strengthneth me The grace that God giueth all such as feare him according to that the royall Prophet sayeth He shall make them strong Psal 103.5 and lusty like an Eagle This grace is ours in a double respect 1. Of the promise of God in Jeremie J will put my feare in their heartes that they shall neuer depart from mee Luk. 22.32 2. Of the Prayer of Christ J haue prayed for thee that thy sayth should not fuile thee Hetherto maketh this sweete speech of Augustine De corrept et gratia cap. 2. Ipse cos facit in bono perseuerare quj facit bonos He that maketh men good maketh men to continue good and hee alloweth not that loue that may be lost wherfore hee sayeth Charitas quae deserj potest nunquam vera fuit That Charitie that may be casseered is but counterfaite 4 An other Obiection is from the examples of such as haue departed from the Fayth Ephes 1.4 1. Thes 1.4 1. Pet. 1.1 as the Ephesians Thessalonians and dispearsed Iewes styled in holy Writinges The elect and chosen whereas many of them did afterward forsake their first Loue and gaue vp their Fayth as it were in the plaine field Heereto we answere that there are two sortes of Iudgementes touching mans estate this way 1. The one is called Iudicium Certuudinis the Iudgement of Certaintie by which an vndoubted doome may be deliuered of any mans Election But that is Gods royaltie peculiar to himselfe sette downe in his sacred and secret booke of counsailes man is not to meddle with it no further then God hath reuealed to one man an othermans estate 2. The other is termed Judicium Charitatis The Iudgement of Charitie whereby wee proceede by the Lawe of Loue esteeming of such as liue in the Church and outwardly beare loue to the word of truth to be in the Calender of the Chosen vntill wee haue a better Schoolemaister then Nature to informe vs the contrarie Now in respect these Ephesians Thessalonians and Iewes did beare these outward markes the Apostle maketh the best construction of their doinges as Charitie would haue him 2. Againe they may be deemed to be thus denominated a maiorj parte of the greatest part according to the common course of speach wherby we call it an Heape of Corne which standeth most vpon the Corne though much confounded with colder and with chaffe 5 An other Obiection Reuel 3.11 is this admonition Saint John giueth Hold that which thou hast that no man take thy Crowne whereby is meant as some would haue it The Crowne of heauenly glory Whereto they inferre this Prouiso of the Apostle 1. Cor. 10.12 Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed least he fall We answere that the Crowne there mentioned is the Crowne of the Ministrie which without losse to our election may be lost and can not be rightly taken for the Crowne of heauenly glorie And what if it could we should graunt so much there would be nothing gotten by it For it is to be conceiued that one of these two wayes it is to be lost 1. Either in respect of our selues 2. Or of God 1. In respect of our selues wee easily yeelde it that wee may soone loose this Crowne from our heads For we are fickle and feeble nothing else but a compound of corruption Now Death and not the Diademe of Glorie is the debt that is due to Sinne. 2. But in respect of God who hath chosen vs and of Christ in whom wee are chosen this Crowne can neuer be taken away from vs in asmuch as the giftes and vocation of God Rom. 11.29 are without reuersion Wherefore in both these respectes wee haue warning in the Scriptures to looke to our standing and to tread sure least wee fall And are taught herewithall that the Elect stand sure in the Sanctuarie of the Lord they are vnder the safe protection of Christ and so can not perish 6 The last Obiection I will deale with is from such places of Scripture as speake of Blotting out of the Booke of life As that peece of Imprecation of Dauids against his Enimies Psal 69.29 Let them be wiped out of the Booke of the Liuing and not be written among the Righteous As that asseueration of the Spirit in the Apocalips Reuel 3.5 He that ouercommeth I will not put out his name out of the Booke of Life Exod. 32.32 Rom. 9.3 As those passionate wishes of Moses Paul to be put out of the writinges of the house of Israel for the saluation of the people of God committed to their charge All which places conclude nothing lesse then that they make shew of at the first sight being not throughly vnderstood Dauids enemies had neuer any name in Gods booke but only in the courtious opinion of the Church And therefore it can not properly be sayd of them that they were spunged out But in Scripture phrase they are taken so to be when their hypocrisie is discouered and they are manifested what they are So Augustine expoundeth those wordes of the Psalme Let them be wiped out of the Booke of the Liuing that is Scriptjnon esse cognoscantur tam ab ipsis quam ab alijs Let it appeare both to themselues and others that they are not written downe They seeme to be written sayth the same Father Secundum praesentem Iustitiam et temporariam fidem as they carry credite in the World for their good carriage of themselues in their outward actions and for their temporarie profession Concerning Moses his wish some thereby would meane the Booke of this present life as if Moses should desire to dye for his People As if he should haue saide Eyther saue them or slay mee But this meaning is too light to suite with the grauitie of this his petition For many Captaines and Valiaunts haue been founde that haue been prodigall of their owne for the safeguard of their Souldiers liues And it is the commaundement the Godly stande charged with to giue their liues for their Brethren Wherein Moses had had his matches euen among the Heathens such as were Philenj that were brethren Decius Curtius Theseus and such like that made no spare of the effusion of their blood for the benefite of their Countrie Wherefore some giue these wordes to the Booke of the Couenant as if he should haue sayd Blot my Name out of thy Church-booke and let it no more be in the number of those to whom thou hast made thy Promises of eternall life Not that Moses desired directly to be damned for the peoples deliueraunce but onely to be excommunicate from the Church that is heere on earth which is somewhat more then to die But some of better iudgement then the the former are of the minde that Moses looked higher then so namely to the Booke of eternall life as if he should thus say Rather then thy whole people should perish let my name no more stand in thy Predestinatiō-booke
THE FOVNDATION of the Faythfull In a Sermon deliuered at Paules Crosse the 17. of Ianuarie 1610. By SAMVEL GARDINER Doctor of Diuinitie 2. Tim. 2.19 The Foundation of the Lord remayneth sure and hath this seale The Lord knoweth who are his And let euery one that calleth vpon the Name of the Lord depart from Iniquitie Imprinted at London by W.W. for T. Manne 1611. The Foundation of the Faythfull 2. Tim. 2.19 The foundation of the Lord remayneth sure and hath this seale The Lord knoweth who are his And let euery one that calleth vpon the Name of the Lord depart from Iniquitie THE estate of Mans life chiefely of the Christians holdeth comparison thorowout with the Seafaring condition So the writer to the Hebrewes insinuateth our Fayth Heb. 6.19 which is the hand that holdeth vp our head while we are floating ouer the Sea of this world being sirnamed by him The Ancre of the Soule The World is this ebbing and flowing Sea in the successiue surges thereof very much vnquiet Mankind while we heere liue are the Saylers on this Sea by sirtes by sandes by diuers dreadfull dangers The Key-side or Shore from whence we launch into the Maine is our Birth into this world The Port and Landing place to which we driue is the Land of the liuing the life that is to come The whole Time spent from our Birth to our Death is our Seafaring season Our Shipmaister is our Sauiour who by his Word and Spirit saueth the Church which is his Shippe from perill of drowning leading it safely to the Hauen of happinesse Now heere the Apostle would haue vs edific our selues is this holy Fayth and to build vpon this as on a sure foundation that howsoeuer wee finde our selues throwne as it were into the midst of this Sea and that all the contrary Waues and Windes bende and bande themselues against vs corporally by crosses spiritually by our sinnes by the feind and the flesh inflicted vpon vs that we cannot miscarrie But that we shall arriue happily at the Hauen of Heauen aswell in respect of the Decree of God eternall inuariable as in regard of Christ the Maister of the cordage and tackle whom Windes and Waues are forced to obey as the Seruant his Maister The summe and issue of these words is this That the state of our saluation is sure as seated vpon the decree of God a foundation which is sure For our securitie a double Seale is sette 1. One in respect of God with this Image superscriptiō vpon it The Lord knoweth who are his 2. The other touching our selues with this writing in the Ring Circle of it Leteuery one that calleth vpō the name of Christ depart c. The Foundation of the Lord remaineth sure This Metophor set vpon the Forehead of the Text is to haue application vnto the eternall counsaile of God touching our election not by any opposite machination lyable to frustration For it is of the nature of the foundation of an House whose vppermost structure and composition may be shaken but the foundation standeth sure Foundations of ordinary sort and condition layde by Mens hands remaine sure a long season Most sure therefore must that Foundation bee whose builder and maker is God Now such is the foundation of our Election it is vpon the holy Hilles vpon the Hill of Sion which is Gods hill which cannot be remooued but standeth fast for euer Ephes 2.20 Wee are built vpon the Foundation of the Prophets Apostles Jesus Christ himselfe being the chiefe Corner-stone Jn whom all the building coupled together groweth vnto an holy Temple vnto the Lord. The Schoole of Rome would teach vs otherwise Namely That God his predestination is chaungeable and that hee that is predestinated is contingently or casually predestinated that is by hap-hazard or chaunce-medly as we may so say A Proposition naturally begetting very strange conclusions as That hee that is ordained vnto life may be damned And that hee that is determined to Damnation may be saued Which is nothing else but of a sure to make an vnsure Foundation to turne it vpside downe But wee haue not so learned Christ but beleeue as hee hath taught vs by the mouth of his Prophets euer since the World beganne that hee whose name is once noted in Gods Booke and set downe in the writinges of the house of Jsrael is written downe neuer to be wiped out and is seated vpon an euer enduring Foundation This is the reason of this illation of our Sauiour Math. 24.24 If it were possible the very Elect should bee deceiued This If excluding all meanes of possibilitie of preiudicing the setled estate of the Elect. But the cause of this impossible matter of the seducement of the Elect Totally and Finally layeth in the course that God hath taken for them of their continuance in the faith for which cause else where hee saieth Math. 25.34 That a Kingdome is prepared for vs from the beginning of the World that wee might ascertaine our selues that when the time commeth wee shall be absolute owners and possessors of that Kingdome Hence is it that hee would haue vs shake off the feare that misfashioned Fancie feedeth on Luke 12.32 Feare not little Flocke for it is your Fathers pleasure to giue you the Kingdome Wherefore it is that we heare of this ioy and gladnesse that the boanes which our sinnes haue broken may reioyce Reioyce Luke 10.20 because your Names are written in heauen Wherefore doth he tell vs that our Names are written downe by the Finger of Gods hand in Magna Charta in the great Doomesday booke of heauen truely to make vs throughly perswaded that wee shall one day come to Heauen But this a luculent instance for the nonce this solemne and serious asseueration of our Sauiour Ioh. 6.37 All that the Father giueth mee that is by decree of Predestination in his minde shall come to mee that is by the steppes and feete of Fayth and him that commeth to me I cast not away They come to Christ who are giuen by Predestination by the Father vnto Christ which is the cause they cannot become castawayes Also of his Sheepe that is to meane of his Elect our Lord Iesus speaketh thus Ioh. 10.28 I giue vnto them eternall life they shall neuer perish neither shall any plucke them out of mine handes The reason thereof followeth My Father which gaue them mee is greater then all But he gaue them by predestinating them For then are all the Elect giuen vnto Christ to be gouerned and preserued when God hath chosen vs in Christ as in the head to whom it necessarily belongeth to saue the ioyntes of his body Sutable hereto is this his other saying Those that thou gauest me Ioh. 17.12 haue I kept and none of them is lost but the child of perdition Where hee teacheth that the Elect were truely giuen him of his Father so that none of the
in the number of those whom thou hast put apart to eternall life And because this Exposition seemeth to breed and to bring some absurdities with it as that so great a man should make a motion of a thing impossible his Predestination in the certificate of his owne knowledge beeing not to be altered as also that hee should desire that which is vnlawfull to be raced out of the Register of the Righteous which is to change copie and to turne enemie vnto God they put in this surioynder that the Prophet rauished in zeale of affections to the glory of God and the good of the people was somewhat beside himselfe and spake he knew not what So likewise they consider of Saint Paules vow to be sundred from Christ for his Brethren his Kinsmen according to the flesh And it is incident as wee know to these passionate affections as heeding only that vpon which their minde is bent not to heed themselues This is the verdite of very great men whose authoritie wee are iustly to reuerence But to vnbowell our thoughts in the case howsoeuer we may yeeld them what they say concerning Moses inasmuch as his parley with God was extemporall and familiar and wee may note him of some rashnesse That wee should marke out Saint Paul for such a man and make him of this humour is more I am perswaded then that place will suffer For Paul wrote it and not worded it his hand ledde the Penne the Spirit led his heart as his solemne preamble into that matter witnesseth Rom. 9.1 in this forme of contestation I say the truth in Christ and lye not my conscience bearing me witnesse in the Holy-ghost This patheticall prouocation and appellation of the Apostle is argument of perswasion sufficient vnto vs that mature deliberation and not precipitate affection wrought this resolution And in that the Spirit suggested it it cannot be excepted against Againe we distinguish of the nature and manner of his vow as there is a separation from the loue of Christ And as there is a priuation of the fruites of his loue That Paul did wish the first to bid Christ adiew and to be execrable for his Breathren it is not nay ought not to be supposed For that flatly crosseth the conclusion of the Chapter before touching his inseparable societie with Christ and it checketh the principall cause of the very Vow it selfe which was not so much his loue to his Brethren as his loue to Christ whose glorie hee thought in the repudiation of the people should not be litle hazarded as to whom appertained the Adoption and the Glorie the Couenant and the Law the Worship of God and Promises and of whom came Christ according to the flesh For hee saw what the World would gather vpon it if God should roote out the Israelitas and plant the Nations namely that either God stood not to his Promise or that Jesus was not that Messiah promised This was that which pricked Paul in the quickest Vaine and stabbed him at the Heart Yet did his inwarde Bowels bleede in affections to his Brethren condoleing their destruction But Christ and his glory put them to the vttermost straint that might be Wherefore while hee is in this Feruour of loue and his affections are thus flagrant towardes Christ it is not without reason to thinke that in compunction to his kinne hee could wish to be cut off from the communion of Christ But wee take it that wee are in the right in expounding his Wish of the fruites of Christes loue as the felicitie of the faythfull in the life eternall of which he would be depriued and determined to damnation rather then his eyes should behold the expunction of his people out of the Couenant of Grace to the great obloquie reproach of Gods name and of his sonne Christ Iesus And this fitteth well the spirit of that loue that he beareth towards Christ And this is the Glosse of Chrisostome on this text Neyther doubt we at all but that the same Spirit was with Moses his tongue which was with Pauls Pen that the one spake the other wrote with aduisement enough the same cause the extent of their loue to the glorie of God and the indemnitie of their People working these affectionate wishes in them Wherefore both these obiections of examples receiue the same answere As if Moses should haue saide in this maner O be gratious vnto thy People not only for their owne saluation sake but for the glorie of thy name or if thine hand must needs take hold on Iudgement let their blood be vpon my head and let mee goe downe vnto the damned Neither doth this imprecation of his strike at all at the Foundation of Gods vnchaungeable decree of election the same implying in it a tacite condition if it were possible But hee knew it that it was absolutely impossible As Christ when he did deprecate the remooueall of the Cuppe which he knew before could not be remooued Father if it be possible let this Cuppe passe from mee The short sūme therefore of Moses his suite is this Rather blotte mee if it may bee out of thy Booke of life then that thy People should be destroyed and thy name blasphemed all which maketh nothing to the purpose to prooue that those that are penned downe in that Booke may be afterward put out And thus much shall suffice for the forepart of this Text. It followeth And hath this Seale The Lord knoweth who are his By an other fitte Metaphor hee concludeth the certaine saluation of the elect alluding to the auntient custome of men setting their Signets and sealing Rings to that which they minde to ratifie God signed the promises of temporall deliueraunces made vnto his people with his gracious seale A Seale was set vpon Noah and his Family that the Deluge should not drowne them Sodome was not sentenced to combustion before Loth and his Family were marked out to an happie preseruation In the inflicted punishment vpon the first borne of Egipt the aspersion of the Blood of the Lambe vpon the Lintels and Dore-postes of the houses of the Jsraelites was the Lords Broad seale and Charter of their immunitie from the common slaughter Whereas sixe Angels in Ezechiel were dispached by God against Ierusalem for their destruction Ezech. 9. An other Angell apparelled in white with an Incke-horne at his Girdle was Legatus a Latere sent on this Legatiue errant to saue such as should be sealed with the letter Tau vpō their fore-heads as theire pasport and protection Much more is our spirituall deliuerance assured vs by signes and seales of it There is no man elected vnto eternall life but shal be sealed at the time appointed And this is that sealing which is so often mentioned in the Scriptures as where in the Reuelation it is sayd Apo. 7.4.8 that a number without number was sealed vnto the Lord. For like as the Father hath sealed Iesus Christ as he was Man