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A09364	The first part of The cases of conscience Wherein specially, three maine questions concerning man, simply considered in himselfe, are propounded and resolued, according to the word of God. Taught and deliuered, by M. William Perkins in his Holy-day lectures, by himselfe revised before his death, and now published for the benefit of the Church.; Cases of conscience. Part 1	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.; Pickering, Thomas, d. 1625.	1604 (1604)	STC 19668; ESTC S114413	95,900	200

in Dauid who beeing reprooued by the Prophet Nathan for his sinnes of adulterie and murther presently made confession of them and at the very same time receiued by the prophet sentence of absolution euen from the Lord himselfe wherein he could not erre The fourth Ground To loue any man because he is a Christian and a child of God is a sensible and certaine note of a man that is partaker of the true loue of God in Christ. Hereby saith S. Iohn we knowe that we are translated from death to life because we loue the brethren Loue here is not a cause but onely a signe of Gods loue to vs. And our Sauiour Christ saith He that receiueth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receiue a Prophets reward Now that we be not deceiued in these grounds it must be rememebred that these beginnings of grace be they neuer so weak must not be flittering and fleeting but constant setled not stopped or staied in the way but such as daiely growe and increase and then they are indeed accepted of God And he that can finde these beginnings or any of them truely in himselfe he may assure himselfe thereby that he is the child of God Hauing thus laid downethe Groundes of cōfort I come now to the way by which the party in distresse may be brought within the compasse of the promise of saluation This way standes in two things in making triall and in applying the promise First then triall must be made whether the person distressed haue in him as yet any of the forenamed grounds of grace or not This triall may be made by him that is the comforter in the moouing of certaine Questions to the said person And first let him aske whether he beleeue and repent The distressed partie answers no he cannot repent nor beleeue Then he must further aske whether he desire to beleeue and repent to this he will answer he doeth desire it with all his heart in the same sort is he to make triall of the other groundes When a man is in the fit of tentation he will say resolutely he is sure to be dāned Aske him in this fit of his loue to God he will giue answer he hath none at all but aske him further whether he loue a man because he is a Christian and a child of God then will he say he doth indeed Thus after triall made in this manner some beginnings of faith and repentance will appeare which at the first lay hid For God vseth out of the time of prosperitie by in distresse and affliction to work his grace The second point followeth After that by triall some of the foresaid beginnings of grace be found out then comes the right applying of the promise of life euerlasting to the partie distressed And that is done by a kind of reasoning the first part whereof is taken from Gods word the second from the testimonie of the distressed conscience and the conclusion is the applying of the promise on this manner He that hath an vnfained desire to repent and beleeue hath remission of sinnes and life euerlasting But thou hast an earnest desire to repent and beleeue in Christ. Therefore remission of sinnes and life euerlasting is thine And here remember that it is most conuenient this application be made by the Minister of the Gospell who in it must vse his ministeriall authoritie giuen him of God to pronounce the pardon For in distresse it is as hard a thing to make the conscience yeild to the promise as to make fire and water agree For though men haue signes of grace mercie in them yet will they not acknowledge it by reason of the extremitie of their distresse In this manner vpon any of the former grounds may the troubled and perplexed soule be assured that mercie belongs to it And this I take to be the onely generall and right way of conforting a distressed conscience Nowe that the promise thus applyed may haue good successe these rules must necessarily be obserued I. One is that the comfort which is ministred be delaied with some mixture of the Law that is to say the promise alone must not be applyed but withall mention is to be made of the sinnes of the partie and of the grieuous punishments due vnto him for the same The reason is because there is much deceipt in the heart of man in so much as oftentimes it falleth out that men not throughly humbled beeing comforted either too soone or too much doe afterward becom the worst of all In this respect not vnlike to the iron which being cast into the fire vehemētly hot cooled againe is much more hard then it would haue bin if the heat had bin moderate And hence it is that in the ministring of cōfort we must somwhat keep thē down bring them on by litle litle to repentance The sweetnesse of comfort is the greater if it be delayed with some tartenesse of the Law II. Another rule is this If the distressed partie be much possessed with griefe of himselfe he must not be left alone but alwaies attēded with good company For it is an vsuall practise of the Deuill to take the vantage of the place time when a man is solitarie and depriued of that helpe which otherwise he might haue in societie with others Thus he tempted Eue when she was apart from her husband And in this regard Salomon pronounces a woe to him that is alone But herein doeth his malice most appeare in that he is alway readiest when a man is in great distresse and withall solitarie then vpon the sudden to tempt him to dispaire and to the making away of himselfe III. Thirdly the partie in distresse must be taught not to rest vpon his owne iudgement but alwaies to submit himselfe and be content to be aduised by others that are men of wisedome iudgement and discretion A thing to be obserued the rather because the very neglect thereof hath caused sundrie persons to remaine vncomforted for many yeres IV. Fourthly the partie distressed must neuer heare tel of any fearefull accidents or of any that haue bin in like or worse case thē himself is For vpon the very report the distressed conscience will fasten the accident vpon it selfe and therby cōmonly wil be drawn to deeper griefe or dispaire For the mind afflicted will imagine fearefull things and sometime the very bare naming of the Deuil will strike terrour feare into it V. Fiftly The partie that is to comfort must beare with all the wants of the distressed as with their frowardnesse peeuishnesse rashnesse and with their distempered and disordered affections and actions yea he must put vpon him as it were their persons beeing affected with their miserie and touched with their sorrowes as if they were his owne grieuing when he seeth them to grieue weeping when they doe weepe and lament VI. Sixtly he that is the comforter must not be

doing of that which is vnlawfull to be done and that this is equall in all men that sinne and therfore by consequent offences are equall I answer that in euery sinne men must not consider the vnlawfulnesse thereof onely but the reason why it should be vnlawfull and that is properly because it a breach of Gods law and repugnant to his will reuealed in his word Nowe there is no breach of a diuine Law but it is more or lesse repugnant vnto the will of the Lawgiuer God himselfe And many transgressions are more repugnant thereunto then fewer for the more sin is increased the more is the wrath of God inflamed against the sinner vpon his due desert If it be said again that the nature of Sinne stands onely in this that the sinner makes an aberration from the scope or marke that is set before him and doth no more then passe the bondes of duty prescribed by God and that all are alike in this respect The answer is that it is a falshood to affirme that he which makes the lesse aberration from the dutie commanded is equall in offence to him that makes the greater For the same sinne for substance hath sundrie steppes and degrees in respect whereof one man becommeth a more heinous offender then another for example in the seauenth commandement when God forbiddes the committing of Adulterie he forbiddeth three degrees of the same sinne to wit adulterie of the heart consisting of inordinate and vncleane affections adulterie of the tongue in corrupt dishonest and vnseemely speeches and the very act of vncleannesse and filthinesse committed by the bodie Nowe it cannot be said that he which breakes this commandement onely in the first degree is as great a transgressour as he that hath proceeded to the second and so to the third And therefore it remaines for an vndoubred trueth that Sinnes committed against the Law of God are not equall but some lesser some greater The second way to aggrauate sinne is by addition of sinne to sinne and that is done sundry waies first by committing one sinne in the necke of another as Dauid sinned when he added murther to adulterie Secondly by doubling and multiplying of sinne that is by falling often into the same sinne Thirdly by lying in sinne without repentance And here it must be remembred that men of yeares liuing in the Church are not simply condemned for their particular sinnes but for their continuance and residence in them Sinnes committed make men worthie of damnation but liuing and abiding in them without repentance is the thing that brings damnation For as in the militant Church men are excommunicate not so much for their offence as for their obstinacie so shall it be in the Church triumphant the kingdome of heauen shall be barred against men not so much for their sinne committed as for their lying therein without repentance And this is the manner of Gods dealing with those that haue liued within the precincts of the Church they shall be condemned for the very want of true faith and repentance This should admonish euery one of vs to take heed least we lie in any sin● and that beeing any way ouertaken we should speedily repent least we aggrauate our sinne by continuance therein and so bring vpon our selues swift damnation Thirdly the same sinne is made greater or lesser 4. waies according to the number of degrees in the committing of a sinne noted by S. Iames Temptation Conception Birth and Perfection Actuall sinne in the first degree of tentation is when the minde vpon some sudden motion is drawne away to thinke euill and withall is tick led with some delight therein For a bad motiō cast into the minde by the flesh and the deuill is like vnto the baite cast into the water that allureth and delighteth the fish and causeth it to bite Sinne in conception is when with the delight of the minde there goes consent of will to doe the euill thought on Sinne in birth is when it comes forth into action or execution Sinne in perfection when men are growne to a custome and habit in sinne vpon long practise For the often committing of one and the same sinne leaues an euill impression in the heart that is a strong or violent inclination to that or any other euill as hath bin taught before And sinne thus made perfect brings forth death for custome in sinning brings hardnes of heart hardnes of heart impenitencie and impenitencie cōdemnation Now of these degrees the first is the least and the last is the greatest One and the same sinne is lesser in tentation then in conception and les●e in conception then in birth and greater in perfection then in all the former Sundry other Distinctions there are of sinnes as namely That the maine sinnes of the first Table are greater then the maine sinnes of the second Table And yet the maine sinnes of the second are greater then the breach of ceremoniall duties against the first table But this which hath beene said shall suffice The vse of this doctrine is manifold First by it we learne what the heart of man is by nature namely a corrupt and vncleane fountaine out of which issueth in the course of this life the streams of corruptions infinite in number noysome in qualities hainous in degrees dāgerous in effects For from thence doe flow all the differences of sins before named with their seuerall branches and infinit many more that cannot be rehearsed This must mooue vs humbly to sue vnto God earnestly to intreat him to wash vs throughly from our wickednes clense vs frō our sins yea to purge and to rinse the fountaine thereof our vncleane and polluted hearts And when by Gods mercy in Christ apprehēded by faith our hearts shal be purified then to set watch ward ouer them and to keep them with all diligence Secondly it teacheth vs that miserable mortall man is not guiltie of one or more sins but of many sundrie corruptions both of heart and life Who can vnderstād his faults saith Dauid Now the alowāce of sin being death by gods ordināce God being iustice it selfe answerably to the number of our offences must we needs be lyable to many punishments yea to death it selfe both of the bodie and of the soule This beeing our wofull estate litle cause is there that any man should thinke himselfe to be in good case or presume of Gods mercie in regard of the small number of his sinnes And much lesse cause hath he falsely to imagine with the Popish sort that he can merit the fauour of God by any worke done by him aboue that which the Law requireth considering that it is impossible for him to knowe either the number or the nature or the measure of his sinnes Lastly the consideration of this point must be a barre to keepe vs in that we be not too secure or presumptuous of our owne estate for as much as we learne out of

this doctrine is this He that truely repents himselfe of one sinne in this case when he is preuented is as if he repented of all II. Case What must a man doe that finds himselfe hard hearted and of a dead spirit so as he cannot humble himselfe as he would Answ. Such persons if they humble themselues they must be content with that grace which they haue receiued For if thou be grieued truely and vnfainedly for this that thou canst not be grieued thy humiliation shall be accepted For that which Paul saith of almes may be truely said in this case that if there be a readie minde a man shall be accepted according to that he hath and not according to that he hath not III. Case Whether the party that is more grieued for losse of his friend then for offence of God by his sinne doeth or can truely humble himselfe Answ. A man may haue a greater griefe for an earthly losse then for the other and yet be truely grieued for his sinnes too The reason is because that is a bodily naturall and sensible losse and accordingly sorrow for it is naturall Now the sorrow for the offending of God is no sensible thing but supernaturall and spirituall and sensible things doe more affect the minde then the other Dauid did notably humble himselfe for his sinnes and he did exceedingly mourne for the losse of his sonne Absolom yea and more too then for his sinnes Would God I had died for thee Absolom O Absolom my sonne my sonne c. Againe I answer that the sorrow of the minde must be measured by the intention of the affection and by the estimation of the thing for which we sorrow Now sorrow for sinne though it be lesse in respect of the intentiō therof yet is it greater in respect of the estimation of the minde because they which truly mourne for their sinnes grieue for the offence of God as the greatest euill of all and for the losse of the fauo●● of God as for losse of the most excelle●t pre●ious thing in the world IV. Case Whether it be necessarie in humiliation that the heart should be smitten with a sensible sorrowe Answer I. In sorrow for sinne there are two things first to be displeased for our sinnes secondly to haue a bodily moouing of the heart which causeth crying and teares The former of these is necessarie namely in heart to be deepely displeased with our selues the latter is not simply necessarie though it be commendable in whomsoeuer it is if it be in truth for Lydia had the first but not the secōd II. It falleth out oftentimes that the greatnesse of the griefe taketh away the sensible paine and causeth a nummednesse of the heart so that the partie grieueth not III. Sometimes the complexion will not affoard teares in such there may be true humiliation though with drie cheekes The second thing to be done for the attaining of Gods fauour and consequently of saluation is to Beleeue in Christ. In the practise of a Christian life the duties of humiliation and faith cannot be seuered yet for doctrines sake I distinguish them In Faith there are two things required and to be performed on our behalfe First to know the points of religion and namely the summe of the Gospell especially the promise of righteousnesse and life eternall by Christ. Secondly to apply the promise and withall the thing promised which is Christ vnto our selues and this is done when a man vpon the commandement of God sets downe this with himselfe that Christ and his merits belong vnto him in particular and that Christ is his wisdome iustification sanctification and redemption This doctrine is plaine out of the sixt of Iohn for Christ is there propounded vnto vs as the bread and the water of life Therefore faith must not be idle in the braine but it must take Christ and apply him vnto the soule and conscience euen as meate is eaten The Questions of conscience touching Faith are these First howe we may truely apply Christ with all his benefits vnto our selues For wicked men apply Christ vnto themselues falsely in presumption but fewe doe it truely as they ought to doe I answer that this may be done we must remember to doe two things First lay downe a foundation of this action and then practise vpon it Our foundation must be laid in the word or else we shall faile in our application and it consists of two principles The one is As god giues a promise of life eternall by Christ so he giues commandement that euery one in particular should apply the promise to himselfe The next is that the Ministerie of the word is an ordinarie meanes wherein God doeth offer and apply Christ with all his benefits to the hearers as if he called them by their names Peter Iohn Cornelius Beleeue in Christ and thou shalt be saued When we haue rightly considered of our foundation the Second thing is to practise vpon it and that is to giue our selues to the exercises of faith and repentance which stand in meditation of the word and praier for mercie and pardon and when this is done then God giues the sense and increase of his grace VVhen Lydia was hearing the sermon of Paul then God opened her heart Act. 16. 12. Secondly it is demaunded When faith beginnes to breed in the heart and when a man beginnes to beleeue in Christ Answer VVhen he beginnes to be touched in conscience for his owne sinnes and withall hungers and thirsts after Christ and his righteousnesse then beginneth faith The reason is plaine As faith is renewed so it is begunne but it is renewed when a man is touched in conscience for his sinnes and beginnes a new to hunger after Christ therefore when these things first shew themselues then faith first begins For these were the things that were in Dauid when he renewed his repentance The third dutie necessarie to saluation is Repentance In which two things are to be cōsidered the beginning namely a Godly Sorrow 2. Cor. 7. and vpon this sorrowe a Change In Sorrowe we consider first the nature of it secondly the properties of it Touching the nature of sorrow it is either inward or outward The inward sorrow is when a man is displeased with himselfe for his sinnes The outward when the heart declares the griefe thereof by teares or such like signes And sorrow in this case called a godly sorrow is more to be esteemed by the first of these then by the second The propertie of this sorrow is to make vs to be displeased with our selues for our sinnes directly because they are sins doe displease God If there were no iudge no hell or death yet we must be grieued because we haue offended so mercifull a God and louing father And as godly sorrowe will make vs thus to doe so is it the next cause of repentance and by this is repentance discerned The next thing in repentance is the Change

knovv not saith Saint Paul what to pray as we ought namely in our distresses but the Spirit it selfe maketh request for vs with sighs that cannot be expressed and therein lies our comfort Thus Moses at the redde sea beeing in great distresse not knowing what to say or doe sighed and groned inwardly in his soule vnto the Lord for helpe and protection and his very desire was in stead of a loud crie in the eares of the Lord. The second thing is that triall must be made whether the partie hath in him any tokens of grace or not These tokens are the small beginnings of grace which before I haue declared As for example a griefe because we cannot grieue for sinne as we should a serious will and desire to beleeue and repent a purpose to sinne no more and such like If these be found in the partie then by them as by sure pledges he may bee assured of the fauour of God towardes him and where any of these be found the saying of God to Saint Paul must be vrged My grace is sufficient for thee and therewith must the distressed partie stay his minde Yea we are to be content with any condition in this life be it neuer so miserabie so long as we are in the fauour of god though he should lay vpon vs euen the paines of hell till the time of our death So did Dauid who when he was pursued by his owne sonne vttered these words vnto God Behold if I please thee not doe with me what thou wilt And the like was the minde of Paul who beeing assured of the fauour of God was content for his glorie and the saluation of the Israelites if it had beene possible to be separated from Christ and to indure the very pangs of hell The third thing in this cure is to Applie to the said distressed partie such promises of God made vnto afflicted persons as are most large and comfortable For example that The Lord is neere to them that are of a contrite heart and vvill saue such as be afflicted in spirit Psal. 34. 18. Againe I came not saith our Sauiour Christ but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel Matth. 15. 24. He saies not to the straying sheepe but to such as ate now in the pit readie to be drowned or in the Lyons mouth readie to be deuoured Againe The Spirit of the Lord is vpon me therefore he hath annointed me that I should preach the Gospel to the poore that is to such as are distressed in conscience and poore in spirit he hath sent me that I should heale the broken hearted that I should preach deliuerance to the captiues These and many other such like promises are in this case to be vrged and the partie mooued to indeauour to beleeue them and to rest himselfe vpon them though he loose all things els Fourthly the partie must be brought to a serious consideration of his life past and of Gods mercifull dealing with him in former times and therewith is he to be comforted for the time present For if aforehand he hath receiued any tokens of the fauour and loue of God by them he is now to stay and ●o settle his minde The reason is plaine the gifts of God are without repentance whome he loueth once he loueth to the ende and whome he chooseth he calleth iustifieth and sanctifieth and will also in time glorifie Dauid beeing in such affliction that he could hardly thinke vpon God yet he tooke this course praied to the Lord for comfort communed with his owne heart and called to remembrance how God had formerly dealt with him and with this meditation of the continuall course of Gods mercie in his preseruation he confirmed his faith and staied his heart in his greatest troubles The fifth and last thing to be done is the remooueall of such reasons and doubts as the partie distressed vsually makes against himselfe for his owne ouerthrow For it is the manner of those that are troubled in minde to dispute against themselues and commonly they are woont to alleadge three things First beeing instructed how to humble themselues and to depend on Gods mercie they will graunt that all these indeede are good things but they belong not to them for they neither doe nor can feele any thing but the tokens of Gods anger and that they are alreadie entred into some degrees of condemnation This obiection may be taken away by informing them of the manner of Gods dealing in all his workes For commonly he workes all things in his creatures in and by Contraries if we could know the whole frame of them Thus in the Creation euery creature had his beeing of that which had no beeing and something was made not of something but of nothing After the flood the signe of Gods couenant for the preseruation of the world from destruction by raine is the Raine-bow which indeede is a naturall signe of raine When Elias was to prooue the Lord to be the onely true God against the idolatrous priests of Baal and that by burnt offerings he powred water vpon the sacrifice and fills a trench with water round about and in this contrarie meanes was the sacrifice burnt vp Christ for the curing of a blind man tēpers spittle clay together which in all reason is a fitter means to put out the eyes thē to cause the blind to see Thus in the worke of our Redemption Christ giues life not by life but by death and he sendes men to heauen by the gates and suburbes of hell He will not build vpon an olde foundation but he pulls downe and destroies all that Man may haue no hope at all in himselfe but that all the hope he hath may be in God First he kills and then he makes aliue as Anna speaketh first he woundeth and then he healeth He makes man to sowe in teares that afterward he may reape in ioy And he that knoweth Gods dealing to be this must herewith rest content and satisfied because in wrath God vseth to remember his mercie yea his mercie is neuer sweete vnto the palate of the soule vntill it be seasoned with some tast of his wrath The Paschall Lambe was eaten with sowre hearbs to signifie that we can feele no sweetnes in the blood of Christ till we first feele the smart of our owne sinnes corruptions Secondly these persons vse to alleadge against themselues that if they could feele any cōfort at all then they would stay their minds and yeild to good perswasions exhortations To this the answer is That there is a Rule of grace which we must follow gathered out of the word of God and the experience of Gods children contrarie to the rule of nature and aboue the light of reason and it is this that in case of affliction we must not liue by feeling but by faith This Rule is grounded vpon the speech of the Lord by the Prophet The iust man shall

of the minde and whole man in affection life conuersation And this standeth in a constant purpose of the mind and resolution of the heart not to sinne but in euery thing to doe the will of God Hereupon Paul exhorteth them to whome he wrote to continue in the loue of God and in the obedience of his word Barnabas when he came to A●tioch and had seene the grace of God was glad and exhorted all that with purpose of heart they should cleaue vnto God or continue with the Lord. So the Prophet Ezekiel saith If the wicked will turne from all his sinnes and keepe all my statutes and doe that which is lawfull and right he shall surely liue and shall not die In this purpose stands the very nature of repentance and it must be ioyned with humiliation and faith as a third thing availeable to saluation and not to be seuered frō them For a man in shew may haue many good things as for exāple he may be hūbled seeme to haue some strength of faith yet if there be in the said man a want of this purpose resolutiō not to sinne the other are but dead things vnprofitable and for all them he may come to eternall destruction Furthermore we must distinguish this kind of purpose from the minde and purpose of carnall men theeues drunkards harlots vsurers for they will confesse their sins and be sory for them yea and shed some teares wishing they had neuer sinned as they haue In these men indeede there is a wishing will for the time but no setled purpose And it is a propertie of nature to auoid euill but to haue a constant resolution of not sinning is a gift of grace and for this it is that we must labour otherwise our repentance is no true and sound repentance The fourth last dutie is to performe Newe obedience vnto God in our life and conuersation In this newe obedience three things are required First it must be a fruit of the spirit of Christ in vs for when we doe any good thing it is Christ that doeth ' it in vs. Paul saith that good which I doe I doe it not but Christ that dwelleth in me Secondly this new obedience must be the keeping of euery commandement of God For as Saint Iames saith He that breaks one commandement is guiltie of all that is he that doeth willingly and wittingly breake any commandement and makes not conscience of some one maketh not conscience of any and before God he is as guiltie of all as if he had broken all Thirdly in newe obedience the whole man must endeauour to keepe the whole law in his minde will affections and all the faculties of soule and bodie As it is said of Iosiah that he turned to God according to all the lawes of Moses with all his heart There are yet three other things required in him that must performe new obedience first he must not liue in the practise of any outward sinne Secondly there must be an inward resisting and restraining of the corruption of our nature and of our hearts that we may truely obey God by the grace of the spirit of God The heart of Ioseph was readie prest to resist the euill request of Potiphars wife And Dauid staid his affection from revenging himselfe vpon Shemei when he cursed him Thirdly he must stirre vp and exercise the inward man by all spirituall motions of Faith Ioy Loue Hop eand the praise of God Here a necessarie Question is mooued Cōsidering that all good workes are the fruits of a regenerate person are contained vnder newe obedience How a man may doe a good worke that may be accepted of God please him For resolutiō wherof it is to be carefully remēbred that to the doing of a good worke sundrie things are required Wherof some in nature do goe before the worke to be done some doe accompany the doing thereof and some againe doe followe the worke being required to be done when the worke is done Before the worke there goes reconciliation for the person must be reconciled vnto God in Christ and be pleasing to him for if the person of the worker doe not please God the worke it selfe cannot neither are workes of what dignitie soeuer to be esteemed by the shevv and outvvard appearance of them but by the mind and condition of the doer Againe before vve doe any good vvorke vve must by praier lift vp our hearts vnto God and desire him to inable vs by his spirit to doe it to guid vs by the same in the action vvhich vve are about to doe This did the Prophet Dauid oftentimes as vve may read in the Psalmes but especially in Psal. 143. 10. when he saith Teach me to doe thy will O God for thou art my God let thy good spirit lead me vnto the land of righteousnesse In the doing of the worke we are to consider two things the matter the manner or forme of doing it For the matter it must be a worke commanded in the word of God Christ saith of the Pharises that they worshipped him in vaine teaching for doctrines the commandements of men He therefore that will doe a worke tending to the worshippe of God must doe that which God commandeth And here we must remember that a thing indifferent in the case of off●nce comes vnder a commandement of the morall lawe To which purpose Paul saith If eating flesh will offend my brother I will eate no flesh while the world standeth His meaning is that though his eating of flesh was a thing indifferēt in it selfe yet in case of offence his minde was to abstaine from it as much as from the breach of the Law of God Againe if an action indifferent comes within the case of furthering the good of the Common wealth or Church it ceaseth to be indifferent and comes vnder commandement and so all kind of callings and their workes though neuer so base may be the matter of good workes Now for the forme of the worke there must be first a generall faith whereby we must be perswaded that the thing to be done may lawfully be done for what soeuer is not of faith is sinne Secondly a particular or iustifying faith which purifieth the heart and maketh it fit to bring forth a good worke for it giues a beginning to the worke also couers the wants and defects thereof by apprehending and applying vnto vs Christ and his merits Thirdly it must be done in obedience for knowing the thing to be do●e to be commanded of God we must haue a minde and intention to obey God in the thing we doe It will be here demanded seeing workes must be done in obedience how and to what part of the word we must direct our obedience I answer to the Law but howe not considered in his rigour but as it is qualified mollified and tempered by the gospel for according to the rigour of the