faith will appeare to be no faith and his claime to be a false vsurpation So then if thou wilt prooue thy selfe a true Christian and to be iust before God through faith in Christ it is not enough to take vnto thee the Title of fayth and to boast of such a beleefe as the Deuils haue and euery reprobate may haue but thou must be content to haue thy inward faith examined and tried by thy outward workes whether it be the true faith or not For a true Faith is alwayes ioyned with loue and bringeth forth Good-workes as necessarily as a good Tree bringeth forth good fruits An euill Tree bringeth forth euill fruits but a good Tree hath good fruite comming from it From this coniunction of these two superiour vertues to wit Faith and Loue the Rhemists in their translation and other Romanists in their disputations do debate and conclude against a fundamentall point of Christian Religion on this manner If Faith be not alone but ioyned with Loue Then Faith alone doth not iustifie But Faith is not alone but ioyned with Loue Therefore Faith alone doth not iustifie To this Obiection I answere they make an equiuocation in these words Faith alone If they meane by Faith alone a dead faith as Iames dooth which is voyde of workes then they speake nothing to the purpose for wee neuer allowed of such a faith we neuer taught iustification by such a faith But if they meane as they should if they reason against vs that in the act of Iustification there is required hope and charity or any more then the hande of faith which is the onely instrument to take hold of Christ if they ioyne vnto this any of their workes we deny their assertion and cannot admit of such iustification For we beleeue and hold it as a sound foundation of our religion that faith without any workes doth iustifye forasmuch as it dooth alone apprehend the mercies of God and apply the merits of Christ whereby wee are iustified so that if the question be what we must oppose between the Iustice of God and our sinnes why he doth not execute the curse of the Law against vs wherefore he is reconciled toward sinners and receiueth them into fauour and how they stand as iust before his Throne Heere works haue no place which are vnperfect which are stained and defiled so that both we and our workes must be accepted for another namely for Christs sake whome faith receiueth and so putteth him and his benefits into our soules True it is Faith and Loue are alwayes ioyned in one Christian they are required to perfect him and to bring him to saluation Thus Faith is necessary Hope is necessary Charity is necessary they must all concurre in one subiect meet togither in the same person so that no beleeuer must be without any of them Thus we confesse they are neuer alone he that is without Hope and Charitie is also without Faith and whosoeuer hath a liuely Faith hath likewise an effectuall Hope and a fruitfull Loue. Neuerthelesse howsoeuer they be ioyned and must bee ioyned in the practise of a Christian life yet they are not ioyned nor cannot be ioyned in the act and Article of Iustification The eye in the head alone seeth not the eare not the mouth not the tongue and yet it is neuer alone in the head but ioyned with others The hand in the body alone serueth to handle and to take the meate whereby we are fed and norished yet it is not without the arme without the foote without the eye without the head Euery part and member of the bodie in his place is necessary and all serue to perfect the body without which it were maimed and vnperfect but euery member hath his seueral office and function so is it with the gifts and graces of God all are and ought to be ioyned together to make vp a perfect Christian and he must be furnished with them to make him compleat and absolute to euerie good worke but euery gift hath his seuerall obiect and Office The property of the eye is to see of the hand to handle of the foote to walke so the Office of Faith is to make vs iust the office of Hope is to make vs wait the office of Loue is to make vs mercifull We doo not separate Faith and Good-workes from the exercise of a Christian mans life but in the office of Iustification and acquitting of vs in the presence of God Faith in her Office is alone as Loue likewise is in hers but in our practise in our persons they must be ioyned A Prince albeit in her estate Throne she be alone yet she goeth not without her traine and Maids of Honor waiting about her and attending vpon her Faith when shee layeth holde on Christ and receyueth the promise is as it were vpon her Throne of estate and in her proper calling ioyning vs to God Neyther do wee ascribe our Iustification to faith for it selfe or as it is a work and quality in vs as if it were any part of our Iustice or righteousnesse as if we were iustifyed partly by the merits of Christ and partly by the worthinesse of our own faith for that were to seek Iustification in our selus which is the Doctrine of the church of Rome but we are iustifyed no otherwise by our faith then wee are fed by our hand Now how doth the hand nourish the body Not because it is meat to feed the dy but because it receyueth and applyeth vnto it the meate whereby it is sustayned Euen so Faith iustifyeth and giueth life not because it is our Iustification either in whole or in part but because it receyueth Christ to be our righteousnesse and life in whom x Acts 26 18 We haue remission of sinnes and an inheritance among them that are sanctified and reserued to eternall life So then wee ascribe Iustification to our faith no otherwise then as it is the meanes or Instrument to apprehend and receiue the mercies of God the merits of Christ and the promises of the gospell Thus we teach that faith is the y Aug. tract 50 in Iohan. hand which we stretch to heauen to take hold of Christ and to embrace him sitting at the right hande of his father It is the mouth whereby we eate and drinke Christ z August tract 26. in Iohan. because to beleeue in him is to eate him It is the stomacke whereby we digest him a Tertull. de resurr carnis because he is to be digested by Faith It is the foote whereby wee enter the possession of all the benefits of Christ and so farre b Bernard Ser. 32. in Cantio we possesse them as wee walke towardes them By Faith it is that we touch Christ and so receiue Christ c Cypria Epist 2. lib. 2. for looke how much Faith we bring to receiue so much we draw of the abundant graces of God To conclude therefore we see
may appeare by examining the common practise of our common professors by these six notes First true Faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word preached as the Apostle sheweth Rom. 10. How shall they cal vpon him in whom they do not beleeue q Rom. 10 14 How shall they beleeue in him of whom they haue not heard how shall they heare without a Preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent This place is not vnfitly called a Ladder that reacheth to Heauen whereby as by certaine steppes we climbe vp to heauen God sendeth the Minister preacheth the people beleeueth The same Apostle asketh the Galathians r Gal. 3 2. Iohn 17 20. Whether they receiued the spirit by the workes of the Law or by the hearing of Faith But the Faith which many talke and boast of is conceiued and conceited without the preaching of the worde for they cannot abide it they will not attend vnto it they regard not to heare it True it is if they be asked whether they haue Faith or not they will thinke it a straunge question and maruell that we shold make doubt thereof they suppose themselues to haue a sound Faith in Christ but how come they by this faith They say they beleeue in Iesus Christ for their saluation and yet they liue in a perpetuall neglect and continuall contempt of the publicke Ministerie of the word Such is their beleeuing as is their hearing and their Faith is aunswerable to their attending It is a great foolishnesse worse then madnesse for any man to imagine to attaine to Faith by any other meanes then God hath ordained When God hath sayde that the ordinary way to obtaine Faith is by the preaching of the worde wilt thou in the high pride of thy ignorant heart say I can haue Fayth without preaching This is to crosse the ordinance of God and to thinke thy selfe wiser then God For although all haue not Faith that ordinarily heare yet ordinarily none haue faith that doo not heare If then we would haue Faith we must seeke it as God hath appointed where it is to be found and when it is to be found let vs be diligent hearers attentiue hearers constant hearers and then we shal see the blessing of God vpon vs that we shall be sauing hearers Secondly true Faith is also ioyned with Prayer to God and with repentance from dead workes for how shall they call vpon him in whom they doe not beleeue And the Apostle Å¿ Acts 15 9. Peter teacheth that Faith purifieth the hart Paule exhorting the Elders of Ephesus saith t Acts 20 21 That he witnessed both to the Iews and to the Grecians the Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lorde Iesus Christ It was the substance of Christs Sermons which he preached when hee came into Galile u Marke 1 15 The Kingdome of God is at hand repent and beleeue the Gospell But there are many amongest vs that professe Faith which haue a Faith of another kinde and Nature it is not ioyned with inuocation of Gods name they make no Conscience to call vpon him they haue not the Spirite of Prayer that cryeth in their hearts Abba Father it worketh not in them conuersion of heart a turning of the minde a chaunge of life they boast of Faith but they remaine the same men they were before a deade life a deade Faith a prophane life a false Fayth that will in the end deceyue them Thirdly true Faith worketh in vs an holy contentation in our estate and teacheth vs to depend vpon Gods prouidence touching Food Raiment and all things necessary for this present life This Christ our Sauiour teacheth vs from the example of the Fowles of the Heauen of the stature of our body of the Lillies of the fielde from the grasse of the earth what doo pensiue thoughts distracting and distrustfull cares auaile to sustaine vs or preserue our life Wherefore seeing the Birdes are nourished our stature is encreased the Lillies are beautified the Grasse is cloathed by the power and prouidence of God x Math. 6 30. and 8 20. Shall hee not do the same much more to you O ye of little Faith Faith therefore maketh vs rest vpon God want of Faith taketh away all trust in him But many among vs that will needes boast of Fayth in Christ want this Faith in his prouidence for they dare not trust GOD with their life they doo not depend vpon him for their liuing they are affraid he will leaue them and forsake them they do not beleeue he will bee a mercifull and gracious God vnto them they haue not that affiance confidence reposed him that naturall children haue in their Parents A Childe doth not wearie him-selfe with matters of the World hee dooth not fore-cast for manie yeares hee is not intangled and choaked with earthly Cogitations all his care is cast vppon his Father hee trusteth vppon him hee knoweth hee will prouide for him and so passeth his dayes without distrust or dispaire And shall wee not be ashamed to bee sent to Schoole to learne of little Children that depend vpon their Father whereas we haue not learned to lift vppe our eyes vnto our Father that dwelleth in the Heauens but vse vnlawfull meanes and vngodly shifts to helpe our selues A plaine argument that wee haue not that Faith which we falsely imagine and vainely imagine our selues to haue Fourthly true Faith is the Mother of loue and maketh vs liue in peace one with another the Apostle y Gala. 5 6. Paule teacheth That Faith worketh by loue And Iohn in his first Epistle saith z 1 Iohn 3 23 This is his commandement that we beleeue in the name of his son Iesus Christ loue one another But many that wil seeme to haue faith in Christ shew no fruits of loue toward their Brethren they are not careful if it be possible and so farre as lieth in them to haue peace with all men they do not seeke after peace and ensue it but liue in hatred and contention in malice and enuy and least of all do affect the children of God An enuious Faith is no Faith and therefore let such men looke vnto it Fiftly true faith is mingled with doubting and vnbeleefe with wauering and feare and oftentimes strongly shaken and assayled as with a mighty Tempest This we see in the Father of him that was possessed with an vncleane spirit he was readie to rest vpon Christ but he felt the fruite of his owne corruption the spirit was willing but the flesh was weake he found a fight within himselfe betweene Faith and Infidelity When he considered the infinite power of Christ that was able to cast out Satan and to binde the strong man he was moued to beleeue On the other side when he saw the strangenesse the continuance the incureablenesse of his sonnes disease when he marked that the Deuill tooke him tare him cast him into the fire to burne him
q 1 Cor 7 12 13 16. For what knowest thou O Wife whether thou shalt saue thy Husband Or what knowest thou O Man whether thou shalt saue thy Wife So the Apostle Peter setting downe the wiues duty toward her husband saith r 1 Pet. 3 1 Let their wiues be subiect to their Husbandes that euen they which obey not the word may without the word be wonne by the conuersation of their wiues Where we see that some are won to the Faith without the preaching of the worde Answere I answere it is true that God blesseth and sanctifieth many meanes beside the preaching of the word to the good of his Children as Meditation Conference priuate instruction Prayer feare of Hell and such like Notwithstanding many that are conuerted to God are deceiued in the meanes and instrument of their conuersion For albeit such as are afflicted are brought to know themselues and to acknowledge the damnable estate wherein they stood yet it is not the affliction it selfe that wrought their conuersion The trouble that they sustained and endured whether it were in body or in mind or in both was sent by the goodnesse of God vpon them to bring them to a loue of the word who before loathed it and made no account or reckning of it This is it which the Apostle teacheth Å¿ Rom. 3 20. That by the Lawe commeth the knowledge of sinne So affliction may lay before vs the knowledge of our sins but it cannot take them away it may shew vs our wound but it cannot help vs and heale vs it may cast vs downe but it cannot raise vs vp it may bee a Schoole-maister to bring vs to Christ but it cannot make vs partakers of Christ It is like a sharpe Needle which doth not nor cannot sow the cloth but it is necessarie to prepare the way for the thred or it is like an eating or a fretting corrasiue which cannot cure but yet it is profitable to make the way for the healing medicine So the afflictions that God layeth vpon vs may bring vs to the sight and knowledge of our sinnes and to the consideration of the miseries which we deserue and to the feeling of the flashes of hell fire but they cannot worke Faith in vs nor assure vs of pardon nor apply to vs the promise of God touching the remission of sinnes It maketh a good beginning but it cannot bring the worke to perfection The like may bee saide of priuate admonition and a godly conuersation which the Apostles teach may be meanes of saluation to others it is not spoken to lessen or weaken the authority or efficacy of publicke preaching as if it were not the ordinary meanes to conceiue nourish and encrease faith in vs neither is it simply to be vnderstood that they are able to conuert the soule but onely that they are good occasions fit inducements and profitable helpes to drawe vs and allure vs to a liking and louing and longing after faith For when a man that is not a Christian but an Infidell beholdeth the holy pure chast conuersation of his Wife after her calling to the knowledge of the truth and hir subiection and obedience toward himselfe he may be mooued to embrace the Christian Religion whereof he seeth such worthy fruites We haue a notable example heerof in u Ioh. 4 39. 42 the woman of Samaria who perswading the men of the Citty to go out and heare Christ they saide vnto her after they hadde heard his preaching Now we beleeue not because of thy saying for we haue herd him our selues and know that this is indeede that Christ the Sauior of the world The exhortation of this woman preuailed with them to heare Christ and by their hearing they were conuerted she was the cause of their hearing their hearing was the cause of their beleeuing shee was the Instrument that brought them to Christ and hee wrought Faith in them when they vvere brought vnto him Obiection 2. Secondly it is saide that reading is preaching and therefore it is a sufficient meanes of saluation To this purpose they quote Actes 21. Moses of olde time hath in euery City them that preach him seeing he is read in the Synagogue euery Saboth day Loe say they he is preached when he is read therfore the bare reading must needs be preaching yea some adde it is better then preaching because when they heare the Scriptures read they knowe it is the word of God but when they heare preaching it is mens exposition and interpretation and they know not whether it bee true or false sound or vnsound right or wrong Answere I answere this obiection falleth of it selfe and it is ouerthrowne by that whereby it is sought to be strengthned For if reading be preaching then reading cannot be better then preaching inasmuch as nothing can be better or worse then it selfe It is not denied but the word Preaching may in a general sence include not only the reading of the word x Marke 1 45. 5 20. 7. 36 but any other way of declaring and publishing the power truth glory and workes of God Rom. 2 20 21. Psal 19 1 2. but then it is not vsed as wee take the word in the state of the question For wee meane by preaching the expounding of the Scripture according to the proportion of faith applying thereof according to the capacity of the hearers And thus they are set downe in the place alledged before as two distinct things one accompanying and following the other according to the ordinance of God and practise of the seruants of God Hence it is that the Apostle giueth this as a duty and direction belonging to Timothy y 1 Tim. 4 13. Till I come giue attendance to reading to exhortation and to Doctrine So it is sayde in the booke of Nehemiah z Nehe. 8 7 8. The Leuites caused the people to vnderstand the Law and the people stood in their place and they read in the Booke of the Law of God distinctly and gaue the sence and caused them to vnderstand the reading Likewise when Christ came to Nazareth where he had beene brought vp and went into the Synagogue on the Saboth day he stood vp He opened the Booke a Luke 4 17. and read the Scripture then he closed the Booke he sate downe the eyes of all of them were fastned on him and he began to preach vnto them Thus also wee see that when the Apostle Paule wrote his Epistle to the Romaines hee excused himselfe that hee could not come to preach vnto them b Rom. 1 11 15 14. For he longed to see them that he might bestow some spirituall guift among them and acknowledged himselfe a debter to the Grecians and to the Barbarians to the Wisemen and vnto the vnwise so that as much as lay in him hee was ready to preach the Gospell to them also that were at Rome Whereby we see that preaching and hearing are
that after the Thessalonians had heard the Gospell of Christ published vnto them so many of them as were ordained vnto eternall life beleeued and submitted themselues to be duided and reformed by it This dutie hath c Foure degrees of submitting our selues to the Gospell manie branches First it is required of vs to heare the worde of God with patience This is the first step and degree that leadeth vnto life and it proceedeth from the meere grace and fauour of God whensoeuer it is wrought in our hearts For how many are there that when they heare stop their eares That when they see shut their eyes That when they vnderstand doe harden their hearts When Stephen made a defence for himselfe before the chiefe Priests that sat in the Counsel d Acts 7 57. They gaue a shout with a loud voyce and stopped their eares and ran violently vpon him all at once and cast him out of the Citty and stoned him with stones When one Alexander a Iew beckned with the hand prepared himselfe to speak and would haue excused the Apostles e Acts 19 33 There arose a great shout almost for the space of two houres of all men crying Great is Diana of the Ephesians Likewise when Paule made a perticuler rehearsal of the manner of his conuersion to the faith before the Iewes they heard him quietly and with silence vntill he said He was sent to the Gentiles but then thorough impatience f Acts 22 23. they cried out they cast off their cloathes and threw dust into the ayre and lift vp their voices saying Away with such a fellow from the earth for it is not meet that he should liue We see by these examples that it is a token of Gods goodnesse when he giueth vs circumcised eares to listen and attend to the word preached vnto vs with patience and perseuerance vnto the end albeit we heare our sins reproued our secret thoughts opened vnto vs. It is our dutie to shew our selues swift to heare but slow to speake and slow to wrath We must be slow to speake against that which hath bin deliuered and we must be slow to anger and indignation against those that haue deliuered the truth vnto vs. Secondly it is required that we receiue the word that we haue heard assent vnto it as to the word of truth and acknowledge it to bee good and true euen that part of the word that containeth his iudgements his threatnings his cursses his punnishments This is to be craued of God as being a special worke of grace in those that belong to his kingdom For many there are that heare and haue their eares open to attend these are not dull hearers that marke nothing but ate ready to listen and giue care and yet they will not giue their assent to that which they haue heard The Apostle teacheth g 1 Cor. 2 14. That the naturall man perceiueth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnesse vnto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned When Paule preached at Athens in the hearing of the Stoikes and Epicures touching the resurrection from the dead they saide h Acts 17 18 What will this Babler say A great part of our ordinary hearers may be placed in this rank who are content to heare and then sit in iudgement vppon that which they haue heard and neuer giue credit vnto it but measure the truth of God by their carnall conceits and naturall reasons Thirdly it is farther required of vs to embrace the truth in our hearts carefully to apply it to our owne soules It belongeth vnto vs not onely to heare it with the eare and to assent to it with the mind but to lay it vp deeply rooted in vs and to make it our owne by a speciall application This is the right vse of the word this is peculiar to the elect and this is a work of grace in our hearts The Hystoricall faith giueth a generall consent to the truth of God but neuer goeth farther to apprehend it as we see in Simon the Sorcerer who is said to haue beleeued that is in a generall maner to haue consented to the Gospell and yet Peter telleth him i Acts 8 21. That his heart was vpright and that he remained in the gall of bitternesse Let vs not therefore approbriate the word of grace that is able to build farther vnto our owne selues otherwise we shall haue no more comfort then the Reprobates haue who come so farre as to confesse the word to be true and that God by his Sonne will saue the Vessels of mercy Lastly it is required in this speciall manner to entertaine the worde to wit as the word of God Many receiue the word and imbrace it willingly readily chearfully and ioyfully but not as the word of God I wil not stand to speake of the Church of Rome which holdeth that the word written hath not authority in it selfe vnlesse the Church approue it and therefore albeit it embraceth the word of God yet it embraceth it not as the word of God For how many are there among our selues that receiue not the word of God with that reuerence and obedience that they ought as appeareth by the euil practises of their liues These men do not receiue the word of God as the word of God who if they did in truth sincerity acknowledge this truth to be of God to haue him for the author thereof they would lead their liues in another maner then they do they would be afraid to rush forward to run headlong as it were with violence into the breach transgression thereof They would consider that God will not beare and endure the contempt of his word but reuenge the dishonor done to his name with great plagues and most grieuous iudgments These are the duties that are to be performed of vs and the foure degrees that testifie our submitting of our selues to the truth of the Gospel preached deliuered vnto vs by the Ministers of Christ Vse 4 Lastly seeing they by whose ministry we are gained to God and preserued in the state of saluation being gained ought to be most deare to vs we owing vnto them our owne selues This must teach the Ministers of God a necessary duty and lesson to be marked of them to wit to endeuor by their daily diligence and continuall preaching of the Gospel to make the people indebted vnto them For how do the people come so much in their debt but that they receiue heauenly Doctrine by their Ministry as from the mouth of God Such as haue need of admonition must be exhorted such as are weak in the faith must be strengthned such as need comfort ought to be comforted such as are ignorant must be instructed such as are willing to be taught must be beseeched and intreated and euery one must be handled according to his nature and condition according to the rule
iniurie to other men or to make him peculiar to our selues but to leaue him the same to others that hee is to vs as euery man enioyeth the light of the Sunne without excluding others from the vse thereof Vse 3. Lastly we learne that it is no Doctrine of pride and presumption to teach assurance confidence and certainty of Faith that euery one should beleeue that God is his God that Christ is his Sauiour that the Holy-Ghost is his sanctifier that forgiuenesse of sinnes and eternall life shall bee giuen vnto him If we beleeue not this we beleeue nothing if we deny this or doubt of this all our Faith is in vaine For as wee pray for the forgiuenesse of our owne sinnes so we must beleeue the forgiuenesse of our owne sinnes The promises of the Gospell are generall these we are to knowe do belong to vs and therefore must take them as spoken to vs. It is promised y Iosh 1 5. to Ioshua imediately after the death of Moses that God would not leaue him nor forsake him This the Apostle applyeth and maketh it common to all the faithfull whom he chargeth to haue their conuersation without couetousnesse z Heb. 13 5. seeing it is written That God will not leaue them nor forsake them God commandeth vs to call vpon him with promise to heare vs a Psal 50 15 and 4 3. Call vpon mee and I will heare thee This was the comfort of Dauid and the assurance that hee had When I call vpon the Lord he will heare him Christ our Sauiour giueth vs encouragement to prayer because b Iohn 14. 13 1 Iohn 5 14 Whatsoeuer we aske in his name that will hee do that the Father may be glorified in the Sonne Hence it is that Iohn sayeth This is the assurance that wee haue of him that whatsoeuer we aske according to his will he heareth vs And if we know that he heareth vs we know we haue the petitions which we aske of him When Christ sayde to the poore distressed man in the Gospell If thou canst beleeue all things are possible to him that beleeueth He answered c Marke 9 24 Lord I beleeue help mine vnbeleefe So saith the Prophet d Psal 116 16 and 119 125. Behold Lord I am thy seruant I am thy seruant ô giue mee vnderstanding that I may keepe thy Commandements c. The Lord saith generally e Iohn 3. 15. Math. 28. Whosoeuer beleeueth shall be saued Hence the Apostle inferreth this particular to the Iailor f Acts 16 32. Beleeue thou and thou shalt be saued When God saith g Psal 27. 8. Seeke ye my face the voyce of the faithfull doth returne and rebound this backe again Thy face Lord I will seeke God by his new Couenant bindeth himselfe to the heyres of promise saying h Ier. 31 33. Esay 25 9. I will be their God and they shall be my people whereupon they are emboldned to say Loe this is our God we haue waited for him and hee will saue vs we will reioyce and be ioyfull in his saluation God saith vnto vs I am thy saluation our heart againe with vnspeakeable comfort inwardly ministered answeareth Thou art my God So then when we say aright we belieue in God the Father it is as much as to say I beleeue that God is my God and I haue assurance and trust in him for my saluation And to beleeue that God is my God is to beleeue that he is my life my peace my deliuerance my saluation not onely that he is these things in himselfe and in his owne nature not onely that he is these things to other men that trust in him and depend vpon him but that he is indeede the same to mee that his mercy dooth compasse me his power defend me his prouidence watch ouer me and his fauor keepe and preserue me to himselfe in life and death For there are many degrees of faith i Credere deum Credere Deo credere in Deū one step is to beleeue that God is the second step is to beleeue God that is to giue credit to him that al his words which he hath spoken and the promises which he hath made are true the third step is to beleeue in God which requireth trust in God according to his word and promise being firmely resolued that he will do whatsoeuer he hath said Thus it is required of vs to doe in euery Article of Faith in euery promise of Mercy in euery word of grace offered vnto vs we must by a speciall faith receiue it and apply it Obiection If such a faith be required the question may be asked how Infants can be saued that cannot haue this faith of their owne and therefore it seemeth they must be saued by their Parents faith Answere I answere that the faith of Parents dooth bring the Infants to haue a Title and interrest in the Couenant of grace and in all the benefits of Christ but it cannot apply the merits of Christs death his obedience his righteousnesse vnto the Infant For this the Beleeuer and faithfull Parent doth onely to himselfe and to no other but the merrites and satisfaction of Christ and ingrafting into his bodie are wrought by some speciall and secret working of the Holy-Ghost vnto vs vnknowne but effectuall to the Infant and comfortable to the Parent albeit it be not done by his faith and therefore this that men are iustified by a speciall faith holdeth to be true in men of yeares and discretion not in Infants and children who are iustified and saued by an extraordinary woorking of Gods spirit k Iohn 3 8. Like the wind which bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it commeth and whether it goeth so is euerie man that is borne of the Spirit Obiection Againe sometimes the deare children of God faile in this speciall faith want this particular application they are not able to say God is my God Christ is my Sauiour Answere I aunswere this falleth out indeede sometimes in the tentations of Satan and in the infirmities of the flesh so that they haue not a feeling of Gods mercy toward them but euen then they cease not to beleeue We must liue by faith not by feeling A man may haue life in him though the sicke man in extremity do not know it or feele it so may faith bee in vs in some great tentation albeit we feele it not present Dauid lost and wanted this feeling l Psal 151. when he prayed God to create in him a cleane heart and to renew a right spirit within him But was it vtterly lost No for he sayth Take not away thy Spirit from me In this case it shall be good for vs to remember the former mercies of God toward vs and consider how hee hath dealt with vs and thereby assure our harts that howsoeuer God for a season with-holdeth the
at home Fot it is their Religion that is a broaching of lies and of all liberty to do euill as all men by the light of Nature not blinded with the loue of error might soone espy Behold therefore some kinds of their Catholick Faith taught by their holy Mother the Church They teach the lawfulnesse of deposing Princes and discharging their Subiects of their allegeance and obedience toward them This Doctrine filleth Kingdomes and Countreyes with Treasons and Rebellions and alloweth Traitours and Assassinates and Murtherers of them at the Popes pleasure They doo teach and allowe the worship of Images and bowing downe to Stockes and Stones whereby the people are drawne away from the liuing God to palpable Idolatry as common experience hath declared o Polid. Virg. de inuent rer lib. 6 cap. 13. and some of themselues haue confessed They publish at large the benefit of Pardons which may easily be procured for money which open wide the Flood-gates of al vngodlynesse For who will spare to commit sinne that is able to redeeme it with his purse Yea this emboldned certaine p Chemni exam conc Trident de poenit men to rob the Popes pardoner who before hand had giuen them a pardon to commit the next sinne though it should bee a great sinne They teach touching the Sacrament of the Lordes Supper that a Dogge or Mouse or Swine or any Beast eating a consecrated host eateth the very flesh and bodie of our Sauiour q Treatise of the Sacram. in the conclusion as I haue shewed else-where They maintaine the filthy Dunghill of Stewes and Brothell-houses which giueth allowance vnto open whoredome and vncleannesse yea they say it is good for a r Hard. against the Apology Common-wealth and the Pope tollerateth the Curtezans in Rome and in other places vpon a yearly rent to practise and professe Bawdry Vnto this rablement of their Catholicke conclusions Å¿ See White of the way to the true Church we might adde many others which suffice to discouer what the holinesse of the Romish Religion is and to direct vs to come out of it betimes least partaking with the same sinnes we also partake in the punishments The second reproofe Secondly this coniunction of these two Vertues ouerthroweth the carnall loosenesse of all Libertines such as are Hypocrites and vaine boasters of Faith which thinke it sufficient to speake of Faith and to boast that they beleeue These men doth the Apostle Iames plainly reproue in his Epistle teaching that where there is want of works t 1 Tim. 1 5. there is also want of Faith of a true Faith which is the right Faith Wee must therefore examine our Faith by the fruits and prooue our beleeuing by our working We haue many such in our daies that glorie of their Faith and boast that they are of a right beleefe and yet lay them to the triall and examine their liues what they are and we shall finde them to be lyars against the truth and deceiuing their owne soules Knowe therefore that our faith is as our liues are A good life a good Faith a dead life a dead Faith an vnfruitfull life an ydle Faith And thus much of Faith and Loue ioyned together Now let vs speake of them seuerally as they are described first touching Faith and afterward touching Loue. Faith in Christ The first Vertue which is heere commended to bee in Philemon is Faith which is saide to respect Christ This Faith is a guift of God whereby we apprehend Christ and his benefits beleeuing the remission of our sinnes and our reconciliation with God Marke therefore that the faith heere set forth is saide to be toward Christ and Christ who is the proper obiect of Faith dooth also point vs vnto the Father who willeth and ordaineth our Saluation Redemption Reconciliation and Saluation and to the Holy-Ghost who applyeth and appropriateth to the elect these benefits which are willed by the Father and merrited by Christ Doctrine 7. Christ is the obiect of our Faith So then when the Apostle saith of Philemon that his faith was in Christ hee teacheth that true faith looketh vnto Christ dependeth vpon him trusteth and resteth in him for saluation and not vpon any creature in heauen or earth Our faith must direct vs to Christ to beleeue in him to haue recourse to him and to looke for saluation from him as the Israelites did health from the Brazen serpent This is proued vnto vs by many consents of the word of God The Apostle Iohn in his Gospell a Iohn 1 12. 3 16 17 20 6 29. 3 14 15 and 12 44 46. and 14 12. offereth plentifull Testimonies of the truth as Chap. 1 12. As many as receiued him to them he gaue prerogatiue to be the sonnes of God euen to them that beleeue in his name And Chap. 3. God so loued the world that hee hath giuen his onely begotten Sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life And again Chap. 17. I pray not for these alone but for them also which shall beleeue in me through their word So before in the third Chapter As Moses lift vp the Serpent in the Wildernesse so must the sonne of man be lift vp that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue eternall life Thus he speaketh in another place This is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him whom he hath sent When Phillip saide to the Eunuch If thou beleeuest with all thine heart thou mayst be baptized He answered b Acts 8 37. 16 31. I beleeue that Iesus Christ is that sonne of God So Paule and Silas willed the Keeper of the prison to beleeue in the Lord Iesus Christ and he should he saued And the Apostle Gal. 2. teacheth That a man is not iustified by the Workes of the Lawe c Gal. 2 16. but by the faith of Iesus Christ euen we I say haue beleeued in Iesus Christ that we might be iustified by the Faith of Christ All these places of Scripture plainly instruct vs in this principle of our holy religion that Faith must be in Christ in whom it findeth a sure ground to rest vpon Reason 1. The Reasons are to be marked and considered which confirme this Doctrine First because the worke of saluation is wholly and onely wrought by him and no part thereof is reserued to any creature in whole or in part To be called Iesus is as it were the proper name of Christ who is a perfect and absolute Sauiout beginning continuing and finishing our saluation This is it d Acts 4 12. which Peter preacheth Among men there is no other name giuen vnder heauen whereby we may be saued but by the Name of Iesus And the author to the Hebrews saith that he e Heb. 7 25. is able perfectly to saue them that come vnto God by him seeing he euer liueth to make intercession for them Thus
case of those that are without the preaching of the word they liue in blindnesse darknesse they walke in places of continuall danger and yet cannot see their way they liue without the ordinarie meanes of life and saluation and so without hope to come to repentance without which there can be no saluation This is the estate of Iewes of Turkes and Infidels that are depriued of the comfortable vse of the word and they that liue in corners where the sound thereof is not heard These want the bread of life and therfore must needs starue perish They haue not the words c Iohn 6 68. Rom. 1 16. of eternal life which are the power of God to saluation therfore are neer to destruction For it is the maner of gods dealing d August de bono perseuer to deny vnto men the meanes whereby they should beleeue when hee hath no purpose that they should beleeue he withdrawes from them the instrument whereby they should be conuerted when he doth not purpose and intend their conuersion It was a fearfull cursse when God said to his Apostles e Math. 10 5. Acts 16 6 7. Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into the Citty of the Samaritans enter ye not Likewise when they had gone through Phrygia and the Region of Galatia they were forbidden by the Holy-Ghost to preach the worde in Asia then came they to Mysia and sought to go into Bithynia but the spirit suffered them not So when God vouchsafeth not this mercie vnto vs to wit the Ministry of his word it is a fearefull signe of his heauy indignation and as much in effect as if the Lord should say I will not haue them conuerted I haue no purpose to bring them to saluation This is it which is spoken concerning Israell by the Prophet f 2 Chr. 15 3. Now for a long season Israell hath beene without the true God and without a Priest to teach and without Law And to the same purpose Amos speaketh g Amos 8 11 12 13. Behold the daies come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the Land not a famine for Bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the word of the Lorde and they shall wander from Sea to Sea and from the North euen vnto the East shall they runue too and fro to seeke the word of the Lord and shall not finde it in that day shall the young Virgins and the young men perrish for thirst O that we could consider of these things and lay before our eyes what daunger it is to want the preaching of the word that thereby we might be moued to pitty the desolations of so many of our poore Brethren and to feare the taking of it away for our vnthankfulnesse from our selues and to magnifie the vnspeakeable mercy of God toward vs while we do enioy it Great are the plagues and horrible are the ruines of the Church in many places Oh that we had harts to mourn for it and to pray to the Lord of the haruest to thrust forth Labourers into his haruest Secondly it teacheth the fearfull condition of such as contemne this ordinance of God and thinke it too base for them to seeke saluation by it It is very strange that so plaine a point as this should be so proudly gainsayed and resisted These carnall men will not giue the Lord of heauen leaue to apoint how and by what meanes he will saue vs. Shall flesh and blood presume thus farre and aduance it selfe against his Creator If we will be saued wee must seeke saluation as it is left vs to seeke and not after our owne fansie When God hath saide Giue attendance to my word wilt thou answere I will not attend and yet haue saluation as well as if thou diddest attend Take heede thou do not deceiue thy selfe and thine owne soule and in the end finde thy selfe frustrate of thy saluation How men will shift off these duties I knowe not because I know not their hearts but this I know and this I would haue them know and vnderstand that as there is a God that will bee worshipped after his owne will and not according to our naturall wit so this must bee our wisedome to submit our conceites and immaginations to his heauenlie pleasure It is the first point in Christian Religion to be learned to account thy selfe a Foole that thou mayest bee wise in Christ and to throwe downe all thy Naturall parts at his feete that thou mayest seeke true and Heauenlie Wisedome of him Thou must account thy selfe starke blinde and able to perceiue nothing aright in the matters of God and in the meanes of thy saluation to the end thou mayest recouer sight and see thy way wherein in thou oughtest to walke Hence it is that the Prophet sayth h Psal 119 18 27 34. Open mine eyes that I may see the wonders of thy Lawe Make mee to vnderstand the way of thy Precepts and I will meditate in thy wonderous workes Giue mee vnderstanding and I will keepe thy Law yea I will keepe it with my whole hart Where hee acknowledgeth his eyes to be closed his eares to be stopped his minde to be darkened his heart to be hardned by nature before Grace and Mercie come and make the way plaine before him wherby our eyes shall be opened out eares boared our mindes enlightned our hearts softened and our selues prepared to hearken to the voyce of God speaking vnto vs. Obiection But is not God able to saue vs without the Ministers preaching and the peoples hearing Are not all thinges possible to him Is hee bound and tyed to his owne meanes Is not he free to worke as it pleaseth him Answere I answer he is not tyed he is free hee is able to saue without preaching yea without reading without the Sacraments without Prayer Wilt thou from hence conclude against reading of the Scriptures against receiuing of the Sacraments against ioyning in Prayer The question is not of the power of God but of his will not what he is able to do but what he hath promised vs to do not what he is tyed to but what he hath bound vs to seek He is able to preserue our life without Bread without foode but he that presumeth vpon this power and abuseth his prouidence and neglecteth to seek his nourishment at his hands must look to perish So we deny not but God is able to saue vs without preaching but he hath not made vs any promise to obtain life any otherwise then as we seeke the Law at the mouths of his Ministers that bring glad tydings of good things He was able to preserue his three seruants in the hot fierie furnace and did preserue them yet hee that will voluntarily and violently cast himselfe into the fire shall feele the smart of his own folly and the danger of tempting God Let vs not therfore thinke our selues wiser then God least our
multitude of his compassions Doth he see vs any better by Nature then others whome hee hath reiected and refused No in no wise We are of the same moulde with them and by nature no better then they Let vs not stand vpon the righteousnesse of our owne nature or the deserts of our own works or the goodnesse of our Ancestors but seeke to haue grace in our hearts x Ouid. Metamorph lib. 13. Quae non fecimus ipsi vix ea nostra voco and not to call that our owne which we our selues haue not done The Father shall not be saued by the Childe nor the Childe by the Father y Ezek. 18 25 26 27. but euery man shall confesse the wayes of God to bee equall and giue an account for himselfe Manie godly and faithfull parents haue had children appointed to wrath and reserued to destruction and therefore whether our fore-fathers were beleeuers or vnbeleeuers let not vs looke so much vpon them to glory in them or to rest vpon them or think to be saued by them as enter into our selues and labor to approue our obedience in the sight of God Vse 3. Thirdly seeing that in good houses are found euill persons it putteth all Parents and Maisters in minde of a necessary duty and offereth them comfort in the discharge of their duty Their duty is not to forget or neglect to pray vnto God earnestly constantly and continually for Gods blessing vpon his labours in their family For when wee haue doone our best endeuours and vsed the greatest diligence there remaineth somwhat behinde to be performed for our Children and people euen to wait for the encrease of our labors and the worke of Gods Spirit to season and sanctifie their hearts that belong vnto vs. It is not the outward worke of teaching that can conuert the soule and reforme the life We can but speake vnto the eare it is God that speaketh vnto the heart Hence it is that some beleeue and others blaspheme some are bettered by the word others are made worse by instruction and become desperate and extreamly wicked as the Sun that softneth the wax and hardneth the Clay The Iewes that were fedde by the word z Acts 13 45. and 19 9. were filled with enuie and contemned the ordinance of God offered vnto them and spake euill of the way of God and the meanes of saluation So it was with Pharaoh the more Moses and Aaron spake vnto him so much the more his heart was hardened For the word thorough the corruption of our nature is as an Hammer that hardeneth the Anuile as a fire that consumeth the Stubble and as a Raine that bringeth vppe briars and bushes that are reserued to be burned There is no godly Housholder but if he be diligent to marke the manners and to know the behauiour of the people about him he shall espy not onely many vnreformed in themselues but secret enemies to reformation in others So that it is their parts to entreat God both before and after the meanes vsed to make them effectuall and profitable and to desire him to encline their hearts to practise and obedience We must follow the example of the Husbandman who after the sowing of his seede and Tilling of his ground a Iames 5 7. looketh for the early and the latter raine to come from heauen so must we call vpon God our Heauenly Father to send a gracious raine to moysten their hard hearts and so to soften them as that they may bee fit to receyue instruction This the Prophet Ieremy teacheth b Ier. 31 18. I haue heard Ephraim lamenting thus Thou hast corrected me and I was chastised as an vntamed Calfe conuert thou me and I shall be conuerted for thou art the Lord my God And in another place the Church saith c Lamen 5 21 Turne thou vnto vs O Lord and we shall be turned renew our dayes as of old Whereby we see that we must depend vppon God to poure out his grace vpon them and to beginne in them the work of regeneration Moreouer this serueth to comfort all faithfull Parents and godly Maysters who haue with a good conscience beene carefull to discharge their duties and to reforme their families albeit many remaine obstinate and continue setled in the Dregges of their sinnes It is vnpossible for the d Ier. 13 23. blacke Moore to change his skin and the Leopard his spots it is hard for them to do good that are accustomed to do euill Our labour shall not bee in vaine to our selues albeit it be in vaine to others our worke shall return into our owne bosome albeit it will not enter into the bosome and breast of others This is it which Christ our Sauiour saide to his Disciples whom he sent vnto the lost Sheepe of the house of Israell When e Math. 10 12 13. ye come into an house salute the same and if the house be worthy let your peace come vpon it but if it be not worthy let your peace returne to you Our carefull endeuours shall be rewarded of God albeit they be smally regarded of men they are approued in Heauen albeit reproued reiected in earth When the Prophet Esay bringeth in the Lord Iesus complaining that his preaching tooke none effect among the vnthankfull people of his owne hard-hearted Nation hee comforteth himselfe in this assurance that he knew his labors should not be in vain in the Lord f Esay 49 4. I said I haue laboured in vaine I haue spent my strength in vaine and for nothing but my iudgement is with the Lord and my work with my God So shal it be with euery one of vs that are deuout and diligent in doing our duties and in instructing our families God will not measure our paines by their profit nor reward our diligence according to their negligence g 1 Cor. 3 8. For euery man shall receiue his wages according to his labour This ought to be an encoragement to al men to take pains with their people and to comfort them against al discomforts that arise in their way to slake their diligence to cool their zeal to hinder their paines and to stop the course that happily they haue begun to win their families to a loue of the truth Vse 4. Lastly seeing euill persons are found where good meanes are vsed it teacheth all those that are vnder the gouernment of godly Masters not to blesse themselues as though they were happy because they dwell not in prophane places because they serue not prophane Maisters because they are partakers of instruction which many thousandes want but it belongeth vnto them to labor by all meanes to make the vse of the meanes offered vnto them to bee fruitfull and effectual for their saluation For as when we come into the congregation of the faithfull we ought to bee prepared and fitted to receiue the spirituall food of our soules so in comming to the priuate exercises of
both what may bee learned by it and how it may bee applyed vnto vs. First of all it teatheth that though education bee a notable meanes of reformation and working good in the hearts of those that heare instruction and albeit Parents and Maysters bee thereby discharged as they that haue done their dutie yet bare teaching is not sufficient to conuert the soule and to settle the Conscience in good thinges Noah was as carefull for the instruction of Cham and Canaan as of the rest that were of his house belonged to his charge yet they followed not his Doctrine but scoffed at him that was both Pastor and Parent Dauid a man after Gods owne heart walked in the middest of his house in the vprightnesse of his Conscience yet he had an incestuous Ammon a Rebellious Absolom a licentious Adoniah all of them vngodly and vngracious Children So then although education be a good meanes yet it is not a sufficient meanes to worke reformation He that laboureth in planting and watering is nothing except God giue the blessing of encrease We see this euidently in the publicke assembly as well as in the priuate family in the house of God as well as in the house of man There is a difference of hearers according to their diuers dispositions f Math. 13 13 14. some are deafe hearers that haue not their eares boared through to the heart they haue onely outward eares and regarde no more but outward hearing and are no way mooued with that which is spoken dead-hearted dull-eared dim-sighted heauy-headed Others beside their bodily eares haue the eares of their hearts opened by the word and worke of the Spirit made plyable and tractable to receiue imbrace and beleeue that which they heare So is it in the priuate instruction vsed in priuate Families all that heare with the outwarde eare are not reformed all that are instructed are not conuerted Obiection What then Shall not Fathers teach their Children and Maisters their Seruants and Householders their Families because some haue not beleeued and many remaine as blinde and blockish as they were at the first Answere Yes it is their dutie to bee dilligent in teaching them and in laying the foundation of Christian Religion among them howsoeuer it bee receyued or reiected of such as bee in their houses and belong vnto them Were not he a simple Husbandman that would neglect to sowe his Ground because hee knoweth that some of the Corne will neuer grow vppe to bring foorth fruite but dye in the earth Or were not hee an vnwise Law-giuer that will not haue wholesome Lawes enacted and established because some transgresse them and disobey them and make no account of them Or were not hee a very foolish Father who because hee hath one rude and riotous Sonne that will not reuerence his person nor fulfill his Commaundements nor regarde his Authoritie nor feare his threatninges woulde therefore holde his peace and refraine himselfe from instructing and informing his other Children in the wayes of Godlinesse Or were hee not a badde Gardiner who because some of his Ground bringeth forth Weeds and Nettles would therefore refuse to water the Hearbes that are meete for the vse of man When the Lorde sent his holy Prophets to reprooue the stubborne and stiffe-necked Iewes hee knewe what entertainement them-selues shoulde finde and what effect their Doctrine woulde haue taken yet to make them without excuse they were commanded to go that they might be conuinced of sinne seeing there had beene a Prophet among them The Prophet Ieremy being called of God to preach the word is told afore-hand that they shoulde not obey his word g Ier. 1 19. Ezek. 2 5 7. and 3 7. but fight against him Likewise Ezekiell being sent to the children of Israel is shewed that they would not heare him nor cease from their waies Whereby we see that howsoeuer the people were stiffe-necked and stif-harted howsoeuer their faces were stronger then the Flint and their fore-heads were harder then the Adamant yet God would haue his worde offered vnto them and laid before them He hath mo endes then one of the preaching of his word sometimes he vseth it to soften and sometimes to harden sometimes to saue and sometimes to condemne somtimes to be h 2 Cor. 2 16 the sauor of life vnto life and sometimes to be the sauor of death vnto death So should it be with all godly housholders howsoeuer they haue many that harbour in their houses are entertained within their wals that regard not the fear of God but pull away their shoulders from the sweet yoak of God yet they are not to surcease or wax faint and weary but to continue the instruction of them the powring of water vpon the hard stone proouing if God at anytime will soften their harts and giue them repentance that they may come out of the snares of the Deuil of whom they are holdē captiues We know not at what time God may work in them and call them to a sight of their sinnes and to a turning from their sins They may heare that in the time of their ignorance which they may practise in the time of their knowledge They may hear that Doctrine which though it lye hid and couered as Corn in the earth or as fire in the ashes a long time and seeme buried in perpetuall forgetfulnesse yet it may afterwardes break forth as the light and kindle in their harts as a mightie flame Thus peraduenture it might be with this Onesimus when he was conuerted by the Ministry of the Apostle to the Faith of Christ he might cal to his remembrance many good thinges that hee had heard before but neuer a whit regarded nor respected and now profit by that Doctrine that before he had despised and derided The Disciples of Christ did not by and by receiue nor conceiue of his preaching but when i Iohn 2 22. hee was risen againe they remembered what hee had deliuered vnto them So ought wee to deale toward such as are committed vnto vs let vs plant and water committing and commending the successe and encrease of all our labours vnto God Vse 2 Secondly seeing where there are good meanes are many times godlesse and gracelesse men we learne that to heare to saluation and to receiue willingly instruction is no generall or common grace no man can beleeue sauing hee to whom it is giuen It is the guift of God that must open the vnderstanding and boare through the eare and sanctify the heart before any can heare with a desire to vnderstand or lay it vppe with a purpose to practise and obey Hence it is that the Prophet saith k Esay 50 5. The Lord GOD hath opened mine eare and I was not rebellious neyther turned I backe The Euangelist Luke teacheth that when the Apostles preached the Gospell so many as were appointed to saluation beleeued which was a fruite of their election others mocked which was a
signe of their Reprobation Lydia is commended in that she l Acts 16 4. attended vnto the things which Paule spake but it was the Lord that opened her heart before she could be a faithfull and fruitfull hearer To this purpose Moses speaketh to all Israell m Deut. 29 2 3 4. Ye haue seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the Land of Egypt vnto Pharaoh and vnto al his seruants and vnto all his Land the great tentations which thine eyes haue seene those great Myracles and wonders yet the Lorde hath not giuen you an heart to perceiue and eyes to see and eares to heare vnto this day Nowe as this ouer-throweth such as teach and maintaine an vniuersall Vocation so it must serue to settle vs in the trueth of the Doctrine of particular election and predestination n Rom. 9 15 16 18 13 14 That it is neither in him that willeth nor in him that rundeth but in God that sheweth mercy He sheweth mercie vpon whom he will shew mercie and will haue compassion vpon whom he will haue compassion therefore he hath mercie vpon whom he will and whom he will he hardneth God loued Iacob and hated Esau so that it was saide The elder shall serue the younger The Lord electeth some vnto life and saluation before the foundations of the world he elected some and therefore not all before the beginning of the world and therefore not for their deserts who then had not their beeing vppon the earth Who art thou o Iob 9 4 Rom. 9 20. that wilt dispute with GOD Or what shall it auayle vs to question it and quarrell it with the Almightie May the p Esay 10 15. Rom. 9 21. Clay reason with the Potter or the Axe with the Carpenter or the Sawe with him that draweth it or the Rodde with him that taketh it Or shall the thing formed say vnto him that formed it Why hast thou made mee thus Dare any Seruant pry and search into all the secrets of his Maister Canst thou follow track the way of the Fish in the Waters of the Fowles in the Ayre of a Serpent vppon a stone of a Shippe in the Sea Let vs not aske a reason of his will but rather say with the Apostle q Ro. 11 33 34 O the deepenesse of the Riches both of the wisedome and Knowledge of GOD Howe vnsearchable are his Iudgementes and his wayes past finding out For who hath knowne the minde of the Lorde or who was his Counsellor or who hath giuen vnto him first and he shall be recompenced If God should doo equally well vnto all his Creatures then were hee after a sort so much lesse to be praised and magnifyed of some for his benefites seeing he should do nothing specially and singulerly to them more then to others Neither is there are iniquitie in our God in so doing for may hee not r Math. 20 13 do with his owne what he will May he not lighten what eyes hee will or shoot away what arrowes he is disposed without our certaine knowledge of his secret counsels Obiection But some man may say when an whole assembly haue the same meanes the same Ministery an whole Family the same teaching and instruction How is it that some beleeue others will not beleeue Some are conuerted others are hardned Some are elect others are reiected Answere I aunswere it is not for the Creature curiously to search into the workes of the Creator but to bee wise according to sobrietie and as well a man might demaund why all in the fielde is not pure Corne but some Tares Why all in the Barne is not Wheate but some Chaffe Why Trees beare some leaues and not all Fruite Why in a great house there are Vesselles of Golde and Siluer some to an honourable and others to a dishonourable vse Why there are as well Goats that will not heare as Sheepe that heare the voyce of the Shepheard The Lord Iesus adoreth the Counsell of his Father heerein and confesseth the reason to bee his will and heauenly pleasure and farther then this whosoeuer goeth higher then this whosoeuer ascendeth and deeper then this whosoeuer searcheth shall wander as in a maze and neuer returne shall fall downe headlong into a Gulfe and neuer rise vp againe Our Sauiour saith Å¿ Mat. 11 25 26 I giue thee thankes O Father Lord of Heauen and Earth because thou hast hid these thinges from the Wise and men of vnderstanding and hast opened them vnto Babes It is so O Father because thy good pleasure was such As for the condemnation of the wicked and the execution of the heauy wrath and iust iudgements of God there is more then sufficient due desert in the Reprobate and though the righteous Lord worke therein yet beware thou imagine any euill in him The raine moystneth an euill Tree and therefore it beareth bitter and no better fruite In that it beareth fruite it commeth of the moysture but in that it bringeth foorth euill fruite it commeth of his owne Nature The Sunne by the strength of his heate and vertue of the Beames thereof rayseth out of the Dirt and Dunghill many foule and filthy sauours that infect men and corrupt the Ayre the raising of them vp is from the Sunne the vnwholsome and noysome smelles are from the places themselues The Raine is not properly the cause of the euill fruite but the Nature of the Tree and therefore it woorthily calleth for the Axe to cut it downe and then iustly deserueth to be throwne into the fire The Sunne is not directly the cause of those filthie sauours that are extracted out of stinking Ponds and puddles but the Miery and marish Ditches themselues So is it with God he is as the Raine that falleth and as the Sunne that shyneth from Heauen t Acts 17 28. Hee mooueth the euill man who worketh euill the action is of God the euill is from the free will of man and from the soule spirite of the Deuill God is not the Authour of the euill and therefore let u Iam. 1 13 14 no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with euil neither tempteth he any man but euery man is tempted when he is drawne away by his owne concupiscence and is entised Seeing then the grace of Election of Redemption of Iustification of Vocation of Sanctification is not generall nor generally giuen vnto all but according to the free purpose and pleasure of him that chooseth redeemeth calleth iustifieth and sanctifieth Let vs acknowledge his great mercie to the praise and glorie of his name when hee maketh his owne ordinances auayleable which we see in many to bee vnprofitable let vs confesse his louing kindnesse toward vs when he doth beget vs by the immortall seede of regeneration and worketh effectually our saluation For what haue wee in vs to mooue the Lorde to sauour vs and followe vs with a