed Alwayes bearing about in the bodie the dying of the Lord Iosus The Apostle keepes his Cloake close about him for all the storme that the life also of Iesus might be made manifest in our mortall flesh And vers 16. For which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for vs a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glorie For our suffering with and for Christ is a sure token of our reigning with him Rom. 8. 17. If so be that we suffer with him we shall also bee glorified together with him Hereupon the Apostle reioyceth yea and glorisieth in this behalfe 2. Thes. 1. 4. We our selues glory in you in the Churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye indure which is a manifest token of the righteous iudgement of God that yee may bee counted worthy of the Kingdome of God for which ye also suffer seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with vs when the Lord Iesus shall be reuealed from Heauen with his mighty Angels c. And Rom. 5. 1. c. Therefore being iustified by Faith wee haue peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom also we haue accesse by Faith into this grace wherein we stand and reioyce in hope of the glory of God And not onely so but we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs. So that by these places of holy Scripture wee may note what a strong euidence and assurance of saluation a faithfull man receiueth from the vse of afflictions such as he suffereth especially for Christs cause They are infallible tokens vnto vs of Gods righteous iudgement to come yea they are the very Characters of Christ. As the same Apostle saith Gal. 6. 17. From henceforth let no man trouble me for I beare in my body the markes of the Lord Iesus As if the Apostle had said Let no man go about to disturbe my Faith or to trouble and blunder the clear chrystall fountaine of that Euangelicall Doctrine which I haue both preached and practised with the mixtures of legall Ceremonies and carnall Rites for I am ready to seale vp with my dearest bloud this my Faith and Doctrine bearing already about in my body the ignominious markes as the world accounts them of the Lord Iesus as the most certaine seales and testimonies of my reioycing in Christ Iesus by which reioycing I dye daily In a word the afflictions of Christ are the Christians high-way to Heauen Acts 14. 22. Paul confirmed the soules of the Disciples by exhorting them to continue in the Faith concluding that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdome of God So that a Christian asking the way by which he must trauell to the Kingdome of Heauen his Country and being told that the way through which he must passe is a very narrow and strait passage incumbred with many difficulties and dangers strowed with thornes and bryars beset with band-dogs and wilde beasts crawling with serpents and snakes and lying through a barren and desolate desert where hee must looke to finde but hard entertainment suffer much hunger and thirst cold and nakednesse c. will not this Christian Traueller meeting with such signes and tokens of his way chawked out vnto him aforehand perswade himselfe that he is now in the right way to his Countrey Whereas if hee meete with pleasant pathes through fertile fields and bespangled meadowes and pleasant groues and chrystall riuelets to refresh and delight him and in stead of saluage wilde beasts and serpents finde courteous entertainment and kinde vsage of the Natiues and Patriots of the Country may he not iustly suspect he is out of his way For as one saith Non est ad astra mollis è terris via The passage from earth to Heauen is not strowed with Roses Afflictions then being the way to Gods Kingdome the Christian mans Country it is a strong euidence that he is one of Gods Sons and Children whom the Father thus chasteneth as the Apostle saith Another meanes to strengthen our Faith in the certainty of it concerning saluation is our manifold infirmities a thing not more strange than true For as the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 12. 10. When I am weake then am I strong Therefore saith he I take pleasure in infirmities most gladly therefore will I reioyce in mine infirmities that the power of Christ may rest vpon me Now the reason why our infirmities and weaknesses doe tend to our further strengthning in Grace and Faith is not out of the nature and property of infirmities but because they driue vs from reposing confidence in our selues to rest the more strongly vpon Christ. This is like that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Philosopher speakes of As
reach He may say Who shall fetch Christ from aboue that I may haue him within my reach What reach The Deuill had him within his reach when he carryed him vp to a high mountaine But thou wilt say God reacheth out Christ vnto thee in his Word The Word is neare thee True But where is thy hand to put forth to receiue him Thy hand must bee a liuely faith for to beleeue in Christ is to receiue him as Gods gift But faith also is the speciall gift of God Therefore saith the Apostle By grace are ye saued through faith and not of your selues it is the gift of God Now herein doth the glory of Gods grace shine forth and gloriously display it selfe that he hath not only in his rich mercy prouided vs the means of saluation making tender of it vnto vs in his Word but hee effectually also giueth it vnto vs giuing vs a minde and meanes to receiue it As St. Iohn saith Hee hath giuen vs a minde to know him that is true And Christ No man can come vnto mee except the Father which hath sent mee draw him And againe No man knoweth the Father but the Sonne and he to whom the Sonne will reueale him And Matth. 16. 17. Peter hauing confessed Christ to be the Sonne of the liuing God Christ answered him Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Iona for flesh and bloud hath not reuealed this vnto thee but my Father which is in Heauen As the Apostle also 1. Cor. 12. 3. No man can say that Iesus is Christ but by the holy Ghost that is No man can truly acknowledge him to be his Christ but by the holy Ghost Otherwise the very Deuill seeing his miracles feeling his power euen ouer them confessed saying I know who thou art the holy one of God and Thou art Christ the Sonne of God Yet the Deuill did not this by the holy Ghost nor was it by any power of Gods grace But herein stands that grace of God first in choosing vs freely of his meere loue and mercy not fore-seeing vs to be good but finding vs to be euill shut vp in vnbeleefe that he might haue mercy vpon vs. Secondly not only in prouiding and offering meanes of grace but also in effectuall giuing and bestowing grace vpon all those whom he hath chosen giuing them grace to receiue grace that of his fulnesse we might all receiue and grace for grace as it followeth in the definition Now as God out of his meere loue grace and fauour did from all eternity elect and appoint a certaine number of men fallen in Adam vnto saluation So for the effecting of this his eternall purpose in time hee did also appoint the meanes whereby hee would bring those vnto the end of their saluation The meanes is twofold First the only absolute meane◠which is Iesus Christ Secondly an inferiour and conditionall means whereby we are made capable to receiue Christ with all his benefits First then Christ is that only all-sufficient and absolute meanes whereby God would effectually worke saluation vnto vs vpon and to whom the eye of his grace principally and immediately reflecteth in his electing of vs. So Eph. 1. 4. He chose vs in him and Ephes. 3. 11. according to the eternall purpose which he purposed in Christ Iesus our Lord Now there is no other name vnder Heauen giuen among men whereby we must be saued neyther is there saluation in any other And other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid Iesus Christ 1. Cor. 3. 11. Iesus Christ God-man is the Centre in whom all the lines of Gods loue and mercy to mankinde doe meete Thus are wee chosen in him before the foundation of the world Ephes. 1. 4. Thus are we blessed with all spirituall blessings in heauenly places in Christ ver 3. Thus are wee predestinated vnto the adoption of children by Iesus Christ vers 5. Thus hath God made vs accepted in the Beloued to wit Iesus Christ in whom the Father is well pleased vers 6. Thus haue we redemption through his bloud euen the forgiuenesse of sinnes according to the riches of his grace vers 7. Thus in the dispensation of the fulnesse of time God doth gather in one all things in Christ both which are in heauen and which are in earth euen In him vers 10. Thus in him we haue obtained an inheritance to which wee are predestinated vers 11. Thus in him beleeuing we are sealed with the holy Spirit of promise Now in that God did of his meere grace elect vs vnto saluation therein appeareth the wonderfull mercy and loue of God towards vs in that hee made choice of his owne Sonne to bee the onely soueraigne meanes of this our saluation therein appeareth also the infinite wisedome of God to seale vp and to reueale vnto vs his incomprehensible loue Thus is Christ called the power of God and the wisedome of God In him are hid all the treasures of Gods wisdome This is that deepnesse of the riches of the wisdome knowledge of God wherein the Apostles admiration was swallowed vp and wherewith the blessed Angels themselues were transported with rauishment Luke 2. 13 14. This wisedome of God in Christ God-man all the Deuils could not for all their subtilty comprehend neyther can all the wisedome of flesh and bloud conceiue it it is foolishnesse to the Gentile and a stumbling blocke to the Iew. Who can conceiue that the Sonne of God could suffer and dye Yet this did Iesus Christ in that Hypostaticall vnion of his two natures Who can conceiue that a man should fully satisfie the iustice of God for the sinnes of the world And yet this did the man Iesus Christ that one Mediator betweene God and Man the Man Iesus Christ saith the Apostle 1. Tim. 2. 5. Nothing but the precious bloud of God could reconcile vs to God in appeasing his iustice towards vs nothing but the bloud of God could purchase for vs the fauour of God and eternall life So that in Iesus Christ is reuealed vnto vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manifold wisedome of God as the Apostle speaketh Ephes. 3. 10. In him alone and none but him is the Father well pleased with vs. So is Christ the only soueraigne absolute meanes in whom as wee are elected so we are also saued Yet to the end that all the elect might be made effectually partakers of the loue and fauour of God in Christ the wisedome of God hath also ordained subordinate conditionall and ordinary meanes whereby we should receiue Christ for ours These meanes are the Word of God preached whereby faith is begotten in vs through the operation of Gods Spirit and the holy Sacraments administred whereby our faith in Christ is sealed and confirmed in vs. By this faith it is that we lay hold vpon Christ wherby he is made ours and we made his being mystically vnited vnto him so in him adopted the Sonnes of God by grace as
away were once in the true faith and therefore a man may fall away from true faith and consequently from grace finally and totally But Saint Augustine cleareth this in many places of his Bookes shewing that a man cannot fall away from the faith of the elect As Fides Christi fides gratiae Christianae id est ea fides quae per dilectionem operatur posita in fundamento neminem perâ—â— permittit The faith of Christ the faith of Christian grace to wit that faith which worketh by loue being built vpon the foundation permitteth none to perish And therefore where hee speakes of such as were once in the faith and fall from it hee meaneth not the proper faith of the Elect but the common faith of Christians As he also saith Appellamus nos electos Christi Discipulos Dei Filios quia siâ— appellandi sunt quos regeneratos pâ—è viuere cernimus We doe call men euen the elect Disciples of Christ and the Sonnes of God because they are so to bee called whom we see to be regenerate and to liue godly but if they haue not perseuerance they are not truely called sith they are called that which they are not And therefore Quia non habuerunt perseuerantiam sicut non verè Discipuli Christi ita nec verè Filij Dei fuerunt etiam quando esse videbantur ita vocabantur Because they had not perseuerance as they were not truely Christs Disciples so neyther were they truely the Sons of God euen when they seemed to be so and were called so Of this sort and sense is another place of St. Augustine to bee taken which the Author of the new Gagge for the old Goose for haste as Charity may deeme rather than eyther of malice or ignorance not easily incident to a man of such rare and extraordinary learning hath perhaps casually in such a swift flowing current of discourse dropped from his Goose-quill His allegation out of St. Augustine is in these words Credendum est quosdam de filijs perditionis non accepto dono perseuerantiae vsque in finem in fide quae per dilectionem operatur incipere viuere aliquandiu fideliter iustè viuere postea cadere neque de haâ— vita priusquam hoc eis contingat auferri The author of the Gagge seemeth to alledge this place to proue that a man may totally fall away from grace sith from faith working by loue And the words as he alledgeth them seeme to fauour that opinion as if it were Augustines definitiue conclusion for all peremptorily to beleeue it Credendum est But as a guelt man though he haue all the other signes of a man hath lost his virility the chiefe difference of his Sexe so this sentence being but a little guelt how much is it made to degenerate from the Masculine stile of St. Augustine For Augustine speaking there of the gift of perseuerance inferreth this sentance thus Propter huius vtilitatem secreti credendum est quosdam c. For the benefit of this secret to wit of perseuerance credendum est where wee are to note that these first words left out by the Author are a speciall qualification and limitation of our faith herein namely how farre forth and in what respect Augustine would haue vs thinke so that men may fall from that faith which worketh by loue to the end that thereby they should bee more carefull to keepe their standing therefore he saith Propter huius vtilitatem secreti A clause in no case to bee neglected for little though it bee it leaueneth and seasoneth the whole lumpe As the same Augustine elsewhere saith Deus melius esse iudicauit miscere quosdam non perseueraturos certo numero Sanctorum suorum vt quibus non expedit in huius vitae tentatione securitas non possint esse securi God iudged it better to mingle some that should not perseuere with the certaine number of his Saints that they for whom security in the tentation of this life is not expedient might learne not to be secure Now that Augustine by that faith working by loue mentioned in the former allegation from whence he would haue vs beleeue for our owne profit and proficiency in perseuering that the reprobate fall did not meane that true reall faith of the Saints and Elect which worketh by loue but onely such a faith in appearance and common account besides many other places and those also which we haue forecited that one may conuince it where he saith vpon 2. Tim. 2. 19. Horum fides quae per dilectionem operatur profecto aut omnino non deficit aut si qui sunt quorum deficit reparatur antequam vita ista finiatur deleta quae intercurrerat iniquitate vsque in finem perseuerantia deputatur The faith of those which worketh by loue eyther doth not faile at all or if there be any whose faith doth faile it is repaired before this life be ended and the inquity which came betweene being blotted out perseuerance is deputed euen vnto the end Yea he saith definitiuely Fides eius qui aedificatur super Petram pro qua etiam or auit Christus ne deficiat non deficit His faith that is built vpon the Rocke for the which also Christ prayed that it should not faile faileth not And Christ saith expresly That the house built vpon the Rocke faileth not but standeth firme against all windes and waues of tentations The Rocke is Christ and the house vpon this Rocke is euery true beleeuer But say that former allegation out of Augustine had beene altogether set downe by him eyther in those termes or in that sense as the Author citeth it what if one such speech tending that way should haue fallen from that excellent holy man shall that one preponderate the whole tenure of St Augustines workes Nay rather let it bee interpreted by his other sayings than they be ouerthrowne and euacuate by this And let the learned Author of that booke of the Gagge so maintaine the truth of Christ in the maine current of his other writings as they may not only extenuate but wholly expiate and expunge to omit other things at least this blot dropping from his penne Augustine though a most excellent light in Gods Church yet wherein he saw his errours such was his rare humility and dextrous ingenuity hee writ a Booke of Retractations But for his Doctrine in the point of the Saints perseuerance in the state of grace vnto the end it is so cleare and consonant to the Scriptures that it needes no retractation and as vneasie it is almost by any wit to bee peruerted as subuerted Onely let not a misalledged place or a mis-conceiued allegation out of Augustine stand as the Rest whereon the state of the Doctrine of the Church of England must lye at hazzard Nor euer let it be said that the Doctrine of the faith of the Church of England is any other
velint fateri praedestinatos esse qui per Dei gratiam fiant obedientes atque permaneant iam tamen fateantur quod eorum praeueniat voluntatem quibus datur hâ—c gratia Now these men saith hee with whom wee haue to deale are so much remote from the Hereticall peruersnesse of the Pelagians that although they will not be brought to confesse that they which by the grace of God are made obedient and remaine so are predestinated yet notwithstanding they confesse that this grace preuents the will of those to whom it is giuen But how Augustine discouers their deceit Ideo vitque ne gratis dari credatur gratia sicut veritas loquitur sed potius secundum praecedentis merita voluntatis sicut contra veritatem Pelagianus error obloquitur This must be so forsooth lest grace should be thought to be giuen gratis as the truth speaketh but rather according to the merits of mans precedent will as the Pelagian errour gain-saieth the truth So that in the conclusion the Pelagians and Pontificians with their confederates conspire in the maine not onely to diminish but euen to demolish the glory of God The second precious thing which thou wouldest destroy is the saluation of the elect Thou to make a reprobate by thy carnall reason to become at the best a formall hypocrite puffed vp with the swelling pride of his selfe-righteousnesse wouldst destroy that gracious purpose of God in sauing impotent man which purpose of God is the onely cause of the effectuall sauing of men For take away this purpose of God and no man should be saued And not onely Gods purpose to saue some whom he will doth in time effectually bring them vnto the state of grace in Christ but also is so farre from making them carelesse as it makes them the more carefull to continue in the state of grace Yea not only so but God doth endowe all his with a care and minde and will and power to continue in his fauour and grace And to this end all things worke together cooperate for good to them that loue God to them that are called according to his purpose Hath God giuen me the grace of faith to beleeue in his Sonne Iesus Christ whereby I come now to know what I knew not before namely that I am of the number of Gods elect preordained to saluation before the foundation of the world Am I hereupon carelesse how I liue because I haue receiued the euidence of Gods fauour towards mee in Christ Nay now I begin to be more carefull than euer before that I may also attaine to the end of my saluation And I am so much the more encouraged hereunto not onely because I am ordained of God vnto it but because now the Spirit of Christ dwelleth in me strengthening incouraging comforting confirming mee more and more in the obedience of faith and sealing me vp vnto the day of Redemption I know that God hath appointed to saue me but not without meanes He hath made the meanes easie vnto me and he hath giuen mee both a minde power to obserue the conditions where I through carnall infirmity still dwelling in me faile yet still the means is in my way which is to be renewed by repentance humiliation and obedience I cannot now euer be resolued that because I know I am one of Gods elect therefore I will sinne and liue as I list but because I am one of Gods elect redeemed by Iesus Christ therefore my whole resolution is continually to set forth the prayses of him that hath called mee out of darknesse into his maruellous light St. Iohn was of another minde than these men where 1. Ioh. 3. speaking of our knowledge and assurance of our blessed estate in and through and with Christ he addeth vers 3. He that hath this hope purgeth himselfe euen as hee is pure So that the more certaine our faith and hope is of eternall life the more carefull it makes vs of fitting and preparing ourselues thereunto For he that hath this hope purgeth himselfe Tell me a Prince being borne heire apparant to a Kingdome because he is assured that none can preuent him of his right is he therefore carelesse of his course of life running riot and playing the young Prodigall and not rather disposeth himselfe or at least is carefully brought vp vnder Tutors and Gouernours for that end that by learning obedience in his youth and nonage he may know the better how to Command when he comes to weald the Scepter Now the Child of God by his new birth is borne heire apparant to the kingdome of glorie therefore while he is in his minoritie in the Principalitie of grace and because now he hath many infallible arguments to assure him of the Kingdome is he either himselfe so carelesse or is his heauenly Father so improuident as not euery way to furnish him with those graces beseeming such a Prince whereby he may in time be throughly furnished and accounted worthy to sit with Christ in his Throne Because old Symeon had a reuelation by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ Did he therefore as knowing God to be true in his promise neglect his ordinary meate and other meanes for the sustentation and preseruation of his life because he was to liue certainely vntill he should see the Lord 's Christ Because King Ezechias had a gracious promise from God that he should recouer of his pestilent disease and within three dayes be able to goe vp vnto the house of the Lord and moreouer that he had fifteene yeeres added of God vnto his dayes was Ezechias therefore carelesse of vsing the meanes for his recouery which the Lord had prescribed and so for the prolonging of his life which the Lord had promised Did he not according to Gods direction take and apply the lumpe of dry Figgs to the plague-sore and so recouered so that within three dayes he went vp vnto the house of the Lord to offer the Sacrifice of praise So the elect of God being now effectually called to the state of grace they haue a promise from God that they shall neuer see death that spirituall death which Christ speaks of till they see the Lord 's Christ face to face and know him by beatificall vision euen as they are knowne are they therefore carelesse of the spirirituall food of their soules the Word and Sacraments whereby they are preserued till they come to the fruition of this beatificall vision And being desperately sicke of the pestilence of sinne and hauing health promised and remedy prouided are they therefore so carelesse as not to put forth the hand of faith to apply Christ that lumpe of figgs that cluster of grapes that balme of Gilead to their pestilential sore that recouering perfect health thereby they may after three dayes be raised vp and be able vpon the feet of their holiest affections to ascend vnto the house of the Lord not
miracles but of their owne saluation which they had common with others For that very cause would hee haue his Disciples reioyce for which thou also reioycest Omnium fidelium qui diligunt Christum qui ambulant viam eius humiliter quam ipse docuit humilis nomina scripta sunt in Coelo Cuiusuis contemptibilis in Ecclesia qui credit in Christum diligit Christum amat pacem Christi nomen scriptum est in Coelo cuiusâ—ibet quem contemnis c. The names of all the faithfull which loue Christ which humbly walke in his way which his humble selfe prescribed are written in Heauen The name of euery contemptible one in the Church which beleeueth in Christ and loueth Christ and loueth the peace of Christ is written in Heauen euen of euery one whom thou contemnest And what comparison between such a one and the Apostles who did so great miracles And yet the Apostles are checked because they reioyced in a priuate good and are charged to reioyce of that whereof euen that contemptible one reioyceth So Saint Augustine So that the Apostles reioycing that their names were written in Heauen was not peculiar to them but common to euery true beleeuer the most contemptible whereof is no lesse commanded to reioyce that his name is written in Heauen than the Apostles themselues were If therefore all the faithfull must reioyce that their names are written in Heauen then they must needes certainly know not coniecturally suppose or vainely presume that they are of the number of Gods Elect. For else to reioyce of that where of they haue no certaine knowledge were but the flash of a false ioy But Christ bids vs reioyce truely and really All therefore whose names are written in Heauen know it to bee so sith they are bid to reioyce of it And if this knowledge come not but by reuelation yet it is no speciall reuelation to some few beleeuers onely but it is giuen to all true beleeuers in common Yea all the elect euen euery true beleeuer knoweth this by his Faith and the fruits of it as Hope and Loue c. This the Apostle sheweth 2. Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selues whether yee be in the Faith prooue your owne selues Know yee not your owne selues how that Iesus Christ is in you except yee be Reprobates A most emphaticall speech Examine What your selues Wherein Whether yee be in the Faith yea Prooue your owne selues herein And let this be the proofe of your Faith to know your selues to be in Christ and Christ to be in you For this is proper to the elect of God yea to all the elect in Christ to know themselues to be of that number euen by the proofe and testimonie of their Faith Which knowledge hee who neuer hath is a Reprobate by the Apostles Sentence For if Christ be in you then are you of the number of Gods elect and Christ dwelleth in vs by Faith and by Faith wee know that Christ dwelleth in vs by which wee know that wee are not Reprobates And if wee know wee are no Reprobates then wee know certainely that wee are of Gods elect Hereupon Saint Augustine sayth Fides quae per dilectionem operatur si est in vobis iam pertinetis ad praedestinatos vocatos iustificatos ergo crescat in vobis Faith which worketh by loue if it be in you you doe now belong to the number of the Predestinate of the Called of the Iustified therefore let Faith grow in you Saint Iohn also sheweth this excellently saying Hee that beleeueth in the Sonne of God hath the witnesse in himselfe So that our Faith in Christ is our infallible witnesse that wee are Christs and Christ is ours and so consequently that wee are predestinate and elect in Christ. For if any man doubt of this Record of Faith what it is and wherein it consisteth the same Apostle makes it yet more euident Verse 11. saying And this is the Record that God hath giuen to vs eternall life and this life is in his Sonne And can wee haue this Witnesse this Record of Faith in ourselues and not thereby certainely know that wee are of the number of Gods elect when wee thus finde the infallible proofe and effect of it in vs Eternall life is the infallible effect of our election But by Faith wee know that wee haue eternall life For this is the Record euen our Faith Yea this infallible knowledge is that which the Apostle doth purposely write to informe vs of For Verse 13. he sayth These things haue I written vnto you that beleeue in the Name of the Sonne of God To what end That yee may know What That yee may know not that yee may haue some probable coniecture but that yee may know What that yee haue eternall life Not onely that yee shall haue it but that yee alreadie haue it than which nothing is more sure and certaine and that yee may beleeue on the Name of the Sonne of God And this is the confidence that wee haue in him c. Now hath euery true Beleeuer eternall Life And doth hee know this by Faith And doth hee not then know that hee is of the number of Gods elect Let all Pontifician Sophistry heere stoppe the Mouth of Contradiction Let it submit to the inuincible and cleare Truth of God Thus hauing declared the infallible certaintie of Saluation sealed vnto vs by a liuely iustifying Faith which makes a man so perswaded of his Election and Predestination as that it makes him to reioyce that his name is written in Heauen it followeth now in the next place to shew the certaintie of Faith as touching our perseuerance vnto the end Now our perseuerance in Grace is a necessarie consequent effect of our Election and Predestination in Christ vnto Glory So that being sure wee are of the number of Gods Elect wee are also sure that wee shall also continue and perseuere in Grace vnto the end whereunto wee are elected As Augustine sayth Quis in aeternam vitam potuit ordinari nisi perseuerantiae dono Who could be ordained to eternall Life without the gift of Perseuerance So that for a man to know hee is written in the Booke of Life of Gods Election is consequently to know that hee shall perseuere vnto the end Doe wee know that God loues vs in Christ Then doe we also know that vnto the end hee loueth vs. Wee know that he that hath begun the good worke of Grace in vs will also performe it vnto the end Wee know with the Apostle that nothing shall separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. The Pontificians would faine restraine the Apostles perswasion and extend it no farther than to himselfe as a speciall reuelation of the certaintie of his owne saluation But hee sayth expressely Nothing shall separate Vâ— hee sayth not Mee alone but Vs. As hee plainely expresseth elsewhere saying Wee know that if our Earthly House