story of the Gospel to bee true but for to assure a man of that which he beleeues to be true that they are his And this will appeare to be so by the Etymologie of this Theologicall faith considered either in the Hebrew Greeke or Latine in the Hebrew it is called amunah which commeth of aman which is firme and sure And therefore the Apostle doth vse this word to confirme the promises of God saying All the promises of God are in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so in the Syriack amin And hereupon it is that the Church hath appoynted this word to bee said at the end of all prayers nay God himselfe appoynted the same when the people were to be blessed they were to answere and say Amen Also this word Amen signifies a nourcery where trees are planted Faith is the nourcery where the trees of Gods promises grow And so to goe from aman to omen and then to omeneth which is in the feminine gender so that faith is both the nource and the nourcery And as the Etymologie of faith in the Hebrew confirmes the trueth of this doctrine so wee shall see the same in the Greeke For faith in the Greeke is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the third Praeterperfect tense Passiue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence commeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is I am perswaded the actiue verbe is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Praeterperfect tense meane is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I perswade my selfe And so you reade of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For I am perswaded that neither life nor death shall separate mee from the loue of God in Christ. So that according to this Etymologie of faith it is then a certaine perswading of a mans selfe of the promises of God The Etymologie thereof according to Latine is the same with the former Fides comes of fio or as Cicero saith of fiendo which signifies doing For the thing we beleeue is done and made firme vnto vs. And hereupon saith Chrysostome Therefore wee are called faithfull that we should without doubting beleeue these things that are said And to adde the saying of Augustine He which doubteth in faith is an Insidell Faith then is the euidence of things hoped for and he that hath it must needs haue assurance of glory Secondly if saluation be of faith then it must be while faith is in vse that we may attaine to this saluation Now it is manifest that Iustus ex fide viuet the iust shall liue by faith Which saying is taken out of the Prophet Habakkuk the iust must liue in his faith The meaning is that our saluation is by beleeuing as the instrumentall cause thereof But now faith indures but this life as the Apostle notes the difference betweene faith hope and loue The chiefe is loue for that remaineth with vs for euer in glory Hope goes to the graue yet leaues vs not there but like Peter followeth vs into the high Priests hall I meane into heauen and there remaineth till the day of iudgement Now faith is of shorter continuance and attends vs as a good seruant to the graue and there leaues vs so that after death there is no faith Therefore seeing saluation is of faith and faith but onely in this life it followes that while wee are in the kingdome of grace we are assured of glory If now bee the time of faith and the saluation of the soule be the reward of faith who doubteth then of the assurance of saluation while he is here in this world There are yet other good arguments to prooue that this assurance of glory is in this life viz 〈◊〉 wee lost saluation and here we must finde it againe Mee thinkes that place of the Apostle may be applyed to this and it shall be saide in the place where it was saide yee are not the sonnes of God yee are the sonnes of God Where the wound began the cure was made where death emred there life proceeded Againe in this world we were redeemed now it is fit that where redemption is wrought there assurance should be sealed And here note how answerable the worke of redemption was to the fall of Adam viz Adam sinned in eating Christ suffered in fasting Adam sinned in the spring Christ suffered in the spring Adam sinned in a garden Christ suffered in a garden here Adam lost all and here Christ hath recouered all where wee are redeemed there wee are sealed and where we are sealed there we are assured There is good vse to be made of this doctrine first against the Papist who say that men cannot be assured of this haruest and call the remission of sinnes vaine and of all confidence the hardest and remote and fides daemoniorum non Apostolornm the faith of Deuils not Apostles And this confidence in the promises of God belongs rather ad presumptionem non ad fidem to presumption and not to faith And here let vs see the Scriptures they confirme this their deuillish doctrine by and the first is this Who can say my heart is cleane not that there is none cleane but no man knowes when his heart is cleane Ergo no man can be assured of saluation But to this it may bee answered 1. the wise man speaketh against such as thought themselues to bee meritorious and free from sinne 2. Bee it granted that no man hath a cleane heart free from it yet he doeth not inferre hereupon therefore he cannot be assured of saluation 3. If none but such as are pure from sinne can bee assured of saluation then their Priests are not assured as they say Againe no man knoweth whether hee bee worthy loue or hatred therefore a man cannot be assured of saluation But this place speakes not of any inward cōfort and assurance of glory but of outward estate by the outward estate of man it is not to be knowne who is loued or hated of God because the assurance of saluation is not in outward worldly prosperitie but in the inward grace of the spirit so this place is nothing to prooue no assurance of saluation Againe they bring the saying of the Apostle worke out your saluation with feare and trembling Ergo where there is feare there can be no assurance but doubtfulnesse But marke what feare this is 1. Feare your carnall presumption by which you thinke to be in the state of grace and are not feare this 2. Feare to fall into error and to be deceiued by the craftinesse of men wherby they lay in waite to deceiue feare these 3. Feare in regard of the reuerence to God but no feare in doubtfulnesse of saluation To conclude if this be the best proofe that they can bring to confirme their doctrine the foundation is weake their arguments like ropes made of sand and the building cannot long stand To turne my selfe from them to you and reproofe into matter of exhortation whether you
the Papists against the same The Apostles wrote certaine things not that their writings should be aboue our faith and religion but rather that they should bee vnder saith Albertus See what an imputation hee layes vpon the Apostles Epistles that they are not able to direct vs in faith and true religion Obserue yet another blasphemie of his The Scriptures are double iudges Now we know that a double Iudge is altogether vnprofitable and not fit for that place Euen so are the Scriptures by his argument and of lesse account then their traditions So it appeares by the saying of Andradius Neither in those bookes wherein the sacred mysteries are written is there one iote of diuinitie which by any force of religion can bind vs to beleeue what is there in contained By whose saying you heare that the word is not able to bring men to the knowledge of God religion and faith Thus he doth conclude them not to be holy pure and perfect Lodouicus saith The Scripture is as it were dead ynke fit for no vse but to bee caitaway So the Papists esteeme of Gods holy word as an vnholy writing saying What aduantage hath this fable of Christ brought vnto vs So the whole Gospel is reckoned by them as a fable In a word the whole Scripture is accounted vnholy But whether it be more meete to beleeue God or man let the world iudge Dauid saith that the Scriptures are pure and vndefiled And Christ saith that they are true and holy And I say let Gods word be righteous and the Papists blasphemers Now I come to the workes of righteousnesse which wee must sowe yet not as the Papists Necessitate efficientiae They are necessary as efficient causes together with faith of our saluation but necessitate praesentiae they are necessary for the present and we cannot be without them For faith doth iustifie and workes doe testifie Credis in Christum fac Christi opera vt viuat ' fides tua Doest thou beleeue in Christ do thou Christs workes that thy faith may liue There is a three-fold vse of the workes of righteousnesse first Gods glory secondly the good of others and thirdly our owne comfort How shall it appeare that wee are iustified if the fruit of righteousnesse be not seene as Barnard saith As we discerne the life of the body by the motion of the body so the life of faith by good works And that you may the better know how to doe the workes of righteousnesse obserue first that they be commanded of God secondly that they be well done thirdly that they be done to a good end Vt sit mandatum a Deo That it be commanded of God that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Scriptures Then is it not so much to be inquired whether it bee good and equall as whether God hath commaunded the same or no for sometimes lawfull things are vnlawfull Againe sometimes vnlawfull things are lawfull As thus to kill and murther a mans owne child is vnlawfull yet if God command it then is it lawfull as for example in Abraham which was commanded to kill his-sonne which if he had refused had sinned and to haue done it without command had been a sinne likewise Or thus It is lawfull to pray one for another yet when God forbids it then is it a sinne to pray not in respect of the subiect of prayer but because it is a disobedience vnto Gods command as appeareth by the Prophet Ieremy Againe lawfull things done by some are vertues which being done by others are sinne As thus It is lawfull for a Magistrate to put a murtherer to death but for a priuate man it is a sinne Therefore that is a false rule that many examine things by Whether it be good or equall and not whether God hath commanded it or no. By this rule the vsurer examines his vsury In deed saith hee God hath forbidden it yet marke what profit comes hereof Men that can vse no calling may liue if they haue money Besides marke what good it doth vnto the borrower Many are made by borrowing and to giue ouer the same would doe much hurt But this is a false rule if God hath not commanded the same it is altogether vnlawfull By the same rule we measure our charitie saying If I shall giue vnto the poore and relieue the needie then I my felfe may want Likewise in their callings If I shall tell the trueth in selling vse good wares and true weights and measures it is the way to be a Beggar and the like But this is a false rule I denie not but that it is good for a man to keepe his estate and not to grow into pouertie yet not by such a meanes as God hath not commanded By such a false rule Saul examined his obedience Shall I kill the King and the chiefe cattell no I may haue a great ransome for the King and for the cattell they will serue for sacrifice or for breede or the like and therefore it is better to preserue the King and the best cattell aliue But for all his wisedome God told him that he was a foole and had sinned in so doing and therefore hee receiued a iust recompense for his desert It is dangerous to call Gods precepts into question touching the purity thereof If he hath said it or commanded it it is righteous and we must obey it Secondly as it must be commanded of God so it must be well done as it must be bonum so it must bee bene That you may take your worke along with you obserue there must be first knowledge secondly faith thirdly readinesse 1. There must bee knowledge for euery action is to be knowen before it can be well done either we shal doe more then we ought or lesse then we should The heathen man could say that he that knoweth not what he seeketh cannot tell when to finde that which he lacketh as Cato obserues Ignotum tibi nolito praeponere notis Cognita indicio constant incognita casu Doe not thou preferre any thing vnknowen before things that are knowen Knowen things stand in iudgement and vnknowen in chance As the common Prouerbe is A blind man may catch a Hare and as well may an ignorant man light vpon some of the precepts of God yet seldome seene Pithagoras hath a pretie saying He that knoweth not what he ought to know is a brute beast among men He that knoweth no more then hee hath neede of is a man among bruit beast and He that knoweth all that may be knowen is a God among men And because knowledge is the ground of all Arts God taught his people first to know and then to doe for the way to doe well is to know the good 2. It must be done with the heart that is in zeale loue reuerence feare and the like Vt sit ex vera fide That it be of true faith not so much the things
I will beginne with Mary for vpon the day of her conception they haue this prayer O Mary the mother of grace the mother of mercy defend thou vs from our ghostly enemy and receiue vs at the houre of death Againe in the visitation of Mary they vse to say extinguish the fiery heat of our sinne blot out what is amisse and cause vs to leade an innocent life I could spend a whole houre to shewe you such stuffe as this is but to let you see somewhat of Paul O blessed Apostle Paul I pray thes that thou wilt deliuer me from the Angel of Sathan and defend me from wrath to come and bring me into heauen the like they haue to Iames. O happy Apostle and mightie Martyr Iames helpe thy worshippers defend courteously thy pilgrimes on euery side and bring them to heauenly ioye and now as God said to the Prophet come and I will shewe you greater abominations O Crosse triumphant wood all haile worlds true health among all the trees in the wood ther 's not thy like for blossome bough and budde Christians Physicke saue the sound and heale the sicke And thus I haue giuen you a taste of some of their abominations and presently I will shewe you how they are contrary to the word of Iehouah 1. Now the warrant they haue for their prayer to Saints and Angels is none at all but contrariwise we are cōmanded to pray to God Pray to thy Father which is in secret and againe At that day saith Christ you shall aske in my Name And Iames tells vs whither to go for wisedome namely to God but not a word of Saints or Angels A doctrine neuer heard of before this adulterous generation sprung vp The Angels in heauen haue refused the same and Saints vpon earth denied it What shall I say is it not against the word of the Lord and a counterfeit coyne come foorth of the Deuils mint to delude the world with all 2. It is against the office of Christ for he is the Mediator betweene God and man namely the man Christ now then to make Angels and Saints Mediatours is to put Christ out of place 3. It is a robbing of God of his worship for prayer is adoratio Dei and to offer that to the creature which is proper to the Creator is to robbe him of his honour 4. It is Idolatry that is a breach of the first Commandement Thou shalt haue none other gods before me Now whom wee pray vnto wee put confidence in and cursed are they which trust in any creatures 5. It is a sinne of blasphemie for why doe they go to creatures but because they doubt of the mercie and loue of God and what is more iniurious then to make God lesse mercifull then creatures 6. It is in vaine to pray to Angels or Saints for they are ignorant of our estate neither are they capable of our prayers for Abraham is ignorant of vs and lacob knoweth vs not The liuing know that they shall die but the dead know nothing To conclude we must pray to him Pro quo nullus interpellat for whom no man pryes sed ipse pro omnibus but he prayes for all I might trouble your eares with their vn written verities which they affirme to be of as great authoritie as the Scriptures but this I answere briefly First say that there are many things which the Prophets Christ and the Apostles taught It followes not therefore that the Church should seeke for them because we know them not when wee haue found them and as soone we may imbrace a lie as a trueth Secondly admit that we could meete with the right yet there is no neede of them For these things are written that we might beleeue and in beleeuing wee might haue life eternall as Augustine notes Many things were done which are not written saith hee Electa sunt autem quae scriberentur quae saluti credentium sufficere videbantur But so much was chosen out to be written as was thought to be sufficient for the saluation of the faithfull Thirdly God hath forbidden vs to seeke after any thing saue what is written not to adde to the word of God It were better for a man to mourne all the dayes of his life then to make himselfe merrie with the breach of the word of the Lord that is to play with it Againe what warrant haue they for to take away the second commandement of God as not worthy to stand in the leaues of his Booke Sure I am they ought not so to doe for Thou shalt not take from the word of the Lord. The Law was concluded with this and so was the Gospel Thou shalt not adde to the word nor take ought from the same What warrant haue they for their Free will whereof they boast To the contrary saith the Apostle It is the Lord which worketh in you both the will and the deed And here wee are to consider a foure-fold will which is in man One by creation where the will was free both ad malum and ad bonum and as Augustine saith Primum liberum arbitrium posse non peccare The first free wil was to be able not to sinne The second is Post lapsum qualis libertas fit reliqua ante regenerationem What freedome is remaining after the fall before regeneration and that is a will free to sinne but not to good a will tantum ad malum onely to euill The third is Libert as voluntatis post regeneationem the libertie of the will aftor regeneration and this is partim ad bene partim ad male operandum partly to doe good and partly to doe euill So that if we will well it is of God if euill it is of our selues And as Augustine saith Suis voluntatibus sed quas ipse operatus est Their wills but such as he hath wrought in them volunt as humana libertate consequitur gratiam sed gratia potius libertatem The will of man doth not by the freenesse thereof obtaine grace but by grace obtaines freedome So then velle in nobis est to will is in our power bene velle a Deo but to will well is of God And the fourth is Libertas voluutatis post glorificationem The liberty of the will after glorification and in this libertie the will shall be free tantum ad bonum onely to good and not ad malum to euill The summe is this before the fall the will was free to good and euill by nature free to euill by grace free in part and by glory perfect I must not omitte their pardons because they inrich the Popes offer and derogate from the death of Christ who can forgiue sinne but God yet the Pope will and marke well the manner for first hee pardons not onely sinnes past but also sinnes to come so that hee both pardoneth and pattoniseth sinnes whereas Christ saith
to the contrary goe and sinne no more Secondly hee pardons both a poena culpa from the fult and punishment we deny not but that the Church may pardon the punishment but not the fault for that is proper onely to God Thirdly he pardons such as he neuer sawe and cannot tell whether they haue repented them of their sinnes or no whereas pardon is to be granted to such as repent them of their sinnes And to fill vp the measure of his iniquitie Mandanius Angelis quarenus animas omnium accedentium Wee commaund the Angels to carry all the soules of them that come to Rome this yeere out of Purgatory into Paradise Et concedimus cruce signatis vt ad eorum vota duas vel tres animas quas vellent è Purgatorio liberarent And wee grant to all those that haue taken vpon them the holy Crosse to deliuer two or three soules at their pleasure out of Purgatory And surely could it bee prooued that the Pope could forgiue sinnes I would presently turne Papist And here let mee acquaint your vnderstanding with the author of these pardons who as I finde was Gregory the first for hee proclaimed that whosoeuer would come to Rome to visite the Temples should haue cleane remission of sinnes Then came Boniface the 8. and made the yeere of Iubile or grace euery hundred yeeres with the like promises Then after him came Clement the sixt and brought it from an hundred yeeres to fiftie with the same promises Plaenariam indulgentiam full remission of all their sinnes apaena et culpa toties quoties But the thing obseruable is this why so great a benefite as this as they say did sleepe so long before it was knowne either it could not be found or they were very vnmercifull to keepe the people in sinne and might haue freed them of the same But now pardons being found note the manner not a iot without money for no penny no pater-noster And here two things must bee looked vnto first that wee keepe the Popes fauour secondly that wee haue large purses or wee may goe without pardons For conclusion the true Church of God is taught that pardons are not to bee bought with gold and siluer but with the blood of Christ. What should I speake of their pilgremages vnto lying vanities their stewes established by authoritie a hell aboue ground where lust the daughter of idlenesse hath accesse to whoredome or their Masses Cloystered Nunnes single life treasons murthers and a world of the like whereby they are abominable to God odious to man and comparable to the deuill Their Religion damnable their practise blood and crueltie and themselues famous for villany Thus then you see the Papist walke not after the word of righteousnesse no holy Scriptures are reiected and in stead thereof is come darkenesse and darkenesse hath bègot ignorance and ignorance hath begot error and his brethren See these prodigious spirits are they which are contemners of God despisers of his word persecuters of his Saints and sacrificers to the deuill I am glad I am rid of them let them goe but God giue vs grace neuer to followe them 〈◊〉 wee home to our selues and see whether wee can finde any among our selues which walke farre wide from the word of righteousnesse And here first I will beginne with the Vsurer whose arte is crueltie and therefore God did prohibite the same as too barbarous and diabolicall to be in the Church of God Therefore when thou lendest money to the poore thou shalt not bee as a vsurer to them Now if you would knowe what vsury is the text saith it is nashak whereof commeth neshek which signifies to bite or gnawe Well saith the vsurer now I see it is lawfull to take vse so that it be not to the hurt of the borrower whereby to bite him But stay a little and hearken vnto God what hee saith more of this by the Prophet he shall liue for euer which hath not giuen vpon vsury where the word tarbith is vsed which is to encrease and it comes of rabah to multiply So that to bee an vsurer is to take more then hee puts forth and to take encrease is to bite there being no more difference betweene nashak and rabah but this rabah is to take encrease and nashak is the nature of it namely to bite So then you see he which taketh increase for his monty is a biter and so doeth Ambrose obserue Such are the benefites that you rich men bestowe you giue out little and require much againe such is your kindnesse that you vndoe them whom yee helpe This is the nature of vsurie The persons to whom they might not lend vpon vsurie were their brethren And by brethren in this place is ment brethren of nation as Paul saith I haue great heauinesse for my brethren that is for the nation of the Iewes And to these it was not lawfull to lend on vsury not one Iewe to another Iewe. Now by the same rule it is nor lawfull for one English man to lend to another and so of other nations But the chiefe ende why God forbids to lend to their brethren was to shew that in the Church this diabolicall arte should not be vsed As for idolaters and enemies to Religion they might lend to such on vsury and for the rooting out of these wicked ones but among themselues it might not be vsed And this statut-law remaineth still vnrepealed The like I might speake of stage-playes drunkennesse pride adultery swearing lying murdering I haue not yet done with this word of righteousnesse Gods word is called righteous first because of the author which is God Holy men spake as they were mooued by the spirit of God and from God that is perfect there is no euill and filthy thing And for this ende the Prophets cryed the mouth of the Lord the mouth of the Lord to shewe that God was the author thereof which may bee prooued thus 1. Est antiquitas the antiquitie which is before all writing as God is before all creatures 2. Hormonia pulcherima the most sweete hermonie and consent betweene Moyses the Prophets and Apostles which though they liued many yeeres differing yet doe they all agree in one thing 3. the true accomplishing of those things spokē of by them 4. the ouerthrow and downefall of those that haue opposed themselues against their sayings all which doe plainly demonstrate that God is the author of them Secondly they are righteous because they are instruments to bring vs vnto righteousnesse The whole Scripture is giuen vs by inspiration and is profitable to teach to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may bee made perfect to euery good worke Now where the effect is holy the cause must needes be righteous Thirdly Gods word must needes be righteous because it teacheth a doctrine which is holy pure righteous c. Is Gods word righteous then well note the blasphemie of