or at least such assertions and sentences as out of which you might reasonablie gather it by necessarie consequence and implication As for them if their dailie preaching coulde beate no better vnderstanding into your head yet their infinite volumes which euerie where confute this madnes might haue made you blushe at your rashnes haue caused your woordes to sticke fast in your mouth that they might neuer haue come to light You in this importunate arrogancie prouoking them to shewe you another meaning giue vs plaine enough to vnderstande that your selfe are altogether vnacquainted with their writinges which if you bee what madnes hath possessed you to condemne the thinges you knowe not If it be otherwise and that you graunt you are well acquainted with their doctrine therefore dooe of knowledge charge them with this hainous sinne then can it not be but that you haue borowed y ◠yron forehead of some Jesuite which knoweth not howe to blushe euen in the most desperate insolencie of lying and forgerie Now I heare you say But that men maie be sure I belie them not but speake that which is too true of them it shalbe now shewed how sleightlie they peruert holy scripture for the proofe of that which is layde to their charge First let vs call to minde E. G. the question wherein lieth the controuersie betwixt vs. This is it Whether the preachers of the gospell teache that Vsurers Extortioners Couetous men proude men Leacherous persons drunkardes gluttons c. Hauing no sparkles of vertue or grace appearing in them and continuing without ceassing in the foresayde sinnes maie notwithstandinge assure them-selues to be the elect children of God so as they cannot possibly bee damned what sin soeuer they commit onlie so that they sometime condemne this euill in them selues approue the contrarie godlines belieue that their sinnes are pardoned in Christ loue these their teachers desire to heare delectable sermons This you stiflie auouche I vtterlie denie it and put you to the proofe of it you beginne to prooue it thus They peruert holie scriptures to that ende therefore they saie somuch in effect I deny they peruert holy scriptures to that end Nowe giue vs your instances The first place which you call poyson is this Paul say they was a sanctified man the childe of God and yet he fealt no good thing dwelling in his fleshe but the euill fruites thereoof yea he fealt a lawe or power of sinne in his members forcing him to doo the euill he would not and to leaue vndone the good hee woulde and so leading him captiue to commit sinne If you had meant sincerelie you would haue produced nothing of their owne against them without notinge their names or coatinge such places in their writinges as might witnes your reporte This by the waie Nowe to the place wherby you would gaine your cause if I should grant vnto you that this place of Paul is misinter preted by them which you shall neuer gaine at my hands yet how can you out of this place make good your accusation against them Was it for lack of will or skill that you shew not how you gather your cōclusion out of this assertion That your will is good experience teacheth vs that your skill is not sufficient argueth more pride Remember E. G. that you said not barelie you would shew how They peruert holie scriptures But how they peruert them to proue this which you lay to their charge Now if you shew a hundreth euidences and yet neuer a one that specifieth that lande you claime what iudge will giue sentence on your side So though it were possible for you to charge the ministers of the gospell with manie other crimes and yet faile in the proofe of this one you haue nowe vndertaken all this labour in your sorie booke is lost naie I would it were so lost as it might not bee found to redouble your condemnation But let vs examine that which you haue left at libertie If by this place you saide anie thinge at all for your cause then thus you reason All that vnderstand this place of Paul thus dooe it to conclude that which I haue laide to their charge but the Preachers of the Gospell generally vnderstande it so therefore they dooe it to that end But that the first part of your argument hath no truth in it I would grant your conclusion For I grant the preachers of the gospell generally doo interprete that place so and therefore I rightly pronounced of you that you accuse not the Church of England onlie of Libertine preaching but al others of the gospell likewise throughout Christendome with it But wée will not yet throw awaie your argument but rather prosecute it to the vt-most to see if anie pith of reason maie bee found in it This place of Paul thus vnderstood what can it conclude Forsooth that a regenerate man and elect childe of God so long as hée beareth flesh and bloud about with him cannot be frée from all sinne The reason is because so notable a vessell as Paul testifieth so-much of him-selfe Now sir is it all one to saie the regenerate man is not frée from all sinne with this That Drunkards Gluttons Leachours c. though they continue in their sinnes without ceassinge maie neuerthelesse assure them-selues to be saued if they belieue their sinnes are pardoned in Christe c And doo all that conclude the first point auouche the latter leasing I hope by this time your impudencie in this pointe is open The second instaunce you bring vs is this But they obiect that Paul witnesseth of him-selfe that he had a pricke in the fleshe and that God would not deliuer him from that weakenes Goe to if this interpretation of Paules pricke bee not aright what maketh it for you Are you so short witted E. G. as so soone to forget what so latelie you assumed and tooke vpon you to shew namely how they peruert holy scripture to proue that wicked doctrine which you charge them withall Els why doo you not vncouer the danger of this interpretation and make manifest how it leadeth to that terrible downefall of pestilent persuasion aforesaid All that haue common sense in them sée that this place noting onlie holie Paul to haue his infirmities hatcheth no such monster as you in a spirituall drunkennes haue dreamed of And thus you go forward to a third instance It is set downe say they for a certaine point of doctrine that the spirit lusteth against the flesh and the flesh lusteth against the spirit so that ye cannot do the things ye would This confirming the interpretation of the first place of Paul setteth the picture of your minde as it were in a glasse before mine eies wherein I see that some godlie men hauing taken paines with you to remoue you frō your errours and namely from this which you hold That the regenerate man hath full power to abstaine from all sin and to doo the
works of righteousnes haue in their conference vrged you with these places of Paul which you resisting as a man voide of all vnderstanding can make no difference betwéene light and darknes life and death heauen and hell To the fourth place you bring They will aske then from whence came that will to doo well c. Prouing good the former interpretation of the seuenth to the Romans and affording neuer a word for your mōstrous accusation what should I saie but that it is truely verified of you A true witnes deliuereth soules but a deceiuer forgeth lies The fift obiection wherein you saie They make the inuer man and the spirit of Christ all one as it maketh neither too nor fro for your cause so is it a bastard perhaps of your own begetting the Preachers of the Gospell teach it not This man is desperately bent to slaunder that forgeth false obiections to féed the fire of his quarrell If anie your friends E. G. think it not likely that you forged it because you made it no more pregnant for the proofe of your cause let them know that as this argument hath not vertue enough to cleare you of iust suspition though you be suffered to enforce it as far as you can so contrariwise it being exactly weighed in the vnpartiall balance of vpright and circumspect iudgement dooth not onlie point in secret to the forgery but as in certaine cyphres also vncouer the cause and as it were the cogitation of your hart therin For whilest it proueth nothing your accusation but is onlie vsed by you as a plaine song for your furious penne to descant vpon what els appeareth it but some new affected standing wherein you would set to sale other farre fetcht wares of your pelagian heresie All which stuffe the Lord willing shalbe sorted out and examined hereafter in his fitter place Your sixt instance of there peruerting scriptures to teach that wicked doctrine you accuse them of is this That they saie the holie Ghost meaneth him onlie to be the seruant of sin and of the deuill who willingly with delight committeth sin not misliking nor striuing against it If I saie this interpretation were not aright yet it saith neuer a word ne giueth one backe nor winke to witnesse against the teachers thereof the intoilerable accusation which you as one that cannot blush haue laide against them Therefore take vnto you this saying of wise Salomon as a glasse wherein to sée your selfe if possibly anie prick of remorse maie pearse into you Foolishnes is ioy to him that is destitute of vnderstanding but a man of vnderstanding walketh vprightly And a litle before The mind of the prudent seeketh knowledge but the mouth of fooles is fedde with foolishnes What I can saie to warrant their assertion you shal heare anon after I haue once throughly shewed how honest a man you are of your word Yet or I passe let it be noted in this place that of these six witnesses which you haue indéede not orderlie produced but forcibly haled into the Court to testifie for you not one of them would doo you that fauour as to giue you a good countenance but presentlie turned their backes so soone as the matter was but repeated and in a deepe silence departed Wherefore now at length being somewhat spent of witnesses and hardly distressed in your cause you set forth your selfe to entertaine your iudges partly with the odious repetitiō of your vnproued slaunder and partly with a new craft of subtile insinuation as though our Ministers indéed by an argument of comparison did driue at some such conclusion as you haue enforced vpon them For answere whereunto I must tell you first that whilest you procéed thus you betraie the verie issue of your cause into my hands For whereas in the beginning you knew that our Preachers saide not that in expresse words which you accuse them of and yet charged them still to teach no other thing in effect you grew on then to this point that you would proue it by shewing how they peruert the holie scriptures to that end Hereupon wée haue ioyned our issue hitherto your proofes haue failed and now you fall a shifting as though you would alter your issue So that A wauering minded man is vnconstant in all his waies But I am content to make no gain of this vantage my cause is full so good as that I doubt not to ouerthrow you although I yeld you all those liberties helpes that may any way lawfully be vsed of you in this case Now let vs hear you These men you say do hold That the spirit is in their belieuers though they bee wholy possessed of pride couetousnesse c. because wee see fier may bee raked vnder the ashes and the sap may be in the root of the tree and yet appeare not Which men where be they when heard you it E. G lying is no lawfull helpe I can not graunt it you Or if you heard it not perhaps you might reade it tel vs what writers do so apply that similitude for this he bringeth not a sillable to satisfie vs. O beastlie impudencie O Babilonish pride O palpable impietie But I will stay my selfe in exclaming though this man hath neither stop nor stay in lying But do you perswade your selfe E. G. there are anie so seruilely addicted to your heresie as that they shoulde easely brooke this lothsomnesse of your lying and forgerie for my part though I know as experience of all ages hath confirmed vnto vs that there is no heresie so foule or vgglie but it shal finde too manie fitte subiects to receiue it such is the iust iudgement of God vpon those that rest not them selues in his trueth yet am I in very good hope that this grosse impudencie and apparant sinne of slander which thus raigneth in you throughout all your writing will giue as cleare light as the sunne vnto the consciences of all those that haue anie feeling not onelie that your accusation is without proofe but also that your opinion of the full power of the regenerate man ouer al his waies to absteine from euil and keepe the commandements is besides the falshood of it a verie monster fearefull and venomous not to be approached of anie that would auoide the poysoning of their soules But of this more fully in his place Meane time let euerie faithful brother know this that the ministers of the Churches professing the gospel generallie throughout Christendom I speake not of anie limbes of the diuel in corners do vse this similitude of fire raked vnder the ashes and sap in the rootes of the trees onely in the case of some afflicted conscience and not otherwise As for example there be manie deare children of God that either immediatlie vpon their new begetting to the faith or shortly after in the growing vp of the same God in his wisedom so seeing it good for them are not so daungerously as grieuously for the time
I trow he bringeth some reasons let vs giue eare vnto them First saith he The Apostle biddeth vs walke in the spirit and then wee should not fulfill the lusts of the flesh or we should not leaue vndone the good we would Then he sheweth the inconuenience which would follow if wee did not walke in the spirit that is the flesh then would force vs to leaue vndone the good which God commanded or the good we would Thirdly and lastly he sheweth that if we be not thus led by the flesh but by the spirit wee shall not then be vnder that law of sin which maketh vs leaue vndone the good we would Well let vs first try his fidelitie in the text after that y e strength of his reason For of trueth in all these wordes here as his follie is miserable so his vntrue dealing with the text is damnable In the 16. verse besides that he foloweth the worser translations which are read thus Walke in the spirit and then you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh whereas it is righter thus Walke by the spirit and fulfil not the lust of the flesh Besides this I say which somewhat bewrayeth his euill hart he is so impudent as to adde such a paraphrase as vtterly corrupteth the text it self It is in his parenthesis Or we should not leaue vndone the good we would he wold haue y e reader vnderstaÌ„d that not to performe the lusts of the flesh is as much as to doo that good that we would But there is great difference betwixt them For not to performe the lusts of the flesh is to staie the accomplishing of such sinnes outwardly as our lusts doo inwardly solicite vs vnto But to do the good we would if it be taken according to Pauls meaning is not only to abstaine from the actions of sin which is but the first step of sanctification but to bring to passe all good that wee would in our conuersation of life Now the regenerate man hauing his affection sanctified by the spirite of God approueth willeth all the law of God therefore by this mans exposition he should bée able also to performe al y e law of God In which point he is not only Antichristian and therefore a lier but one that contumeliously as it were to his téeth withstandeth the spirit of God who in the next verse saith flatly Wee cannot doo whatsoeuer we wold In this 17. verse giuing the sense of it he is yet if it were possible more shameles for hee deliuereth it as though Paul should say in effect these words vnto the Galathians For if you doo not walke in the spirite the flesh then will force you to leaue vndone the good you would The reason that moued him to make this sense of Pauls words is this That the Apostle there reasoneth from an inconuenience I answere first whensoeuer the literall sense may stande with the proportion of faith and coÌ„sent of other scriptures there it is to be followed and preferred for otherwise it must argue a iudgement stained with some corrupt preiudice but of this place the literall sense is both agreeable to faith and the other scriptures which euerie where testifie that the elect doo sin and therefore cannot doo the good they would for it is certaine that the elect doo desire to walke in all the lawe of God therefore ought the literall sense in this place to haue béen followed And so Paul should haue béen heard according to the euident meaning of his owne wordes not enforcing his exhortation to the Galathians by a reason taken from the inconuenience that might follow as this man foolishly fableth but by an argument of comparison from the lesse to the greater and that in this sort They that by reason of some strong enemie in themselues cannot attaine to doo euen whatsoeuer in y e rightnes of their mind they would haue cause to labour so much the more to follow the spirit and forsake the waies their flesh stirreth them vnto in all things but such is your condition by reason of the sight betwéene the flesh and the spirit two mere contraries and therefore you haue so much greater cause to take heed to this exhortation Now as you see this argument lyeth plaine according to the literall interpretation which euerie wise interpreter first striueth to attain to so far forth as he may and containeth doctrine not onlie agreeable to the scriptures but also verie notably making for the purpose of y e Apostles exhortation so on the other side if we should stand to the exposition of this miserable man first the sense must he such as neuer a word in the text giueth countenance vnto as is manifest by coÌ„paring it with his exposition and then such a point of doctrine shalbe set downe as is vtterly without rime or reason as they speake yea such a reason shall the Apostle persuade the Galathians withall which is a horrible thing to grant as is foolish absurd and one part of it ouerthrowing another And this is it woorthie for euerie man to looke vpon When he had first wâ—lâ—d them to walke in the spirit and not fulfil the lusts of the flesh then this should bee his argument to persuade them For if you do not walke in the spirit the fâ—â—sh will force you to leaue vndone the good you would How foolish and vnsauerie is this to say If you will not walke right you shall bee forced not to walke right I neuer heard that a willing minde néeded forcing But O how far from the Apostles spirite who when he would reason from the end or as this man saith from the inconuenience of a thing as in other places hee doth setteth another maner of edge vpon his argument as for example and euen in the verie like case in the 8. of the Epistle to the Romanes exhorting to forsake the flesh and follow the spirite among other arguments he hath this For if you liue according to the flesh you shall dye but if by the spirite you mortifie the actions of the bodie you shall liue He can not make vs belieue therefore that Paule was so rude a workeman as hee pretendeth Now in that I saide one part ouerthroweth another I suppose there is none so simple as séeth it not or cls I pray you what good willeth he that walketh not in the spirite May not a man as easilie make a rope of sand Thus much for the 17. verse let vs looke if anie better spirite led him in the 18. the text is this But if you be led by the spirite then are you not vnder the law He deliuereth it thus If we be not thus led by the flesh but by the spirite wee shall not then be vnder that law of sinne which maketh vs leaue vndone the good we would In the second page of his booke he would make vs belieue that our ministers haue a singuler fleight in peruerting the scriptures
assailed of Sathan with diuers stormes of doubtfulnesse dreades and discomfortes and amongst the rest with the terrour of the remembrance of some speciall time wherein the fruites of their faith appeared not with which terrour so soone as euer he hath dumpped them he slacketh no time presentlie to waielaie them with this two-fold snare to wit either that their faith which before they had stoode vpon was no true faith but a counterfeit saith he because it was not fruitfull by workes or els though it were at first a true faith yet now they had lost it by their owne negligence by one of which hookes it commeth often to passe that the humbled soule is hurried as it were to the gates of hell before it obtaine deliuerance In which case when the minister of Christes glad tidinges finding anie shall say to him this argument that Sathan opposeth you withall is sophisticall and false and he doth it but in the rage of his malice to drowne you in doubtfulnesse and despaire For the intermitting of good workes doth not necessarilie conclude a voidnes of faith no more then you can truelie say of fire vnder the ashes or of a tree whose sappe as in winter is withdrawne to the rootes either that the one is quite put out or the other vtterlie deade By this similitude I say if the minister of the gospel shall detect the fraud of the diuel and reach a hand for the distressed soule to bee lifted out of the mire by what doth he worthie blame therein or not warrantable by the eternall word of trueth Thus let the faithfull reader in this place obserue that this shamelesse mouth hath brought nothing by this place but one vnaltouchable slaunder to maintaine another After this he retnrneth to his issue againe as though he would shew how our preachers peruert the holie scriptures for the end aforesaid though with no better successe then before Thus he setteth downe the places Christes sheepe say they can neuer perish neither cā any man plucke them out of his hands for whom he loueth he loueth to the end and in whomsoeuer he hath begon this good worke of regeneration in them he will performe it for the gifts and callings of God are without repentance Were it not for the simple soules sakes which by this confident writing you suppose to carrie away no man would file his handes with so senseles an aduersarie for as a man that hath a feuer relisheth the thinges he taketh manie times according to the humor that afflicteth him so that sometime the most pleasant supping is bitter in his mouth in like sorte fareth it with you E. G. that can heare of our preachers neither the scriptures alledged to proue the regenerate subiect to sinne manie times or that the elect can not vtterlie fall away but straightwaies you must needs conclude that they maintaine grosse wickednes to raigne in the children of God warrant them of saluation notwithstanding vpon most light conditions But would you were no further gone that I might stay with comparing you to a simple feuerish man I would your ague had not affected the originall of sense and hurt your vnderstanding so that now euen as a man frantike is no longer ruled and kept in order by anie but reiecing the counsaile of his best friendes accuseth them most as otherwise ill minded because they most restraine him in all his will that might hurt him in like sort you being troubled inwardlie with some heriticall frensies woulde make men belieue that the doctrine of our preachers tendeth to some generall euil because in trueth it most notoriously laboureth against your errours and will not suffer you peaceably to broach neither your heresie of free will nor y ◠against the Lords eternal predestinatiō Otherwise I say were it not that you are caried in the rage of these frensies maliciously to kill their credit with so odious an accusation whiles you in the meane time may get placing for your pestilence all indifferent men see that neither these your last places nor all the instances you haue hetherto vrged do anie more iustifie you for an honest man of your worde that said you would shew how they peruert holie scriptures to iustifie the wicked then the fruite of the crab-tree answereth the beautie of his blossomes wherewith before both for colour plentie and largenes he had giuen greater expectation then anie aple trees yea so much lesse tollerable are you herein then the crabtrée inasmuch as his fruite yeldeth commoditie to the vse of mans life but this your booke bane and poyson to destroy as manie soules as embrace it This your shamelesse slaunder you haue deuised to make seeme likelie by patching vnto it some foolish conditions of your owne forging as though the preachers of the gospel should make open sale of the graces of God to all the vncleane beastes of the fielde euen for their owne promotion and bellies sake which hauing alike both proofe and trueth with all the rest I am sorie that the father of lyes could obtaine so much libertie to leade you THE SECOND PART against his hereticall doctrine HEtherto I haue detected your impudent slaunder E. G. now I come to the pointes of doctrine betweene vs. And to beginne at your first instance I confesse we are taught by the preachers of the Gospel that the regenerat whilest they liue are not free from sinne and that this is an argument whereby they proue it namely because that speciall vessel S. Paule confesseth so much by himselfe You hauing a quarrel to the question flatlie denie that Paule confessed anie such thing of him selfe touching his regenerate state but only of his estate when he was a carnal mā solde vnder sin c. Your reasons such as they are let vs first examine Because Paule in that Chapter confessed him selfe a carnall man sold to be subiect to sin therefore he meant not there of his regenerate estate If to be regenerate and yet carnall in diuers respectes could not possibly be verified of one man your reason were good but now because there is no man so perfectlie regenerate but that still he is withall partlie vnregenerate and carnall therefore Paule in regarde of this might well call him selfe carnall though so farre forth as he was regenerate hee was otherwise And this he declareth plainely afterwarde when hee saith I do not the good that I would but the euil that I would not that doe I. Now no man doth anie euil vnwillingly but by reason of a contrarie power that is in him resisting euil Wherefore also the Apostle accounteth it not absurd according to those diuers respects to call himselfe in the 25. verse both the seruant of the law of God and of sinne And the rather I must enforce this argumēt because although you denie al the rest of y ◠chapter to cōcerne Paul as a regenerate man yet the 25. verse you acknowledge to that effect And
then these conclusions 1. That the regenerate hath not whilest this life endureth full freedom of his will 2. That he sinneth manie times But now E. G. fearing lest his naturall man would not be entertained of vs according to his speach hetherto giuen out in his recommendation séeketh colour to enter his suite againe by most vntruely charging our ministers and that without offering anie proofe to teach That the inner man of the regenerate is the spirite of God Which I can not thinke he did as hauing receiued it either by speach or writing from any of account on our side but because the Adamant rockes of frée will and mans abilitie had such power to worke his shipwracke and therefore he laboureth not onely to ouerthrow our supposed opinion of the inner man but also aboue all to establish the naturall man with as manie prerogatiues as we giue the regenerate man concerning a sanctified life that so by that meanes his regenerate man might sit aboue the Stars attain to that in this life which we haue no promise for but in the life to come In answering whereunto I hope manie wordes will not bee looked for though he in this point be larger then ordinarie partly because I may not follow his humor where he fighteth with his shadow and partly also for that I haue alreadie set out the full proportion of the naturall man according to the scriptures First therfore in a word to satisfie the Reader concerning the false reporte of this man We are taught and do receiue it from the euidence of the word that the inner man is the whole man so farre forth as he is borne againe of God and wrought vpon and renewed by the holie Ghost whereby not onely his vnderstanding is enlightned to apprehend perceiue the thinges that are of God but also his will and affections rightned to desire and to moue the members to the doing of them Which renewing because it is but in part in this life therefore is there a contrarietie and strife in the childe of God betwene this and his regenerate parte the one disposed according to God the other according to corrupt nature And this latter is according to his contrarie condition called the outward man which Paule setteth out by the terme of the other law in his mēbers whereby we vnderstand euen the whole man insomuch as he is borne corrupted and depraued from Adam Which distinction the scripture obserueth likewise in other places by the termes of New man and Old man E. G. chalengeth these partes as the natural mans right in common with the regenerate and putteth this for difference that the regenerate hath moreouer beside the inwarde and outwarde man the spirite of Christ Should I say this is strange stuffe and hetherto vnheard off in any sound congregation I shall moue those of his spirite nothing at all nay I feare me they take pleasure in walking alone making to them selues an Idoll of their owne conceipt and so their reioycing is naught but I will say this by the grace of God and make it good that the worde of the Lord alloweth no such diuision for his naturall man and therefore he shall not enioy What therefore bringeth E. G. to proue y ◠natural man to consist of these two partes First because whereas the holie Ghost doth bid the naturall man to cast off the old man he doth there plainely distinguish betweene the naturall man and the old man The place that he citeth for this is the 4. off the Epist to the Ephe. and 22. verse whereupon as though it were cleare for his cause he presumeth to interpret the meaning of that speach the old man for his purpose namely that by it is meant nothing els but the old and wicked conuersation and life of the naturall man But his reason is apparantly false and his conclusion heretical That his reason is false euerie man seeth that can read the 1. verse of the Epistle to the Ephe. vnlesse E. G. presuined so farre of his singuler cunning in conuaying that hee could bring his naturall man into y ◠mumber of the true saints and faithfull ones whom the Apostle called vppon in that Epistle to put off the old man If one say there were hipocrites among them not regenerated I striue not therein But then they must obserue withall that which I wish E. G. could haue considered in all the Apostles writings Namely that in regard of this mingling whilest they exhort they write that vnto all which can in déed take place but in the truelie sanctified And againe in dehorting they write manie things vnto all which can simply be verified but in the hipocrites And yet both these courses haue due effect in both these sortes of men By exhortation the hipocrites are made vnexcusable and by threatnings the children of God are made more watchfull as hereafter more largely Now where he saith The old man is nothing els but the wicked conuersation and life of the naturall man His breath is ranke of pelagian frée will whilest hereby he insinuatety yea and the law of contraries constraineth him to say that the new man is the new and godly conuersation of the naturall man Which though it be an absurditie hatefull inough to all that are but meanely exercised in the scriptures that the natural man should thus be adorned with frée wil yet it is so much more foule and odious in this man as that he giueth the naturall man in this place by consequence of the opposition some power both of willing and doing good and againe within the space of two leaues following spoileth him of the latter vtterlie So that he is not onely contrarie to vs in this case but to himselfe also that he might agrée with no bodie Another reason he would draw from these wordes of S. Peter For of whomsoeuer anie man is ouercome to him also in seruitude is he addicted Here saith E. G. the man that is in bondage must needes bee distinct from his corrupt nature to whom he is in bondage And out of the word ouercome he gathereth that there must néedes be a fight and resistance without which saith he there can be no conquest nor victorie This is but vngracious dealing with the scriptures Peter speaketh not there neither of a méere naturall man but of such as had a calling and reckoning in the cōgregation of the faithfull which because they bare the estimation of fighting the Lordes battailes together with his people though it were but in their owne conceipte if it had béene lawfull to haue dealt thus with comparisons E. G. might yet haue séene that it was not without cause the Apostle afforded them such a Phrase as being agréeable to their own sense might the more notably conuince them in their cōsciences of their most miserable case Especiallie this being no new guise or vnwonted thing in the scrip tures As namely where our Sauiour saith I
am come into the worlde to execute iudgement that they which see not might see and they which see might be made blind Should we gather by these last wordes that the Pharises did sée We know that our Sauiour meant nothing les for he saith of them flatly in another place that they are blind leaders of the blind Thus E. G. might haue séene the holie Ghost sometime leauing the proprietie of speach to apply himselfe to the sense of those whom his reproofe should most concerne for the déeper impression therof But I must answere him moreouer that this libertie of stretching comparisons is vnlawfull For like as they that compare thinges together reckon it sufficient that there bee proportionable agréement in those points wherein the comparison standeth although in euery circumstance one be not like an other so we must be wise in reading to vnderstād chiefly the scriptures namely to note and receiue the verie drift and point of the comparison and busie our selues no further in the other partes of the same Which rule if E. G. had here known or els obserued I should haue had no cause in this place to note him for an encrocher vpon the spirite of God For whereas the Apostle was to proue the false teachers to be seruants of corruption he doth it by an argument of equall effects and notes of victorie set out by a similitude of martiall conquest wherein the case is such that whosoeuer is ouercome in fight is diligent to apply himselfe afterwarde to serue his pleasure that ouercame him Now what is the drift of this comparison but to shew by one proper note of both that the seruitude is alike in both conquests Wherby the carnall professors might sée that howsoeuer they perswaded themselues of fréedom and libertie with the children of God though they followed their lusts stil making the Gospel a protection of their loosenes yet should their daylie iniquities in spite of their beardes argue against them that they are no lesse the seruants of sinne séeing they occupie themselues in the workes thereof then we sée them to appeare seruants of their conquerours who apply them selues to do their commandements and this the Apostle amplifieth in the next verse by a comparison of vnlike endes Now hauing here the full purpose and meaning of the Apostle what warrant haue we to straine the comparisen to make the circumstances meete likewise If it were warrantable for E. G. herehence to infer a resistance because there is mention of a victorie why might not another of as euil a spirite and by the like libertie gather that a man seruing sin aboundantlie shall neuer be brought to death therby because we know it is so by the law of armes that he that yéeldeth his life his seruice to his conquerour is accepted into grace and neuer endangered anie more so long as hee abideth faithfull vnto him but that the error is infinite that commeth by this maner of dealing with comparisons in the scriptures this one example shall be in stead of manie others euen the parable of the vniust Steward in the Gospel which if a man of an vncleane spirite should come to handle according to the seuerall partes of it he might make plaine footing for manifest theft in the 8. verse and all kind of oppression and popish merits in the 9. verse and that cleane beside the purpose of our Sauior Christ who in al that parable had simply this meaning to shew that the care and prouidence of the children of God touching the eternall life is euen farre short of the care that prophane worldlings haue in temporall things Other circumstances of the particuler practises of the steward in accomplishing his forecast are of no regarde in all the matter Thus haue you all the arguments this good patrone can bringe for his naturall man which being poore two and too too weake yea false and fabulous yet he is so foolish as to cast his plot out of them and make diuisions for the safe seating of him there as in his naturall habitation yea that with sound of trumpet as it were liking to bee contrarie to all others in the matter But Solomon saith The frowarde are abhomination vnto the Lord and shame taketh the foolish out of the way His wise collection of absurdities with his lying reports oft repeated other railings I willingly passe by as thinges that escaped him immediatly vpon his wakening out of that dreame wherein he thought we had held the inner man to be the spirite of God Where he taketh the inward man both of the regenerate and vnregenerat person but for the heart minde or conscience thus far equaling either with the other ignorantly arrogantly and without all ground of scripture what should I answere let it goe for me to the fulfilling of the measure of his follie In the rest of this diuision he hath promised to stand vpon two points 1. To reconsile some scriptures which seeme at first blush to say the contrarie 2. To shew what difference the holy Ghost maketh betweene the inner man of the good and the inner man of the bad In the first his ignorance is wofull and in the latter his impudencie wonderfull His some scriptures fall out to bee but one place and that not the most pregnant for this purpose for where the question is whether the naturall man bee endued with an inwarde man he bringeth that place to the Cor. which denyeth the naturall man to be able to perceiue the thinges that be of God which though it bee mightier against him then hee or his can euer answere yet because it concerneth knowledge chiefly and toucheth not the affection directly it appeareth he was willingly and therefore wofully ignorant of all other places which cut the combe and spoile all the powers of his naturall man concerning the righteousnes of God Sufficient of such places haue I set downe before where I haue done the naturall man his right But now sith E.G. hath brought out this place as easiest for him to answere let vs sée how well he will auoide it The argument it afordeth is of this sorte he that is not able to vnderstand the speciall righteousnesse of God is much lesse able to will it but the naturall man is not able so much as to vnderstand it therefore much lesse to will it I meane by speciall righteousnesse the speciall forme thereof which God propoundeth vnto men which is the sense of this place to the Corinthes agréeable to the 17. verse of the 1. chap. of the Epistle to the Romanes For otherwise we know the Apostle alloweth the prophane Gentile to haue a certaine generall notion and vnderstanding of God and his law but because it is not nor can not bee according to Gods prescribed rule yea though that rule bee amongst them therefore is it saide also to be enemitie against God As for the argument E. G. belike saw it not for he
promised so in his fift commandement Againe it is said of the righteous man That whatsoeuer he doth it shall prosper therfore shall no vnprosperous successe come to ante of his labors and endeuours in this life And on the contrarie part according to this mans fashion shal we condemne all for disobedient children that die in their youth or vnrighteous men that sow séede which commeth not vp againe Nay who is ignoraunte that albeit we reade in the newe couenaunt manie promises of fuller words then this whereof is now the questioÌ„ yet is not there performance to be expected or taken touching â—his life absolutely or simply according to the â—ordes but in a measure and dispensation onely Examples whereof I will reach you one or two Christ saith Whatsoeuer ye aske the Father in my name he will giue it you Yet Paule prayed often for a full deliuerance froÌ„â—he sting of concupiscence and could not obtain Againe he promised that when they should receiue the spirit of trueth It should lead them into all trueth Yet we know they were not afterwarde without all errour in their practise which appeared both in Barnabas and Peter So likewise The holie Ghost which my father shall send in my name he shall teach you all things proueth not an absolute knowledge in present to be giuen to the Apostles neither indéed did they attaine vnto it while they liued here but only in an ordered measure according to the most wise dispensation of the God of spirites the full performance thereof resting to be reuealed in that day when they should sée the Lord face to face And according vnto this proportion we ought to vnderstand that saying to the Philippians That God worketh in vs both to will and to doo not that this woorke is full absolute as E.G. pretendeth but daily by measure wrought in euerie of the children of God according to the good pleasure and dispensation of his will Which thing he must likewise haue necessarilie séene if hee had not wilfully closed his eies both by the contradiction of other scriptures to his sense of this place as also by the verie light of the wordes in the text it selfe For it is not written God hath wrought in you both to wil and to do as though it were done alreadie but God doeth worke or bring to passe in you both to will and to doo as implying the worke to be but begun and in doing in them yet And this being well considered is so far from mainteining a full fréedom of wil in the regenerat to do the commandement of God as that it concludeth iust the contrarie and so taking this proud crowne from his head humbleth him againe vpon his knées to beg daily of his heauenly father new supplies of strength to fight the spirituall battels of continuall temptations But the regenerate person must not only be content to depart with y e counterfeit crowne which this foolish man had put vpoÌ„ him but eueÌ„ tolaie by his robe also to put on his armour againe acknowledging himselfe to be yet subiect to the woundes though not to the death of his aduersaries hands For where E.G. would persuade him that The seruant of God is so quite separate from sin as that he is not to be reckoned the seruaÌ„t of God that doth sin what doth he but bewitch his senses with the enchanted cup of a false persuasion that whilest he thus groweth to some securitie in his strength Sathan as hée is a cunning pioner might secretly vndermine his fouÌ„dation ere he be aware For hée that supposeth himselfe all strong groweth shortly to lesse suspition of danger especially y e Lord in his iudgement so suffering Sathan accordingly to vse his cunning who then dooth subtilly withdraw him selfe and for a season puts no more fire to y e darts of concupiscence that so this man hauing many daies the glorie of the field and thereby growne secure in the high conceit of his owne strength might haue at the length all childelike feare and trembling stolne out of his heart and into the place thereof conuayed no lesse priuily then the East wind carieth the Caterpiller the filthy influence of meritorious imaginations Which if they once drawe nourishment of life in the partie that they be able to moue long time shal not passe ere they leaue neither bud nor blossome of true religion in him How far E. G. had the wofull experience of this and therefore how much it standeth euerie man in hande to marke this point let his miserable fall euen in y â— very foundatioÌ„ testifie whilest this was a question which he stifly mainteined also namely That wee are iustified by faith works not by faith alone Which things considered I thought it my dutie to giue this caueat to the church that whosoeuer thinketh himselfe to stand in the number of the regenerate might a fresh consider himself especially the daunger being thus openly set before his eies that he be not carried away by this false seducer lest hée trie the manner of his wofull fall soone after Neither think you that the places of scripture which he mustreth here in the margeÌ„t are anie lesse for this matter then after his accustomed maner abused The first place he pointeth vs to is Ro. 6. 16. 19. thus it is read Know you not that to whom you apply your selues as seruants to obey his seruants you are whoÌ„ you obey whether it bee sin vnto death or obedience vnto righteousnes In y e 19. verse As you haue applied your members to bee the seruants of vncleannes and iniquitie to fulfil iniquitie euen so now apply your members to be the seruants of righteousnes vnto holines Let the reader also consider the whole Chapter for his instruction it resisteth the prophane securitie that wicked men would take by the doctrine of iustification by faith taught before and proueth that they onely are to glorie in the benefit of Christ as hauing true faith that walke now in newnes of life resemble Christ in crucifying the old man and liuing vnto God Whereof he giueth most certaine notes in the words that E.G. hath cited For as to occupie our selues in seruing argueth a Lord or maister to whom we are adicted so the works of our seruice must néeds proue whom we haue takeÌ„ our selues to especially there being in this case but two maisters to serue to wit sin or righteousnes and their waies openly repugnant one to the other Accordingly wherto in â—he 19. verse he exhorteth to apply their seruice vnto righteousnes all those that hold the benefit of iustification by faith Which as all the world knoweth we are daily taught with great instancie earnest obtestation and therfore E.G. to haue béen in this his abhominable insinuation impudent aboue all measure so yet this maketh not one mite for his purpose to proue vs altogither frée from the power of sin but is still
wiping out of the booke in Exod. it is called The booke that thou hast written in the Psalme the booke of the liuing His iust answere might be that there is not meant the booke of predestination to life but the communicating of the couenant which God had made with Abraham and his séed whereby they were now as in a mustre rowle reckoned the onely people of God the Gentiles being excluded But if by way of concession we graunt him that place of the Psalme to respect the booke of life mentioned Apoc. 20. 12. as also anie such place of scripture reporting a racing out of the vngodlie yet he that is not wilfullie blind may sée that those places are not to be taken in a full and exquisite sense as though any such as the scripture thus speaketh of were euer writen in déed in the booke of life but onely according to the supposall of men and estimation that the hipocrite hath of him selfe so doth the scripture in such places answere home to his owne heart that he shall be wiped out of the number among which he thinketh himself so certainly registred and written Which is nothing els but to bee declared and laid open that howsoeuer he hath boastingly borne himselfe among the Saintes he was neuer in trueth of their number before God In likt sorte Iohn speaketh of those that fall away They went out from vs that it might be made manifest they were neuer of vs. And this is according likewise as I alledged before against the hipocrite to take from him euē that which he was supposed to haue This certainly is the vttermost that can bee concluded out of those places although it be graunted E. G. that in them is vnderstood the booke of predestination vnto life For that any in déed once written in the booke of life and predestinate to be saued can fall away or be crossed out of the number anie more is vntrue and vnpossible as I will proue 1. This is a certaine place that the elect cannot fall away God speaking by his Prophet of the new couenant saith I will put my law in their inner parts and I will write it in their hearts and wilbe their God they shalbe my people How farre this reacheth to the assurance I speake of appeareth by the opposition of the effectes of the two couenants touching which he saith first that the new should not be like that which was giuen vnto their fathers neither for the forme thereof for the new should be writen in their hearts arguing the old to be writen but in stone as Paule also speaketh neither yet for the effect for they brake y ◠couenant verse 32. But contrariewise touching the effect of the new he saith and I will be their God they shall be my people Which I say the necessitie of the contrariety enforceth as farre as if the wordes had béene They shall not breake this couenant nor be seperated from me for euer My second reason is from that place of Iohn If they had beene of vs they would haue remained with vs. Which hath this most apparant consequence that all those that are of the number of the elect shall euen so abide for euer For either the Apostle there maketh it a necessarie conclusion or els his reason must bee nothing worth 3. This chaine can neuer bee broken which the Lord himselfe hath made whom he hath knowne before those he hath predestinate whom he hath predestinate those he hath called whom he hath called those he hath iustified and whome he hath iustified those also he hath glorified So that what is clearer then that all that are written in the booke of Gods foreknowledge are predestinate to passe through all the midle meanes euen to glorification And Paule saith afterward nothing can seperate vs from this loue of God in Christ Iesus 4. It is written concerning that many headed beast which should so preuaile with the people of that age vnto Idolatrie Therefore all the inhabitants of the earth whose names are not written in the booke of life of that Lambe slaine from the foundations of the worlde shall worship that beast Now when we sée all those that are written in the booke of life to be vtterly exempted from perill of falling into Idolatrie euery man séeth it most equall that they be exempted from falling away from grace 5. If it were possible for those that are once written in the booke of life to be wiped out againe to what purpose did our Sauiour place all his Disciples ioy and reioycing in this life in this meditation aboue all other that their names were written in heauen Where anie doubtfulnesse is there is no solid ioy nor comfort Finally if it be true that E. G. hath hetherto stood in that euer as a man standeth firme he is predestinate to life and when he falleth he is predestinate to death then it followeth that he is euer anon written in and raced out of the booke of life which is y ◠foreknowledge of God and so it can not be said that predestination is from before the begining of the world when as this man maketh it but a dayly decrée for this life The inconuenience whereof I perceiue he saw not when he set downe that Dauid was predestinate from the beginning to be the child of the diuel when he sinned and againe the childe of God when he repented Wel now at length let vs heare his conclusion of this matter Lastly ◠E. G. we deny not but that God hath also predestinate some neuer to fall away but to be renewed alwaies by repentance and therein to perseuere euen to the day of their death But it can not be knowne who are of this number vntill we see this grace giuen vnto them of God euen to their last end O chaungeable cameleon Had he conclucluded a lite before that that no man is predestinate vnto life at all times And what is this that he now affirmeth Some are predestmate neuer to fall away but to perseuere vnto the end A lier they say had néed of a notable memorie Touching that he saith we can not know who are of this number till the end I sée well he was euen ouer head and eares in poperie But howsoeuer he or any other euil spirites call it impietie presumption and sawcines in the children of God to hold their election in assurance here in this life let vs neuer a whit be discouraged to walke so farre in this point also as we haue iust warrant by the word of God Concerning others we haue litle to say this businesse concerneth euerie mans selfe And if it did not greatly concerne euerie mans owne selfe the Apostle would neuer so vpbradingly haue bidden y ◠Corinthians enter into this examinatiō of themselues saying Try your own selues whether you be in the faith proue your own selues doe you not know your own selues to
thy holyspirite from me Dauid saw his offence so great and so felt the terror of Gods displeasure in his conscience that he was well-â—ere the doore of despaire knowing that his sins had deserued that God should vtterlie withdraw his spirite from him Whereupon yet he cryeth vnto him that he would not and therehence he that is in his wits must néeds conclude that it was not Lastly whereas vpon this petition Create in me a cleane heart E. G. gathereth that therefore the grace of his new birth was lost the image of God wholy defaced in Dauid it must néeds be that the spirite of slumber had oppressed him For who prayeth not for this vnto God euerie day And although Dauid had vnderstanding of a greater foulenes hereby then euerie man ordinarily in prayer hath you see that is nothing to warrant this coÌ„clusion which standeth only vpon y â— false principle he that hath not a cleane heart is not regenerate Thus first you sée E. G. can shew no good reason why his monster of often regeneration should be suffered to liue Now will I on the other side by the grace of God proue that it ought of right to dye First I reason thus against it Whosoeuer hath one continuall abiding of y e spirit of God in him hath also oâ—e coÌ„tinual state of his regeneratioÌ„ but y e child of God hath one coÌ„tinual abiding of the spirit of God in him as is manifest in this example of Dauid therefore he doth neuer any more become vnregenerate SecoÌ„dly they that haue both their entrance their standing by mere grace cannot be excluded by works but y â— regenerate haue both their entring standing in that state by mere grace therfore their fallinges do not vnregenerate them Thirdly he that once falleth away after he is enlightned can no more be restored the reason is because there is no more sacrifice for sin whereby he should be restored but E. G. graunteth that the grace of the new birth may be lost and the image of God wholy defaced for a time which is all one with falling away it should follow therefore that such can no more be restored by repentance Which incoÌ„uenience I earnestly request this mans followers to marke Lastly the baptisme of water is an argument y â— our regeneratioÌ„ is but once wrought in vs for therefore also is it being the signe but once to be added vnto vs. Whereas if regeneration were to be twise or thrise repeated and wrought in vs then also the same baptisme must as oft be repeated and receiued of vs. Thus then we sée the trueth is that regeneration once wrought in vs by the holie Ghost is also continuallie preserued in vs by the same vnto the end And that this mans doctrine of often regenerating is false absurd and extreamely dangerous and therefore such a monster as all the louers of trueth ought of duetie vnto God laye violent handes thereon that it may not liue Like as he that hath once lost his way is readier for the most part to wander still from it then to hit vpon the right path againe so in like maner fared it with E. G. who hauing runne into the error of often regeneration laboureth next to establish it with putting cleane â—â—t the spirite of Christ in him that was once regenerate And therefore now he saith It is manifest in the word of God that if we be not stirred vp to take heed wee may quench so put cleane out the spirite of Christ we may fall away from the grace of God we may destroy the temple of God we may be broken off from the vine Christ Iesus c. First let the Reader note that the question here differeth nothing in effect from the last before handled Which was That the regenerate might fall from his state of regeneration for a time and so implyed an often regeneration in the saints Which hauing now by the grace of God with sound cleare arguments sufficiently ouerthrowne the force likewise of this must needes bee fallen together with it So as there onely remaineth that we examine these places of scripture and satisfie the Reader in those thinges wherein they séeme to make shew of doubtfulnes vnto him It is writen 1. Thes 5. 19. Quench not the spirice Heb. 12. 15. Beware that none of you fall away from the grace of God Againe 1. Cor. 3. 17. If anie man destroy the temple of God him will God destroy and cap. 6. 15. Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot also Ioh. 15. 4. Abide in me I in you as the braunch can not bring forth fruite of it selfe vnlesse it abide in the vine so neither can you vnlesse you abide in me Lastly in the 5. of Mat. 13. verse If the salt haue lost his saltnesâ—e c. The conclusion E. G. maketh out of these places is Therefore all these thinges may come vpon vs to wit wee may quench the spirite fall froÌ„ the grace of God c. Which conclusion I hope shall only shew this by and by that this man was very wittie to beguile him selfe But first we might lawfullie diminish the number of his places for the first place of the Corinths if it be translated destroy the temple of God the word destroy is to be vnderstood as an excessiue speach comprehenâ—inng the end of a carnall kind of preaching the Gospel not that Paule spake there of any art that simply had the force to destroy the temple of God in his children but onely in respect of it owne nature in which consideration euerie wicked course in the Church of God tendeth so much as it may to the destruction of the whole but God vpholdeth â—iâ— Saints with his owne hand and therefore Paule threatketh destruction to those that should offer such an occasion And according to this sense of the place the best interpreters translate it corrupting or deâ—â—â—ing the temple of God which it seemeth many conceited Corinthians as much as in them laye by their carnall eloquence dayly brought to passe Thus if E.G. be graunted but the true sense of this place he can conclude nothing for his own purpose by it For his question is of the depriuing of our selues of the true grace of God receiued and this place speaketh but of giuing occasion to corrupt others But admit this place goe for his purpose let vs likewise receiue al the rest of his word without examination and frame â—â—is argument thus in his forme Whatsoeuer the scriptures diswadeth vs that may we fall into but they diswade vs from the euil here specified therefore we may fall into them I answere he must vnderstand by the word we a whole congregatioÌ„ generally professing the gospel such as were those to whom the Apostle wrote And such a one I say doth consist of two kindes of men which are called in the scriptures sanctified iustified and elect The first
kinde are in deed and truâ—ly such before God in his holy presence to wit those whom he hath chosen in Christ according to his euerlasting purpose and in which he hath not onely wrought an vnderstanding of the trueth but also anew seasoned their heartes with the spirite of regeneration Of this sort the 8. Rom. entreateth And these are properlie the Church of God And for this number sake the rest which are in the Church as tares in the corne are vnproperly and by a figure of the whole for a part termed by the name and title of sanctified and iustified ones This is plaine by the Israelites which though in deede and in the sight of God they were not all y e people of God yet we know that all of them bare the name of the people of God So Paule calleth all the Church of the Corinthians sanctified ones So Peter calleth all those to whom he writeth A holie people and an elect generatioÌ„ So Paule calleth al the Romaines Saintes Againe of these that beare a name with the best are two sortes One which hold not Christ our true righteousnesse sanctification in their heart apprehended by a true liuely faith yet haue him not onely in tongue and outward profession but are besides enlighned by the spirite of God in their vnderstanding and their iudgement so formed as that in some sorte they shew a kind of liking to reforme them selues as if they were made partakers of the spirit of Christ whiles that partly in words partly in déedes they will after a maner glorify God shew a certaine delight in the exercises of religion with zeale and feare and reuerence towardes the Ministers But for all that the seede taketh no roote in their heart neither doth the spirite set any new season vpon their affections so that they are in trueth before the Lorde that séeth the heart vnregenerate still what account soeuer they carry among men or in the Church of God here militant The other sort of Hipocrites attaine not so far as to haue knowledge and reformation in iudgement much lesse to reforme themselues or shew anie zeale or feare of God but onely content to accompanie the Church in the outward profession of Christ and seruices of religion according to that our sauior saide to the Samaritan woman you worship you know not what Notwithstanding because this confession of Christ is vnto the Church an outward testimonie of some inward regeneration vntil there breake out of them some manifest stubbornesse or open impietie they are reputed with the rest regenerate iustified and sanctified Now of these two there is no doubt but that the dangers which the scripture admonisheth of may simply fall vpon them and they become bereaued euen of that they séemed to haue according to those wordes of Christ from him that hath not euen that which he hath shalbe taken away Also as coÌ„cerning the truly regenerate I grant that in respect of their own strength they may fall away so would I haue saide if a certain measure or maner might haue been admitted that they may quench the spirit but to put it cleane out or quite to fall away is not in their power to will much lesse to doo For their standing is not of themselues but of the Lorde not by their will but by his grace neither is founded vpon the sand of their strength but vppon the rocke of his assured promise Yet cannot heerehence bee concluded that then such admonition should bee giuen in vaine of the Apostle for as the reprobate were thereby left vnexcusable so the elect were both stirred vp to a greater alacritie and circumspectnes séeing the perill set before them and their own weaknes pointed at as also gratiously exercised of the Lord to worke togither with him in the finishing of our faith and saluation Example hereof for our slender capacitie may bée this A father setteth his yoong sonne on horseback and stayeth him thereon with his hande that he shall not fall yet while the horse goeth he saith vnto him hold fast my childe hold fast for falling although I saie the securitie of the childe rest in the fathers holding himself being euer readie to slip of either on one side or other not willingly but through his weaknes yet his admonitions are not in vaine for they still stir vp the childes desire and cause a further care of better practise And this is a full answere not onlie to these places of scripture but likewise to all others of like nature that can be brought for this purpose namely to the 11. of Rom. v. 20. which he alledgeth in the 9. diuision and the 18. of Ezech. v. 24. with all the rest that follow to proue if his astonied senses had not failed him That the holie Ghost doeth no where teach the truly sanctified ones to perseuere in that estate vnto the end For in all those his testimonies examples like as in these before he either by grosse vnskilfulnes or singuler maliciousnes seduceth his reader with sophisticall deceits as in the petition of the principle both here and throughout his booke taking it still for granted that we hold presumptuous sinners for elect and sanctified which is the chiefe thing he should haue proued Also taking wordes in one signification which haue diuers as where men are called iust sanctified that indéed are not so and again taking things as spoken simply which are but in part and in some respect as where the Corinthians are feared to bee corrupted from the simplicitie that is in Christ and the Galathians seduced he vnderstandeth them to be simply and altogither corrupted and seduced which cannot be said of the truely regenerate but hath only place in the hypocrites and reprobate Which because E G. so proubly hath denied to bee the dectrine of the holie Ghost let vs adde yet moe arguments vnto those against often regeneration that this trueth may plentifully appeare to haue a surer foundation in the scriptures then that all the hereticall spirites in the worlde can preuaile against it And first of these which he after his mad maner putteth down for our proofes neither quoting place nor naming his authour I will make some by Gods helpe â—oo hote for his handling First none that are Christes shéepe can fall away Io. 10. 28. All that are truly sanctified are Christes shéepe as appeareth by that whole Chapter therefore none that are truelie sanctified can fall away E. G. staggering at the blow knew not what to saie to the argument of the place but hunted for his answere in y â— verse going before it where it is reade My sheepe heare my voice I acknowledge them and they follow me And what of this Here saith he it is manifest that Christ hath elect and chosen only such to be his sheepe which heare his voice and obey his word and so follow Christ in their liues and conuersations First