represse God whose word is siluer tride And in seuen fires puri fide Lord performe as thou hast said Saue and keep thine heritage Help the poore so much dismaid From this lewd and sinfull age Which base men doth highest raise And to vice giues vertues praise Psalme 13. LOrd how long wilt thou delay Shall I neuer comfort find Can thine endlesse grace decay Or thy kindnesse proue vnkind Why then hidest thou thy face Carelesse of my care and griefe Why withholdest thou thy grace And deniest me due reliefe Shall my fruitlesse counsels still Thus torment my troubled sprite Shall my foes triumph at will While thy terros me affright Heare O Lord behold my plight Speedy help of thee I craue Light my dim decayed sight That I sleep not in the graue Lest my foes with proud disdaine Boast as if they did preuaile Ioying in my saddest paine When my feeble steps doe faile But I ioy and hope alwayes On thy grace and sauing health And my heart shall sing thee praise Th' only worker of my wealth Psalme 23. HOw can I lacke what may content My boundlesse greedy heart Sith thou O Al-sufficient My carefull shepheard art When I on tender grasse haue fed Thou foldst me safe and sure And when I thirst thou doest me lead To streames Chrystalline pure Thou doest my wandring soule reclaime When from thee I doe stray And thou my steps euen for thy name Doest guide in righteous way Were I to passe through shade of death No danger would I feare Thy rod thy crooke me comforteth Thy help is alwayes neere Thou hast a plenteous table spred For me before my foe With pretious balme thou dew'st my head My bowle doth ouer flow And while I liue thy bounteous grace Shall neuer me forsake But euer in thy dwelling place Will I my dwelling make Psalme 119. Beth. HOw shall a young man prone to ill Clense his vnruly and vnbridled way If that he learne to know thy will And from thy sacred lawes goe not astray Thee haue I sought with perfect heart In whom doth rest my full content O let me neuer from thee part Nor erre from thy commandement Thy words deep in my heart are bid That from thy precepts I may neuer swerue O gracious Lord as thou hast bid Teach me thy Precepts euer to obserue Thy righteous iudgements and thy wayes which of thy grace to me thou doest bewray My lips created for thy praise Shall neuer cease to publish night nor day My hearts desire and whole delight Vpon thy statutes fixed are No worldly treasure in my sight May with thy precepts once compare As on the lodestar of my life So on thy lawes my stedfast eyes are set And in my thoughts they are so rise That I thy precepts neuer can forget Psalme 125. THey whose hopes are mounted high Rais'd with wings of faith and loue Stormie tempest thundring skie Trembling earth can neuer moue They though hell against them band Stedfast like Mount Sion stand As about Ierusalem Mighty hils aduanced are So doth God inuiron them That on him rely their care He from danger doth protect And secure his Saints elect Though a while fierce tyrants prey On Christs flocke with furious rage Their proud scepter shall not sway Alwayes on his heritage Lest forlorne and in contempt Sinfull counsels they attempt Lord let them thy bounty tast That are pure and poore in sprite Whose wrie steps writ paths haue trac't Range them with the hypocrite That the chaffe purg'd from the graine Israel may in peace remaine Psalme 130. OVt of the deep O Lord to thee I crie Giue eare and heare the voice of my complaint If thou seuerely marke iniquity Who can be cleere and free from sinfull taint But mercy Lord with thee remaines in store That men may feare thee and thy name adore On thee I wait and on thy righteous word More then the morning watch for dawning day Let Israel likewise trust in the Lord With him redemption and much grace doth sway And though his sins in number passe the sand He shall redeeme him with his mighty hand Psalme 131. LOrd thou know'st who hast me tride That my heart swels not with pride I looke not high nor doe I stretch My thoughts too far beyond my reach Haue I not like weaned child Euermore beene meeke and mild Yea sure I haue my selfe demean'd Like infant from his mother wean'd Israel doe thou likewise Learne in meeke and humble guise Like babe new weaned from the brest Still on thy God thy hopes to rest Psalme 133. O Come behold what thing it is How good how sweet how full of blisse When discords and dissensions cease And brethren loue and liue in peace Much like the pretious oyle that 's shed Vpon the high Priests sacred head Which dewes his beard and thence doth raigne Downe on his holy vestments traine Much like the pleasant morning dewes Which Hermons fertile top renewes Or that which fals on Sions hill And doth her horne with plenty fill O blessed they that can agree To dwell in peace and vnity For there the Lord giues euermore Both happy life and plenteous store FINIS
in the morne When you your bed forsake And late at night when you returne Sweet sleep againe to take Meekly vpon your knee With humble vowes attend So pregnancy of wit will he And health of body send Yea better things then these Will he vnto you spare Only refer all to his praise Both what you haue and are To my Daughter E. D. Written on her Bible Sith you my child the child of wrath were borne From sinful flesh deriuing sinfull staine Into Gods fauour can you not returne If of the spirit you be not borne againe None are new borne but of immortall seed That seed immortall is this word of truth By it next vnder God I trust to breed Your second birth who bred your former ruth This will in you subdue each sinfull lust Your mind enlighten and your hart create Pious to God towards your neighbour iust And to your selfe sober and temperate This season will your greener yeares with grace And crowne your head when you haue run your race A Prayer MY sins o Lord haue me unworthy made To licke the crums that from thy table fall My guilty soule dares not for comfort call That Now through famishment my strength doth fade But thou dear Lord that vaild in mortall flesh For mans offence on bitter crosse didst bleed With bread of life my starued soule refresh My soule doth thirst like to the parched ground And humors moist are turnd to summers drought Thy burning wrath this inward heat hath wrought And feare of Hell my conscience doth confound But lord thou art an euerlasting well Whence purest streames of liuing waters flow O quench the flames wherein my hart doth glow And on thy banks let me for euer dwell Through stranger countries harborles I stray From Paradise exild my natiue land And angrie Cherubin with burning brand Of my returne doth intercept the way Thou art the way sweet Iesu thou the dore Yet harborles wast in a manger borne O let my soule faint weary and forlorne By thee reenter then retire no more Ah who is me for opened are mine eyes And now with shame my naked shame I see My soule abasht faine would thy presence flee And sory figleaues to her shame applies But Lord thy wardrobes store can nere be spent And whitest rayment thou doest sell for nought O let the robe of iustice foorth be brought Therwith t' inuest this thriftles penitent My soule o Lord is fild with strange disease And cruell theeues haue wounded me so sore That nought but wound I am and bloudy gore And on my life eternall death doth seize But Lord thou art that good Samaritan The skilfulst leach to salue a wounded hart O let thy precious balms soone ease my smart And dying soule preserue from endles bane In deepest dongeon comfortles I lie Ne of my debt can pay the lightest graine My Iailour Satan is my sin the Chaine And bound with sin who can the bonds vnty But thou deare Lord hast broke the gates of Hel And with thy dearest bloud our debts doest pay O cancel thou my bonds my debts defray And from my hart all seruile feare expell Pinde thirstie exild naked sick in iaile Feed quench returne couer recouer baile A Hymne vnto Christ LVte awake Why sleepest thou so long Come let vs musick make And chant some holy song My heart and voice shall with thy strings accord To sing the prayse of Christ my King and Lord. Brightest beame Of brightest glory bred The euerlasting streame From purest fountaine shed The light the life true God chiefe good thou art And of thy good to each wight doest impart Then thou wast When time was not begun Without thee nothing past By thee all things were done The earth the sea the aire the heauens aboue By thee doth stand doth flow doth breath doe moue God thou art Yet didst our nature take Enduring bitter smart A peace for vs to make Thy Crosse thy Wounds thy Blood thy Death thy graue Our sinfull soules from endlesse death doe saue Glorifide Thou now in heauen doest raigne And for thy Saints prouide A place there to remaine Where King is three in one and one in three Law perfect loue and tearme eternity Lachrymae IF by sighs or teares or cries I could discharge the weight of griefe Which on my soule so heauy lies Soone would I find releefe My sad heart would vapour sighs Mine eyes would streame foorth flouds of teares My voice with shrikes and dolefull cries Would vent mine inward feares But my soule too deep is wounded Nor can my troubled sprite By sighs or tears or cries be lightened Of those sorrowes me affright Shallow are those foords that murmure Sleight sorrowes soone complaine My heart mine eyes my voice astonied are With extreame disease and paine Thus my woes emprizned in my breast Still on me tyrannize Happy happy whose cares are blest With sighs with teares with cryes Once deare Lord vnworthy mee With gracious eyes thou didst respect Thou shewdst me ioyes that none can see But Saints in Christ elect Now alas why doest thou frowne Why doest thou gnash thy teeth at me From highest blisse why am I throwne To lowest misery Shall thy wrath exceed thy mercy Can pitie cruell proue Shall death and hell and flames that neuer die Seize whom thou sometime didst loue Ah sweet Iesu bee my Iesu Though sin my soule haue slaine Thy wine thy oile thy balme may life renue And close vp my wounds againe Why then am I with despaire possest Sith hope and grace I see Kill me kill me yet will I rest My stedfast faith on thee The Spouse of Christ longing for and reioycing in her marriage with him COme returne hast away O thou whom my soule doth loue Lo thy spouse night and day Longs to rest with thee aboue While thou tariest all too long Cruell tyrants me oppresse And triumph in my sad distresse Come therefore auenge my wrong Ease my hart brimfull of greefe O hast thee Lord and bring releefe Welcome ioy farwell woe Hither lo he speeds a maine Swift as hart swift as roe Skipping high on Bethers plaine Nightly shades are fled and gone And now dawnes that blessed day That weds me to my loue for aye Now my foes lament and mone Iustly doomd to darkest Hell But I with Christ in heauen shall dwell An Euening Prayer O Holy and eternall light Defend vs now this darksome night Grant inward peace to troubled heart To wearied sense sweet sleep impart Whilst heauy eyes sleeps comfort take O let our soules still on thee wake Let thy right hand keep and protect From sleep of sin thy Saints elect When sleep of death shall close our eyes O let our soules ascend the skies Meane while fraile flesh shall rest from strife Till death bee swallowed vp of life A Soule distracted betweene Hope and Feare HAte I deserue and yet for loue I sue I beg for life and yet death is my due Worthy I am that
thou shouldst me reiect And yet I claime the crowne of thine elect Alas how may so bold a sute be heard And sinfull wretch obtaine a Saints reward Nay shall I not thy kindled wrath inflame Crauing all good deseruing nought but shame Sin bids me feare yet still I hope for grace Grace bids me hope yet still I feare disgrace While feare doth hope and hope doth feare restraine 'Twixt feare and hope my heart is rent in twaine Wilt thou sweet Iesus plead my cause for me Alas my bare estate affoords no fee Yet if in forme of poore to thee I flie Thy word is past thou canst me not deny Thee then mine aduocate I entertaine By thee an easy sute I shall obtaine So double comfort shall my heart enioy Of present grace and hope of future ioy Hope of Pardon SHould I O Lord excuse or cloake my sin Are thine eyes so dim that thou canst not see Can guilty soule thy gracious fauour win Or by righteous doome iust reputed be Thy crystall eyes my secret thoughts behold Yea thou knowst them long ere they be conceiued Thou art not man to be corrupt with gold Not by vaine excuse canst thou be deceiued Yet will I not despaire to gaine Pardon for my great offences Though iustice doome eternall paine With iustice mercy still dispences When shall I then to those high ioyes aspire Which in heauen aboue thou reserust for me Mount vp my soule with wings of high desire Till thou heauen enioy what ioy can there be On barren earth sin is the seed we sow And the crop we reape is but sorrowes gaine And if sometime from sin short pleasures grow Sinfull pleasures end in the eternall paine Then sith on earth we reape no graine But short ioyes long sorrowes bringing O let me liue where Angels raigne Then endles Alleluiah singing The Epicure and Christian Time doth haste Life as a shadow flies Breath as a vapor soone doth wast And none returns that dies Come let vs banish woes And liue while life doth last Crowne we our heads with budding rose And of each pleasure tast What though precise fooles do vs blame Shall wee forgoe content Pleasure is substance vertue name And life will soone be spent Time shall cease Archangels tromp shall sing Death shall his prisoners all release And them to iudgement bring Then shall these sinfull ioyes To endles wayling turne And they that scorned vertues choice In brimstone flames shall burne Then they that erst fond Stoicks Shall wisedomes children proue When they among the Saints esteemed Shall raigne with Christ aboue A Sinners appeale from Iustice to Mercy AY me from me my wonted ioyes are fled And saddest greefe on my poore hart hath seazd Thy mortall sting ô sin this wo hath bred And dreadfull wrath of my deare Lord displeased I see his sword vpreard me to confound And guilty soule attends her deadly wound Oh then my soule where canst thou rest secure Where wilt thou flie from his reuenging ire If vp heauen there enters nought impure If downe to hell there flames eternall fire Nor deepest sea nor shade of darkest night Can secret thee from his al-seeing spright Yet from thy selfe thy selfe a refuge art When from thy iustice to thy grace we flie O gracious Lord to thee my pensiue heart With teares of true remorse for grace doth crie Thy mercy Lord my soule from death may saue O rid my dying soule from lowest graue A Caroll for the Natiuity A Wonder strange this day was wrought Exceeding mans and Angels thought Though domb haue spoke and blind haue seene And they reuiu'd who dead haue beene Yet neuer vertue like to this Whereby was wrought mans endlesse blisse Behold then and amazed stand This is the finger of Gods hand A virgin pure without mans aide Hath borne a child yet still a maide Which babe this day began to be Yet was from all eternity A King of Kings and yet a thrall Possessing nought yet Lord of all Creator yet a creature Light of the world and yet obscure Most beauteous and yet without forme Ador'd of Angels yet a worme Omnipotent yet fraile and weake Th' eternall Word yet could not speake Most quiet calme yet without rest The food of Saints yet suckt the brest Embracing all yet but a span Immortall life yet mortall man Man yet in God subsisting aye God yet confined to case of clay Both God and man 'twixt both to treat And firmest league 'twixt them to set That mercy might with iustice meet And peace and truth each other greet O blessed dame whose lips might kisse whose paps did nurse this babe of blisse O blessed babe whose ioyfull birth Hath chang'd our sighs to tunes of mirth Who now thy sweets may tast and proue By faith on earth in heauen by loue Christ comforting a distressed soule SIgh no more soule oh sigh no more Despaire not thou thus euer Thy God hath grace for thee in store His mercy faileth neuer Then sigh not so Let sorrowes go Sing in the highest Hosanna And change thy dolefull sounds of woe Into Halleluiah Manifold are thy sins I know And deep in crimson died Yet whiter shalt thou bee then snow In my blood purified Then sigh not so c. Heauen against thee shut by sin Haue I for thee vnlocked Since thou so kindly letst me in When at thy heart I knocked Then sigh not so c. Come to me lo thy Sauiour cryes Thou canst not be refused For neuer did I yet despise A broken heart and bruised Then sigh not so c. There in peace shalt thou liue and raigne And neuer more be sory Aboue the measure of thy paine Shall bee thy weight of glory Then sigh not so Let sorrowes go Sing in the highest Hosanna And change thy dolefull sounds of woe Into Halleluiah THE FIRST PSALME BLessed yea thrice blest are they That lewd counsels haue not traced Nor haue stood in sinners way Nor in scorners chaire are placed But in Gods lawes they delight Them they study day and night These like trees stand euermore By the riuers freshly springing Pleasant fruit in plenteous store Duly in their season bringing Neuer shall their leafe decay What they doe shall prosper aye But the wicked are like dust To and fro with tempest driuen Neither shall they with the iust Stand when iudgement shall be giuen For God knowes the iust mans way And them stroyes that from him stray Psalme 12. SIth on earth all friends doe faile Prouing faythlesse and vnkind Sith now euery where preuaile Flattring lips and double mind Lord send help from heauen aboue Who alone art perfect loue But these false dissembling tongues God eftsoones will root them out Those that triumph in their wrongs Vttering proud words and stout Who shall curb our tongues say they Ours they are and they shall swayâ—s For when once the poore doth crie And to God his vowes addresse Now saith God arise will I Him to saue them to
in the life to come Faith ceaseth and then they liue by vision not by Faith But I forbeare farther to examine either these or the rest of your arguments partly because wee agree both in the generall Conclusions Demonax apud Plut. Apopâ—h and partly lest I proue as wise as he who while his fellow was milking a ram-goat held a siue vnder to receiue the milke N. B. But you say the German Church holdeth it I deny it neither can you be able to shew it and therefore it is a great sinne thus to traduce the fame of so honorable Personages Three and those no small lights in the Church of God I will shew which hold the contrary and so leaue you to the Spirit of God who worke in you conuersion In Postill maior in Sex-ages in Euang Luc. 8. de Semine Luther in the place before saith Veri auditores sunt qui Verbum Dei perpetuò retinent fructum adferunt They bee true belieuers which hold fast alwayes the Word of God which none can doe without Faith and bring forth fruite Brentius speaking of time-seruers saith that they did neuer truly belieue In idem Euang In ad Eph. c. 1. Bucer calleth that Faith which may be lost imaginem fidei simulatam credulitotem an image of faith and counterfait credulity Now you haue heard these great Fathers of Germany against you with what face can you accuse so indefinitely the Brethren of Germany of so notable an error But I will stay your leisure to produce those German-Brethren I. D. My leisure shall you not long stay for That many doe not perseuere but fall from grace both Scripture and experience teacheth saith Kemnitius Exam. parte 1. de Iustil They that are most elected may become Reprobates and therfore vtterly fall away saith D. Andreas Colloq Mompelg quaest de Bapt. De gratiâ vniuersali p. 26. Ib. p. 30. Dauid was elected faith Hemingâ—â—s yet indeed lost the spirit and was made guilty of eternall wrath vntill hee againe repented And againe As often as a sinner saith hee although neuer so enormious repenteth of a vessell of dishonor and wrath he is made a vessell of honour and mercy as on the contrary side whosoeuer is a vessell of honour and mercy when willingly and wittingly hee fals into sinne hee wasts his conscience and loosing Faith becomes a vessell of wrath and dishonor The Century-writers Cent. 1. l. 2. ca. 4. p. 275. l. 1. c. 4. p. 120. That Faith once conceiued may be lost and shaken out it is plaine by sundry examples and by the sayings of Christ and that Faith may bee lost the Apostles both by their sayings and examples doe demonstrate Finally the whole Church of Saxonie Harm conf incon Sax. art 10. It is manifest that some that are regenerate doe grieue and shake off the Holy Ghost and are againe reiected of God and made subiect to the wrath of God and eternall punishment Read Zanchie in his Miscellanies and there shall you find how much trouble that that worthy man sustained in Germany among other things for gainsaying this point For indeed this is one speciall Article wherein wee and the Lutherans for them I vnderstand by Brethren of Germany doe disagree and the ignorance thereof argues that you are little or nothing at all acquainted with the controuersies that are betwixt vs and them But you haue great Fathers of Germany against mee and can shew three no small lights in Gods Church which hold the contrary euen Luther Brentius and Bucer First Luther was no Lutheran and not holding all those errors which those who are called of his name defend is not to bee reckoned among them yet thus saith hee In artic smal cald It is necessary to teach and know that when the Saints fall into manifest sinnes as Dauid did then Faith and the Holy Ghost are lost Brentius indeed was a rigid Lutheran and therefore it is likly hee held as the rest of his fellowes doe for certainty I haue none hauing not his writings by mee Neither doth the passage you alledge out of him euince the contrary for as Excutifidians giue me leaue so to call them distinguish they that haue true Faith in the trunesse of essence or existence may yet as they say want true Faith in the trunesse of permanence or perseuerance As for Bucer hee fals not within the compasse of those whom I meane by the Brethren of Germany for hee was none of those whom they call Lutherans In Miscell And yet as hee is alledged by Zanchie and others for the Perpetuity of Faith so is hee vouched also by the contrary side for falling away from grace as where hee saith They who sinne against conscience by no meanes haue a true and liuely Faith In Colloq Ratisb pag. 247. But suppose these three were such Brethren as wee speake of yet what are they to Kemnitius D. Andreas Hemingius Illyricus Wigandus Mathaeus Iudex Basilius Faber the whole Church of Saxony and generally all Lutherans who all hold as I haue affirmed And therfore I do not as you say traduce their fame nor accuse them wrongfully of error they themselues haue diuulged and published it to the whole world in their books And so my Assumption that they haue not Assurance remaineth hitherto in his full strength and vertue N. B. You conclude vpon the premisses thus Therefore or at leastwise probably this is not iustifying Faith Dispute you positiuely and conclude probably Alas Master Downe doe you preach after this manner at Cambridge to deliuer definitions by Sophistrie when you should speake verè truly It seemeth when you said so you were not perswaded that your doctrine was true but determined contingently and probably with fine words to ensnare poore silly hearers For when you say Therefore or at leastwise probably you doubted of the Truth thereof Surely this is not to goe recto pectore with an vpright conscience in Gods cause Ammian Marc. l. 17. Plutar. in collect But I hope wee shall take heed of you when you preach next seeing you meane to tell vs the truth but only a probable tale 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A wise man will eschew your snares Ep. ad Bosphor Bis enim ad eundem lapidem impingere stulto conuenit saith Gregorius Theologus It is the property of fooles to stumble twice at one stone I. D. Why Sir is it vnlawfull to conclude otherwise then Apodictically or is it Sophistrie to vse Dialecticall Syllogismes in matters of Diuinity Certainly then much to blame are all those Logicians who handle Topicall Syllogismes whose matter is contingent other where then among the Elenchs and foully ouerseene are all writers both sacred and profane ancient and moderne who oftentimes dispute probably knowing that although Demonstration only doe force and constraine yet Probability doth very much bend and incline the minde Saint Augustin did not so lightly esteeme of Probable
the mercie of God I. D. The Minor which in the former section you denied namely that Faith goes before iustification and Assurance followes after in my Treatise I thus proued because Iustification is promised vpon condition of Belieuing and seeing in Conditionall promises there can bee no Assurāce of the thing promised before the performāce of the Condition therfore in this promise we must Belieue before we can be iustified and be iustified before we can be assured we are iustified Now to this you say it is rather an encouragement then a Promise vpon condition as if it were impossible that Promise vpon condition might bee an encouragement Whereas me thinkes a Generall doth greatly encourage his Souldiers when he promiseth vnto them preferment and reward vpon condition of some peece of seruice well performed 1 Cron. 11.6 And Ioab peraduenture would not haue beene so forward and venturous in the battell vnlesse Dauid had promised the office of chiefe Captaine vpon condition of smiting the Iebusites But you haue reasons for your saying more then a good many for here like another Tertullian euery word almost you speake is a Demonstration First all the Church of God in all ages affirmeth with you and yet as shall plentifully appeare in the next Section the Church of God neuer vnderstood but that Remission of sinnes was promised vpon condition of Faith But as Anaxagoras when hee was driuen to his shifts and could not finde out the reason of some things was wont to say it was the doing of Nous euen so when you haue boldly affirmed that which you can by no meanes proue it is your manner desperately to auouch that it is the saying of the Church Secondly you say this speech Belieue and thy sinnes shall bee forgiuen thee is all one with this Thy sinnes bee forgiuen thee therefore bee of good comfort Which happily wee may thinke not to be altogether so witlesse if also you can perswade vs that a Physician saying vnto his Patient Vse carefully the course of Phisicke I shall prescribe vnto you and you shall surely recouer of your sicknesse meaneth thereby no other then as if hee should say Bee of good cheere for thou art already recouered of thy sicknesse Lastly by this meanes you say both the former and the latter to wit Forgiuenesse of sinnes and Beliefe may bee ascribed to the mercy of God As if Promise of Remission of sinnes vpon condition of Faith were any way derogatory vnto the Mercy of God but that both the one and the other may this notwithstanding bee ascribed thereunto For if when God out of his soueraigne authority commaundeth to Belieue it bee neuerthelesse of his grace that wee can and doe Belieue according to that of S. Augustin Giue what thou commandest and command what thou wilt why when out of his mercy hee promiseth Forgiuenesse if we doe Belieue should it not bee ascribed vnto the same his mercy that we doe performe the condition and Belieue But who knowes the salt that is in you Eupolis You are the onely Pericles of this age Suada sits vpon your lips and you alone leaue a sting behind you For had it not been for this threefold cord of yours I could neuer so easily haue been drawne from this truth N. B. Farthermore where you bring for the confirmation of your Minor to proue Iustification to bee conditionall with the Papists this place of Math. cap. 9. v. 2. M. Downes falshood in citing construing and adding to the Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Confide fili remissa sunt tibi peccata tua Bee of good comfort Sonne thy sinnes bee forgiuen thee you wrest it first to tell vs that Christ said to him Thy sinnes be forgiuen thee if thou wilt bee of good comfort which is false and no part of Christs meaning but rather the contrary bidding the man sicke of the Palsie be of good comfort because his sinnes being the cause of his disease were forgiuen him Tom. 9. in Mat. In Mat. c. 9. This could Saint Hierome haue told you yea Chrysostome and Master Caluin Erasmus and the Greeke Scholiast But what may wee expect will bee the sequell of this if you bee not hindred in your course Well you haue a mind to doe mischiefe but you want power as spake Plutarch to one Harm in Mat. 9. Archidamus Zeuxidis filius in Plut. M. Downe falsly translating the Greeke text and so I Hope shall The second point which I challenge you in is false translating of the Greeke text contrary to the words themselues and all the world for 1600. yeares You translate Mat. 9. v. 2. Crede fili remittentur tibi peccata tua Sonne belieue and then thy sinnes shall bee forgiuen thee when you should haue said with Saint Hierome Ambrose Beda Caluin Beza Erasm and the Church of England Sonne bee of good comfort thy sinnes bee already forgiuen thee The Greeke word can by no meanes signifie to Belieue but rather to bee confident or Bold to trust to and not to Belieue in as Opibus confidere Cicero to trust to his riches not to belieue in his riches to assure my selfe that they shall benefit mee not to belieue in them as my God to saue mee Beside the Greeke word to Belieue is farre off another name and nature Againe by what authority doe you translate Thy sinnes shall bee forgiuen thee when you should say thy sinnes are forgiuen thee Haue you any commission in contemptum omnium Grammaticorum to change tenses also as you take vpon you vnder pretence of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to coine Distinctions But I may easily spie your drift you would needs parget your rotten cause and miserable Minor with this vntempered morter Well all the Schollers in our countrey will thinke the worse of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as long as they liue for this tricke M. Downe addeth to the Scripture But what intolerable impudency is this and beyond all the rest to adde the word or coniunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to the Scripture saying by your commission 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Belieue Sonne and then thy sinnes shall be forgiuen thee Quite contrary is this to your knowledge and conscience Apoc. 22. Bethinke you therefore what a fearefull iudgement you incurre and craue mercy at the hand of God while you haue time confesse your errour and cancell your commission so shall you haue the Church your Mother and her Children your Brethren and friends I. D. That which in the former section you spake but lispingly here you deliuer more plainely and articularly for there you say it is rather an encouragement but now you affirme peremptorily they are none but Papists that hold Iustification to bee conditionall to such extremities straits am I driuen that I am faine to borrow aide and assistance of the common aduersary But if I bee mistaken herein I hope I shall the more easily find pardon because
or word Rest you shall hardly perswade mee that hee will take it for any other then the effect of true Iustifying Faith I. D. Neither is it your vaine surmising what Master Perkins would say Neither his expresse and direct saying that may be the decider of this controuersie How well that worthy man deserued of the Church of God wherein hee was like another Baptist both a shining and a burning torch Ioh. 5.35 I cannot bee ignorant who knew him so well and very vngratefull were I if I should not acknowledge to haue receiued a good part of that little skill I haue in my profession from his mouth hauing beene for sundry yeeres his ordinary auditor Yet because hee was not a Peter or a Paul nor so preserued from error by the Spirit of truth that hee could mistake in nothing I hope I may without arrogance and with reseruation of due reuerence honor vnto his worth in some points dissent from him And if you may seat Faith both in the vnderstanding and the will notwithstanding that M. Perkins place it only in the vnderstanding On the Creed affirming that it scarce standeth with reason that one single grace should inhere in two distinct faculties why may not I take the same liberty vnto my selfe and define Iustifying Faith by Affiance although M. Perkins would take it for no other then the Effect of Iustifying Faith for so indeed hee doth and I deny not but freely confesse that vpon the reasons aboue rendred I doe in this point altogether differ from him Neither yet did I say that I blanked him with my rare and cunning disputes for this is but the renewing of your old slander the vanity of which I haue already detected Onely it seemes that your best wine is wel-nie spent seeing now you serue your guests with these dregs and that you are driuen to a very narrow strait when you are faine to arme against me such base calumniations and fictions of your owne braine N. B. When you send me to Master Foxe in his Booke de Christo gratis justificante without citing the place where or the words what of mee your speech deserueth none answer but this I dare vndertake you abuse the writings of so reuerend a man I. D. The authority of Master Foxe was not vouched by me to iustify my Definition that Faith is Affiance but to ouerthrow yours who affirme that Faith is Assurance and therefore was placed as was fitting after those arguments which I vrged against you Neuerthelesse here it pleaseth you after your desultory and disorderly manner of disputing in a very vndue place to giue answer vnto it And the reason why with such violence you hale it hither as I guesse is this that not appearing where it should it may seeme to giue no euidence at all against your Assurance and being ordered where it should not it may seeme to bee but idly alledged as being of no force to maintaine my Affiance But yet let vs see what exceptions you take to eleuate this authority Because I cite not the place where nor the words what my speech you say deserues no answer I wisse M. Baxter that booke is not of such bulke but that perusing the titles of each Chapter you might soone haue found out the places by me intended and you know that the schedule I sent you being endited at Bristoll where I was farre from my bookes I could not possibly referre you vnto the very page and line as otherwise I would haue done But now because I haue the booke at hand I will set you downe his direct words and quote you the page where you may read them and then leaue you to bee iudge your selfe whether as you charge mee I abuse the writings of that reuerend man or hee agree with mee in this that Faith is not Assurance Foxe Master Foxe therefore in his booke de Christo gratis iustificante pag. 246 saith thus My iudgement and opinion is that this confidence of mercy and certainty of Saluation promised is a thing which ought to bee very neerely conioined with Faith and which euery one ought necessarily to apply vnto himselfe yet being most applied is not that which onely by it selfe properly and absolutely dischargeth vs of our sinnes and iustifies before God but that there is some other thing propounded in the Gospell which in nature goeth before this certainty and iustifieth before God For Faith vpon the Person of the Sonne of God whereby wee are first reconciled vnto God necessarily goes before Againe pag. 253. Although saith hee certainty and assurance of diuine grace which it selfe is sometime commended vnder the name of Faith bee very neerely ioined with Faith yet this assurance doth not properly import the cause of iustifying but receiueth it being brought neither worketh iustification but is rather wrought by it and maketh them certaine who by the Faith of Christ are iustified but it selfe iustifieth not And yet againe pag. 255. If the question bee of the cause which properly iustifieth from sinne I answer it is that Faith not whereby wee belieue that wee are iustified but whereby wee belieue in Christ the Sonne of God Thus M. Foxe and thus by M. Foxe it appeareth as I affirmed that in this point I am not singular and alone Yet to preuent captious cauils you may bee pleased to vnderstand that the Latin word vsed by Master Foxe to wit Fiducia I haue in my translation englished Confidence and Assurance not that I was afraid lest rendring it Affiance hee might seeme to exclude my affiance also from the Definition of Faith for had hee done so it were nothing to mee hauing shewed that hee denies Faith to be Assurance which was all I there affirmed of him but because if you marke his words attentiuely you shall find that by Fiducia hee vnderstands not Affiance but confident Perswasion or Assurance for hee doth euer confound it with Certainty and expresly defines it to bee that whereby wee are assured of our iustification by Christ So doth Melancthon also and Kemnitius and many others vnderstanding by Fiducia a firme Perswasion that our sinnes are certainly remitted by the propitiation of Christ and all the benefits of the promise of grace giuen communicated and applyed vnto vs. So that vnlesse I would haue depraued my authors meaning I could not translate otherwise then I haue done N. B. Now thinke not that I hold that a man ordinarily saued may be saued without relying vpon Christ Iesus for I hold the cleane contrary viz. that true Iustifying Faith assuring a man in spirituall knowledge of his owne saluation in Iesus Christ worketh and causeth a sweet rest and reposing of the whole soule vpon Christ and his Merits But I deny that this Rest is Faith or this Faith Rest no more then the tree can be the fruite or the fruite the tree I. D. That no man can ordinarily bee saued without Relying vpon Christ I grant for according to my
goodnesse either grant vs the Gift or sanctifie the meanes vnto vs that keeping our selues cleane both in body and soule wee may bee presented vnto thee as pure and vnspotted Virgins in the last day Amen A LETTER INsteed of a few words which I promised to write you I haue here sent this little treatise which if you diligently read and peruse it will more fully informe and resolue you then I should haue done Neuerthelesse that I may in some sort discharge my promise and not altogether faile your expectation in few words thus I would wish you diligently to remember that to bee grieued and troubled for sinne is a necessary duty and that it ought to be so For as in the poole of Bethesda there could bee no cure wrought vntill the Angell had troubled the water so neither is there any remission of sinnes and healing of the soule vntill by the worke of Gods Spirit the heart bee bruzed and broken When such an Angell as Peter was shall by his powerfull preaching haue pricked the Conscience and made men both to see their sinne and to feele the misery thereof then and not before doe they crie out Men and Brethren what shall wee doe Sorrow for sinne is a blessed sorrow A broken and contrite spirit God neuer yet despised Those and those alone who feele the heauy loade and burden of their sinnes doth Christ inuite vnto him and vnto them doth hee promise refreshment Hee that oftentimes watered his couch with his teares and as oftentasted the sweet consolations of Gods blessed Spirit hath out of his experience seriously affirmed that whosoeuer soweth in teares shall surely reap in ioy and a day of reioycing shall euer succeed the night of mourning And to speake the truth sorrow was made for nothing but for sinne A potion is made onely for that disease which it is able to cure and sorrow for that onely which it is able to remedie Losse of friends health wealth and the like were neuer yet recouered with weeping but the teares of true repentance haue euer cleansed the soule from sinne and purchased both pardon and fauour from God Sorrow therefore was made onely for sinne Mourne then in Gods name for your sinnes but yet take heed you mourne not as those that are without hope You cannot doe a greater wrong vnto the infinite mercy of God and the inualuable merits of Christ your Sauiour then to thinke them lesse then your sinnes or demerits If Satan suggest any such thing vnto you spare him not but tell him hee lies for Gods goodnes cannot bee outreached by mans wickednesse and where sinne doth abound grace doth much more abound If your sinnes were as red as scarlet yet vpon your true repentance God both can and will make you as white as snow And of your repentance you cannot well make doubt there being in you as you haue confessed vnto mee both hearty sorrow for sinnes past and vnfained resolution of amendement for the time to come which are the two essentiall parts of true repentance Yea but you haue committed that sinne which is vnto death and can neuer bee forgiuen nor in this nor in the next world If so to what end doe you seeke vnto mee for comfort And why doe I wast paper in writing vnto you But vpon what ground haue you entertayned this conceit Forsooth you haue often sworne and forsworne against your knowledge I will not extenuate your sin it is I confesse grieuous and fearefull neither would I willingly hinder you from a long pennance in sackcloth and ashes for the same Howbeit I would aduise you to steere right betweene these two dangerous gulfes for as you must not make mole-hils of mountaines nor frailties of furies so neither must you of euery sinne though otherwise heinous and enormious make that vnpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost It is not often swearing or cursing no nor forswearing or periury and the like which God neither can nor will forgiue For then what should become of that worthy Apostle Saint Peter who forswore his Lord and Sauiour euen against his Conscience and that not once but thrice with most horrible execration and cursing you haue not sinned in so high a nature as Peter did neuerthelesse now that Christ looketh backe vpon you as hee did on him touching your heart with consideration of what you haue done I giue you good leaue to goe foorth with him and to weep as bitterly as you can But despaire not of pardon nor count it the sinne against the Holy Ghost for so did not hee That sinne is no lesse then a wilfull malicious and obstinate denying of the foundation namely that Iesus is the Mediator and Redeemer of the world It is a totall apostasie from the Faith when the whole man reuolteth from the whole Christian Religion wholly with an obstinate resolution neuer to returne to it any more This sinne I know you are farre from and you dare not say you haue committed it Neither is it possible for him that is guilty thereof to doe as you now a long time haue done that is to mourne and lament for his sinnes His stubborne and reprobate heart is not so tender but being past all sorrow and feeling rather reioyceth in his desperate and malicious obstinacy More I might write but let this little booke I send you bee insteed thereof It remayneth that henceforward you play the valiant souldier of Christ and suffer not your selfe any longer to be led by passion but onely by the rules and directions of Gods blessed Word For my part I will not cease to pray vnto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ for you that this pricke may be eftsoones taken from you or if for you further exercise and triall hee delay you a little longer that yet your Faith may settle and rest vpon that answer which God gaue vnto Paul being in the like case My grace is sufficient for thee Farewell THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS TRVLY Deipara the Mother of GOD. THIS Proposition either in expresse or equiualent tearmes hath euer been held by all Orthodoxe writers both ancient and moderne specially those who haue liued since Nestorius broached the contrary heresie This Nestorius about foure hundred yeeres after Christ was Patriarch of Constantinople who when his Chaplaine Anastasius had publickly taught that the blessed Virgin Mary ought not to bee called the Mother of God was so farre saith Socrates from checking in him these blasphemies against Christ L. 7. c. 32. that hee maintained him in it and reiected himselfe the word Deipara Euagr. l. 1. c. 7. or Mother of God Wherefore hee was banished into the I le Oasis where hee died miserably hauing his accursed tongue eaten out with wormes But as I say the Church of God hath euer held and defended the contrary which I proue by vnanswerable reasons And. Can. 1. First by generall Councels In the Councell of Ephesus it was thus decreed Whosoeuer confesseth not the