god hath giuen vnto vs concernig his grace fauour that we might not onely haue the same generally propounded vnto vs therein as we see it to bee done in the publike ministrie of the worde especially but that by the vse of the same euerie one rigthly vsing them for the taking awaye of doubt and distrust out of his heart might haue sealed vp in him an infallible testimonie of Gods mercie euerie way specially of the forgiuenesse of his sinnes and the sauing of his soule through the obedience of Christ vnto whome and his merits the Sacraments do indeed directly vs and to haue by them as it were by certen aides propps his faith more more vpheld continued And therefore Rom. 4. the Apostle speaking of circumcision saieth that it was the seale of righteousnesse which is by faith And Gal 5. speaking of our holy baptisme he affirmeth that so many of vs as haue beene baptized according to Christs institution and haue had with all the grace of the Sacrament bestowed vpon vs by the effectuall working of the holie spirite of God haue put on Christ Yea the Euangelists and Paule himselfe shewing what Christ did and saide in the administration of his holie Supper obserue amongest other things this that he said take yee eate yee this is my bodie which is giuen for you likewise of the cup drinke yee all of this for this is my blood of the new testament which was shed for you for the forgiuenesse of sinnes What meaneth this particular sumption or taking of the elements in the one or in the other Sacrament but to teach and instruct vs that as verilie as those outward things are become ours we hauing taken them vpon our flesh in our hands conueied them into our stomack and haue had as it were al our senses satisfied therwith that so for our better assurāce we haue by the eye of faith beheld and by the hand of faith laye sure hold of those spirituall graces that God in the Sacraments ment to offer by those outward and visible signes and elements and actions vsed in and about them he ment more and more to confirme our harts But this certaintie and comforte that is aforesaid in sort and sense is contained in the Sacraments this doctrine of doubting that is deliuered in the romish synagogue doth not only weaken it but laboureth if not by violence yet by fraude and subtiltie to pull out of mens minds and consciences For these two things to wit that in the Sacraments of God ordained by god to remooue our doubting and to confirme our faith euerie one of vs haue the promise of God sealed vp in our hearts by the Sacraments and in their lawfull sanctified vse are euerye one of vs vnderpropped and confirmed that we should not doubt but should bee assured of the grace and fauour of God touching the forgiuenesse of our sinnes and eternall saluation and this that the papists teach that we are to doubt concerning the promise of gods grace and fauour pardoning of our sinnes sauing of our soules c. These two things I say are so opposite one of them to another that they cannot stand together nor no more agree then fire and water light and blindnesse c. And therefore also we are to cast away from vs this doctrine or dotage rather 9. As in the articles of our faith we say we beleeue and confesse the forgiuenesse of sinns so is that sweet and comfortable doctrin also commended vnto vs in the holy Scriptures and propounded in many places of the Gospell take one for all namely Luke 44. where it is said that repentance and remission of sins should bee preached in Christs name among all nations But this doctrine of our aduersaries fighteh directly against it for shall we say we beleeue it and yet shall we doubt of it Or mindeth God to haue it propounded as principall part of the gospell and we shall stand in mannering of it specially as in respect of our selues For other mens hearts this way we are not able to sound with our owne we ought to be best acquainted This is to make God to deale worse with the faithfull then earthly princes doe with their rebellious and vndutifull subiects who if they proclaime once a pardon must be beleeued in the word of a prince and God publishing such a doctrine and requiring beleefe of it yea labouring the feeling of it in our hearts must not be credited What is it to beleeue the forgiunes of sinnes namely to be well assured of this that that grace is not onely imputed vnto others but vnto them also and that is the reason also why we say I beleeue and why the spirit telleth vs the iust shall liue by his owne faith For though I may yea ought to be well perswaded as of the whole body of the Church so of euery seueral sounde member thereof that all the graces that God hath promised to all or any of them shal be effectually accomplished because he that cānot lie and is both willing and able to performe whatsoeuer pleaseth him hath promised the same yet can I not particularly feele these graces in others as in mine owne soule because I haue receiued the gift and grace of faith particularly to apply them vnto myselfe and to assure mine owne heart therein And therefore in vaine if our aduersaries doctrine be true hath God both appointed the preaching of it and called for the beleefe of it at our hāds sith to doubt of this maine point is amōgst thē a matter both lawful necessary 10 Lastly there are many places of scripture which exact and demaunde at the hands of the faithfull perseuerance in well doing yea which doe exercise and stirre them vp therevnto To put downe the particular places intreating thereof and demaunding it at our hands would make halfe a volume That we must auoid to the end we must shunne tediousnes and not to shew some were to leaue scruple that we could not performe it or that there were no such places in the Scripture we must therefore of necessitie repeat one or two which I would pray the godly reader might suffice for all How sweet is that saying of Psal 37. ver 24. 25 Though he fal speaking of the righteous and godlie yet shall he not bee cast off And why so the spirite rendreth the reason for the Lord putteth vnder his hand as if he would say men may bee sure it shall so be because God that is greater then all can will establish him And yet there is not all but for our better warrantile and vpholding of our heart he putteth downe his owne particular obseruation and experience not onely in his own person but in others saying in the next verse I haue beene yong and am old yet saw I neuer the righteous forsaken nor his seede begging bread In the 22 of the Gospell after Luke Christ saith thus to Peter Simon Simon Satan hath
bodie vnto the edifying of it selfe in loue And Cor. 2. We are rooted built in him and stablished in faith whereof all the body furnished and knit togeather by ioints and bandes increaseth with the increasing of God Lastly in as these sinnes doe not raign in me or ouer rule by that but that they are mastered and beaten downe by the grace of the spirit plentifully shed abroad in into my heart and powerfully prevailing against my corruption one while whilest it doth in a notable measure subdue iniquitie present in me and another while whilest after sinne committed it raiseth me vp to repeÌ„tance and amendement so that I lie not sleeping and snorting in sinne as the wicked but theese sinnes are through the mightie operation and working of the holy Chost daily by little and little more and more purged in me scoured from me in this life by beginning if I may so say here and by consummation perfection in the life that is to be reuealed 4 And therefore the assault that he maketh against vs is by an argumeÌ„t framed thus Innumerable men and women perish and are condemned as whom Christ and righteousnes doth no whit at all profit but thou art of that number as appeareth by this because thou art no whit better then they that worsest rather therefore thou art damned Hereunto I answer that the truth of this proposition I willingly consent vnto namely that innumerable persons perish and are condemned but yet with this exception that the cause thereof is not in any impotencie or weaknes of Christs death and righteousnes for that is of most large yea of infinite merit as hath bin shewed alreadie but by reason that they themselues doe not beleeue Fos as that is true in the faithfull which our Sauiour vttereth in a most vehement affirmation saying Ioh. 5. Verily verily I saie vnto you he that heareth my word and beleeueth in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death vnto life So that againe must be verified in the vnbeleeuers which he saith els where Ioh. 3.18 He that beleeueth not is coÌ„demned alreadie because he hath not beleeued in the name of the onely begotten sonne of God And for the minor I charge it with two faults first that it is false as when he saith thou art one of that number and very vncerten in the other words or if thou wilt reason of the assertion because thou art no whit better then they but worse rather For first when he saith I am one of them he doth not onely euill as in regard of himselfe taking Gods office vpon him to whom alone as vengeance so all true sound iudgement appertaineth but affirmeth falsly that which he can neuer prooue nay the contrarie whereof I am able to shewe and that not onely by mine owne iudgement which happily might be suspected in mine owne cause and yet speaking the truth I see no reason why I should not as well be beleeued for my selfe as Satan against me but euen from the testimonie and witnes of Gods holy word I know I am faithful and I am confirmed in the truth and certentie of the perswasion because I doe not in an euil or idle opinion but in true and certen faith lay hold of Christ and stay and settle my selfe wholly and onely vpon him This no heatheÌ„ Idolater can doe because he is not only without Christ but without God in the worlde This no Mahometist or Iewe can performe because they denye him and defie him from their heartes This no counterfeited or corrupt christian can accomplish For the false christian as papistes ioyne their workes at the least with him and the carnall professour in the corrupt course of his conuersation denies his power to mortification and sanctification Therefore I separated from all and euerye one of them in strength of perswasion in particular application and the fruites of faith and blessed obedience cannot perish But maye truelye and effectuallye saye that Christ Iesus dwelling in my hearte and making me fruitefull to good workes and I againe beeing thereby in him there is no condemnation to me nor anye such yea I am throughly and certainelye perswaded That neither life nor death heigth nor breadth thinges present nor thinges to come are able to separate me from the loue of God tovvards me vvhich is in Christ Iesus As for the vncertaintie of the coÌ„firmation it is apparant by this that though Sathan knowe vs all to bee tainted in AdaÌ„ yet he knoweth not in whom the power of corruption preuaileth most or more The wicked cannot discerne of them of another no not one of them well of their hearts as we see euen particularly by this that many times they are not only blind but senselesse also and yet a man would thinke that they should be as wel able either to know the heigth and hainousnesse of one anothers corruption or their owne as Sathan should bee acquainted with theirs And if Sathan cannot tell whether I bee worse then they he lesse knoweth whether I bee in anye measure of mercie better then they for by reason of the fulnesse of his owne corruption he can much better discerne of euill then any whit at all of good by reason of his aduersnesse and waye-wardnesse and vnto wardnesse thereto But be it as it may be we will yeeld him the hardest that I am such a one to wit by nature yet am I another man by grace and adoption which varieth the state And though I were in my selfe of my selfe no whit better then others nay I will say more worse then others if god be pleased to account otherwise of me what is that to Sathan sith God will haue mercy vpon whomsoeuer he will haue mercy wil cause me and others to feele and finde that true in our selues that the Apostle saith in the generall doctrine of the word where sin hath abounded there grace hath ouer abounded and freelye confesseth of himselfe that God had mercie on him the chiefe of all sinners And therfore I am so farre of from despâ—ire in my selfe though it be true that in that respect I may couer my face with shame that I may rather greatly comforte my selfe because in this life Gods fauour and good will doth not in any thing so plainely appeare as in the forgiuenesse of my sinns But Sathan will yet againe presse and vrge this further thus The faithfâ—â— verily are not damned but saued by Christ But thou art not faithfull or hast not faith therefore thou canst not be saued by Christ but must notwithstaÌ„ding for the want of thy faith remaine stil vnder condemnation For aunswer whereto I say still notwithstanding all thy oppositioÌ„s Sathan that I haue faith and doe beleeue And if thou wilt aske how I know it or can be assured of it I will shew thee Christ our Sauiour telleth vs that we shall know the tree by the fruite from the effects
these words that thy faith faile not or if you wil this being the end that Christ aimed at in his praiers or the fruit effect that followeth thē in all Christ shewing that is through his most feruent and continual praiers that the whole Church and the particular members of it are so vpheld that they do neuer vtterly nor neuer shall vtterly fal away from the faith which thing spoken here as it should seeme particularly to of Peter and yet notwithstanding in truth vprightnes to be extended to all the faithfull because there is in their measure manner a like cōsideratiō of them in al euery faithfull person is more at large described prooued in the 17. of Iohn Where we may see that Christs praier was frō the beginning is now and shal be to the end of the worlde the very foundation and groundwork of the stability and continuance of the Church of God Another sore assault that after the former yea and indeede at the least wise in outward shew vpon the former Satan maketh against vs or giueth vnto vs is this If thy sinnes harm thee not neither indeed cā hurt thee as thou saiest thou maiest after thou beleeuest once sinne without feare of punishment Thou dealest Sathan like a Sathan now that in a double respect first in the end of thy temptations labouring euery way if it may be to ouerthrow my faith and obedience In the former thou didst assaye to drawe me to despaire In this latter thou labourest to throwe me headlong into securitie So that thou effect my ruine thou carest not by what meane by either of these or by both of them together or by any other God hath discouered this vnto me I hūblie thanke him hoping that he that hath giuen me grace to espie thy subtletie wil also graunt me strength to ouercome it Secōdly herein thou shewest thy selfe an aduersary in that thou doest falsifie peruert my words Where did I say simply that sinne could not hurt or harme This I beleeue in my heart haue and will confesse it vnto the end with my mouth that being ingrafted into Christ my sinnes past or present cannot condemne me no more then they haue done the faithfull which haue gone before me in the flesh and in faith And what haue I saide here but that which the Scripture speaketh euery where The Apostle telleth vs. Rom. 8. in termes that cannot be corrupted with false glosses there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus That againe that the spirit speaketh out of the Prophet Ieremie as a parte and peece of the newe couenant Hebrewes 8. tendeth to the same ende saying I will be mercifull to their vnrighteousnes I will remember their sinnes their iniquities no more That our sinnes offend our most gracious heauenly father that they grieue the holy ghost within vs yea that we by thē not only as it were with cartrops but with gable ropes pul vpon vs though not eternall yet tēporary corporall punishments so indeed do harme hurt vs I neuer denied nor will deny because the truth and certenty of al euery one of these things is propounded vnto vs in the worde of God But in what sense I haue saide thus I haue shewed before and let that suffise As for that that thou woldst haue me to infer thervpon namely that therefore I might liue as I list sinne without controulment it is most false in it self most irreligious before God most vnseasonable in the sight iudgement of men Doth not the Apostle tell vs Rom. 8 that they that are led by the spirit of God are the childēr of God what meneth he thereby any thing els but this that they that are by the grace of God through the worke of regeneration in the power of the spirit and the exercises of the word freed frō sinne do not remaine or continue therein And is not the same that he expresseth in an other place in other tearmes saying our olde man is crucified with Christ that the bodie of sinne might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serue sinne If we knowe any thing in Christ or of Christ we knowe this that so many as are iustified from their sinns by faith in his blood are also by the spirit of Christ sāctified vnto obedience of his wil for these are the two fruits that we haue in by the death and rising againe of our Sauiour from whēce also there followeth this comfort to the faith full that they doe many times in some good measure withstand and ouercome sinne not in others only but in themselues principally And sure we are of these that that sanctification which we haue in and from Christ by obedience of his will can no more be seperated from free iustificatiō from all our vnrighteousnesse through his blood then heat from fire or light and warmeth from the body of the sunne And therefore euen this declareth Satā that thou art a falsifier of all good words and workes But besides I tel thee that sith we may by effects gather arguments to our selus touching the saluation of our soules that therfore thou canst not or shalt not herein shake my faith I take it to be the generall drift of the Apostle 2. Cor. 13. to prooue that by effects we may iudge of our owne and other mens good estates before God Sith therfore God giueth vs that leaue it behoueth vs with all careful indeauour as to vphold these good things in vs so carefully to see whether we can truely finde them in our selues or no or the more in number the more great and excellent in qualitie and the more assured we shall after due examination finde them to be in vs the more assured we may be concerning our owne saluatiō so much the more valiantly oppose our selues against Sathat in this same dangerous combate Whereof also as seemeth to me there is great reason For if our sinnes which are from Sathans malice or our owne corruption do grieue vs possesse our hearts with feare why shall not the fruits of our faith and obedience which are from God yeeld vs comfort fill our hearts with hope not because they are in vs for so we doe many times weaken them at the lest if not impaire or hurt them but as they are in vs from God who we are sure will accept of his owne good workes and graces vouchsafed vnto vs. Lastly I say that as we abstaine not from meate and drinke and other necessarie aides of naturall life because we knowe that the tearme and time of the said life is limited by God so there is no man vnles he be wittingly and wilfully wicked that therefore will giue himselfe ouer to sinne because he is assured of his owne saluation for that were to turne the grace of God into wantonesse to abuse the best grace that euer God gaue vs nay rather a good mā wil therefore the more heedily beware of sinne abstaine frō it because he knoweth that sinne in it own nature grieueth god make the seperatiō between the Lord and vs and cleaue fast vnto righteousnes well doing because our forsaking euill or departing from it as also our accomplishment and performance of good thinges is a pledge of our electiō as the Apostle saith The strong foundation of God remaineth sure hauing this seale set vnto it first the Lord knoweth them that are his and secondly let euery one that calleth vpō the name of the lord Iesus Christ depart from iniquitie And there fore I tell thee Satan I cannot harken to any of thy voices much lesse to this by which thou labourest to thrust me headlong into loose life which wil prouoke god hurt mine owne soule and hinder other men from faith full obedience but detest thee and it wil by gods grace flie from these and all other corruptions whatsoeuer thou wouldst stirre me vnto FINIS