fell from Angels to Divels For their sinne of Apostacy was great it cryed to God for vengeance The Lord Iesus noteth this Apostacy in them to shew that their sinne was not by creation but by wilfull corruption Hereupon saith our Saviour to the Iewes You are of your father the divell and the lusts of your father doe yee he abode not in the truth It followeth then that Iohn 8 44. he was once in the truth and that he was not created evill This Apostacy in some case joyned with wilfulnesse and malice is not to be prayed for So saith Saint Iohn the Disciple whom Iesus loved If any man see his brother sin a sinne that is not unto death let him aske and he shall give life for them that sinne not to death There 1 Iohn 5. 16. is a sinne unto death I say not that thou shouldst pray for it Some Apostacies cannot be renewed For it is impossible that they which have been once lightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were Heb. 6. 4 5 6. made partakers of the holy Ghost and have tasted of the good Word of God and of the powers of the world to come If they fall away should be renewed by repentance seeing they crucifie againe to themselves the Sonne of God and make a mocke of him For certainely they that are Apostataes and sinne against the Holy Ghost hate Christ crucifie and mocke him but to their owne destruction and therefore fall into desperation and cannot repent Indeed there is no sin but by repentance may be forgiven but they that sinne against the Holy Ghost which some affirme to be Apostasia aut negatio Christi Apostacy or the denying of Christ it shall not be forgiven â—â—â—lla in Luc. 12. 10. Quia directè obviant principio per quod fit remissio peccatorum because they are directly and plainely opposite and contrary to that whereby remission of sinnes is obtained that is unto repentance And this is the cause saith Augustine why God hath redeemed men and not Angels for that they sinned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from within and of themselves maliciously and rebelliously man sinned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from without and by provocation And this is Christs death saves only men not Angels the cause saith Augustine why Moses wrote nothing of the fall of Angels he named not their wound because he would not name their medicine Sed hominis vulnus medicinam narravit but he hath shewed man his wound and medicine also for that Aug. lib. de mirab Script cap. 2. God would restore him againe Humanam ergo naturam non Angelicam sumpsit Christus quoth Athanasius therefore he tooke the nature of man not the nature of Angels according to that of Athanasius the Apostle He in no sort tooke the Angels but hee tooke the seed of Abraham Quia Angeli per se defecerunt à Deo because the Angels of themselves fell from God Therefore the promise of the Messiah was made onely to man not to Angels The grace of GOD that Tit. 2. 11. bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared Grace saveth men not Angels For these Angels that fell have no benefit by Christs death he came not to save them for their sinnes are not pardonable But the cause of mercy I leave to God onely the father of mercies These are but conjectures of Augustine and Athanasius In the meane time Dorbels reasons are too weake to prove that men shall bee punished in hell more deeply than these Angels that fell His first reason is Quia Deus nunquam pro illis passus est ut pro nobis that God never suffered so much for them as for us His second reason is Quia Angeli pro uno tantum peccato puniuntur nos saepe deliquimus the Angels fell by one sinne only man by many sinnes hee offendeth oft His third reason is Quia daemones sunt spiritus tantum nos autem corpore anima peccamus that the bad Angels the Divels be spirits onely but men have both bodies and spirits But these reasons are vanishing as the untimely dew unsavoury as the white of an egge brittle as the webbe of a spider Hee spake as Phormio spake before Hannibal Rem magis delirantem nunquam legi I never read a more doating thing But to proceed my meaning is not that all Apostacy is sinne against the Holy Ghost for every Apostacy is not uncurable every fall of man is not damnable as the fall of Angels yet it is dangerous for he that settetb his hand to the plough and looketh back Luke 9. 62. is not fit for the Kingdome of God And Christ said to the sicke man Behold thou art made whole sinne no more lest a worse thing happen unto Iohn 5. 14. thee Thus all Apostacy is dangerous though not damnable for if damnable what shall become of the godly themselves for they often fall from the Lord slide backe and decrease in the graces of God They keepe not their first estate which was the sinne of the Angels Ephesus lost her first love but I would our Church were like it for Ephesus hated the evil wee hate the good Apoc. 2. 4. they examined the false Apostles wee examine none they suffered Luke 12. 45. persecution we persecute others we smite our fellow servants Iulian the Christian is become Iulian the Apostata and Simon Peter is become Simon Magus Ioseph is become Pharoah grapes are turned into thornes figs into thistles Lambes into Lions and Doves There must be a perpetuall growth in grace and goodnesse into Serpents We are fallen from our first love every day lesse and lesse zealous lesse and lesse loving lesse and lesse religious than heretofore we have been Memento Anglia memento Norfolcia unde excideris Remember England remember Norfolke whence thou art fallen Revertere revertere Returne returne saith the Lord Ier. 3. 14. for I am your Lord and will bring you to Sion Let us follow the counsell of the Wise man In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening Eccles 11. 6. let not thine hand rest that is increase in goodnesse doe good in Gal. 6. 6. thy youth doe good in thine age yea doe good at all times be not weary of sowing be not weary of working the seed-time is nothing the harvest is all in all To doe good in youth is nothing to doe well in middle age is nothing but to continue in old age to the last gaspe is piety indeed When a righteous man saith the Prophet turneth away from his righteousnesse and committeth Ezech. 18. 26. iniquity he shall even dye for the same hee shall even die for his iniquity that he hath committed aswell may we drowne in the Havens mouth as in the middest of the boisterous Sea aswell may wee fall through the peevishnesse of age as through the lusts and concupiscence of youth Of many it may be
Satanam ut ipsi etiam suas agunt partes non per illos agit ut per truncos lapides sed ut per creaturas rationales qui sponte ruunt First God so worketh by the wicked and by Satan as that they also play their owne parts hee worketh not by them as by blockes or stones but as by reasonable creatures which runne headlong of their owne accord Secundò magnam esse differentiam inter opus Dei impiorum there is great difference betweene God Satan Men concurre in the same action but have different ends the worke of God and the worke of the wicked in respect of the end of their worke The Sunne draweth stench out of a dead carkase Non immittit he doth not send it in So God worketh by the wicked and yet so that his justice doth not justifie them nor their wickednesse contaminate him as it appeareth in Iobs example God Satan and the Chaldees concurre move Iob 1. worke yet is God cleare and they guilty Inspecto fine agendi considering the end of their worke God did it to trie Iob Satan to destroy Iob and the Chaldees to inrich themselves So saith S. Augustine of Christ Pater tradidit filium filius corpus Iudas magistrum In hac traditione cur Deus justus homo injustus nisi quod in re una quam fecerunt non est causa una ob quam fecerunt The Father delivered the Sonne the Son his body Iudas his master in this tradition or delivering why is God just and man unjust because that in that one thing which they did there was not one cause for the which they did it Deus in dilectione Christus in obedientia Iudas ab avaritia Iudaei ob invidiam God delivered him in love Christ delivered himselfe in obedience Iudas of covetousnesse the Iewes of envy Thus they all did one action but not to one end And yet true is the saying of Fulgentius Malos ad poenam non culpam praedestinari the wicked to be predestinate to punishment not to sinne non ad hoc quod malè operantur sed ad hoc quod justè patiuntur not to this that they worke evilly but to this end that they suffer justly For God ordaines no man to be evil though he hath ordained the evill unto punishmēt for should God ordaine men unto sin then should God be the Author of sin he ordaines indeed the incitements and occasions of sin to try men withall he also orders sins committed and does limit them and in these regards is said as before to worke in them and to will them in which regards also they are in Scripture attributed unto him sometimes as 2 Sam. 12. 11 12. and 15. 16. But yet wee must not say as some do that God is the Author of sinne or predestinates men unto it Sed quia Dei mysteria non capimus corripimus because wee cannot conceive Gods mysteries wee will cavell and carpe at them Nunquid negandum quod verum est quia comprehendi non potest quod occultum est Is that to be damned which is true because it cannot be comprehended for that it is secret Eate hony but not too much hony so search Gods mysteries but not too far I say of the proud men of this age as Chrysostome said of the Hereticks called Anomei Hanc arborem Anomaeorum Paulus nec plantavit Apollo non rigavit this tree of the Anomaei neither hath Paul planted nor Apollo watered nor God increased but curiosity planted it pride watered it and ambition increased it Lipsius Lipsius de constantia pag. 36. useth all these similitudes A man rideth upon a lame horse and stirs him the rider is the cause of the motion but the horse himselfe of the halting motion so God is the Author of every action but not of the evill of the action The like is in the striking All sinne from Saten or evill men none from God of a jarring and untuned Harpe the fingering is thine the jarring or discord is in the Harpe or instrument The earth giveth fatnesse and juyce to all kind of plants some of these plants yeeld pestilent and noysome fruits where is the fault in the nourishment of the ground or in the nature of the hearbe which by the native corruption decocteth the goodnes of the ground into venime and poyson the goodnes moisture is from the earth the venime from the hearbe the sounding from the hand the jarring from the instrument So the action is from God the evill in the action from the impure fountaine of thy owne heart I will conclude this point with the saying of the Learned Impossibile est Deum Confessie qui est lux justitia veritas sapientia bonitas vita causam esse tenebrarum peccati mendacii ignorantiae maliciae mortis sed horum omnium causa Satanas homines sunt It is impossible that God who is Light Iustice Truth Wisedome Goodnesse Life to bee the cause of Darkenesse Sinne Dissembling Ignorance Malice and Death but the Divell and Men are the cause of all these THE ELEVENTH SERMON VERS V. I will therefore put you in remembrance forasmuch as yee once knew this c. The often inculcating the same doctrine needfull WEE are now come unto the third part of this Epistle which containeth a confirmation of Iudes purpose by divers examples The first of the Israelites The second of the Angels The third of the Sodomites In the first he noteth their Infidelitie In the second their Apostasie In the third their Adultery and Buggery The first were destroyed of God in the wildernesse The second fell from Heaven The third were burned and thus much for their sinnes and their punishments Now for the first he saith that they Knew it howbeit he will put them in remembrance saying they had forgotten it We may not thinke much to heare that which we have heard and known were our knowledge never so great like Salomons who had A large heart hee was filled with understanding as a floud his minde compassed the Earth hee filled it full of darke and grave sentences yet wee 1 Reg. 4. Ecclus 47. 14 15 may be remembred of it againe Paul was not ashamed to write The memorie must be often admonished one thing often For so hee saith to the Philippians It grieveth me not to write the same thing unto you viz. that which yee have often heard of me for unto you it is a sure thing and we are not ashamed to preach one thing often it leaveth a surer print and a deeper Phil. 3. 1. stampe in our minds doctrine delivered is as a nayle driven but doctrine repeated is as a nayle rivetted then it sticketh sure Such a Simile Salomon useth saying The words of the wise are like goods and like nayles fastened by the masters of the assemblies that is Eccles 12. 11. Ezech. 36. Ier. 23. Iohn 6. 27. Iohn 6. the Ministers
the old world there were but eight beleevers but two Iosua and Caleb and in Christs time we read but of an hundred and twenty beleevers As Aegypt was full of lice Nilus full of Crocodyles Golgotha full of dead mens skulls so is the world full of Infidells He destroyed them that beleeved not And hence commeth it to passe that so many are damned even because they want faith Perditio tua ex te ô Israel thy destruction commeth of thy selfe ô Israel Ex nobis quod damnamur It is of our selves that wee bee damned blame not God but thine owne infidelity For all things Hos 13. Man 5. are possible to them that doe beleeve And therefore Hemingius in his Enchiridion distinguisheth of the word that There is Duplex verbum Damnans Salvans That there is a double word a Damning and a Saving word The damning word is the Law the saving word is the Gospell The Law offereth grace to them that doe it Yee shall keepe therefore Deut. 2. 27. Gen. 3. 5. Levit. 18. 5. Rom. 10. 4. 9. my statutes and my iudgements which if a man doe he shall live in them But the Gospell offereth grace to the beleevers For Christ is the end of the Law unto every one that beleeve For if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and beleeve in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Faith is ever a chiefe doer in matters of salvation and therefore said Hemingius in his Enchiridion that Causa imperans salutis est pater the Iohn 3. 16. commanding cause of our salvation is God For God so loved the world that hee gave his only begotten Sonne to save the world Causa obsequens est filius the obedient pliant cause is the Psal 40. 7. Sonne In the volume of thy booke it is written of me that I should doe thy will I am content to doe it thy Law is written in my heart Causa consummans est Spiritus Sanctus the consummating cause is the holy Ghost so saith the Apostle But yee are washed but yee are sanctified 1 Cor. 6. 11. but yee are iustified by the grace of the Lord Iesus and by the spirit of God The instrumentall cause is double Exhibens Recipiens Rom. 1. 18. The exhibiting Cause is the word the receiving cause Faith as therefore a Smith worketh not in cold iron so a preacher worketh not on an Infidell There is no life of God in us till we beleeve Ephes 4. 18. till then our cogitation is darkened and we are strangers from the life of God He that beleeveth in him shall not be condemned but hee that Iohn 3. 18. beleeveth not is condemned already because he beleeveth not in the name of the only begotten Sonne of God A tree liveth not without moisture Without faith no accesse to God nor a bird without aire nor a fish without water nor a Salamander without fire So the soule liveth not without faith The just doth live by his faith this is the spirit and soule of the inward man we Hab. 2. have a name to live yet are we dead if we want faith I live by faith in the Sonne of God saith Paul who loved me and gave himselfe for Gal. 2. 20. me Infidels therefore are dead men What is the cause that wee profit no more by the word wee beleeve not the preacher that may bee verified of our people which God said to Ezechiel concerning the Iewes They come unto Ezech. 33. 31 32. thee saith God as people useth to come and my people sit before thee and he are thy words but they will not doe them For with their mouthes they make jests and their heart goeth after their covetousnesse and loe thou art unto them as a jesting song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can sing well for they heare thy words but doe them not So we come to the Sermon heare the preacher but we doe not heare him with such zeale and affection as we should wee beleeve not but abuse the word to our owne condemnation why care wee no more for heaven but are so worldly truely we beleeve not God what is the cause that wee live in sinne seeing it is damnable For the wayes of it is death wee beleeve not the Scriptures what is the Rom. 6. 23. 2 Cor. 4. 4. cause of all disorder even infidelity The God of this world hath blinded their eyes our eares are open to heare but not our hearts to beleeve Satan stealeth away the word lest we should beleeve and so be saved But let us make much of the word that wee may Mat. 13. 19. have faith to beleeve For faith nay one dramme of faith is of more worth than all the treasure in the world This that good merchant well knew that sold all to buy it For hee that beleeveth shall not be condemned for every beleevers cause is removed Mat. 13. 24. from the Court of Gods justice into the Court of Gods mercy where hee that beleeveth is not condemned Therefore our care must be with S. Paul that we may be found having the righteousnesse of Christ by faith For there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Phil. 3. 9. Rom. 1. Iesus as all beleevers are and untill thou beest a beleever thou belongest not to God For as the Eagle refuseth her birds till they can mount and soare to the Sunne and as the Raven acknowledgeth not her young ones till they be blacke So God rejecteth the infidels and receiveth none till they beleeve None are the Sonnes of God but the faithfull the rest are bastards I confesse there be degrees in faith The first is a rudiment or entrance Gal. 3. Mat. 12. 20. Rom. 14. 1. Hebr. 10. 22. Rom. 4. 18. which Christ calleth Smoking flaxe The second is a weake faith Him that is weake in faith saith Paul receive unto you The third is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assurance of Faith Such a faith was in Abraham who above hope beleeved under hope But no faith is abominable and may easily be discerned from a weake faith As a sicke man is knowne from a dead man So a weake faith from no faith Even a desire of Faith is a token of faith For Gods spirit worketh God giues grace according to the measure of Faith that but no faith is accursed For he that beleeveth not is còndemned already There be degrees in faith three examples we have The first of the Ruler of the Synagogue who beleeved that his daughter should revive if Christ would but touch her But the Iohn 3. 18. Iohn 4. woman with the bloody issue beleeved that she should be whole if she touched but the hemme of his vesture But the Centurion beleeved that his servant should doe well if Christ spake but the Luk. 8. Mat. 8. word here is Gradus positivus the positive degree the
hast thou them that maintaine the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate So we have some among us that maintaine the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and therefore do well to reprove them and punish them The posterity of Saul being rooted out the famine ceased Baal Prophets 1 Sam. 15. 2 Sam. 21. 1. 1 Reg. 18. 1 Reg. 20. 42. being put to death raine and blessing came from God Remember Gods speech to Ahab Because thou hast let goe a man out of thy hands whom I appointed to dye thy life shall goe for his life and thy people for his people This was the sinne of the false prophets They did strengthen the hands of the wicked I would it were not the sinne of Ier. 23. 14. some in this time I would this sentence were written in the fore-heads Wee must not suffer our selves to bee defiled in body or soule of our Rulers or on the hemmes of their garments as had the Pharises trust not a Iesuite a Romish priest beare not with him flatter him not hee waiteth but his oportunity If Cain may get Abel in the field he will murder him if Ismael may get Godeliah fitly hee dieth for it Designant oculis ad caedem unumquemque nostrûm Gen. 4. Ier. 42. de vrbis orbis exitu cogitant They have appointed to the slaughter every one of us and they thinke of nothing but of the ruine destruction of City Countrey and of the whole world The adversaries of Iuda and Benjamin notwithstanding their faire speeches to Zorobabel and the rest of the Fathers Wee will build with you Wee will sacrifice with you yet their Ezra 4. drift was to hinder the building The Herodians faire speech to our Saviour Master wee know that thou art true and teachest the way Mat. 22. of God truly c. was but to intrappe Christ our Saviour So all their shewes of love and kindnes towards us is but to deceive they waite but for a day and then our bodies shall be made faggots for their fires What though the fals-horned Lambs whom they serve call themselves Pius Clemens Innocent Bonifacius yet I may resemble them to the two theeves of Naples the one called himselfe Pater noster the other Ave Maria and yet under that colour they robbed an 116. men so these robbe many poore soules not of their substance only but of their lives But to leave this we must hate the garment spotted in the flesh We must be like unto them of the Church of Sardis which defiled not their garments Apoc. 3. 4. wee must by no meanes defile our selves through sinne which by the Metaphor of a garment spotted in the flesh is understood The Babylonians whom God sent to destroy the men Lament 4. 14. of Sion would not touch their garments lest they should bee defiled If a man beare holy things in the skirt of his garment and with Hag. 2. 13. the skirt doth touch the bread oyle wine or meate shall it be holy the Prophet said No. If a polluted man or person touch any thing of these shall it be uncleane And the Priest answered it should bee uncleane For the thing which of it selfe is good cannot make another thing so but contrarily the uncleane and not pure in heart doe defile and spot those things and make them odious unto God which else are good and godly Well as Iacob exhorted his houshold to Gen. 35. 2. clense themselves and change their garments so must wee clense our selves from all filthinesse of the flesh and of the spirit 2 Cor. 7. 1. and put on our wedding garment of holinesse and righteousnes So shâ—ll wee hate the garment spotted in the flesh Wee must not be like the wicked which love the garment spotted in the flesh and therefore drinke in iniquity like water but wee must fly from sinne as a serpent the wicked are like Storks who feed on venimous things and make their neast in dung and are full of sinne as the Leopard is of spots but wee must hate sinne as Amnon hated Thamar with a double hatred Why doth God hate the Divell but for sinne by creation hee is an Angell of light by Sinne onely hated of God and should bee of the godly substance a spirit intellectuall in understanding more profound then any man yet God hateth him for no other cause but sinne of which if hee were ridde hee were a more glorious and lovely creature then any man yet sinne maketh us like the Divell and Psal 8. no difference but that hee hath much sinne and hee is all Iohn 8. 44. sinne wee are sinnefull and hee is sinne it selfe malice envy it selfe so vile is sinne that nothing could purge it but Christs blood yea so vile it is that hell and everlasting torments 1 Pet. 1. 18. are prepared for it transit voluptas ejus non mansura manet poena non terminatura the pleasure of sinne passeth abideth not the punishment remaineth and endeth not It was a divine voice of a heathen that if there were no God to punish him no Divell to torment him no hell to burne him no man to see him yet Seneca would hee not sinne for the uglinesse of sinne and the griefe of his owne conscience Hate sinne therefore and hate the Divell hate death hate damnation Si scirem Deos mihi condonaturos homines ignoraturos non peccarem tamen ob solam peccati turpitudinem If I knew certainly that the Gods would pardon mee and that men were ignorant and knew nothing of my transgression yet would I not sinne because of the onely turpitude of sinne We marvell that things are so out of frame that sinne doth so abound but what is the cause Even our bearing with sinne for how can the ship bee qniet so long as Ionas is in it Moses Exod. 10. 26. would not leave an hoofe in Aegypt and we must not suffer sinne to goe unreproved All the vessels of Baal must bee burnt without the City the very gold that was upon the Idols was abomination 2 Reg. 23. 4. and so sinne is an abomination to God And heere by the way learne to kill sinne in thy selfe that God may spare thee Mactemus porcum gulae jugulemus hircum luxuriae occidâ—mus Leonem iracundiae extinguamus serpentâ—m hypocresio's conteramus câ—lubrum invidiae suffocemus Canem concupiscentiae Let us slay the hogge of gluttony kill the goate of Leachery murder the Lion of wrath extinguish the serpent of hypocrisie teare in pieces the Adder of envy strangle the dogge of concupiscence yea Mortifie all our earthly members as fornication uncleannesse unnaturall lusts evill concupiscence and Covetousnesse which is idolatry Yea and Let us crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts Col. 3. 5. Gal. 5. 1 Cor. 9. Yee and Let us chasten our bodies and bring them in subjection Yea and Let us deny
three not by composition of parts but by coexistence of persons The Iewes also note in the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bara the mysterie of the Trinity by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beth the Sonne by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Resh Ruah the Spirit by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aleph Ab the Father Christ is many wayes divided But this holy mystery is more clearely taught by Moses Gen. 3. 22. Againe They deny Christ of which sort there bee many The Iewes deny that he is come the Pagans deny that ever he will come the Turkes confesse that hee is come but yet as a man not as a God inferiour to their Mahomet the Papists confesse in words that hee is come but in truth denying the person of Christ making his body every where that is no where yea many have denyed Christ and robbed the Creator to give to the Creature the Italians ascribe all to the Pope the Irish to Saint Patrick the Scots to Palladius the Russians to Saint Nicholas Munster in Cosmog and the Calicutes to the Divell But to speake orderly men deny Christ many wayes Some deny his Divinity as the Arrians some his Humanitie as the Vbiquetaries some his Natures by renting them a sunder as the Nestorians who make two Christs one the sonne of God another the sonne of Mary some deny them by confounding them as Eutiches Qui dixit humanitatem a divinitate absorptam esse which said that his Humanity was swallowed up of his Divinity some deny him by concealing him in time of persecution as the Nichodemites doe A Sect against which we are to lift up our voyces like Trumpets for He that denyeth Christ in Earth Mat. 10. 33. before men shall be denyed in Heaven before Angels For this cause they of Ephesus are said not to have denyed Christ but to have suffered for his sake and to have laboured without fainting And Apoc. 2. 3. they of Pergamos are said not to have denyed Christ For though their habitation was where Sathans throne is yet they professed his name and not denyed the faith Remember that the fearefull are placed with Vriah in the forefront in the vauntguard Apoc. 2. 13. of the damned so saith Saint Iohn The fearefull and unbeleeving and the abominable and murtherers and whoremongers and sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyars shall have their part Apoc. 21. 8. in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second Death On the contrary Righteous men are compared to Lions which feare no colours so saith Salomon The wicked flee when Prov. 28. 1. Luke 8. 1 Pet. 1. none pursueth him but the Righteous are as bold as a Lion on the other side its naughty ground that will be scorched with heat it is drosse not gold that will bee melted in the fire it is counterfeit not right Balme that will not abide the water it is a bastard Eagle that soareth not to the Sunne Hee is a Coward Exod. 19. not a Souldier that shrinketh in the battell Hee is an Infidell and not a Christian that denyeth Christ in persecution For one Faith is named one Profession Hold fast saith the Apostle the Profession of your hope without wavering And againe Heb. 10. 23. Heb. 3. 1. Consider the Apostle and high Priest of your Profession Christ Iesus Much Profession much Faith no profession no Faith Christ is denied when the efficacie of his death is denied But chiefely we deny the Lord Iesus two wayes First by denying the sufficiencie of his death as the Galathians did and as the Iews did and as our Papists now who will not let Christ be a Saviour alone but they joyne workes with him but all workes are accursed so saith the Apostle As many as are of the workes Gal. 2. Rom. 10. Gal. 3. 10. of the Law that is thinke to bee justified by them are under the Curse Secondly wee deny the Lord Iesus by denying the efficacie or vertue of his Death not dying unto sinne Therefore Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from Death that Christ may give thee Ephes 5. 14. Light For as the Sunne doth not warme all whom it lighteneth as the people under the North Pole who have the Sun sixe moneths together and yet freeze so the Spirit of God doth not cause all to feele the vertue of his Death whom hee illuminateth with the knowledge of his death Such are our Atheists the former are Papists the later are Atheists and both deny Christ The profession of Christ standeth not in words but in deeds not in tongue but in heart not in opinion but in life The Apostle nameth a true Knowledge for many know not God truely Saint Peter calleth it an Idle knowledge distinguishing of knowledge that it is Operans otiosa a working and an idle 2 Pet. 2. 8. knowledge for some carrie Christ in their mouth and braine as perfume in a Pomander without smell as a sword in a scabbard without cutting as fire in a flint without heat But this I will say to thee in the sight of God and his Angels that if thou doest not dye to sinne and rise againe by a new life if thou doest not kill sinne in thee as Murder Whoredome Malice covetousnesse Vsury Pride Drunkennesse c. thou doest neither beleeve the Death nor the Resurrection of Iesus Christ So saith Paul Know yee not that all wee which have beene baptized into Iesus Christ have beene baptized into his Death And againe If wee Rom. 6. 3 5 6. be grafted with him to the similitude of his Death even so shall wee be to the similitude of his Resurrection Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sinne might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sinne And Saint Iohn the disciple whom Iesus loved and which leaned on his breast at supper saith Hereby are wee sure that wee know him if wee keepe his Commandements hee that saith hee knoweth him and keepeth not his Commandements is a 1 Iohn 2. 4 5. Lyar and the Truth is not in him This Death unto sinne and Resurrection to newnesse of life Paul calleth it the vertue of his Death The vertue of his Resurrection The stone Dioscorides is nothing Phil. 3. 10. in the mouth of a dead man And all knowledge of Christ is nothing in a carnall man The death of Christ truely beleeved will cause thee to dye unto sinne and the Resurrection of Christ will cause the dead body to rise unto eternall life and the dead minde to an holy life So saith the Apostle If yee The Papists deny the offices of Christ by consequence bee risen with Christ seeke the things that are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God set your affections upon Heavenly things and not upon Earthly for yee are dead and your life is hid in God c. The Iewes know Christ but not truly
God imputeth righteousnesse but yet in the righteousnesse of Christ not in an inherent righteousnesse of our owne as hee is said to have paid the money to his creditour who paid it by another though himselfe was not able And unto this end the Apostle saith that wee are justified freely by his grace through the redemption Rom. 4 5 6 7 8. that is in Christ Iesus To the place in the Romanes where Paul saith But to him that worketh not but beleeveth in him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse even as David declared the blessednesse of that man unto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without works saying Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sinnes are covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not the sin Bellarmine answereth that Paul setteth not downe a full definition of justification For sinne is not remitted saith he except righteousnesse bee infused but yet inchoated onely not perfected and yet the comparison holdeth not betwixt the infusion of light into the ayre and the infusion of righteousnesse into a man similia illustrant non probant similies doe illustrate a thing but prove not Bellarmine argueth from the comparison betwixt Adam and Christ Per Adae peccatum inhaerens peccatores sumus By Rom. 5. the inhaerent sinne of Adam we are sinners therefore per infusionem inhaerentis justitiae justi sumus by infusion of inhaerent righteousnesse wee are righteous I answere that the argument followeth not the comparison holdeth not in the inherence of sinne or righteousnesse but in the adoption or getting From Adam wee have gotten sinne naturally but from Christ supernaturally by faith by which the righteousnesse of Christ is imputed unto us Bellarmine reckoneth up many things which be necessary to salvation out of the second Epistle of S. Peter the first Chapter as how we must joyne Vertue 2 Pet. 1. 5 6 7. with Faith and with vertue knowledge and with knowledge temperance and with temperance patience and with patience godlinesse and with godlinesse brotherly kindnesse and with brotherly kindnesse Good works the way not the cause of the Kingdome of Heaven love But hee doth detorquere writhe and bow the question another way and to another end For wee doe not exclude good works simply from the obtaining of salvation sunt enim via regni non causa regnandi they are the way to Gods Kingdome not the cause of our ruling and reigning in Gods Bern. Kingdome but from the obtaining of righteousnes For it is onely Christs righteousnesse that maketh us righteous before God for hee is our wisdome and righteousnesse and holinesse and redemption wisdome to instruct us righteousnes to justify us holines to sanctify us and redemption to free us Hee reasoneth thus Faith without Love doth not justify Therefore faith alone doth not justify for faith worketh by love Gal. 5. I deny the Confequence For though faith bee not alone without other vertues yet it justifieth alone as the hand of the writer is not alone but hath other members adjoyned unto it yet it writeth alone as the eye is not alone and yet it seeth alone and the eare is not alone and yet it heareth alone and yet to speake properly faith doth not justify it is a Metonymicall speech for to speake properly the righteousnes of Christ apprehended by faith justifieth us faith as the principall cause doth not justify us sed ut causa instrumentalis but as the instrumentall cause non per modum dispositionis sed per modum apprehensionis not by the manner of disposition but by the manner of apprehension For although it doth dispose unto good workes yet it doth not justify in respect of that but in respect of the object which is Christ For the blood of Iesus 1 Iohn 1. 7. Christ Gods Sonne clenseth us from all sinne But Iustification saith hee is motus à peccato ad justitiam a moving from sinne to righteousnesse as illumination is a moving from darkenes to light I grant sed non adjustitiam inhaerentem not unto inherent or infused righteousnesse but imputative Hee argueth that things are denominated from the internall not the externall forme as we call an Aethiopian blacke though he have a white garment on him quia nigredo est illi insita because blacknes is naturally graffed in him Ergo nos justos dici à justitia intra nos non extra nos Therefore wee are said to bee righteous of the righteousnesse that is within us not without us I answere This is true in Philosophy but false in Divinity Here we may say with Paul Beware lest there bee any man that spoile you through Col. 2. ◠philosophy Philosophy may bee used so as shee be content to be a servant not a mistris but when men measure all doctrine by humane reason and philosophicall positions as Bellarmine here doth then Philosophy is to be taken heed of Howlet in the fifth part of his resolution confesseth that works are not the causes of salvation but the path that leadeth Papists at death fly to Gods mercy in Christ and not to merit to salvation the fruits and effects of faith as Christ saith Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorify your Father which is in Heaven That Paul speaking of the cause of Iustification saying wee conclude that Mat. 5. 16. Rom. 3. 18. a man is justified by faith without the workes of the Law is not contrary to Iames speaking of the notes and signes of Iustification saying Yee see then how that of workes a man is justified and not of faith onely This truth God extorted from him as also Iam. 2. 24. from Stephen Gardiner who confessed this at his death but would not have it preached to the people Open that doore quoth hee and then farewell all Hee would bee wiser than God Mounser also granted it and cried Solus Christus solus Christus Christ alone Christ alone And so Sherwin a seminary Priest executed for treason with Campian and others at Tiborne when hee was in the cart ready to dye though he held himselfe a martyr for the Catholike faith acknowledged nowithstanding ingenuously the miseries imperfections and corruptions of his owne vile nature relying wholly upon Christ cried out at his death O Iesus Iesus Iesus bee to mee a Iesus And Bellarmine cites often in his workes out of Augustine Domus Dei credendo fundatur sperando exigitur diligendo perficitur the foundation of Gods house in our soules is faith the walles hope the roofe charity If faith bee the foundation of all other vertues as himselfe affirmes and if it bee our safest Lib. 1. de Rom. Pont. cap. 10. De Iustificatione lib. 5. Cap. 7. course to repose our whole trust in the onely mercy of God Propter incertitudinem propriae justitiae periculum inanis gloriae tutissimū est fiduciam totam in
243 The envious is fretted at good and glad at the evill betides any ibid. Cain was prophane and grudged at Gods sacrifice 244 Many like Cain grudge to give that is good to God ibid. Gods Ministers are to have honourable maintenance 245 Sacriledge odious among the Heathen they have observed the vengeance of their gods have followed such as have beene sacrilegious ibid. God himselfe hath punished sacriledge in all ages 246 Hypocrites and dissemblers pretend good intend evill ibid. God detesteth hypcrisie and falshood 247 Desperation the bane of the soule excluding Gods mercie ibid. Sermon 21. COvetousnesse the roote of evill and ruine of good 249 Many woes against covetousnesse 250 The covetous man trusteth more in his riches than in the blessed Trinity ibid. Covetousnes deprives the covetous of the 8. beatitudes and makes them subject to the contrary curses 251 Covetousnesse insatiable 253 Covetousnes excludes out of Heaven ibid. Riches unprofitable to soule and body credit and estate 254 A couetous minde never satisfied 255 Vsurers more cruell than wilde beasts ibid. Riches uncertaine not to bee relied on 256 Riches unprofitable if in superfluity 257 Riches preserve not neither from temporall nor spirituall evils 258 Riches not hurtfull by nature but by corruption ibid. Riches hurtfull to the outward and inward man 259 Sermon 22. GOds mercy contemned draweth on judgement 261 The utility and necessity of both Magistracie and Ministery in Church and Common-wealth 262 Government necessary for preservation of states ibid. Three formes of Government viz. Monarchy Aristocracy Democratie ibid. Reasons why Monarchy the best 263 All lawfull government of God ibid. Rebellion pernicious not onely to states but to the Rebels themselves 264 Resemblances being ordinary teach best 266 Preachers may use humane learning but the Word must be his ground to give light 268 The creatures afford a double consideration one naturall another morall or spirituall 269 Epicurisme hath many sinnes accompanying it ibid. Drunkennesse and glutonny odious and pernicious 270 Nature teacheth temperance and sobrietie 271 Wee are most prone to sinne in our drunkennesse ibid. Drunkennesse makes uncapable of Gods spirit and spirituall graces 272 Gluttonous Epicures neither glorifie God nor releeve the poore ibid. Dangerous to converse with Epicures lest stained by them 273 How one may converse with the wicked 274 Love-feasts how used abused abolished 275 Sermon 23. PRide many wayes occasioned every way odious to God 277 Pride vaine in three respects 278 Pride hath beene in all places and all sorts ibid. The godly sometime overtaken by it ibid. Pride is expressed in the things that pertaine to God sixe wayes 279 Pride shewes it selfe many wayes ibid. The proud man insulteth over all 280 Though all prone to pride yet usually the basest proudest ibid. Pride the cause of contention ibid. Pride makes us forget our mortalitie ibid. The proud odious to all God Angels Men onely please the Divell 281 God detesteth pride ibid. Pride is both in Church and Common-wealth and causes heresie in the one and disorder in the other 282 Pride so puffes up men as they become not onely foolish but phrentike ibid. Pride brings shame and destruction 283 Pride will shew it selfe after the death of the proud 284 Knowledge and riches the cause of pride ibid. True zeale like fire that kindleth and burneth by degrees till it come to a full flame 285 Hypocrisie most odious to God and severely punished by him ibid. Sincerity most pleasing to God 286 Christ pronounced against no sinne so many woes as against hypocrisie 289 Hypocrisie blasphemy ibid. Hypocrites make faire showes without truth inwardly pretend religion when they intend the subversion of it 290 Sincerity very rare hypocrisie hath banished 292 Men often compared to trees to shew that God lookes for fruits or wee must looke for the axe ibid. Many carnall gospellers few true professours 293 Most like trees twice dead both in words and deeds 294 Wee must take heed of the sinne of hypocrisie lest wee indure the punishment ibid. Sermon 24. HEll set out by divers names yet none sets it out sufficiently but are as shadowes or the beginning of sorrowes 213 Hell torments amplified being opposed to the joyes of Heaven 297 The damned every way tormented 298 The effects of Gods wrath in afflicting Christ bearing our sinnes and punishing others temporally may serve to set out the torments of the damned whom he punisheth eternally 299 The damned suffer all punishments both of losse and sense 300 The horror of hell should make us abhorre sinne 301 Nothing more hard then the impenitent heart 302 Hell torments as unspeakable so everlasting and irremissible 303 Hell fire compared with our elementary fire in five respects 304 Iudgement and damnation necessary to be preached in time of sinne and security 306 The wicked shall be tormented according to their sinnes the greater sinnes the greater punishment 307 Sermon 25. THere must bee a tyme of manifesting Gods Iustice as well as his power and mercy 301 Antiquity with verity most authentike 308 Traditions equalled with Scriptures by Bellarmine and the Papists ibid. The Scriptures all sufficient for faith and manners 311 Though some scriptures are lost yet so much as is necessary to salvation is preserved ibid. Iudgement fourefold 312 Iudgement generall must needs be as prooved by Scripture ibid. The second person of the Trinity shall judge 313 Christ shall judge as man and why 314 Though Christ shall come in his humanity to judge yet with power and great glory 315 Iudgement fearefull to all much more to the wicked ibid. Christs second comming to judgement compared with his first 316 Christs glory appeared in his humility at his first comming 317 The greatnes of Gods mercy at first aggravates the severity of his justice at the last 318 God hath two Courts Forum misericordiae Forum justitiae Ibid. Gods judgement impartiall 319 Iudgement shall be generall of all men and of every Worke Word Thought 320 Swearers blasphemers most abominable 322 Gods judgement most certaine 324 The conscience of the wicked tell him there will be a judgement 325 The consideration of Christs comming to judgement ought to terrify the wicked comfort the godly instruct all 326 Sermon 26. MVrmuring two-fold against God and against men 329 Murmuring and discontent in most ibid. Murmuring the sinne of the Israelites 330 Murmurers never content ibid. Murmurers severely punished 331 We must patiently subject our wils to Gods 332 The remedies against murmuring ibid. The Saints have bene discountenanced yet subjected their wils to Gods will and have been pacified and comforted 334 Man murmures against man for diuers causes 335 All estates are discontent and murmure against others 336 Murmuring the property of base and envious persons ibid. The lusts of the flesh must be tamed 337 God uses many meanes to teach us to tame our lusts ibid. Most men rather follow their lusts than obey Gods Word 338 Evill thoughts and inordinate affections must be vanquished ibid.