commit a voluntary sinne This feare of God and losse of his loue should serue as a strong curbe to retaine vs from sinne whensoever either by the corruption of our nature or allurements of the Devill we are tempted therevnto When Ioseph was by his wanton mistresse tempted to adultery it was not the feare of temporall punishments the losse of his service or the discovery of the fact that kept him from yeelding to hir vnlawfull desire but the feare of offending God How can I doe this so great wickednesse sin against God Gen. 39. 9. But now sin hath clambred vp to that heigth of impiety that neither the feare of God whose wrath is a cōsuming fire nor the terrour of punishment can restraine many from the frequent practise scarce from the open profession of sin There was a time when Tamar was vayled and covered hir face but now she boldly walks vnmaskt in the broad eye of the multitude enters the presence of the best walkes through the midst of the citie and makes publike profession of her lust quod solet esse publicum incipit esse licitum that which is done commonly by many will ere long bee thought lawfull to be done by any There was a time when those that were drunken were drunken in the night but now it is become a daie worke or rather a dayly worke and so obvious that a man can hardly balke it in the street There was a time when an eye required an eye and bloud would call for bloud againe but now murder is become the badge of manhood and sinne is made a mockery As Abner called fighting but a play or sport 2. Sam. 2. which indeed procured a bloody battaile for every man kild his fellow so Monomachies are now become but recreations and the least but suspicion of disgrace is a iust cause of a single combate But this is madnesse not manlinesse this kinde of courage is in the head not in the heart it is not hardy valour but a soft and moist enthusiasme of Bacchus qui ad praelia trudit inermes And therefore men should as well consider of the beginning as feare the end of such contentions But such men the feare of God in my Text cannot retaine the goodnesse of God cannot allure nothing but his Iudgements terrours can prevaile with thē Let the first call to minde the fearefull end of Zimbri and Cozbi in the very act of Incontinency that God sent fire and brimstone even Hell from Heaven to cōsume the people for their vncleannesse that most times then punishment in this life is shame and penury and in the other perpetuall torments and extreamest misery Momentaneum est quod delectat aeternum quod cruciat an Oceā of torture for a drop of pleasure Let the other knowe that though the wine be red goeth downe pleasantly yet in the ende it will bite like a Serpent and hurt like a Cockatrice and wine in the conveyance is most like the poyson of Serpents whose teeth are hollow saith Pliny like pipes that with more secret speed they may convey their poyson Last of all let the other knowe that Clamitat in coelum vox sanguinis the voice of bloud is loud it pearceth the clouds it knocks at heaven gates and enters into the eares of the Lord of Hosts And so I goe on And worketh righteousnesse It is the note of Calvine vpon my Text who by the feare of God vnderstandeth the observation of al the Commandements of the first Table and by working of righteousnesse all the Commandements of the second Table by the one we are iust and righteous before God by the other before men the one is necessary but not sufficient the other is acceptable but not perfect Which exposition of his will serue to strike off all the hold-fast of the Divines of Rome from this place who hence inferre the Merit of Workes and the favour they procure vs with God for if by working of righteousnes be vnderstood only the observation of the Commādements of the second Table then doubtlesse are they not sufficiently able to make vs acceptable with God Yet Bellarmine fals vpon this Text of Scripture hence infers an ability in man to make himselfe acceptable with God I am in the Pulpit not in the Schoole and therefore will not trouble you with the Subtilties of the Question which as well in this as other cases are oft times made too common to the multitude The property of Faith is to receaue and apprehende the nature of Charity is to diffuse impart to others Faith alone is the Iustifying instrument whereby wee apprehend and apply Christ's merits vnto vs but we cānot make any discovery or manifestation thereof vnto others except there bee ioyned to our Faith the Workes of righteousnesse So the inward worke of Iustification we ascribe to Faith onely but the righteousnesse of Sanctification we ascribe vnto good Workes which are by Iesus Christ to the glory and praise of God For the more cleere vnderstanding whereof we must obserue that our Workes are of two sorts either Intrinsecall and infus'd as Faith Hope c. or Extrinsecall and acquisite such are Almes-deeds Workes of Charity Our intrinsecall Workes they are as it were the Principall and our Extrinsecall or outward workes they are the Interest which God expects as due vnto him as may well appeare by the Parable of the Servants in the Gospell to whom the Talents were concredited Now we shal be rewarded by God not according to our intrinsecall Habits but extrinsecall Workes not because we had a strong faith or great hope but for releeving the poore visiting the sicke and performance of other workes of that quality and nature But the Church of Rome proceedeth further and doth not only make them the rule according to which but the cause for which we are iustified They make them Merita we Debita they the Cause of our salvation and à Priori we the Consequent and à Posteriori as fruit makes not the tree to be good but only shewes it to be so Non praecedunt iustificandum sed sequuntur iustificatū they are the Signes of our Sanctification not the Causes of our Iustification For Faith doth not spring out of Charity as Bellarmine falsely averres but true Charity is the ofspring of Faith wherevpon it is by S t Paule tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ground of things hoped for and the foundation on which all other Theologicall vertues are erected Credendo fundamur sperando erigimur diligendo perficimur By Faith saith Austin we are ingrafted by Hope we are improved by Charity we are made perfect God working in vs and with vs. For our righteousnesse is rather passiue then actiue Iustitia nostra non est in nobis sed extra nos saith Doctor Luther Yet although our Workes are not the cause of our iustification yet are they the perfection of our faith and a demonstratiue assurance that we
to be without reason were indigne blasphemy It is not the prescience of faith or prevision of workes that can moue the will of God to choose one and refuse the other because they are not saith Aquinas part 1. q. 23. a. 4. the cause but the effects of Gods loue Praedestinatio est gratiae praeparatio gratia verò praedestinationis effectus Aug. c. 10. de praedestinatione sanctorū Predestinatiō is the harbinger of grace and grace the effect of Gods loue He first created all things and then saw they were good the foresight of their goodnesse was no inducement to the worke of their creation but his creation gaue them this eloge Quaecunque fecit erant valdè bona God chooseth none because they are good but men are good because they are chosen Gratia Dei non invenit eligēdos sed facit Therefore S t Paul saith Austin compared together the sonnes of Isaac twins vno etiam concubitu fusos in vtero both yet vnborne neither of them hauing done well or ill Quod referendum est saith the same Father non ad dispensatoris iniustitiam sed ad donantis misericordiam which wee must not impute to Gods Iniustice or partialitie but to his good will and pleasure which must be the last resolution of our inquiries and whatsoever the event is we must still say as our Saviour did Mat. 11. 25. Naepater quia sic placuit tibi Even so father for it seemed good in thy sight Could the master of the vineyard say Annon possum facere de meo quod volo Is it not lawfull for me to doe with my owne what I will And shall wee deny to God the supreme cause of all things the free disposition of any thing after his pleasure Whose will is not only iust and full of equitie but as S t Basil calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very oracle and rule of iustice who doth make things iust and right because he wils them There is no man reiected by God without iust cause and demerit nor any saved but by his mercy free pleasure Now if it be asked why God should thus be an accepter of persōs affoord this mercy to some and not to all we must with a religious ignorance cōtent our selues and stand amazed at the secret and inexplicable greatnesse of God and satisfie our selues with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was his pleasure so to dispose of his kingdome This is the Nonvltrà beyond which wee must not wade but hither being come wee must make a stand and with the blessed Apostle cry out O altitudo divitiarum O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God! how vnsearchable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out Rom. 11. 33. But here we may not be so injurious to the Deitie as to conceaue God in his Decrees to be tyrannicall as to say Sic volo sic iubeo stat pro ratione voluntas or that the will of God is moued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without reason for although neither beautie of face feature of body honourable descent wisdome and the endowments of the mind or any thing else without God cā moue his will to Election or make him to accept of one person before another yet is there never wanting a most iust cause and sufficient reason of his purposes and Decrees For although God worketh all things according to his will and pleasure yet whatsoever he doth he doth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with counsell and wise resolution Eph. 1. 11. God doth order all things sweetly and profitably Sap. 8. 1. Omnia fecisti in sapientiâ Domine In wisdome hast thou done all thy workes ô God Ps 104. 24. And shall wee thinke that this wise-creating God who made all things for his glory should without some proper reason determine of any thing which hee hath made The doctrine therefore of S t Peter in my Text remaines still true as firme as heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is no accepter of persons because when hee determineth any thing hee hath a sufficient reason besides his VVill and Pleasure to doe what he doth Which reason saith the divine Author of the Ecclesiastical Policie because we are not worthy or able to apprehend we must humbly meckely adore This secret and vnknown reason of Gods purposes is like himselfe Eternall before the foundations of the world were layd and hath so effectually moved his VVill that now it can admit of no change or variation That which God hath decreed must still bee like God without change who can as well deny himselfe to be God as not performe what hee hath defined Whom he loues he loues vnto the end to whom he giues the earnest of his spirit they haue a continual feeling in some measure more or lesse of his gracious presence For the loue of God it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 variable like the gifts of temporall men which may bee granted to day and reversed to morrow with a Non obstante priore concessione but the loue of God and the gifts of his holy Spirit they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and stand for ever without change Rom. 11. 29. He is Triumphator Israëlis the glory and strength of Israel and will neither lie nor repent nor yet can hee in the meane time be tearmed injurious to any or an accepter of persons as Pelagius prophanely somtime did object because God in giuing his grace to some and denying it to others doth not proceed sairh Alex-Hales iuxta dignitatem humanam sed secundùm dignationem divinam it is a donation of bounty not a dotation according to the rules of Iustice As God is in heaven so should Gods Vicegerents bee in earth as they sit in his chaire so should they walke in his paths of Iustice They should without respect of persons as well heare the cause of poore Bartimaeus as rich Zachaeus as well the small as the great Deut. 1. 17. Their eies must alwaies be shut that they be not drawn by favour their eares alwaies open that they may heare both parties indifferently their hands must be fast clinched vp least otherwise they be corrupted with bribes quae excoecant prudentes subvertunt verba iustorum which blind the wise and subvert the words of the righteous Exod. 23. 8. It was a provident law enacted in the time of Rich. 2. and afterwardes revived in the daies of the last Henry and woulde God till this day it had still beene continued without violation that no Iustice of Assize should ride his Circuit in that country where either he was borne or did liue that being vnknowne to all they might accept of the persons of none but be indifferent vnto al that so they might the more freely administer justice and the more liuely represent him whose deputy Lieutenants they are in being merciful as he is mercifull holy as he is holie no respecters of persons because with
neere There is no man liuing but is assured that once hee must pay the tribute due vnto nature Death but because most men put death è longinquo farre from them and the eldest maÌ„ that is doth thinke hee may liue yet yet a day longer there is nothing in time of health lesse thought on theÌ„ sicknesse and throughout the whole course of our life lesse feared then death But when we apprehend a thing nociue as nociue a danger as a danger ready at hand for to assault vs then doth our dastard bloud retire to the fountaine of heate and what we cannot forcibly withstand that we seeke warily to decline Which eschewing of evill being a thing naturall and ingrafted in the heart of every man as he is a man is in it selfe neither good nor bad but good or bad according to the cause for which or the measure by which it is entertained Now because in diverse Texts of Scripture we read this passion of Feare commended and enioyned and else where forbidden and reprooued to reconcile this seeming opposition we must knowe that on the one side is commended a godly and religious feare on the other is reproued a diffident and perplexed feare the one is a remedie against desperation the other against presumption the one against diffidencie the other against securitie the one reprooues an anxious torturing feare which is without hope the other commends a cautelous and sollicitous feare in every man that stands to take heed lest he fall And if here any Auditour should demand how God can be feared being not only good but essentially Goodnesse it selfe and that nothing can bee feared but that which is evill or apprehended so to be I answere with Aquinas 2 a. 2. q. 19. a. 1. that as hope hath it's double obiect the one the good we pursue in expectation and the other the auxiliarie helpe by which wee hope to obtaine this good so feare hath it's double obiect the one is the evill which it eschewes and dreads the other is something from which this evill may proceed Now although God everlasting and blest for ever cannot in the first sense be said to bee feared or to be the obiect of feare yet in the second he may For although he be goodnesse it selfe yet something may be feared to proceed from him which is evill evill not in it's owne nature but evil in respect of him that feares which is indeed malum poenae not culpae an evill of punishment not of offence And for our direction in this point giue me leaue to note vnto you out of Aquinas a fourefold feare A Naturall a Worldly a Servile and a Filiall feare A naturall feare is nothing else but a provideÌ„t shunning of those dangers and mischeefes with which wee are not able to encounter Which passion is entayled to all the sonnes of Adam and made hereditary nor from it was our Saviour himselfe freed but as hee was a man he feared and therefore prayed and that often Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me The second is a worldly feare when for the safety of things temporall we sticke not to admit of things excluding from eternall when we more feare them that can kill the body only then him that can cast both body and soule into eternall fire when we startle at the least bluster of persecution when wee contract our selues at the touch of a pins point being ready at the least assault to leaue Christ for the loue of the world The servile feare is a slavish dread of the iudgements of God and his punishments for sinne when not for the loue of heaven but for feare of hell we retaine our selues within the circle of Gods Commandements The last best feare is a filial chast loving feare when we feare to commit sinne because it is sinne doe embrace vertue as it is vertue cùm non delectaret iniquitas quamvis proponeretur impunitas saith Ambrose Which feare is proper to Christs flocke which who so hath is accepted with God and may bee assured to liue for ever S t Austin in his 120. Epist ad Honoratum doth truely expresse and liuely effigiate the nature and difference of these two feares by the example of the two maried women th' one an adulteresse the other a chaste matrone These both feare their husbands but after a different manner The one feares the presence of her husband least comming home hee take her tardè the other feares the absence of her husband lest by his departure shee be deprived of his much desired company The one feares to commit adultery least her husband catch her her minde neverthelesse is adulterous quod deest operi inest voluntati saith Austin what shee wants in deed shee perfourmes in desire th' other feares her husband but t' is chastly lovingly nothing but his displeasure or absence Nam amanti etiam absentia molesta est So the wicked feare God with a base servile feare they feare him as a Iudge the godly as a Father The servile feare makes men to avoide sinne quia nocivum the filiall quia prohibitum onely because it is forbidden saith Almaine in his Morals He who hath a chast filtall feare doth not only avoide the act of sinne but a desire to commit the act but the servile feare restraines men only ab actu executorio saith Aquinas and leaues behinde velle complacentiae a desire to sinne In a word the servile feare doth tie vs vnto God with clampers of yron and fetters of brasse the filiall with bracelets of needle worke and chaines of gold by the one we receiue the spirit of adoption and cry Abba father by the other the spirit of boÌ„dage againe vnto feare The servile feare saith Hales part 3. q. 06. respicit poenam aeternam vt destructivam subiecti the filâ—al tanquam separativam et privativam à Deo By the one we feare the Iudgements of God and the paines of heâ—â— by the other the losse of his grace the ioies of heaven The one is not Timor but Terror a passion mixt of horror and dismay the other sweetly composed of loue and an awfull regard The one is timor poenae th' other culpae the one the feare of the punishment the other of the offence th' one is the badge and brand of the reprobate the other the proper and inseparable character of the elect insomuch that Iacob the religious Father of the Patriarcks did cal God nothing else but the feare of his father Isaac Gen. 31. 42. This feare of God should binde vs hand and foote from sinne make vs thinke of that heavenly Vow of S t Anselmes Si hinc peccatum illinc infernum viderem ac vni eorum necessariò immergi deberem priùs me in infernum immergerem quà m peccatum coÌ„mitterem If sinne saith he were on th' one side and hell on the other I had rather plunge my soule into the depth of hell then
peradventure Homini otioso to one that would spend all Eccles 2. 19. And let it not be your sole care to leaue All to your riotous Executors who peradventure in few yeares will consume that estate which with much care in many yeeres you haue gathered together You must purchase something Alteri seculo for the world to come you must make your eyes in this life the overseers of some good workes you must imitate Iacob who to pacifie his brother Esau sent a Present before Gen. 32. 20. and before Cornelius could haue Peter sent vnto him hee sent his Almes deeds to vsher him vp the way into heaven And therefore it is not said in my Text he who hath or hereafter will worke righteousnes but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee that actually doth worke righteousnesse That new convert Zacheus did not say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the halfe of my goods I wil giue vnto the poore whē I am dead but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I now presently giue Such as defer the performance of the workes of righteousnes till the end of their daies are like those that cary cādles in Lanthornes behind them in a darke night whereby they direct others and themselues in the meane time fall into the ditch It is not for men to bee like swine good for nothing till they be dead or like Christmas-boxes that will afford nothing till they be broken Let vs rather imitate the example of the forenamed Zacheus who gaue in the present tense and that no small driblet but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even the halfe of his goods and substance and that not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to one poore man but to many yea and maketh proclamation that if by forged cavillation hee had wronged any man he would restore him fourefold Surely had Zacheus liu'd in these our daies hee had beene an honest Master of the Custome house For if this or the like proclamation should bee made among vs by all of his professiō how many are there in this City now in great reputation and esteeme that would haue scarce sufficient left them in this life to maintaine their families and being dead to defray the expense of an ordinary Funeral And yet these men too to sweeten the mouth of the poore and to stop the eares of the multitude will clad some few in frize when they die bequeath a solemne Potation to their adioyning friends thinking by these petty posthume workes of righteousnesse to make themselues acceptable with God Such men I can compare to nothing more fitly then to the Lion which Sampson killed which in his life time was ravenous and devoured all and being dead was found to haue some little hony in his mouth Iudg. 14. And as we are to worke righteousnes whilest we haue time or rather continually so we must worke our own not other mens we must not like Simon of Cyrene cary other mens crosses we must not be busie Bishops in other mens Diocesses but stand in that station wherevnto we are called and not thinke it sufficient in some respect to be good in other bad to bring forth with one branch sound fruit and with the other rotten but to worke righteousnes in every respect It is not sufficient for the inferiour to be a good man but to bee a good servingman for the superiour to bee a good Master but a good Magistrate It is not sufficient to be a good Preacher but a good Bishop and not only a learned Lawyer but an vpright Iudge For vnlesse in all respects we be quadrate and perfect we shall not bee accepted with God which is the end of my Text shall be the end of my speech Is accepted with God Not in strict legal rigour but in Evangelicall mitigation not because we can performe exact obedience to the Law of God or worke perfect righteousnes but because we loue purpose desire endeavour and in some measure perfourme obedience to the Law of God and where we are deficient we sigh and groane for our defects which at the Chauncery barre of Gods mercy is acceptable performance Acceptable not for our observing what the law requires but for our sincere desire to performe it because as Saint Paul saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ready minde is accepted with God The benefits saith Aristotle lib. 1. Eth. c. 14. which men receiue from God their Parents are of that infinite worth and transcendent value that wee are not able to returne for them any correspondency of desert 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The reason is because the gifts of God and his acceptation is infinite but the actions of man finite and determinate the best whereof hath many staines and imperfections For the immediate and next causes of our workes are not altogither spirituall and totally regenerate because there dwels yet the Iebusite in Ierusalem with the Israelites the soule of man hath her inmates the Old man coinhabiting with the New the flesh with the spirit the law of sinne with the law of the mind Insomuch that the best of men cannot climbe vp to heaven without Iacobs ladder the merit of Christ and the gift of God I haue wearied my selfe am sure haue tyred you I will therefore ende all with that devout praier of Arch-bishop Anselme Recognosce Domine quod tuum est absterge quod meum ne per dat mea iniquit as quod fecit tua bonitas Accept O God of what is thine owne in vs and let not our iniquity eclipse thy gracious mercy Meritum no strum miseratio Domint our Merit is thy Mercy gracious acceptation in which we repose our whole assurance We acknowledge our selues to be naked of all righteousnes beseeching thee to cloath vs to be lame and impotent in the performance of any Good worke desiring thee to strengthen vs to be blind in our vnderstanding desiring thee to enlighten vs to be servants to sinne desiring thee to free vs and we ascribe all glory vnto thee in this world praying to be glorified of thee in the world to come FINIS * St Maries in Oxon. De Iust l. 1. c. 4. * S r Iohn Benet