were loue so noble so cōpendious so effectuall a dispositiō therūto Lib. 8. c. 30. as M. Stapletō beareth vs in hand it is in her was Many sins were for giuen her because she loued The Greeke word doth signify therfor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aswel as because But they vrge the word because as a precedent cause But se the like euen in the same word we say this apple tree is a good tree why because it beareth good frute Yet is not the frute cause of the tré nor the goodnes of the apple cause of the good tree but indeed because the tré is good therefore it bringeth fruit according to his kind this is the proper natural cause but we in cōmō speech say it is a good tree because we tast the goodnesse in the frute But this kinde of cause is an after cause a cause in reasoning but no making cause as nether was Maries loue of her sins remitted But therefore she loued not that the dignity of her loue was precedēt to the pardon of her sins but hauing receiued fauour pardō cōsequētly her dutiful loue ensued therupō This appereth by that saying inserted to whō lesse is forgiuen he loueth lesse to whō more he loueth more Mary had many sinnes forgiuē her therfore she loued accordingly therfore Christ said i. cōcluded many sins wer forgiuē because she loued much This obiectiō hath bin answerd more thē 1000. times In a word I will shew that nether did she nor could she loue loue so entirly before her sins wer remitted For beig not in the state of grace what could her loue be but lust and no loue fancy and no true dilection a notorious sinner shee was and therefore verie farre from louing and nothing neare louing much aright They that loue God keepe his commaundementes so do not sinners then did not she Calleth M. Stapleton this a noble disposition God be mercifull vnto vs as he was to Marie that we may shew tokens of a true loue as she did not before but after the multitude of all our sinnes pardoned and done away in Iesus Christ our onely Sauiour The fairest argument of all other to the shewe is a conclusiō that S. Iames maketh and at the first sight woulde make a man thinke greatly making against the doctrin of onely faith where he sayth ye see then how a man is iustified of workes not of faith onely wheras notwithstanding S. Paule euerie where inculcateth nothing more then faith without workes Doubtles these noble Apostles are not contrarie the one to the other neither are the Scripturs as a house deuided in it selfe God forbid they should S. Paule teaching that we are saued by grace and therefore not by workes yet for that there were certaine vaine persons crept in among them he exhorteth withal that they should not receaue the grace of God in vaine Likwise when he had shewed that life euerlasting was the gift of God and therefore no purchase of works yet withall also he warneth them that they beware also howe they tourne the grace of God into wantonnesse As Sainct Paule is vehement in this case so vpō greater occasion S. Iames was most worthelie as earnest as Sainct Paule For whilest some heard that faith without workes did iustifie vnstable and vnlearned minded men as they were peruerting that Scripture as also other Scriptures to their owne damnation they bade adieu to all good deedes saying in theyr foolish hearts if faith without workes can saue we can beleeue that there is a God if onely faith will serue we can beleeue and what neede more And thus contenting thēselues in a generalitie of their profession of faith falslie so called litle reckoning was made how bad soeuer their conuersation were For remedie whereof S. Iames asketh what such a faith could auaile them for either it was no faith and so nothing worth or a deuils faith so worse then nothing Yet lest any imagin that S. Iames plainly simply graunteth a deuils faith to be faith mark further how he doth not For when he speaketh of faith in deede and properly in the first chapter he saith it is no waue that is to say no trembling leafe no shiuering reede fully in S. Paules meaning that it is an euidēt probatiō a certain stable grounded strong thing Wherfore S. Iames whē he likeneth this supposed faith to the quaking faith of deuilles he speaketh not properly but by comparison and meaneth an other matter then either himselfe speaketh of in his first chapter or else S. Paule elsewhere in his Epistles For properly he tearmeth this maner of faith a dead faith that is no faith at al. And this he proueth by asimilitude that as a man may argue that a bodie is not quicke but dead without the spirit that is without all spirituall motions life sence so is faith without works For faith appeareth quicke and liuely in her operations and working Yet not as the Papist dreameth that works are the soule of faith but I say as the spirit and vital breath of faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherin it liketh well and greatly deliteth and manifestly sheweth it selfe For if a man be a faithfull man verilie also that man will liue vprightly walk honestly and do workes worthy of his faith not that faith is made of works but that where faith goeth before works euer folow after In so much that a man may well conclude a faithful man ergo fruitfull a fruteles mā ergo faithles Thou wilt say thou hast faith that is a verball faith nothing els Faith is not made of words but shewed in deeds As the Sūne is not without his beames no more is faith without her bright shining woorkes Yet the Sunne is not made of beames no more is faith of workes Yet may I well argue thus If it haue no beams it is no Sunne and so faith if it haue no workes well it may be called faith of vain men in truth it is not For the Christian fayth of saued men worketh euer in time conuenient by charitie Gal. 5.6 can not be idle For as by it and by it alone wee haue accesse to God and trust in his promises without all wauering embracing the benefits of Christs death and passion which is the chiefe dutie of faith so also where it lacketh roote in the good ground of godly hearts it bringeth out breaketh foorth into other frutes And those of sundry sorts to the vse of men according to the diuerse duties of discretion and charitie But still before God in the actiō of iustifying wherof Paul disputeth most faith alone doth al or rather receaueth all of God that doeth all In other respects she neuer is without her traine and as the eye and only the eye in beholding the serpent in the wildernes recouered the children of Israell and yet their eyes were not without the rest of the parts of
and the like are but miserable comforts in the day of death or iudgment One sanctified soule then will be more worth then innumerable sinners O Lorde sanctifie them and vs with a liuely vnderstanding of thy trueth Thy word is the truth teach vs O Lorde good wayes therin that we may know do thy will I will record a storie Dauid being certified of Saules death among his lamentations he breaketh foorth on this wise 2. Sam. 1 O tell it not in Gath publish it not in the streetes of Ascalō lest the daughters of the Philistines reioyce lest the children of the vncircumcised triumph Gath and Askalō were of the chiefe cities of the vncircumcised Dauid wisheth that Saules death might be concealed from them that it might not be told to the enemies of Saul and of God With like affection it is to be desired that ether there wer no Sauls at al or that they might die either obscurely or liue otherwise then to the slaunder of the profession they seeme to be of but in truth are not They that haue dwelt or dwell in Gath Askalon in Louain Doway Rōe or Rhemes the enemies of vs of our Land and of our God wil be glad to hear that he which is reckoned a iustified man by faith were yet a prophane person like Esau in the race of his life The streame of sinne is strong and carieth the world with it but he that thinketh he standeth let him take heede he fall not If a piller fall the house is in daunger if a mightie tree fall it beareth downe manie bowes and sprigges with it O what a shame were it for anie that haue begun in the spirit to ende in the flesh to reioyce in the light and afterward to loue darknes more then light to receiue as it were a portion of faith and then to mispend it The children of the vncircumcised will make great triumphes when they shall heare hereof supposing they haue gayned much when they can finde a man that hath fallen from his God but to the godlie what sorrowe is like to this where such euentes are found Wherefore let euerie man looke to his wayes stand to his watch that he offend not God neither that he giue place to Sathan cause of ioy to the aduersarie or of griefe to the godly that he defile not him selfe driue away the spirit receaue the word in vaine stayne his profession and that he be not like the Asse and Mule that carieth on his backe wheate or breade or wine and yet eateth onelie chaffe and drinketh nothing but water To carie the name of a Christian is little woorth except you feede on the properties of Christianity expresse them in a good life For not to talke of Christ but to liue in Christ is indeede to be a Christian vnto whom it may shold be said as it was vnto Mary thou shalt beare a sonne and thou shalt call his name Iesus For they that heare Goddes word with pure affection Luc. 8.22 and bring foorth the frutes of the spirit they are as it were Christes brethren and as deare as his mother and after a sort his verie mother as in the wōb of whose faith Christ is conceiued and in whose holie life Christ is spiritually born into the world dayly And this is true sanctification allwayes to be perfourmed in vs taught in the word imprinted by the Spirit graūted of God through the merites of Christ in whose name we pray euer to be sanctified more and more continually And euē as Anna praied that God would giue her a man child and she would giue him the Lord againe so wee pray that God will make vs his holy adopted children But the benefit of this holinesse and of this adoption as likewise of our creation when we were not of our iustification when we were naught and of all things else as he giueth them vs so we must giue them him againe render all the praise to him alone the onely giuer of all good giftes who is to be blessed for euer both for all and of all So be it Of Glorification in the life to come and of sobriety in certaine questions that are moued therein WHen sanctification endeth in this life then glorification entreth taketh his beginning for the life to come And then when we shall haue escaped all the ginnes of mortalitie when the times of temptation shall be passed ouer when the streame of this world shall haue quite rūne out his course then this corruption of ours shal be endued with incorruption the olde Phoenix shall be renewed and euen as Moses did put his leprouse hande into his bosome Exod. 4.7 and pulleth it foorth a cleane and a sound hande so this fraile flesh of ours that is sowen in dishonour 1. Cor. 15 and must rotte in the mould of the earth shall yet rise againe in honour with great perfectiō in that gloriouse day Sainct Paul sheweth that there were amongst the Philippians Phil. 3 that walked much amisse in number manie in conditions earthly minded men seruants to their bellie and enemies to the crosse of Christ therfore in fine whose iust end was to haue an heauie doome a deserued damnation But speaking of him selfe and of the godlie he saith our consolation is in heauen from whence we looke for a Sauiour euen the Lord Iesus who shall change our vile bodies that they maie be like his gloriouse bodie according to the working wherebie he is able to subdue all thinges vnto him selfe Wherein these four points are expressely set downe the conuersation of Christians to be heauēlie their expectation to be of Christes appearing in the cloudes the glorification to be euen of our verie bodies and because no man should doubt of the issue thereof after he had set downe the former three in the fourth place mencion is made of the omnipotent power of God Reu. 14.13 Wherefore without all question as the spirit saith in the reuelation Blessed are they that die in the Lorde for they neither frie nor freese as the Papistes suppose in purgatorie but rest from their labours Nowe to die in the Lorde is to die either in his cause quarell for righteousnesse sake or otherwise in his faith and feare and in the course of their calling And to die is to be dissolued Eccl. 12.7 the bodie to the earth from whence it was taken and the soule to be rendred into the hands of God that gaue it Thy dead saith Esay Esay 26 O Lorde shall liue euen as my body shal they rise againe Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust For thy dewe is as the dewe of herbs and the earth shall cast vp her dead Not that all the dead but that the Lords dead shall liue the second life And not who dye in their sinnes and in olde Adam but who die in the Lorde and who liued in Christ and Christ in them and
of sinne with vaine reasoning and fond but gay distinctions as they think of conueniency congruity c. What is to be done touch these faire apples of Gomorrha with the finger of the holy Ghost Aug. de Ciuit Dei lib. 21. c. 5 they wil fal straight all to dust Or be it that the wine that the harlot offreth be strong the spice of distinctiōs sweet the harlot subtil her alluremēts many fine forcible yet the truth is stronger and wholsomer 1. Esd 4.4 will and must preuaile In flesh dwelleth no good so saith the spirit of God Rom. 7.18 Wherupon without contradictiō it followeth if no good no degree of good at al ether spark of knowledg or inclinatiō of will or ability to reach out hand towards the receiuing of any good For euē the good willingnesse which is graunted by grace is hindred by nature as much as in her lieth Therefore the old man must be quite put of the old leuen cleane purged out our lusts not proined but digged vp by the rootes throwne away our flesh crucified of our selues altogeather denied O Israel howe long wilt thou tarie in a strange lande woo woorth the man that delighteth in his naturall corruption O sinfull flesh happie is he that taketh thy yong children I meane the very beginnings euen the concupiscences and first motions to sinne and dasheth them against the stones or smothereth them in their cradle or killeth them in their mothers wombe For of flesh can come no good happie is he that maketh away a rebellious euill Concupiscens is verie sinne in whom soeuer ANd euen these by name are full of euill naught and wicked and very sinnes although they come not to age and thou cōsent not vnto them euen in the regenerate mā it is so much more so in the naturall So speaketh S. Augustine in plaine tearmes in handling one of the Psalmes Non illis consentis c. Aug. in Psalm 75. whom I the rather here mention because he is much alleaged to the contrary very vnskilfully and chiefly for that our late Cēsurer sticketh not to vaunt and bragge of S. Augustine and that Maister Charke hath neither shew nor syllable in this case out of him If thou be a scholler I referre thee to the place coted in the margent Defen of the cens pag. 133. if thou art but onely exercised in the worde of God the scripture alone may content thine humble minde M. Traue in his aunswer to the epist suppl p. 252. Rom. 5. and instructe thy conscience most aboundantly It is forbidden in the Law we being new borne in Christ are bidden to pray against it S. Paul doth sigh in respect of it calleth it sinne I trow properlie enough when he saith it is the body of sinne and bonde of death although men that followe their lust Conc. Trid. Sess 5. dec 1. write neuer so hotly in defence of luste saying that S. Paul spake not properly and cursing all them that say the contrarie S. Paul saw many things in heauen 2. Cor. 12.4 that he might not vtter on earth but the sinne he spake against was an inhabitour in the tabernacle of his body and within his bosome he felt the sting thereof sharpe and could not but complaine how truely how properly and with how conuenient words they that haue S. Paules spirit sence and feeling can say with teares and vtter with griefe S. Iames when he would cleare God of sinne he saith God tempteth no man Iam. 1.13 as who would say if he did then were the case altered C oncupiscence a mother sinne But euery man it is generally in particuler true euerie man is tempted of his owne lusts This is the spring the roote the cause of sinne which issueth out into diuerse streames is deduced into sundrie branches by consent then it is called cōmonly and named sinne amongst men who otherwise iudge not but by the externall acte And then also which in deede is S. Augustines meaning God is more prouoked to wrath Tom. 7. c. without repentance foreprised counteth man quoad reatum crimen regnum peccati more guiltie and blameable and thrauld to sinne then when by cōsenting to the sway of his sinnefull lusts he is caried away wilfully with the streame of them But S. Paul considering the waight of sin as before Gods exact iudgemēt in the merit thereof sheweth that whereas we ought to serue and loue him with all our powers the least defect in the least part whether habitually or actually in the nature of sin is perfit sinne Rhem. notes Rom. 7. vers 7. expressely against the commaundement of the Lawe But we will goe on a litle and reason with them Concupiscence tempteth haleth backe from good and helpeth forward to euill This is without question Nowe whether thou consent or dissent that is somwhat to the will it is nothing to the luste except to make it more manifest if thou consent and if thou dissent Rhem. not in Iam. cap. 1. vers 15. yet in the nature of sinne it is neuerthelesse sinnefull though it be stayed in the first degree But if I be not deceiued concupiscence of nature corrupted whereof I principally speake or in whom soeuer ioyntly and indiuisibly importeth always a cōsent withall immediatly ensuing To lust to desire to will for doctrine and exhortions sake well they may be distinguished I can not see how they may be seperated or staied if we had rather hew at some bowe of them then strike at the roote The children of darkenesse are wise in their generation Matt. 16.2 in naturall causes or signes to foresee a tempest in pollicie to forecast the woorst to stop the beginnings to giue no place no not a litle to the raging sea Why do we not the like why are not spirituall harmes discerned and preuented M. Harding in some sort vseth a vaine defence of an vnchast toleratiō of the steewes at Rome Confut. of the Apol. pag. 16 2. Deiect lib. 5. cap. 4. Censur of M. Ch. artic 3. and Defence p. 113. Dist 34. Fraternitatis by reason of the hotnes of the coūtrie as if Italie were hotter then Iurie which is not so or if it were what then and for concupiscence he and his breathern haue since written much But doth the Lawe of God melt away with the heat of either nations or nature of places or men Me thinketh after so great light spread into the worlde after so long debating though of sundrie other sorie quaestions for the Church against the scriptures for works merits against faith and mercie for ignorance against knowledge Stapel lib. 3. Epist to the LL. of the Conc. yet men shoulde not come to this point to be so badly affected and to excuse them when they are oppugned Verily if they had either conscience or remorse their learning should not be thus abused
For there is the like impossibility in both If God shold do equallie well to all then were he after a sort so much the lesse to be praised of some for his benefites more in speciall Aug. de dono perseuer cap. 12 Mat. 20.15 and singularly to them then to others Neither yet is there any iniquitie in so doing For may he not do with his owne what he will and that without mans witting why may he not illuminate what eye he list lighten which candle he pleaseth or shoot away what arrow he is disposed without thy certaine knowledge of his secret counsels in his most iust doinges In this curiositie of searching farther thē may stand with the sobriety of creatures in the Creators workes a man may aswel demaunde why all in the fielde is not pure corne no chaffe why trees beare leues at all and not all frute why there ar aswell frogges as fish in the pond as well goates that will not heare as sheep that heare his voice in the fold of Christ Christ the second person in Trinitie adoreth the councell of his Father herin and confesseth that the reason of this is this So it is because it pleaseth thee o father so The Papist dreameth of a better will in some then in som and that maketh much as he thinketh to the matter I aske will darknesse willingly become light will weedes be corne goates sheepe will thornes be vines and beare grapes Aug. de verb. Apost Serm. 2. Violentia fit cordi c Doth the natural man sauor of the things of God would a wound be handled can the flesh yeild to the spirit would sleepe be awakned Doth the dead in sinne that wanteth sense of a better life desire to be reuiued any one more then an other But herof before All are earthly by nature hated by desert condemned by iustice and reprobate in them selues Whie yet some are by grace beloued saued by mercy vouchsafed heauen by adoption chosen in Christ called to the Gospel and receaue it willingly the highest roundle in the ladder that man may ascend vnto is the Lordes owne pleasure and this that contented Christ must content Christians For the condemnation of the wicked Prou. 16.4 there is more then sufficient desert in the reprobate and albeit thou heare that God also is agent therin yet beware thou imagin euill in the Lord who as the Sun shineth into dark places and is not darkned and likewise as the raine moisteth the euil tree and therfore it beareth his vnhappie a bitter frute but mark in that it beareth frut it cōmeth of the moisture in that it beareth euill frute it commeth of his own nature and therefore worthely calleth for the axe to be cut downe and iustly deserueth to be throwen into the fire And know this that in one the same action diuerse may be agents they diuersly to be tearmed their intents and ends purposed and also meanes in proceding being diuerse according as the persons are diuersly better or worse either affected or skild euen as the keeper as Seneca saith in an other case many times hath his prisoner linckt to his girdle or hand wrest Senec. lib. 2. epist 5 and so they two maie be detayned both in one chaine notwithstanding the keeper be an innocent man and a necessarie officer and the prisoner a very Barabbas and an vnprofitable member of the common wealth I end this matter without farther debating God hath to do and sucketh out his owne glorie out of all things especially he sheweth his goodnesse to his Saints and his iustice vpon sinners To fele the one is a heauē on earth to find out the other altogether by reasoning is vtterly beyond the reach of flesh Quod lego credo non autem discutio What thou readest that beleeue go no nearer ether to the fire for feare of burning or farther in to water for feare of a whirle poole Walk in thy vocatiō folow the threed of thy calling cōtend by orderly meanes to the end God hath prefixed to the faithful in Christ his Sonne and thy Sauiour Of iustification the fullnesse and freenes therof and the comfort that cometh therby THe free pardon for sinne and the sufficient ransom therof concurre alwayes and meete euer in the iustified man For whom the Lord forgiueth to them also he giueth the possession of his Sonne in whō all are made righteous and without whom none shal be iustified And when he doeth the one he doth the other both ioyntly in full mercie M. Stapleton saith no but sheweth no reason nor glimse Lib. 7. ca. 10. or shew of reason to the contrary but this that because our iustification stādeth not in remissiō of sins alone therefore remission of sinnes inferreth not the imputation of righteousnes by Christ as coherent with it don also by God as if the Lord in his doings wold worke fiue dayes him selfe and leaue the finishing perfectiō of that which he had so carfully and gratiously begun to be accomplished the sixt day or at leasure by some others But his eye seeth not that therfore in deed are our sinnes remitted because Christ is imputed and that neither are these forgiuen but to whom Christ is giuen first and in order before though both without distinction of time are giuen together to the faithfull man The Phisitians speak of a body neutrall Corpus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither whole nor sicke because they wāt a name to expresse the sickenesse by Truly by true diuinitie we haue no such either bodies or soules Either wee be whole or sicke quick in Christ or dead in sinne either iustified by him or still remayning in our old corruptiō There is no middle stay Mat. 12.30 either we gather with him or we scatter All are to be sorted either among the righteous or vnrighteous holy or prophane sonnes or bastards As in the day of doome or generall iudgement all shall be either sheepe or goates corne or chaffe when the iudge shall haue but a right or left no third hand to bid these go vnto who haue their sinnes pardoned and yet as is fayned are voide of iustice in their Sauiour Then that blessednesse wherof Dauid speaketh Blessed are they Psal 32.1 whose sinnes are not imputed and whose iniquities are couered shall be either vtterly denied men or in full deliuered so pronounced by the Prophet because of the not imputing of their sinnes which cannot but imply the imputation of righteousnesse by Christ withall The d ctrin of forgiuenesse of sins in Christ most comfortable which is the couering of sinne This blessednesse most happy must bee sought for euer til it be fully foūd out here and perfitly enioyed in heauen So wee preach and so we beleue and this we pray for the glad yeare the acceptable time the release of dets the remission of sinnes the imputation of Christ with his merits Verily the very hinge of
as the Papist doth say God doth not commaund impossible things Yes sayth Augustine and sheweth the end why to hūble men to teach thē the goodnes of the forgiuer also their duty in crauing forgiuenesse of the Lorde The same Augustine some where doth also in as expresse words as may be Augustine auouch that the Lawe is possible True But withall it is woorth the laboure the while to obserue in so learned a doctour some certaine circumstances the better to attaine to the true meaning of his doctrine that the bare name of such a father cary no mā away If he did simply say so yet the foundation of our beleefe is not grounded on man Ep. ad Hier 19. ad Vincen Don. 48. as Augustine him selfe sheweth full well in nombers of places But concerning the present question Augustine was farre enough from a Papisticall pride in an imagined ability of humane perfection When his auditors waxed slack weary of well doing yet because sinne is neuer without a shift they vsed to say that they wold do this or that but could not do according to Augustins exhortations For example I can not loue mine enemies sayth one I can not refraine my selfe from drinking sayth an other I must needes be drunke especially when such or such a personage enforceth me Austin replieth Nolle in cul pa est nostra Serm. de Temp. 232 non posse praetenditur O sinfull man whē thou wilt not thou pretēdest that thou canst not do thy duety either in louing thy neighbour or in forgoing thy lusts God that giueth more grace then so to his children knoweth best what thou canst do and that so idle and friuolouse excuses wil not serue Neither doth Austin argue the plenarie fulfilling of the whole Law exactly in all points but onely endeuouring to perswade to charitable dealing sayth though thou canst not do this or that fast sell all c. Yet canst thou not loue canst thou not haue charitie whereby I gather as out of him so elsewhere out of other writers The Law is not impossible in part but in perfection that this word impossible is not taken for an impossibilitie in euerie kinde of degree which no wise man will yeeld vnto For albeit we can not possibly be so perfit in the same equality as is required yet a desire by imitation and in some degree by grace may be and is in vs Clem. Alex. poedag lib. 1 cap. 6 Virg. aen l. ◠as it is in the Poet of the sonne that followeth his father though he could not keepe pace with him Sequitúr que Patrem non passibus aequis we may follow though we can not or runne cheeke by cheeke as the prouerb is iumpe so fast or iust so farre as is commaunded yet no wise man dare call this that perfection that the Papist would haue But the nature of man is like the lazie houswife that when she had more to do thē she knew she cold wel dispatch taketh and sitteth her down letteth al vndone farther from meriting For imperfection meriteth nothing but craueth pardon because of default But we will go on in precise tearmes to speake of merites As grace is free can not stand with merits so merites deserue and need not grace if they be merits The East and west will sooner meete together then grace and merits wil meete together and agree in one in the saluation of man For if thou wilt be saued by the one thou canst not by the other Neither maist thou part stakes betwixt them both For the Apostle taketh away desert before he establisheth fauour and grace M. Stapleton singeth in a quite contrary tune to this Lib. 10. c. 2 and telleth vs in plaine and shrill wordes that the inheritance of saluation albeit the very word inheritance might haue taught him an other lesson is giuen to the sonnes of God not because they are sonnes freely by fauour but because they are his good children neither yet because they are good but withall because they are children and good As if partly we inherit by fayth wherby we are his children and partly by workes which must make vs good and whereby in great part we deserue which Austin sheweth to be no safe way I aske this question by the waie maie we be good yet not his children or can we be his children and yet consequentlie not good What God hath coupled why doeth M. Stapletons vaine strength endevour to hale and rent a sunder If wee be not sonnes then are we naught nether posibly can we be good by any working For all good works before they deserue the name of good are first halowed in Christ sprinkled with his bloud wrought by his Spirit and offred in his name vpon the alter of faith as proceeding from his deare children or else they be naught and being naught they can make nothing better Act. 15.9 But we be once his sonns by faith which pufieth the hart and indueth with his spirit which sanctifieth the soule how can we be but good And now being his sonnes by a vouchsafed priuiledge not of desert but of adoptiō thē ar we also heirs coheirs with Christ in this life here both to do wel that 〈◊〉 graciouse a father may be glorified in his children and many times to suffer euill 〈◊〉 the worlds hands Rhem. notes Rom. 8.17 that we may be glorified with Christ in heauen which is a condition expressed in S. Paule not as a cause precedent to make vs sonnes and so heirs but as a consequent of duetie because we are sonnes and heires that therfore we ow all duety and in reason must being members be correspondent aunswerable to the head that in the ende we may enioye most freely the performance of what so euer was in most free maner before promised For as the promis was fre at the first so the performance being greater and more comfortable in the effect can not be lesse free in the end then was the promise at the first offered The greatnesse of saluation in our state to be glorified after the consummation of all thinges cometh afterward in due place to be spokē of In the meane time to shew how litle such so infinit a blessing can be worthely and of desert attained vnto is thereby manifest because that glory is infinit and the desert if it were desert yet were it finit For the glorie is eternall and the merit temporall the one ended in a small momentary time the other euerlasting without end in so much that wheras there is with out all dout no proportiō nor comparison of equality betwixt the desert and the thing deserued who can auouch that he can deserue or who dare say I merit or I purchase with the rustie monie of mine owne fraile workes the glorious crown of euerlasting saluation euen as a hireling or a iourney man doth his wages As in bargains there is no euen buying or selling
excellent sentence full of cōfort and speciall confidence M. Stapleton would qualifie it but can not therfore thought it better to misreporte it otherwise then he found it in Bernard him selfe Lib. 9.14 and first of all he misquoteth the place 6. for 61. but that may be the negligence of his Printer and so woulde I easily thinke if there were no ill dealing otherwise Secondly he sayth this confidence is taken not for a confidence but so farre furth as it is opposed to an astonishment as if when I did a thing confidently I did it only not with astonishmēt Wheras a man astonished is past doing but doing confidentlie is doing and doing with great boldnes Thirdly for fidenter he saith fideliter changing Bernardes worde and fourthly he saith fideliter-dico as if Bernard spake of faithfull speaking and not of cōfident vsurping and taking specially in the singuler number ego I and properly mihi to my selfe take from the bowels of Christ what is wanting to my selfe The reasons of this his assurance Bernard yeldeth elswhere Serm. 3. de frag septē vpon three strōg cōsideratiōs of the loue of Gods adoptiō the truth of his promisse and abilitie to performe and thē he pronounceth that he knoweth whom to beleeue in beleeuing how to be assured In truth if we either rest or reckon of your selues so as M. Stapleton requireth we cast the anker of our hope in an vnstable place and not vpward into heauen as the Apostle teacheth and then no meruaile if hope be no hope fayth not faith For what scripture euer teacheth vs to hope or beleeue in our selues Accursed is he that maketh flesh his arme or putteth his trust in man either in himselfe or in an other man in him selfe for that is a daungerous pride in an other that is as Augustines word is an inordinate humilitie inordinate humilis non leuatur Hom. 84. de temp periculose superbus praecipitatur The proude man wil hurle down himselfe hedlong but the inordinate humble no man can hold vppe Wherefore pride dispaire and folly be far from vs. Our hope faith and helpe is only in the name of the Lorde We are ashamed of our selues of men like our selues but not of the hope which is in vs toward him The matter is weightie yet would I be loth to be ouer long I will ende with remembrance of a storie out of the booke of Nombers Numb 13. where Iosue sent certaine to suruaie the lande of Chanaan who vpon their returne reported of the goodnes of the lande much but more of the strength of the people of the crueltie of the inhabitants of their stature like giāts and in comparison that Israell were but grashoppers their towns meruelously defensed and that euerie way it was impossible to goe vp and preuaile against it But Caleb whom the Lorde had indued with a better spirite comforted the people on the contrarie side and saide cheerfullie Come let vs go vppe vndoubtedlie we shall possesse it litle considering the strength of the people or their crueltie or the wals of ther cities but onely rested vpon the promises of God and therein he stayed him selfe and would oft haue stilled Israell Semblably notwithstāding the force of all the worlde the difficulties of flesh and bloude the subtelties of sinne the arguments that certaine aduersaries like Iosues spies make against vs yet if we haue Iosues faith we must relie vpon the Lorde and in the ende we shall obtaine a better land then the land of Chanaan euen the land of the liuing with the liuing God He that somtime doubteth may remēber he is a mā but because he is also a faith full man he must not cōtinue therein but shake away distrust cōquere al doubts be well armed with the shild of faith against all assalts The faithles they are at an other pointe they ame vncertainly without a marke beat the aire bath themselues in the pleasures of the worlde for a while in the end they dy as they liued they liued without hope perish euerlastingly But we who are beleuers know we ar beleuers as August speaketh For faith is no fancy as we are risen againe in newnes of life in this life so shall we be receaued againe to life eternall in the life to come our conuersation and trafficke is aboue our hartes are set on heauen heauenlie thinges we are frindes with God distance of place diuersities of periles and doubtes of daungers can not disioyne or cause distrust for we also shall finally dye as we liued we liued in his feare and reuerence we dye in his faith he is our God God and therefore able our God and therefore willing to bring his promises all to passe one daie and in the meane season there can happen nothing neither inwardly nor outwardely but it may be patientlie borne quietly disgested and with suffrance passed ouer knowing alwayes as the Prophet saith that the time shall come either in this worlde or in the worlde to come when all shall confesse verily of a truth there is frute for the righteous doubtles there is a God Psal 58.11 that iudgeth the earth The teeth of the cruell the iawes of the Lion the arrowes and all the argumentes of proude imaginations shall come to nothing we shal certainely be saued Of sanctification in this life and the meanes of direction therein ACcording to the order which I proposed to my self to shew furth the frenes of Gods grace and fauour it remaineeth in this place next to speake of sanctification For albeit S. Paul maketh it no expresse linke of that chaine wherein God doth all in all and wherewith out of al cōtrouersie there can be nothing in man yet where he speaketh of mās duty to God he shewethe euer necessarilie that they who are iustified by faith in Christ are likewise sanctified by his spirite For being manumitted or freed from sinn by Christ we are there withall made the seruaunts of God to bring furth fruts vnto sanctificatiō Their owne Roffensis saw somewhat when he sayde fides iustificat ante partum Stapl. lib. 8. cap. 31. Illyr in cla par 2. tract 6. Faith is the mother works of sanctificatiō are the children The mother doth iustifie in order before the children be borne and then shee bringeth furth a godly ofspring who like good childrē cherish their mother and comfort her with naturall respect againe That no man mistake me it woulde be obserued that the word sanctification is taken either for iustification in Christ who is our wisedome our righteousnes sanctification or else for holynes of life in Christiās who hauing receaued the spirit of adoption a measure of grace are sanctified renued in their minds reformed in their liues dying to the world liuing vnto God Both these sanctificatiōs ar ours For Christ is ours therfore his holines his righteousnes are ours also But there is a