them with eternall torments This therefore must firmely be resolved vpon that al those things which are brought to passe either by God he himselfe effecting them or which are done by other by his permission are not exempt from his providence but are brought to passe by his iust iudgement And God seeing he is the onely and soveraigne goodnes could not but make man good at the first and like vnto himselfe For every piece of worke vsually is like and correspondent to the workeman because that every cause bringeth forth an effect like it selfe So that it is often seene that a good cause generally and naturally bringeth forth a good effect and an evill cause likewise an evill and corrupt effect But when God by his eternall and vnchangeable decree had appointed mankind for the manifestation partly of his mercy and partly of his iustice it was therefore necessary that man should be created such a one by God as should be meete and fit to attayne vnto those ends for which he was created Therefore although man were created by God good and without sinne yet notwithstanding he was created good and without sinne in such sort that of good he might become evill otherwise God could have neither manifested nor exercised his iustice nor mercy in him and those ends which were fore-knowne and appoynted of God from everlasting had fallen to the ground and had not come to their proper effect and purpose Man therefore was to be created of God not necessarily good but changeably so that in respect of the things that happened in his way he might be changed and become otherwise But if he had bene created necessarily and vnchangeably good he had been rather a God then a creature For vnchangeablenesse in it selfe is the propriety of God alone and cannot be found in any creature which alone is or may be changed But God only is one and the same alwayes constant ever like himselfe and is never changed And howsoever the holy Angels are already and holy men shall be in the world to come placed in such degree of goodnes as that they may by no meanes fall from it into the contrary yet in both these this vnchangeablenes is not a naturall propriety but is and shall be the free gift and benefite of God Moreover God was not the proper author of this change in man from God to evill For he created man such an one that if he would himselfe he might have remayned without sinne For as his will was made free by God so he also of his owne accord without any outward constraint or compulsion chose the evill that was forbidden by God and by choosing that did contrary to the will of God and so sinned But if God should have made that change in man from good to evill certainely he should have been no lesse accounted the cause of the evill then if he had created it from the beginning For if he had eyther constreyned man to do evill by some forced and violent motion or by any other meanes inclined his will to this evill certaynely God himselfe had sinned together with man yea had sinned much more then man For there remayneth more evill in the cause that doth compell then in the cause that is compelled But in as much as man of his owne accord leaned vnto the perswasion of the Devill and withall of his owne free will without any outward compulsion desired the evill that was forbidden by God and so fell from God this change therefore from good to evill did arise from Sathans perswasion and from mans will freely choosing and committing the evill Therefore Adams free will and the Devils motion are the true causes of mans misery So that although our first Parents were created by God according to his owne image in holines and righteousnes both in body and minde and had free will given vnto them yet this their free will was not sufficient of it selfe to retayne Gods image and originall righteousnes because they were overcome by temptation and sinned But if the participation and ayde of the divine grace had vpheld them they had not fallen but had remayned innocent as at the first they were created Therefore although man was deceived by the temptation and subtilty of Sathan and brought into sinne yet notwithstanding because that of his owne free will he did assent and agree vnto the perswasion of the Devill therefore he himselfe was the first and chiefest cause of his owne ruine and decay for Sathan may perswade a man to evill but he cannot by force draw or compell any man to evill Therefore this willing revolting from good to evill is the cause of originall corruption which first began to be in the first mans will and afterward that infection and corruption by the iust iudgement of God descended and was derived vnto all and every of his posterity which hath made them altogether and every one apart by himselfe subiect to Gods iust iudgement and guilty of eternall damnation and that so that God the continuall enemy and revenger of all evill may iustly suffer all and every of them to be destroyed and to perish in that corruption without doing iniury to any of them because he is indebted to none of them So that the first man was so created of God and so left vnto the free choyse of his owne will that he might remayne in his innocency or fall from it if he would himselfe Although therefore that to fall and not to fall were vnto man indifferent and contingent and eyther of them as well one as the other might have happened and fallen out yet of these things which were otherwise meere matters of contingency that only fell out which God from everlasting had foreseene and decreed that it should happen So that those things which in respect of man are doubtfull and of their owne nature apt to fall out on either side which may happen or not happen or which may come to passe otherwise then man had purposed these very same things I say in respect of God are certayne and determined so that they cannot fall out otherwise then God from everlasting hath fore-ordained Hereby it is manifest that in things that pertayne vnto man if a man respect the counsell and end of man they are as it were matters of chaunce But if a man consider Gods decree and the end appoynted of him there are no matters of chance at all in inferior things nor in any thing els whatsoever For the creatures which are said to be second causes by reason of the want of wisedome do not foresee and know the future events of things and if peradventure they do foresee any yet they have them not in their power nor are indued with any such ability as to accomplish them and bring them to their wished and appoynted end wherefore many things oftentimes fall out and happen contrary to their intent and meaning and even their setled counsels are many times broken off and
hindred that they cannot come to their purposed and determined end so the effect and end doth not alwayes answere the purpose and intent of the doer because one thing is intended and an other thing happeneth But God doth now see the future events of things and beholdeth them as if they were present and by his almighty power can direct and bring them to their foreappoynted end and scope against all lets and hinderances whatsoever The event therefore and end is alwayes answerable to his eternall intent and purpose so that that commeth to passe in time which he purposed to himselfe before time The will of God is the precise and absolute necessity of things as Augustine elsewhere speaketh Moreover although the first man could not of himselfe change his will that was created good into evill without the motion of God comming in and concurring with it for in God all things are moved and without him there is no motion yet the fault and crime that was committed by the first man can not nor ought not to be ascribed vnto God for that remayneth onely in the will of man That this may be vnderstood more plainely and distinctly of every man there are two things to be considered in sinne to wit the action and the evill that is annexed and knit vnto the action For the action it selfe as far forth as it is an act and worke is good and God doth begin and finish it but as farre forth as it is wicked and hath evill annexed vnto it it proceedeth and floweth from the corrupt nature of man Moreover although God may produce and performe some worke in the evill actions of men yet God doth nothing but that which is good for in him there is no evill therefore also out of him can proceede no worke but good Seeing therefore that he is wholy good likewise must all his works be good also For the effects are wont to imitate and resemble their causes so that they are such as their causes have been before them So that whomesoever God stirreth vp and moveth he doth it well and right wisely although the creature so moved by him may sinne and so fall from him But man sinned against the expresse commaundement of God in that he freely chose the evill therefore the sinne that was committed by him is to be ascribed properly to his owne will and to be iudged as proceeding from it Therefore although the fall of the first man did proceede of his owne free and voluntary will yet could it by no meanes be done without Gods eternall decree because that onely falleth out which God from everlasting did purpose and foresee But sinne it selfe as it is a thing contrary vnto God did spring from the will of man approoving and committing it Gods heavenly will suffering and permitting it Therefore it may be gathered by the fall of man that the first man was pliant and easy to be inclined on eyther side For such a will was given him that if he would he might have stoode still and remayned innocent but he had no promise nor constancie given him to continue so and therefore did he fall so easily and tooke the fruite that was forbidden by GOD and did eate it Wherefore this change and fall from good to bad was by all meanes necessary for the accomplishment of Gods eternall counsell For by it on the one side there was as it were an open dore and a most fit occasion offered for God to shew his mercy by and on the other side an open gappe and a most iust cause given him to exercise his iustice For as the elect could not have been saved by mercy except they had first sinned and thereby deserved Gods most iust wrath and eternall damnation so likewise the reprobate could not have beene condemned by his iustice except they had beene first subiect vnto iust condemnation by reason of their sinne and falling from God So God on the one side did erect his everlasting iudgement seate and on the other side opened and layde forth the infinite treasures of hys mercy God therefore that he might shew forth his power and his wisedome together with his vnspeakeable goodnes thought it better of evill things to produce good things then to suffer no evill things at all In Enchirid cap. 21. sayth Saint Augustine For what can be better and wiser then hee is who knoweth how to bring forth exceeding great goodnes out of that which is very bad and to convert vnto salvation those things that are ready for destruction For except God could have produced good out of evill he would never have suffered the evill to have beene committed In as much therefore as he hindred not the fall of the first man who shall call him into question and who can or dare accuse him of vnrighteousnes for by permitting that fall he gat a most ample occasion to shew forth his glory by So that the fall of the first man Adam was no lesse necessary then the manifestation and execution of Gods eternall purpose By all this it is manifest that God is such a worker that he is able to fulfill and performe his good will even by the wicked and vngodly wills of men not that the wicked have any purpose to be obedient vnto Gods will but because by the secret working of God and his direction they are drawne vnto it themselves not knowing of it For God by his hidden power as with an invisible cord doth draw the wicked although they know it not to the performance of those ends which themselves never aymed at So the vngodly are directed to an end which themselves know not of by the secret power of God without any purpose or indeavour of theirs like as arrows flye without any feeling vnto the marke to which the Archer directeth them Heere behold and admire Gods provident bounty and favour which disdaineth not for our sake to direct the wandring steps and indeavours of the wicked vnto an wholesome end to turne the greatest hurt into the chiefest health and a desperate evill into good In as much therefore as the wicked sinne and do wickedly it is their owne worke but in as much as they bring to passe this or that by their sinning that is by the power of God sayth Saint Augustine Epist 48. ad l'incentium And although that God and wicked men seeme to do one and the selfesame worke yet the men are faulty and God only iust because in that one thing which they do there is not one cause for which they do it Lib. 21 de Gratia libero Arbitrio sayth Augustine So the wicked do not become good nor are held excused although they do the same things which God would have done because in their actions they have not respect vnto the will of God with a desire to obey it but follow their owne lewd counsels and wicked desires So also God becommeth not evill and vniust but remayneth good and
wicked so that out of them Gods saving good Will cannot be knowne For many abound heere with riches and honour which yet come not to eternall Life Luk 13.19 as we may see in the rich glutton and in many other And it is an other thing to elect in Christ those that were lost to forgive them their sinnes and to draw them vnto Christ by an effectual calling to sanctify them by the power of his spirit and in the end to crowne them with eternall glory This mercy of God is wonderfully and singularly extolled and commended in many places of the Scripture This is erected as an heavenly banner vnto which as to a sanctuary and a most safe haven the elect children of God are called by the glad tidings of the Gospell This excelleth and beareth the prize amongst all the workes of God This breaketh the gates of hell and setteth open heaven doore this is the onely sacred refuge which whosoever layeth hold vpon swimmeth happily out of the waves of every storme and avoydeth the danger of death which otherwise would be at hand and escapeth without making shipwrack of salvation This mercy of God is a most soveraine balme to a dismayed minde which healeth their wounds without any payne To this appertayneth that golden sentence of Augustine whereas he sayth when man prayseth himselfe there is vanity and pride when God prayseth himselfe there is grace and mercy for what he prayseth in himselfe that will he give to them that put their trust in him As often therefore as he prayseth himselfe so often doth he invite and call men vnto his mercy In this mercy of God there are two vertues to be considered The first is that it is by infinite degrees greater then can be in any creature For what kindnesse and mercy soever is in any creature it floweth and issueth only out of this mercy of God as out of the onely living fountayne So that although there be a great and an earnest affection of kindnes in many creatures yet compared with the mercy of God it will scarce be a little part or sparkle thereof Psal 103.11.12 Ephes 3.18.19 For this mercy of God doth not onely farre exceede the capacity of mans mind but is also higher broader and deeper then the whole vniversall world Wherefore although that love which is in parents be a most earnest and tender affection whereby they love and embrace their children as their owne bowels yet that love and goodnes of God is farre above and much exceedeth all the love of men This God himselfe testifieth in Esay Esa 49.15 Although a Mother doe forget her childe yet will I not forget thee but will alwayes be mindfull of thee What compassion soever therefore can be found in man it is farre inferiour to Gods mercy For looke how great God himselfe is so great also is his mercy Therefore like as God in his essence is infinite so likewise is he infinite in mercy for with it the whole earth is filled sayth the Psalmist Psal 33.5 It is given and aplyed vnto all the elect children of God throughout the whole world which could not bee if it were finite and bound vnto one certayne place but seeing that at one time it sheweth forth the saving vertue thereof in divers places it followeth therefore that it is infinite in all places This mercy of God is too basely and meanely esteemed of vs except this prayse be given vnto it as an honour due vnto it That it doth infinitely exceede all the senses of flesh and all the affections eyther of Fathers or Mothers Psal 27.10 This the Psalmist signifieth when he sayth My father and my mother have forsaken me but the Lord hath gathered me vp This therefore is farre above and exceedeth the compassion of all creatures The other vertue of Gods mercy is that it is altogether a free gift that God found in vs nothing at all but most absolute and extreame misery and that he was induced by his owne meere grace and mercy to save vs that he elected man that in himselfe was vtterly a castaway and appoynted him to salvation And that election is the free and vndeserved gift of God it may be proved by many reasons and arguments First because he elected man from everlasting before he was and had neyther done good nor evill Hence it playnely appeareth that in electing man God had no respect of his merites or worthines For if there had beene any merites it should necessarily follow that man should first have beene and have done some good for the effects are not before their causes but after But seeing man was not then when he was elected vnto life therefore also could there then be no worke of his For the causes goe before their effects in the order of nature and in the manner of working and effects can in no wise be produced except the causes first be by whose power and vertue the effects be brought forth Therefore out of this circumstance of eternity it is playnely gathered that election is the free gift of God For I would fayne knowe what man could doe or deserve before the world was made and before his owne creation Therefore whatsoever the Papists dreame of heere concerning godlines and faith foreseene is absurd and false as hereafter shall be declared But that election is free and floweth from the meere favour of God and that it excludeth all the indeavours and workes of men the holy Scripture doth expressely teach in many places For Paule to Timothy sayth 2. Tim. 1 9. Rom. 16.25 Ephes 3.11 that GOD saveth vs not according to our owne workes but according to his owne purpose and grace which was given vnto vs through Christ before the world was Heere Saint Paule for the better cleering and expressing of it setteth downe mans workes and the grace of God as two contraryes opposite one against an other and severeth salvation from mans merites and attributeth it wholy to the grace of God And agayne man take him at the best is so corrupted polluted with sinne that there is no good thing in him which remayned vnspotted vnsteined from sin Therefore whole man is not onely turned away from God and all goodnes but withal is so prone vnto evill in the whole affection of his nature and in all the parts thereof that of himselfe he can bring forth nothing else but sinne and all manner of wickednes that sheweth it selfe even in his least thoughts because man without the grace of God and the benefit of regeneration is so wicked and perverse that he cannot thinke much lesse do any good thing as the holy scripture testifieth and proveth 2. Cor. 3.5 yea he is so farre out of love with goodnes Genes 6.5 that he cannot without offence indure that once it should be mentioned For when some evill is forbidden him of God and the good commanded then doth he set himselfe wholy against it and
rageth and is angry against God and his wicked affections breake forth openly like vnto wilde and vntamed beasts and run out like wilde horses and the more severely that God forbiddeth any evill the more egerly doth miserable man rage and resist it so that a man may sooner wring oyle out of an hard stone then that a man not regenerate should do any good thing that should please God or be avayleable for his salvation Seeing then that man in his whole nature and will is a foe and an enemy to God I see not by what meanes he may deserve life at Gods hands Moreover seeing that man was drenched through sinne in so deepe a pit and bottomlesse gulfe of damnation that he could not vnderstand nor comprehend it therefore also he had perished for ever in it if God by his grace had not plucked him out of it and delivered him through Christ his only begotten Sonne For miserable man is so blinded through sinne that he cannot vnderstand his owne evill much lesse can he cure it Sinne therefore as an vnavoydable destruction lurketh in mans nature as in a deepe pit of hipocrisy and if God had not revealed it in his lawe and withall found a remedy for it in his Gospel man altogether ignorant of his mystery had runne headlong into eternall destruction Againe the least sinne that is in the nature of it is so vgly that it redoundeth to the dishonor of God and deserveth his fierce indignation the greatnes whereof no creature is able to suffer and overcome as a man may see in the Angels that fell and were condemned So that man had for ever perished in his misery if God by the death of his Sonne had not drawne him out of it This vntowardnes of mans nature and backwardnes to all good doth wonderfully set forth Gods mercy and proveth it to be free because God in choosing man being such as he is vnto life doth declare his free bounty and vndeserved mercy Vpon this mercy of God is grounded the hope and consolation of all the faithfull wherefore although they excell in no worthines nor have any merites which they may bring vnto God yet this one thing may be sufficient for them to come to all happines namely that God in his nature is good and mercifull and so far forth good and mercifull as that he would rather help and advance vnto happines miserable men such as were almost past help then those that were of great account and trusted in their owne strength They therefore which trust that God will be their Saviour even for his owne free goodnes sake it necessarily followeth that they have their faith grounded vpon and correspondent vnto the grace of the Gospell But they which trusting in their owne merits thinke that God will be their rewarder have their hope in no wise framed according to the tenor of the Gospell so that they waver in doubtfull and hurtfull perplexities till being at the length overcome they are at the last cast downe and swallowed vp of desperation This therefore is the mutuall and continuall relation betweene a Christian mans faith and Gods free bounty that an humble and prostrate sinner should by fayth lay hold on Gods mercy though he bring nothing else vnto God but a contrite and a broken heart Psa 51.17 for he exacteth this one thing and requireth nothing else Therefore out of this mercy of God miserable sinners may suck this most sweete comfort that by theyr humble and lowly confession and loathing of their sinnes they have Gods exceeding mercy prepared and exhibited vnto them as a certayne and present remedy for all theyr evils Also heere is a thing worthy to be noted that God who of his vndeserved favour did deliver miserable mankinde from so great a mischiefe doth teach and commaund vs by his example that to our power we should helpe those that are in misery Yea and the greater that their misery is the more should every of vs know that we are bound vnto God for to helpe them and if wee do not helpe them as much as we can when neede requireth by that wee shewe our selves to be enemyes and adversaryes to God For they which are wicked against God can not be good towards men And they do indeede declare that they are man-sleyers in the sight of God For if others should forsake them likewise and not helpe them they should decay and perish in their misery and so they are the occasion and cause of theyr death as farre-forth as in them lyeth and therefore are iudged and shall be condemned of God as manifest man-sleyers This the Scripture setteth downe in expresse words saying that iudgement mercilesse shall be to him that sheweth no mercy Heere the wicked and fond fiction of the Papists concerning faith and good works foreseene which they dreame to be the causes of election are confuted as false by playne testimonies of holy scripture CHAP. 12. NOw whatsoever the Papists doe talke of concerning fayth and godlinesse fore-seene is nothing else but a most vayne dreame and foolish fiction For in that they say that God from everlasting knew such or such that they would be good and that they would deserve election by their good workes it is to forge a weake and fond fable about which they may trifle at their pleasure and without feare For God is so the cause and beginning of all good that the least drop of goodnes cannot any where be found of which he is not the onely author and finisher The Papists in this doctrine are confuted by many places of holy scripture and are convinced of manifest vntruth For holynesse and a godly life are the fruites and effects of election For God did elect his from everlasting not because they would be good in themselves and worthy of their election but he elected them being evill that afterwards by his grace they might become good This the Scripture doth testifie in manifest and expresse words when it sayth that God hath chosen vs Ephes 1.4 that wee should be holy and without blame before him through love Heere we may cleerely see that God did not finde such as should be elected good but that being elected of him he maketh them good So that integrity of life and good workes do follow election as the true effects thereof and go not before it as the cause And if good workes should be the cause of election man should have chosen God and God should not have chosen man so salvation should be mans merit and not Gods gift and election should be not because God is mercifull but because man is good and iust Againe the Papists in setting vp workes foreseene as the cause of salvation deny God to be God and make his grace of no account For God alone is good Iam. 1.17 and the only fountaine of goodnes Therefore whosoever thinke that they have the very least good thing in them without God do deny him to be
the selfe-same thing saying that God is gratious Exod. 34.6 Ioel. 2.13 Ionah 4.2 mercifull long-suffering abundant in goodnes and truth so looke how many words are ioyned together for to set forth Gods fatherly love so many mouthes as it were and toongs hath God sounding from heaven by which as with the words of a father our mercifull God inviteth and allureth men vnto his mercy By these so many prayses of Gods mercy we are taught not only that God is the sole fountayne of all goodnes but also this is likewise shewed that we are not so hardly perswaded of any thing as to know and beleeve that God will be gratious and mercifull vnto vs for the praysing of Gods mercy is for the most part a reproofe of mans incredulity The scripture therefore with these prayses of Gods goodnes as with so many wedges doth drive out and expell mans vnbeliefe But the Papists heere do most grievously offend in that they fayne God to be other then indeed he is So that they bewray their owne vnbeliefe and malice in that they attribute and trust more in themselves and their owne workes then in God infinitely mercifull Otherwise they would leave this fable of workes foreseene and rest themselves wholy vpon Gods mercy But they shall surely feele though then too late when God commeth vnto iudgement that they deceive themselves and others by these their fayned and lying workes For he that peevishly resisteth Gods mercy is worthily deprived of it Secondly they doe grossely offend against Gods Iustice because they are not ashamed to bring before God most iust their fayned and defiled works as if they were good perfect as if God were blind wanted iudgement discretion to discerne betweene good and bad betwixt perfect works and vnperfect Surely the Papists in this respect doe like those which take a false cause in hand and yet to make it good they labour to blindfold and corrupt the Iudge with bribes that they might obtayne that by deceyt and bribery which by Iustice and Equitie they could not attayne So the Papistes with their workes fore-seene as with so many rewardes labour to corrupt God and to turne him from the right and draw him to the wrong cause and so doe not onely make God like vnto an vniust Iudge but also much worse For choyce giftes and bountifull rewardes are vsually brought vnto a Iudge that hee may the easier bee corrupted to favour vniust causes But the Papistes bring vnto God not perfect workes but filthy and abominable sinnes For God as wee have sayde before could foresee no good workes but those which he himselfe wrought in man but of these the Papists dispute not in this place We have shewed before that man not partly but wholy take him at the best is corrupted and depraved through sinne Therefore all workes which man of himselfe doth or bringeth forth by his owne proper and native vertue can in no wise be good nor acceptable vnto God For from a corrupt and wicked man can proceede nothing but corrupt and wicked deedes for the effects are vsually like the causes Such therefore as the cause hath beene such effects likewise must needes proceede and follow thereon Therefore as out of an vncleane fountayne there proceedeth an vncleane streame and as from an evill tree there groweth evill fruite so also by a corrupt and wicked man can be wrought nothing but corrupt and wicked deeds and endevours For the effectes can not bee better nor more excellent then their causes So that when the Papistes make such workes the cause of Election doe they not after a sorte turne God into a sinfull man doe they not make him the patrone and allower of wickednesse wherein is seene their Sathanicall blindenesse and divelish madnesse So that out of this Fiction of the Papistes as out of a glasse manifestly appeareth what a terrible and dangerous mischiefe it is lewdly to stray out of the worde of God and to whirle vp and downe in franticke speculations and to fayne and suppose false causes for true Agayne if God from everlasting could have foreseene that very good and perfect workes would proceede from man yet those by no meanes could haue beene sufficient to deserve or get Salvation by For an eternall and infinite life cannot be attayned as a reward for a temporall labour and finite worke because there ought to be a iust proportion betweene the labour and the hyre that according as the labour was so also should the wages be payd So that for a great labour there is vsually allotted and appoynted a great reward But Life eternall and heavenly Glory is a farre greater and more excellent good thing then can bee deserved by mans labour or industrie nay Life eternall doth in the worth greatnesse and excellency of it farre exceede and surpasse the heavens and the whole world nay nothing that is created may iustly be compared vnto it So that as there is no comparison betweene a temporall desert and an eternall benefite so also is there no proportion betweene an infinit good a finite worke Whosoever therefore braggeth of his owne workes let him take heed that he be not punished rather then rewarded Thirdly they offend against the Wisedome of God in that they endevour to shewe an other way to attayne Salvation then hee hath revealed in his word For God will have his Mercy and free Election to bee the onely way and gate into eternall Life That the Scriptures teach manifestly in divers places saying Blessed are all they whose sinnes are forgiven Psal 32.1 Rom. 4.6 7 8. and to whom the Lorde imputeth not sinne But the Papistes preferre theyr good workes fore-seene to bee the cause of Salvation rather then Gods goodnesse So they would erect and set vp their owne righteousnesse which God bestoweth not vpon them by faith neyther hath Christ merited by his Passion Wherefore they do not obey Gods divine wisedom and counsell neyther will they be subiect vnto it which in the ende shall fall out evill for them and turne to theyr destruction For they which despise and cast off Gods counsell doe loose his mercy and are condemned as Augustine sayth in one place Wherefore their wisedome is not onely vayne but also tending to destruction which are wise against God But surely such wisedome speaking properly and according to divinity is not to bee called wisedome but the subtilty of Sathan and craftinesse of wicked men whereby they mocke God delude men For the wisedom of God is so the fountaine and spring of all wisdom that no other living creature can have any greater wisedome then God doth communicate and bestow vpon him Looke therefore howe much wisedome God doth worke and preserve in a man so much wisedome hee hath and better or more wisedome hee cannot have They therefore which will be more wise then God would have them their wisedome commeth not so much of God as of the divell Therefore the superstitious and
morall workes which by their owne worth can make men gratious and acceptable vnto God before they have bin regenerate and grafted into Christ by faith And those merits they call merits ex congruo so called because that as they say by right and equity they deserve some reward which God by right is bound to repay them If this were true why then man belike should not be wholy infected and corrupted with originall sin But man as we have testimonyes in the holy scripture is wholy infected and corrupted with originall sinne Gen. 6.5 Psal 51.7 therefore that idle fiction of the Papists is nothing else but a meere invention of the Devill Surely those works which proceede from any man before his regeneration are every way foule and vgly sinnes to which by right and equity there is no reward else due but onely everlasting torment But it goeth very well and fayrely with vs if God doe not punish them in vs as they deserve Agayne all those workes of men although they seeme fayre and comely in the sight of man yet if they be skanned according to the rule of Gods lawe they will be found to be meere filth and vnsavoury pollution And that as the Starres which although they seeme most bright in the night time yet at the arising and presence of the Sunne they lose their brightnes so likewise those workes of men which in the common view seeme to be right and beautifull shall be manifest iniquity in the sight of God so lawdable sincerity heere shall be greater vncleanenes there and that which heere is approved as great glory shall there be reiected as extreame shame and reproach Farre therefore be from vs these faire-shewing and foule-meaning hipocrites which cover the corruption and wickednes that is wrapped vp in the heart of man with a vayne flourish and fayned maske and by their merits which are worse then extreame filthines doe labour to winne the favour of God and to make him beholding vnto them Surely it is without all doubt that they do provoke God more and more by these their workes seeing that they are execrable sinnes Agayne they doe plucke vpon their heads the more grievous iudgement and do aggravate theyr punishment in that they thinke that theyr workes which are nothing else but damnable sinnes extreamely contrary vnto the lawe and will of God are pleasing vnto God and worthy of his favour for by this meanes as much as in them lyeth they do as it were change God into a Devill and make him the patrone of sinnes to appoynt a reward for them therefore farre be from a Christian mans heart all those workes which are thus farre opposite vnto the will of God and condemned of him as meere offences Then after that God hath begun to renew men by the power of his spirit of evill they become good and that but in part onely for the corruption of nature is but onely restrayned and amended in some sort for as is aforesayd the elect are regenerate but imperfectly in this life therefore they are not wholy good and conformeable vnto the lawe of God wherefore theyr workes also can be good but in part onely and not perfect for there cannot be more in the effect then there is in the cause but whatsoever is in the effect that shall be in the cause much more therefore the workes of the godly are partly good and partly evill They are good as they proceede from the operation and motion of the holy spirit and are agreeable vnto the law of God And they are evill as they proceede from the flesh and vnregenerate part and do decline and stray from the rule and obedience of Gods law By this it manifestly appeareth that no worke of man is so prayse-worthy as Augustine sayth well which is not defiled and stayned with some blemish or other These works deserve nothing at all toward the attainement of salvation because they are imperfect and stray and swarve very farre from the law of God For the law requireth so great perfection as that it condemneth the least thought of the least sinne Agayne vnperfect works according vnto the Canonicall rule which the Lawyers so call are as if they were not done at all for such as the cause is such also must the effect needs be Seeing therefore that the cause is vnperfect the effect must needs follow vnperfect for it were extreame and ridiculous madnes to loke for a perfect and durable worke from an imperfect and transitory cause therefore these workes are proved and convinced to be vnperfect from their cause which is vnperfect so that if a man seeke for a reward by them he shall finde punishment as Saint Augustine saith for man in the least thing is not able to perfourme so much as the lawe requireth therefore he cannot be thought righteous and acquited before God and before his iust iudgement seate by the merit of his owne works Wo therefore vnto the life of men even the most commendable as the same Augustine sayth if it should be iudged according vnto the strict rigor of the lawe without the mercy of God Moreover seeing these good works proceed not from mans strength but do spring the power and grace of the holy spirit man cannot deserve or get any thing by them seeing they be not his owne but the works of God for man doth them not of himself but God doth worke them in him So that to do that which God commandeth to receive those things which he promiseth are both the gift of God and so man had no merits of his owne therefore the free works of God fall not within the compas of mans merit because those works are the effects of the holy ghost and not the deeds of mē proceeding from their own strēgth Therefore the Papists in as much as they hunt for salvation by these works are of all hunters the most vayne for their labours and endeavours are alwayes frustrate and without effect for they shall never attayne vnto that which they seeke for by them and they play the fooles more absurdly then if they should say they were able to strike fire out of the sea Certaynely in this their foole-hardy enterprise they do manifestly tempt God in that they go about to bring to passe things that are infinitely farre greater then their strength will suffer or permit Agayne in that they boast their owne deserts so confidently and boldly it is a manifest signe that they are not regenerate and that they know not themselves at all for by how much the more a man is regenerate by so much the more doth hee see and bewayle his owne sinnes and infirmityes and so findeth and perceiveth by experience that hee can do no good thing without the grace of God Therefore from his heart doth he humble himselfe before God and in the griefe of his heart with much lamenting doth he earnestly pray against those plagues which he hath deserved also he confesseth his
theyr most vayne imaginations but wee for our opinion have the mouth of God himselfe and the whole Scripture as the onely most faythfull teacher Moreover wee separate good workes from iustifying and not from the party iustified but they place them as well in the act of iustifyng as in the person iustified We do this iustly because man can bee iustified by no other meanes nor acquited of his sins but by the onely Acts 4.12 free mercy of God and merit of Christ alone But the Papistes doe vniustly because all and each of those works which they bragge of and the Monckes dreame of are rather an hinderance then a furtherance vnto iustification Therefore those workes which follow a iustified man flow from true fayth are wholy to be embraced and done as farre as mans weakenesse can performe These workes are necessary vnto every Christian because they cannot be separated from true fayth For on whomsoever God doth bestow and inspire fayth by his spirite through the word him also doth hee renew and make willing and fitte for the performance of good workes so that workes doe follow fayth as the effects doe follow the cause And as effects cannot be separated from the cause so neyther can good workes from fayth Here by evident reasons is shewed how great both publike and private commodities doe flow from the studious care of good works And the vnsavory slaunders of the Papists which say that good workes are reiected by the Protestants are refuted CHAP. 32. ANd why these good works should be done the reasons which follow in order will declare Amongst these reasons some appertayne vnto God some vnto our selves some vnto our neighbour Therefore good works ought chiefely to be done for Gods cause for he commandeth that we should depart from evill and doe good Psal 37.29 So that first of all good works are to be done because God will have it so that in this life we should begin our new obedience that is due vnto him and finish it in the life to come We are not left vnto our owne selves to do what seemeth good in our owne eyes but it standeth vs vpon to do his will vnder whose iurisdiction we are Hence it is Ioh. 15.12 that Christ in S. Iohn sayth This is my commandement that yee love one another as I have loved you This therefore is the chiefest end to obey God and his commandements for God is glorified by a godly life and an holy conversation For he that liveth godly honoureth God because hee performeth obedience vnto him and expresseth and resembleth his image and giveth occasion that others may glorifie God also Mat. 5 16. On the contrary they which live a dissolute and an vngodly life do dishonour God for albeit they prayse him with theyr lippes and tongue yet by theyr wicked deeds and vngodly life they speake evill of him though they keepe silence and say not a word Secondly good workes are to bee done for the Gospels sake that it may be beautified and adorned with good manners and vertuous and honest actions Tit. 2.10 For a godly and blamelesse life is an honor and ornament vnto the Gospel So by godly endevours and holy workes it is brought to passe that the doctrine of the Gospel is approved and well spoken of among the adversaries For often it hapneth that they by this meanes are allured to the imbracing of the Gospel Further good works are to be done for the cause of our thankefulnesse for it is a iust and equall thing that we should love and prayse him by whom we are redeemed from the power of sinne and of the divell and of whom we have receyved and dayly do receyve so many benefites which cannot be done without a pure mind an holy life and chast body For an impure and wicked life is rather the dishonouring then praysing of God Agayne as we are iustified by fayth through the grace of God and merit of Christ and freely made heires of the heavenly kingdome so also by a carefull desire of good works we ought dayly and continually to shew manifest our selves to be thankfull vnto God for so great a benefit These are the reasons why good workes are to bee done for Gods sake Now the reasons follow why they are to be done for our owne sake First therefore we ought to do good workes because they are sure and vnfallible signes of our faith For as the tree cannot be knowne what manner of one it is but by the fruites thereof so also is faith knowne by a godly and holy life For although faith hath her secret abiding inwardly in the heart yet there it remayneth not idle but bringeth forth good workes outwardly and sheweth it selfe vnto men So that where honest actions and a godly conversation is and appeareth in the outward worke there must true faith needs be likewise for dissimulation hipocrisy doth not long deceive and keepe itselfe close Therefore in whose minde soever a sincere care and desire to do good dwelleth let him know that he hath true fayth For without fayth there raigneth in man no care nor desire but onely how to sinne On the contrary fayth is exercised and strengthened by good workes 2. Pet. 1.10 so that continually by dayly increase it is augmented and groweth greater Therefore Paul admonisheth Timothy 2. Tim. 1.6 to stirre vp the gift of God that is in him that it might encrease more and more and make larger proceedinges Also it is seemely for a man to adorne and garnish his life and calling with holy and religious manners Therefore the Scripture admonisheth and exhorteth Ephes 4 1. that every one should so walke as beseemeth the Calling wherewith he is called Likewise temporall punishments are often avoyded by good workes For where sinnes are committed and heaped vp with a strong hand there also the iudgements of God against them sleepeth not For that tree which bringeth forth no fruite is wont to be cutte downe Mat. 7.19 and cast into the fire by which saying wee are taught that punishment is an vnseparable companion of an vngodly life For the more securely that man sinneth the more severely God punisheth Lastly by the serious and sincere study of good works the goods both of the body and of the soule are augmented For the more earnestly that a man giveth himselfe vnto godlinesse and striveth vnto integritie the more is his corrupt and sinfull nature amended and hee the more renewed vnto the image of God For this cause the Prophets and Apostles doe so greatly exhort and vrge men vnto all godlinesse and innocency of life Likewise good workes are very profitable and much avayleable to the attaynement of prosperity in this life For God suffereth not that his children should languish and die beeing consumed with want Of which thing there are many testimonies of Scripture extant in divers places wherein hee promiseth many and sundry good turnes
vpholdeth by his mighty Power against all the sleights of Sathan and against the devices and iniuries of his instruments These and such like vnvsuall workes and more then marveilous wonders of God are so cleare and manifest that no man can doubt of them though never so little except hee desire willingly and obstinately to bee blinde and ignorant Now of these things that are spoken here it may clearely and strongly be gathered and prooved that there is Predestination And these things shall suffice concerning the first thing now we must speake something of the second To predestinate therefore is to purpose and determine something with ones selfe that it should have a being before such time that it be or doe any thing and withall it is the setting apart and ordeining of that thing vnto some certayne ende This belongeth not peculiarly onely to God himselfe but also ought to have relation vnto every wise and prudent man which before hee take in hand to bring to passe any thing is wont seriously and advisedly to have some consultation concerning the end for which he will bring that thing to passe But when this is attributed vnto God it is also very large and is extended generally vnto all creatures which God from everlasting by his certaine decree hath ordeined and disposed to this or that vse and ende before they were created But here when we speake of Mankinde and their ende this word of Predestination is to be referred vnto that deepe and hidden Counsell of God by which hee hath from everlasting firmely decreed and appointed what hee would have done with every particular man Further that the nature of Predestination might the more rightly be vnderstood it must be explaned by certayne degrees The first degree therefore of Predestination is That God from euerlasting before the foundations of the world were layd decreed to create Mankinde in true holinesse and righteousnesse according to his owne Image And that this is so the Scripture witnesseth in many places and the event it selfe confirmed it by experience of the deed done The second degree of Predestination is whereby God in his most iust and most wise iudgement determined to permit and suffer that Mankinde should be tempted of the divell and should fall into sinne and eternall destruction Here is inserted a certayne Digression of the Fall of our first Parents which although they consented vnto the Serpents perswasion by their owne proper and voluntary Will and so fell from God yet this their falling away was not altogether without Gods eternall purpose CHAP. 6. AS God from everlasting did fore-see and ordayne all other things so among these this Fall of Mankinde in the person of our first Parents and all other evilles which followed and flowed from thence So that hee was willing to suffer and not to hinder this Fall that it might be done by others and not by himselfe otherwise it had beene even as easie for him to have kept our first Parents from falling as it was to create them For looke how easie it is for him to doe that which he willeth so easie likewise is it for him to hinder that which he willeth not as Saint Augustine sayth Lib. de corrept grat ca. 96. Neyther was it any iniustice in him but altogether iust in that hee did not keepe them from falling but suffered them to bee overcome by the Serpents perswasion and so to fall into eternall Death For God was not bound vnto them that hee should preserve them and keepe them from falling because hee did not promise it Nay God was not bound vnto them to create them according vnto his owne Image because hee is a most free Agent therefore much lesse was hee bound vnto them to save them from falling Yea our first Parents of their owne voluntarie and free-will without any constraynt did treacherously fall away from God and so falling away did infect both themselves and all their posteritie with sinne and made them alliable vnto eternall Destruction But God not vnwillingly but willingly permitted them to fall otherwise if any thing though never so little could be brought to passe God not being willing thereunto then God should not be God Our first Parents therefore in regard of themselves did that which God would not have them but in respect of the omnipotencie of God they could by no meanes doe it Wherefore it is not to be doubted but that God doth righteously in suffring those things which are done wickedly Lib. de corrept grat capit 100. as S. Augustine sayth And although God do suffer this or that evill to be committed and not hinder it yet for all that hee doth not of himselfe bring to passe that evill nor allowe of it But good things which are conformable to his heavenly wisedome those he fore-saw from everlasting and decreed to bring to passe and effect them Therefore God by himselfe is the first cause and the only effecter of these things because that good things spring and flow forth out of the power of his divine Providence as out of the onely fountayne that is never dryed vp But evill things although God also fore-saw them from everlasting and knew that they would come to passe yet hee himselfe neither approoveth them nor furthereth them nor helpeth them nor bringeth them to passe directly but by his iust iudgement suffereth them to bee committed and done by others Therefore God is not to bee counted as the first cause and effecter of them but Sathan himselfe and mans free-will do beginne them and end them So that Sathan and wicked men are the true and proper causes of evill All things therefore whatsoever are done although they be done by Gods Providence from which nothing can be exempted yet some of them are done his Providence effecting them and some of them are done his Providence permitting apoynting and directing them to their proper ends Therefore all evill and wicked deeds whatsoever are committed and done Gods providence not effecting but suffering them because that God decreed not that he would himselfe effect them from everlasting but because he decreed to suffer and not to hinder them to be done of others So that God not vnwillingly but willingly suffered our first parents to sinne They therefore which attribute vnto God a permission which should be contrary to his will they deny him to be omnipotent For he that permitteth any thing to be done which by no meanes he would have done surely he is not of such power as to let and hinder that which he would not have done Therefore what things soever God suffereth to be done he suffereth them willingly for nothing can possibly be done if he be vnwilling or against it Hence it followeth not that God alloweth and approveth sinnes in themselves as they are things simply evill and contrary vnto his will but rather he hateth them with his whole will and nature and except he mercifully pardon them he revengeth and punisheth
scripture for a certaine singular excellency whereby a man may be worthy to be chosen so that he should be called elect which is excellent and singular they I say are the authors of fables and trifle with toyes seeing that every man is esteemed farre otherwise in this civile and earthly court then he is or iudged to be in the court of heaven Moreover no other cause of reprobation can be alleaged or produced out of the scriptures but the iust and vnchangeable will of God for as much as he in that his eternall and secret counsell hath of himselfe and by himselfe adiudged some men vnto eternall death destruction and that before they were and had done any evill For sinne can in no wise be the cause of reprobation For all have sinned and are alike polluted Ephes 2.3 and by nature the children of wrath so that all even every one should have perished if sinne had bin the cause of reprobation Sinne verily is the cause of those things that necessarily follow reprobation of which we shall speake more hereafter Although sinne that is committed of man be in it selfe a iust and efficient cause of damnation yet the cause of reprobation is not to be sought for in man but the first and chiefest cause thereof is even the free and righteous will of God But in as much as the reprobate are damned that they have deserved by their owne sinne this is the iust cause of damnation for if they had not sinned they should not have beene punished For God is every way so iust that he punisheth none except he be inthralled to sinne and most worthy of punishment And now seeing that it is proved by evident testimonies of the scripture that there is praedestination and that the doubtfulnes of the word and divers signification thereof is playnely discussed and that the causes thereof are produced and layd open it remayneth that wee should playnely define what this praedestination is which except it be done those things which follow to be handled cannot be conceaved and vnderstood Praedestination therefore is the eternall free iust and vnchangeable purpose of God by which of his mercy he hath determined to adopt some men for sonnes through Christ and hath appoynted them to eternall life and glory and hath not vouchsafed othersome that grace and favour but hath reiected them by his iust iudgement and appoynted them to eternall death This definition many places of the scripture do deliver and prove Rom. 9.13 Malac. 1.3 but chiefely the example of Iacob and Esau do wonderfully declare it These two although they were bretheren borne of the same parents although they were sinners both alike and by nature the children of wrath yet the wisedome of God did so discerne betweene them that by his free grace he loved and elected one of them and by his iust iudgement hated and reiected the other and that not according to the good or evill workes foreseene eyther of the one or of the other but according vnto his purpose he did choose Iacob Rom. 9.11 and hated Esau and that when as yet neyther of them were borne and had done neyther good nor evill The scriptures have set forth these two persons as it were two opposite and contrary arguments from which it inferreth two generall propositions namely that Almighty God from everlasting before all ages hath so discerned betweene men by his firme and vnchangeable wisedome that some without any merit of theirs should obtayne vndeserved grace and that some should have and vndergoe deserved iustice and due punishment This praedestination is distinguished from providence as a speciall thing from a generall or as a part from the whole seeing that predestination is not so common nor so large as providence For predestination hath his operation and working eyther in the saving or condemning of men although the created spirits namely the Angels may not vnfitly be referred herevnto But providence reacheth further spreading and extending it selfe vnto all the workes of God So that praedestination is as well the iust councell of God in forsaking the reprobate and casting him off into eternall punishment as the voluntary purpose of God in the salvation of the elect to be begun in this life and finished in the life to come Also providence is the eternall counsell of God and such an order and ratified governement in things that are created according to which all things are directed and do fall out to the glory of God and for the profit and salvation of the elect To this his governement even the temptations and sleights of Sathan are held in subiection which are so guided by the most wise God that they still turne to the good of his Saints although his devises are hurtfull in themselves yet God knoweth how to prevent them and to turne them to a contrary event Therefore although the endevours of Sathan are in their owne nature most pernitious yet by Gods direction they become wholesome vnto his children For God is such a workemaister as is able to alter and withdraw the effect from the cause so as the effect by an accident becommeth good and helpfull whose cause was most ill and hurtfull This providence of God although it reach vnto the creation of all things and to the ordering and governement of them yet it chiefely intendeth the counsels and actions of reasonable creatures and is so intentive about them that although they be very much confused and out of order yet it doth most wisely turne and bring them to those ends which from everlasting were foreordayned and appoynted for them So that all those things which God from everlasting by his vnsearchable wisedome did foresee and know before they were those things by his wonderfull and mervailous providence in the instant and moment of time appointed he doth create ordereth them being created maintaineth them being ordered governeth them being mayntayned and in governing them he doth so draw forth the course and line of his providence in this world that nothing can happen or be done in it then that which God from all eternity did fore-ordayne and appoynt All things do so depend and hang vpon this providence and power of God that without it not one action can be done nor one motion be produced in any creature For God is he by whose power and working is brought to passe all in all and that so as without this power and working of God neyther the godly can do that which is good nor the wicked commit that which is evill This providence of God is so ioyned and combined with his foreknowledge that the one of them seemeth as it were to shake hands with the other For what things soever God by this his vnsearchable foreknowledge did from all ages and from everlasting determine to doe those things being created in time he doth by his infinite providence bring vnto those appoynted ends even as he had decreed from everlasting What and how many are the
the only author of all good and so deny him to be God For God cannot be God except he alone be set vp and acknowledged the onely fountayne of all goodnes For what manner of God should he be if not the only author and sole effecter of all goodnes But if the Papists should be vrged somewhat neerer and harder as namely out of what fountayne those works foreseene should slow and have their beginning if they answere from mans nature and free will they are farre deceived and are blinder then the very Moles For mans whole nature with all the parts thereof eyther of soule or body even vnto the least drop of his bloud is so corrupted and defiled with sinne that all his thoughts and whatsoever proceedeth from him any manner of way is only evill Gene. 6.5 and against God So that mans nature after his fall neyther will nor can do any thing else but strive and wrastle against God and that with a continuall and earnest desire This the holy scripture doth not only testify but also experience proveth to be so for men when they are left to themselves do not only not acknowledge their sinne but also thinke that there is nothing in them but that which is good and holy although they have nothing in them but that which is polluted and defiled with much vncleanenes And againe this corruption and vntowardnes of man hath taken so deepe roote in the nature of man as that it cannot be plucked vp by mans power therefore the amendement of mans nature doth farre exceede mans power For the restoring of Gods image is a farre greater and harder worke then the first creation of man And as no man could create himselfe so also could no man by his owne power amend his evill nature nor change his perverse will into good Therefore seeing man in his whole nature is depraved and that he cannot change nor amend his corrupted nature whatsoever the Papists do talke of workes foreseene is not so much theyr owne vayne fiction as the mischievous invention of the Divell Surely God from everlasting did foresee good works and knew them very well but yet no other but such as he himselfe determined to worke and bring forth in man By these good workes man can deserve nothing at Gods hands because they are his gifts and benefits God bestoweth life and salvation vpon man for his owne everlasting goodnes sake and not for any good deedes which he himselfe worketh in his children These good workes are the manifest effects and infallible testimonyes of his mercy By all this it appeareth that the Papists vnderstand nothing rightly nor soundly in the doctrine of Election for to vnderstand a thing rightly is to know it by the true and proper cause thereof But they know not Election by the true and proper cause thereof Therefore they vnderstand not Election at all or if they vnderstand it of meere malice they hide it and will not manifest it Wherefore the Papists do wander amisse beside their purpose and talke of a thing they know not much more ridiculously and foolishly then if a Shepheard or a Neate-heard should out of Astrology describe the rising and the setting of the Starres or out of Geometry measure out all the scituations and distances of places without the knowledge of eyther science Therefore the Papists when they refuse Gods free bounty as the first and proper cause of salvation and substitute faith fore-seene as a false and fayned cause thereof they runne into a grosse fallacy from that which is no cause as if it were a cause and so fall into a dangerous error And this fallacy is committed as often as for a true and naturall cause of some thing there is assumed that which is no cause of it as the Papists do heere in imagining and bringing forth good workes fore-seene as the cause of election whenas those good workes are not apt nor fit to bring forth salvation For those good workes which they dreame of neyther are nor can be produced or shewed in that sort as they do imagine Therefore they doe not onely bring a false cause but that which is no cause at all A false cause is that which is not fit to effect that for which it was purposed but is the cause of some other thing and so when in place and time convenient it is applyed vnto a thing that agreeth with the nature and quality thereof it may bring forth some-what But no cause is that which can bring forth nothing because it selfe is nothing For those good workes foreseene which the Papists so bragge of and build election vpon are not at all neyther indeede can be as is shewed before and to expect something from that which is nothing is extreame and ridiculous madnesse by which they mocke God and deceive men But seeing they fayne that to be the cause of salvation which is not at all nor can be they intangle themselves in a manifest contradiction and make themselves a laughing stock for very children But if GOD infinitely good and wise had not found out and shewed vs a better cause and way to salvation then the Papists have woe had it beene vnto mankinde Therefore farre be from vs that dreame of the Papists as the palpable invention of the Devill and most manifest breake-necke of mans Salvation because it derogateth from the grace of God and vndermineth and subverteth the Gospell for the foundation of it And let all the godly reverence and adore the mercy and goodnes of God which the scripture every where setteth downe for the onely and most true cause of salvation Also mans purpose when once it beginneth to bee good is holpen indeede by the grace of God But heere wee must diligently marke and observe that this purpose of man could not be good if the grace of God had not gone before and made it good Col. 1.21 2. Cor. 3.5 Gen. 6.5 Ephe. 1.18 Eze. 36.26 1. Ioh. 5.20 Luk. 24.45 For the whole nature and minde of man in himselfe and in his owne nature is onely bent vnto evill so that hee cannot have the least thought vnto any goodnes and so mans purpose is alwayes evill in it selfe but then it beginneth to bee good when God enlightneth his minde by the power of his spirit and changeth and renueth his will Furthermore it is GOD onely that of vnwilling maketh willing and of a stiffe-necked man maketh him more tractable and milde This hee teacheth by the Apostle to the Philippians Phili. 2.13 where he sayth it is God which worketh in you both the will and the deede even of his good pleasure Heere Paule sheweth that man by his owne power is not fit eyther to begin or finish any good worke but that all the power both of willing and doing good proceedeth from Gods onely free mercy because hee of an evill will maketh a good will and turneth and inclineth vnto good mans heart which is most proane vnto evill
best reiected For there are many good men found which want those outward things and many times they are wicked which overflow and abound with them Therefore that obiection of the accepting of persons is not simple but doth comprehend many evils vnder it by which Sathan on the one side doth with mayne force push at the glory of God and on the other side doth openly set himselfe against the salvation of mankind and laboureth to overthrow and hinder it For salvation cannot be obteyned if the true cause of salvation be not vnderstoode and knowne for nothing can be brought forth by any thing else but by his owne proper and true cause But if this obiection should take place salvation should be transported from the true cause thereof vnto a false cause and so be in ieoperdy of losing Moreover God when he elected vs did call vs as it were from nothing For there was no good thing in our nature which could be acceptable and approved vnto him therefore of his free goodnes and mercy he decreed to adopt vs for children by election By all these things it evidently appeareth and is sufficiently proved that God hath absolute power and free will in the electing and reprobating of men For God is bereft of the chiefest part of his honor and glory vnlesse this authority be granted him over men to be the only iudge and disposer of life and death eternal Although God from everlasting hath in his iust iudgement cast away the reprobates from all hope of salvation yet they are condemned for nothing but for their owne sinnes and misdeedes so that they cannot complayne but of their owne deservings CHAP. 19. ELeventhly this decree of Predestination is a iust decree For God in his works is not onely most free but also in the same is most iust and vpright Therefore whatsoever he willeth and doeth he willeth and doeth iustly In as much therefore as he hath reprobated some men and appoynted them to eternall damnation he hath reprobated and decreed to condemne them iustly But that this question may the more cleerely be discussed and the better vnderstoode we must note two things First that God in his nature is iust Secondly that over and besides his nature he willeth and doeth nothing in his workes but that which is iust Moreover God is so iust in his nature as that his iustice is not any accidentall quality which is gotten and attayned by such or such actions or which sometimes admitteth augmentation and sometimes diminution but it is an essentiall propriety in God which cannot be absent from God except he cease to be God So that iustice most properly agreeth vnto God for he is iust indeede properly and so iust that not the least part of iustice can be found to be which proceedeth and commeth not from Gods iustice Therefore the creatures have so much iustice and vprightnes as it pleaseth God to instill and powre into them So that Gods iustice is the fountayne and welspring of all other iustice Certaynely God in his nature and will is so iust that no vniust thing can not onely be found in him but withall likewise he can endure no iniquity in his creatures For the will of God is not onely iust continually but also it is the onely imitable measure and rule of all other righteousnes and that so that no other things can be eyther iust or vniust but those which GOD shall pronounce iust or vniust Therefore whatsoever he shall iudge vniust cannot in any wise be iust and on the contrary those things which he shall esteeme as iust no man ought to thinke vniust Therefore seeing that GOD both in his nature and in his will is exceeding iust it followeth that all things which hee willeth and doeth must needes bee iust For as every cause doth bring forth his effect so also that effect doth declare of what sort the cause is For as the essence of the effect proceedeth from the cause so in like manner the knowledge of the cause is by his effect For such as the cause was such also must the effect needes follow therefore from a iust cause there must needes proceede iust effects wherefore in that that God hath reprobated many men and reiected them from his grace he hath reprobated them and reiected them iustly For all the works of God are iust as the scripture sayth but reprobation is a worke of God therefore it must needes be iust For who would deny that to be in the * Species particular kinde which is in the )( Genus generall or who would say that the nature of the causes is not in the effects This iustice or righteousnes of God is altogether incomprehensible and stretcheth and enlargeth it selfe as farre as the very nature and essence of God doth Therefore God can deliberate and do many and infinite things farre above the capacity of man and that most vprightly although they seeme to be otherwise in the wisedome of man Therefore howsoever God from everlasting hath appoynted certayne men to eternall perdition before they were created or had done any evill yet for all this he cannot be convinced of any iniustice because that he hath free power over all things and a iust will in all things so that he may iustly do in all his creatures whatsoever he doth or will do Therefore in that he hath appoynted some men vnto everlasting destruction hee hath done iustly for hee is a most free agent Therefore though he take pity vpon some and reiect others though he regenerate some and harden others though he save some and destroy others yet these and such like works are the iust works of God which he may do freely Is it not lawfull forme sayth that Lord of the Vineyard in the Parable Mat. 20.15 to do what I will with mine owne Therefore those works as they are done of God are iust and good works but if the same works or the like to these should be done of man they were vniust and great offences because they would be manifestly repugnant contrary to the law of God For the law commandeth that men should love others as themselves and that they should at all times and by all meanes and dutyes that they can save and defend them and not destroy them So that God gave a law vnto men to love and save others but he gave not that law to himselfe for he may iustly hate them whom men by the law are commanded to love Therefore God is iust at all times and in every place although some things which he willeth and doeth seeme very vniust vnto flesh and the wisedome of man For what can seeme more vnrighteous or vniust vnto flesh then to condemne a man vnto eternall destruction before he hath done any evill when as notwithstanding it is the iust worke of God which is therefore iust because it is Gods will This worke and decree of reprobation in the iudgement of man seemeth contrary
iustification and salvation that without it God will not be mercifull and favourable no not to any one They therefore which do behold this victory of Christ with a true faith have wherewith they may fortifie themselves against the assaults of Sathan they have whereby they may set light by his sleights and subtilties they have wherein they may place their faith and hope in Christ alone and in his merit onely In this iustification howbeit we are iustified and acquitted of our sinnes by the onely merit of Christ yet there is no let but that the three holy and inseparable persons of the Trinity may have and execute their severall actions in it For the Father is therefore sayd to iustifie vs because that of his owne meere grace and free love 1. Pet. 1.20 Gal. 4.4 he hath from everlasting fore-appoynted his onely begotten Sonne to redeeme vs and sent him at the time appoynted The Sonne is therefore sayd to iustifie vs because that for his incomprehensible and vnspeakeable goodnes sake towards vs vouchsafing by the power of the holy ghost to take mans nature vpon him he was obediēt vnto his Father even vnto the death of the crosse Phil. 2. and so satisfied the iustice of God for vs and delivered vs from all the power of the Devill by making amends for our sinnes The Holy Ghost also is sayd to iustifie vs as farre forth as he doth beget in vs true and stedfast faith by which we may apprehend and apply vnto our selves the righteousenes that is purchased by the obedience of the death of Christ Therefore this free remission of sinnes is the onely very fourme of iustification by which iustification is that which it is and is distinguished from all other false and fained satisfactions and sacrifices of which sort the Papists doe invent many and offer them vnto God And the finall cause of iustification is the prayse and glory of Gods goodnes and the everlasting happines and excellent blessed estate of those which are thus iustified Now there was nothing else which moved God to iustifie vs but his owne love towards vs and the obedience of Christ and our misery But the instrumentall cause is a true and a lively faith laying hold on and applying to it selfe the obedience of Christ and righteousnes purchased thereby and relying with a good conscience vpon the sole mercy of God and the onely merit of Christ This iustification is then avayleable and acceptable vnto vs whenas every of vs doth stand as guilty before the heavenly iudge and being carefull of his acquitall doth of his owne accord humble and prostrate himselfe as vnworthy And this is profitably done when a man doth seriously weigh and consider with himselfe the perfection and severity of Gods iustice on the one side and the multitude and greatnes of his sinnes on the other side For by such a consideration hee is seriously humbled with the feeling of his misery and rightly prepared to desire and embrace the mercy of Christ So that by how much the more every of vs shall be severe in condemning himselfe by so much shall we finde God more mercifull and more easy to be intreated for then will a man be capable of the grace of God and benefite of Christ when hee shall knowe himselfe and his whole nature to bee full of vncleanenes and filthines and shall condemne it For he which iudgeth himselfe vnworthy of the grace of God as one sayth him doth God receyve into favour and maketh him worthy through Christ But they which swell and are filled with the opinion of their owne righteousnes and hunger not after the righteousnes of God they perish in their miseries and never come vnto true righteousenes Againe they which being hardned with the custome of sinning and drunken with the delight of their vices do extenuate their faults and securely despise the iudgement of God they shut vp from themselves the gate of mercy What manner of thing Iustification is where are set forth the three proprieties thereof namely that it is free perfect and everlasting and withall there is refuted the opinion of the Papists concerning the merit of works being contrary to the first propriety CHAP. 27. NOw we must lay open what manner of thing iustification is and the quality thereof consisteth especially in three things first that it is free for the remission of sinnes is not for any merits of man but it is a meere grace and an vndeserved mercy promised for Christ his sake alone For God findeth nothing in a man whom he iustifieth but an horrible sinke of sinne and extreame misery The scripture every where affirmeth that Christ only is the author of all grace and the whole hope of our salvation consisteth in the bloud of Christ alone Without the merit of Christ there can be no iustification for he alone hath deserved righteousenes for vs and having deserved it he giveth and imputeth it vnto vs. They therefore which desire to be righteous without the merit of Christ are altogether without God and prophane And they which dreame that they are iustified partly by grace and partly by merit are Pelagians or Papists the followers of their heresie but they which beleeve that they are iustified by the onely merit of Christ are true Christians These by beleeving and receiving the righteousnes of Christ purchased by his death as the righteousnes of an other are iustified indeede but they which by theyr workes and merits do affect theyr owne righteousnes shall never attayne vnto it The Papists therefore have forged a certaine kinde of merit which is weake of it selfe but when it is dipped in the bloud of Christ it is effectuall and forcible and so they say that a man is partly iustified by grace and partly by workes But this cannot be because that grace and merit are two manifest contraryes from which one and the selfe same thing cannot be brought forth For this is the nature and rule of contraryes that from contrary causes contrary effects proceede likewise Moreover wee are all debtors for wee are obliged and bound vnto God so that he may iustly challenge as his due whatsoever good thing can proceede or be perfourmed of vs. Now that which may be demaunded of vs as duty that can not merit But Christ sayth that what good thing soever we do or can do Luk. 17.10 all that how much soever it be is our duty wherefore there is no merit at all Agayne the cause of iustification to wit eternall election in Christ is free therefore likewise iustification it selfe must needes be free for there cannot be more in the effect then there is in the cause thereof Therefore the Papists whilest that they dreame of any merit in vs they do commit a manifest fallacy from that which is no cause as if it were a cause for they remove the merit of Christ which is the perfect and true cause of iustification and set in the roome thereof the merit
our selves and the truth is not in vs. These testimonies of scripture teach vs that not one liveth heere which is not a sinner So S. Austine sayth in an other place most fitly to this purpose Wo vnto the life of men although most holy if it be examined iudged without Gods mercy But surely although regeneration be heere but onely begun and be vnperfect yet for all that it is not vnprofitable but is very commodious vnto the elect for from thence a most sure and evident token of their election and salvation is ministred vnto them But of this matter shall be spoken more largely and purposely in the end of this treatise Regeneration hath also this commodity which is very great for when men are regenerate they are not onely delivered from the most miserable slavery of sinne and tyrany of the Devill but also are made partakers of the life of God for then are they truly grafted into Christ and Christ is ioyned vnto them agayne so that they are made one with Christ by the spirit and Christ is made one with them Also Christ then liveth in them savingly and raigneth effectually so that he giveth and bestoweth vpon them life everlasting for whom he once hath begun to renew those he never forsaketh for he leaveth not this holy and chiefe worke of all his works as it were broken of Psa 138.8 but bringeth it vnto the end and accomplishment thereof Mala. 3.6 therefore it cannot be made voyd because God doth not change his nature nor disroabe himselfe of that goodnes wherewith he is endued In this goodnes of God the salvation of the godly is grounded and setled so that what the elect have once layd hold on by a stedfast faith that doth God never take from them for the gifts and calling of God are such as are without repentance for which cause Paul sayth playnely boldly Rom. 11.29 that God would performe that which he had begun in the Philippians Phil. 1.6 and bring it vnto the last end and perfection vntill at the last after their happy resurrection their vile bodies be fashioned vnto the glorious body of Christ So this regeneration is the neere fellowship and strong band of Christ and the regenerate And where this grace is effectuall there eternall salvation and life and happines everlasting followeth and ensueth for the old man with the concupiscences perisheth and is abolished 2. Cor. 4.16 but the new man is renued and fashioned vnto the image of God This grace therefore bringeth with it a double benefit for on the one side the strength and body of sinne is weakened and decayed and on the other side our lost righteousnes is repayred and the image of God restored so that we proceede from the abolishing and putting away of the one vnto the restoring of the other as from one contrary vnto an other Therefore regeneration is the onely remedy of the grace of God by which the corruption of nature is heere after a sort restrayned and amended which renewing of nature shall be wholy perfected in the world to come for then shall we necessarily love that which is good with a perfect liking and necessarily hate that which is evill with a perfect hatred Furthermore we must note heere and diligently observe that this power of renewing is in God by nature and is changed by no outward cause or mutable occasion whatsoever and therefore is as sure and certayne as God himselfe in his essence is everlasting for God is as constant in his promises as he is vnchangeable in his essence So that seeing he is alwayes the same and continually as good as his word and ever remayneth like himselfe therefore also doth he truly and indeed perfourme and fulfill those things which he hath promised in his word for the promise of God is sure because that grace whence it dependeth and springeth is sure and grace is onely of that which is both by word promised and indeed perfourmed freely and mercifully without any expectation of reward They therefore which doubt of the promise of God and the accomplishment thereof they do rather by deedes then words accuse and argue God of vnconstancy and falsehood therefore the distrust of the good and favourable will of God and of the perfourmance of things promised is without doubt a very great sinne for God by his almighty power doth begin continue and end this his worke of regeneration wherein it consisteth and is grounded therefore this worke can no more be broken off and fall to the ground then God can of any man be vanquished and overcome The workes and obedience of the godly howsoever they be imperfect and interlaced with divers blemishes yet God in that his fatherly goodnes loveth and accepteth them Then some things are propounded and dilated somewhat largely and plainely concerning the meaning and true vse of good works that the Papists errour might be the more evident in any mans sight CHAP. 30. FVrthermore seeing this regeneration is in this life maymed and imperfect hence it followeth necessarily and infallibly that all good works also which proceede out of it as streames out of a fountayne are maymed and imperfect for such as the cause is such an effect likewise vsually followeth Therefore seeing those workes are vnperfect they can deserve nothing as due debt for to the producing and effecting of any thing there is required necessarily sound and sufficient causes for maymed and mangled causes have never brought forth any thing for imperfect causes are esteemed as no causes And although the workes of the godly be interlaced and stayned with many blemishes and imperfections yet they are pleasing and acceptable vnto God because in them he acknowledgeth the image of his spirit which maketh the persons whence those works proceed acceptable vnto God and mixeth a good quality among their good workes in which being dipped as in an heavenly and spirituall perfume God doth approve and accept them God in his fatherly compassion doth pardon the staynes and defects of good workes so that the works when the corruption of them is abolished and wiped away are accounted iust and righteous and the satisfaction of Christ is imputed vnto them for righteousnes like as it is to the persons from whom they doe proceede therefore as he doth by his favour love and iustify his Saincts vnto death for the righteousnes of the most perfect man consisteth alwayes in faith and the dayly forgivenes of sinnes so also with the same favour doth he love and iustify their workes that is to say he blotteth out and wipeth away the faults which remayne in them in this life and imputeth righteousnes vnto them As therefore the Moone doth borrow and take her light of the Sunne so also faith iustifieth the works of the faithfull and maketh them have a good savour therefore faith getteth the reward and name of righteousnes both vnto the works and also vnto the persons So that although those works
in themselves and in respect of themselves be infected and stayned with many faults and blemishes yet in respect of God which wipeth away all those blemishes they are holy and righteous and so their righteousnes doth much more consist in the forgivenes of sinnes then in the perfection of vertue and good works as Augustine in one place sayth very well The Scripture in some places compareth this favour of God vnto the compassion which a father hath toward his sonne for fathers do so love their children that albeit they see such or such blemishes in their bodyes they do not yet thrust or drive them out of doores yea rather if they have children that are lame or tender eyed or otherwise marked or misshapen by any other blemish their fatherly love and naturall affections are sturred vp breake forth so much the more vnto pity compassion of them and they do not only not cease to love them but also they are much more carefull for their health welfare then for others which are not so diseased So also God the most mercifull Father of all fathers doth pardon our faults when he hath adopted vs for his children therefore he will neyther drive vs out of dores though we be vnperfect nor cast our workes out of his sight though they be staynd with many spots Hence is it that the scripture sayth in playne words Though the righteous fall that is Psal 37.24 though he sinne thus or thus yet he shall not be cast off Let the godly therefore remember though they stumble and fall this way or that way that God remembreth and will not forsake his worke so that God will finish the beginning of salvation which he hath begun to worke in them Phil. 1.6 because God loveth and accepteth both them and their workes Therefore although God doe punish the sinnes and transgressions of his children by sundry wayes and divers afflictions yet doth hee not execute revenge vpon them in that extremity as hee doth vpon the reprobates but vseth towards them a fatherly and milde chastisement as a most wholesome medicine whereof there is a most comfortable promise Psalme 89. verse 31. and so forward Furthermore seeing the workes of the godly are vnperfect theyr obedience also which they perfourme and yeeld vnto God must needs be vnperfect But although it be such yet God not for any inward merit and worthines of it but for his owne grace and mercyes sake doth no lesse approve and accept it then if it were altogether perfect and absolute in every poynt As a father is contented with any indeavour of his sonne and requireth not of him an exact perfection of worke so that hee see him obedient and dutifull from his heart so God also doth not reiect the earnest and sincere study and endeavour of obedience in his children but God doth approve it as perfect because he esteemeth an obedient will as a worke done for that cause hee doth accept and like of any care of obedience so that it be sincere and proceede from the heart And albeit that care be defective and vnperfect which in it selfe deserveth rather to be reiected then favoured yet God doth behold it with a mercifull countenance and fatherly love This condition and circumstance the Prophet Malachy setteth downe in playne words Mal. 3.17 saying They shall be vnto me sayth the Lord in that day for a flock and I will spare them as a man spareth his owne sonne that serveth him As therefore a father doth not require full and perfect obedience of his sonne so likewise God doth not demaund exact and perfect obedience of his children but is content with such as they for the measure of humane fraylety are able to perfourme therefore whatsoever God promiseth vnto the keepers of his lawe that he will give them This do the regenerate and godly obtayne and come vnto not that theyr workes deserve this in theyr worth and excellency but because the infinitenes of Gods goodnes and mercy hath so disposed and appoynted it To conclude although the works and obedience of the godly be imperfect and cannot merit salvation yet for all that they are not vnprofitable nor to be left vndone for they may be profitable for other ends many of which are ordeyned for one thing Heere therefore I suppose it very fit and not vnprofitable if I speake somewhat largely and playnely concerning good workes and that for the Papists sake who doe wholy corrupt and quite overthrow the vse of these workes as also of all the scripture beside But that these things beeing conteyned in a briefe summary and set downe in a playne method may the more orderly be handled of me and the more easily be vnderstood of the reader these three things ought to be considered as markes set before vs. First what and what manner of workes there be in this life and whether the grace of God may be attayned and gotten by them or no. Secondly seeing that life everlasting is by all meanes the meere and free gift of God why the scripture in many places doth promise a reward and ascribe salvation vnto them Thirdly why good workes are to be done seeing salvation is by no meanes attayned by them That the first may rightly be vnderstood we must know that the works of man by reason of his divers condition are diversly to be considered for we must iudge of the effect by the nature and condition of the cause If therefore there be a diversity found in the cause it ought likewise to be considered in the effect for one and the selfesame thing cannot be spoken and affirmed of divers matters and of vnlike things the iudgement must likewise be vnlike Therefore man as touching his nature is wicked and vntoward yea and so wicked that he is extreamely contrary vnto God and his will so that his workes also before regeneration must needs be evill For from an evill cause there can proceede and be expected nothing but an evill effect because the effect differeth not from the cause so that these workes are worthily reiected of God as worthy of eternall death and the punishment thereof and beeing so reiected are most iustly condemned because they are extreamely contrary vnto the will of God Thus man and his workes are so contrary vnto the lawe of God as that there can bee nothing more extreamely contrary How then can man perfourme any thing in this estate of corruption and iniquity which may be approved or acceptable vnto God when as man in the corruption of his nature and in all his thoughts and actions is an enemy vnto God how can he deserve any thing at Gods hands Therefore as man in this estate is wholy corrupt and evill so likewise doth he bring forth evill and corrupt workes by which he can deserve nothing else of God but eternall death But heere the Papists with all their wit are out of the way in that they fayne that there are certayne
rewards vnto the religious worshippers of him Of which we may reade Moses his bookes Deut. 28. Surely such like promises are like so many heavenly spurs by which all and every one is pricked on to the doing of good as if the Prophets and Apostles should collect conclude thus 1. Tim. 4.6 Whatsoever things have the promises of this life and of that which is to come they ought to be thought vpon and to be done above all things But the works of godlinesse have the promises of this life and that which is to come therefore those works above all things ought to be thought vpon and done In this world God giveth vnto the godly some taste of his goodnesse in temporal blessings that by such a taste hee might allure and whet them on more and more vnto the desire of heavenly things S. Paul having respect vnto this 1. Tim. 4.8 writeth vnto Timothy that godlinesse is profitable vnto all things and hath the promises of this life and the life to come By this saying he doth stirre vp all the godly vnto true and sincere religion for the great goodnes sake of God in as much as God suffereth nothing to be wanting vnto them which love the wayes of God Therefore Paul setteth downe godlines alone to be the beginning accomplishment of an happy and prosperous life as if he should say whosoever attaineth vnto true godlinesse indeed possesseth God himselfe and all good things do attend vpon him and the Scripture requireth nothing els at his hands Seeing therefore that faith is nourished by good works that the holy spirit is cherished in man and that God is mooved stirred vp vnto a larger measure of liberality every man should dayly take heed that the transitory things of this world do not hinder the study and course of godlinesse So the godly and holy men by giving themselves dayly vnto good works Phil. 2.15 and by serving God faythfully are the lights of the world For on the one side by the good works that they doe they doe set forth and further the glory of God and doe adorne his Gospell and enlarge it vnto others on the other side they doe mutually edifie and benefite both themselves and others together with them Therefore good workes are precious oyntments which send forth their savour farre and wide vnto others and doe allure them vnto it by the pleasant odour whose wounds it cureth and healeth like balme and thus much of this matter Now wee must briefely runne over the reasons why good workes are to be done Phil. 2.4 for our neighbours sake A Christian man ought not only to thinke on and be carefull of those things that are his owne but also on those thinges which doe concerne his neighbour For what good thing soever a man receyveth of God hee ought not to suppresse and conceale them in his owne power as if he might enioy them alone but is bound to stretch and enlarge them further to the benefiting of others And so he should endevour himselfe to be profitable vnto his neighbour not onely by good counsell and other temporall commodity but much rather by a good and godly example of life that he may eyther be more furthered and edified in true fayth or converted vnto the fayth and continued therein For this often is effected by a godly life and an honest conversation that men which are altogether enemies of the Gospel are converted vnto the love and liking thereof So that the very infidels by a godly speech or by one good worke and holy example or other are gayned to Christ and do attayne salvation Agayne good works ought to be done lest others beeing offended with such or such faults should start backe from the love of the Gospel or should bee discouraged from embracing it for they thinke that the Gospell is such as their manners are which professe it for the world is wont to measure all religion by the manners of men If then the professours of the Gospell be holy and without blame then do they commend and prayse the Gospell it selfe But if they live wickedly after this or that sort theyr mindes are changed and they dissallow and reiect the Gospell which certaynely ought not to be so For the Gospell doth not depend vpon this or that event or vpon any manners of men but vpon God himself and hath authority from it owne nature so that the Gospell is holy and remayneth true yea though the whole world should abandon it selfe vnto the committing of all manner of wickednes and should with one consent condemne the whole worship of God together with the Gospell vnto hell and vtter darkenes notwithstanding they which live wickedly and dissolutely are infectious and bring assured destruction both to themselves and others So a wicked and prophane life is nothing else but a shame and reproach of true religion and of the Gospell and not only so but also it giveth matter and occasion vnto others to skorne and eschew the Gospell For they which professe and embrace that have after a sort the name of God engraven in their foreheads As often therefore as they do wickedly so often do they by their vncleanenes disgrace the very face of God and make his blessed Gospell a reproach and laughingstock vnto others And all they worke wickednes and live vngodly Rom. 2.24 not onely which commit evill and things that are forbidden of God but also which neglect good and things commaunded by God both which God hath decreed to punish For the Lord sayth in Mathew I thirsted Mat. 25.35 and yee gave me not to drinke and so forth These are the chiefest ends for which good works are to be done for all they are so necessary for a man of a ripe age Mat. 25.42 that without them not one can enter into eternall life not that they are the causes of salvation for of it there is not neyther can be any other cause but the merit of Christ alone and Gods onely goodnes Agayne men are reconciled vnto God and iustifyed before they have done any good workes for first theyr sinnes are forgiven and pardoned them Secondly the Holy Ghost by which they are renewed vnto a new life and to the doing of good workes is given vnto them So that in the order of nature iustification doth goe before the renewing of man and the perfourming of good workes Therefore the Papists which seeke for iustification by good workes doe make a cause of the effect and change the cause into the effect But good workes are necessary vnto men of ripe age as certayne meanes without which men cannot attayne vnto salvation for God doth acquite and iustifie man freely but he will not have man to abuse his grace by vngodly living Ephes 2.10 therefore he hath ordeyned good workes for men that they should walke in them Agayne in the last iudgement of the whole world he will pronounce eyther the sentence of
the onely strong anchor which fastneth and preserveth the ship of Christian fayth in the heavenly Sanctuary as in an haven most sure from all the dangers of stormes agaynst all the rage of hell and the turbulent motions of the world So that no floods nor no tempests can arise and swell so great as by which this anchor may be loosed and the ship broken and drowned Also this Chayne is as a strong engine to destroy all the loftinesse of men which doth arrogate any thing as proper vnto it selfe and it is as a sharpe sword to stabbe and quell theyr presumption and pride which doth extoll and lift vp it selfe more then it should Lastly it is as a long and golden line which stretcheth it selfe from one part of the heaven vnto an other that every of the Elect wheresoever may lay sure holde vpon it and very well apply it vnto themselves Therefore as is sayde before in a word or two he that desireth to profit in the knowledge of this Chayne and to confirme himselfe in it fruitfully must above all things take heede that he begin not at the highest cause of Predestination that lieth hidden in the counsell of God but that hee ascend by little and little as it were by degrees from the last effects thereof vnto the first cause so that he begin at regeneration from thence that hee goe to iustification from thence vnto true faith from that vnto vocation from this vnto eternall election from that let him passe and ascend vnto the gratious will of God that effecteth all these things There must hee settle and ground the anchor of his fayth But God beginneth a contrary way in descending vnto vs For hee beginneth at the first cause and proceedeth through meanes vnto the last effect vntill he bring and draw vs vnto himselfe Of the effects of reprobation which are contrary vnto the effects of Election Also what benefites of God the Elect and reprobates have common and what not And that the iudgement of God concerning both is stedfast and eternall CHAP. 38. NOw the effects of Election being set down and declared the effects of reprobation are briefely to be set forth For the effects of Election cannot rightly bee vnderstood vnlesse the opposite effects of reprobation be likewise weighed and considered that so one contrary may be more illustrated and made more playne by an other Now certaine effects are common vnto the reprobate with the Elect as namely Creation and other both many and great temporall blessings and helpes of this life as food and apparel and the rest of the blessings of this life which belong rather to the body then the soule But of those blessings that belong vnto Salvation the reason is farre otherwise they are in a continuall opposition and contrariety For the Elect are called vnto Christ by grace the reprobate are deprived of that grace whereas the Elect are inlightned conuerted vnto God there the reprobate are blinded and hardened whereas these hate sinne and depart from it there they give themselves over vnto it and continue in it where these are raysed vp vnto heavenly glory and are indued with everlasting life there they arise vnto iudgement and are cast into everlasting torment So that the reprobates remayne hardened in their sinnes and strangers from God Therefore by these notes and infallible tokens God doth poynt at as it were with his finger what manner of iudgement is prepared for them and doth distinguish them from his children whom hee hath begotten agayne This is in a generallitie true of all but it is a dangerous thing to conclude this of any one in particular For many of the Elect beeing oftentimes indued with fayth even in the agony of death are converted vnto Christ in the last gaspe of life Both these come to passe thus God so willing and disposing them hee bringeth some vnto repentance through his compassionate goodnesse and bringeth not others according to his iust iudgement that in the one we may perceive his vndeserved grace in the other his iust iudgement and theyr deserved punishment as Augustine sayth In Epist ad Sixtum This condition on both sides is stedfast For God is eternall so likewise the decrees of Election and reprobation are everlasting and vnchangeable therefore none of the Elect shall perish neyther shall any of the reprobates be saved Let no man hence take occasion to live licentiously because the condition of both is vnchangeable for that Predestination is a cause to every man why hee should stand fast Tom. 7.1244 but vnto none a cause why he should fall sayth Augustine These things come necessarily to passe on both sides God so disposing the matter and cannot happen otherwise because no other efficient cause can bee found in them but onely the free and righteous will of God For there is nothing without God which may moove him to this or that thing So that God willeth a thing and directeth it vnto the end because it so pleaseth and seemeth good vnto him So he alone and none other is the onely cause of his will for none can prescribe any thing vnto him because no man is superior or equal vnto him Therefore in as much as he saveth some by grace and condemneth others in iustice wee ought to seeke no other cause hereof but onely his determinate will and absolute good pleasure And that hee hath ordayned certayne vnto destruction it is as certayne as God himselfe is God For if he were willing simply and absolutely to save all and every one then surely he would give all men all things necessary vnto Salvation but he giveth not all men all thinges necessary vnto Salvation therefore hee will not save all and every one For he that denies a man the meanes to attayne vnto some end doth much more deny him the end it selfe For he that bestoweth not the lesser vpon a man how will hee bestow that which is greater A short conclusion of this worke shewing the chiefe vse thereof and exhorting every of the godly vnto thankefulnesse and sinceritie of life CHAP. 39. THe vse of this doctrine is very great and above all most wholesome First that all the prayse and glory of our Salvation should bee wholy attributed vnto God onely in that he of his mercifull goodnes hath vouchsafed to chuse vs miserable sinners vnto everlasting Salvation and to adopt vs for children through Iesus Christ when as hee had a thousand most iust occasions for which he might worthily condemne vs and whenas there was not one cause in vs wherefore hee should give vs no not the least droppe of cold water So that by choosing vs altogether most vnworthy hee hath made vs worthy through the worthinesse of his Sonne Therefore this free and everlasting Election hath the goodnesse of God and the merite of Christ and the worthinesse thereof for his sure foundation and ground For if the Sonne of God had not beene willing to suffer and satisfie for our sinnes and if God had not beene willing to impute this his satisfaction vnto vs for righteousnesse not one of vs had beene elected vnto Salvation but every one had beene condemned vnto everlasting death So that in this Election the great and incredible goodnesse of God and the most vehement and affectionate love of God towards vs doth appeare as in a most cleere mirror Secondly all that embrace the pure doctrine of the Gospell and doe by a true fayth beleeve in Christ and persevere in him have strong and excellent consolation from hence in that they are elected from everlasting vnto eternall Salvation without any merite eyther foregoing or following and that this blessed and saving Decree concerning our Salvation is vnchangeable and therefore that they can no more fayle and be prevented of Salvation and heavenly glory then God can be separated from his Godhead For as God is everlasting and vnchangeable by nature so also that his Decree and good pleasure concerning the Salvation of the Elect is everlasting and vnchangeable For the vnchangeablenesse sake of this Decree all and every of them which truely beleeve in Christ have most strong and certaine consolation with which they may comfort and refresh themselves in adversitie and other spirituall temptations Wherefore all idolatrie and superstition all hypocrisie and vnbeleefe all false doctrine and desperation being condemned and set aside let vs from the bottome of our heartes and inward affections give thanks vnto God and to his Sonne because that wee are freely elect by God from everlasting and fully redeemed by Christ from all evill and shall so remaine elected and redeemed for ever without any disturbance Let vs therefore all and every of vs with the whole affection of our minde heartily with one mind and one mouth beseech the most merciful Sonne of God our Redeemer that hee would purge vs from the filthinesse of our sinnes by the power of his spirite and renew and fashion vs dayly more and more vnto his owne Image that by living holy and without blame here we may walke faithfully and constantly in his holy commandements and in the true path of the Elect vntill we come vnto the price of our high Calling and to that heavenly Glory and blessed Life to come where abounding in great and vnspeakeable gladnesse no trouble or sorrow beeing mixed with it wee shall triumph with gladsome countenances and ioyfull hearts and possesse vnspeakeable ioyes world without end Amen * ⎠* To God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost be given all praise and glorie for ever Amen
thee with knowledge and iudgement against the common Adversary as also very sweet and comfortable points to comfort thy conscience against those same strong temptations of Sathan concerning the assaults of diffidence or distrust On these two heads especially dependeth the matter and subiect of this booke which if it please thee to peruse thou shalt finde in it no doubt matter to thine edifying and contentment We have taken this paynes for the good and benefite of those which vnderstand it not in the tongue wherein it was written but for others it shall be best for them if they please to reade it in the Originall wherein it was written as wherein indeed it hath the best grace both by meanes of the elegant style and composition thereof as also because there are sundry termes and words of Arte which can hardly be familiarly expressed or resolved by our idiome or dialect This I say gentle Reader have we by the Lords assistance both attempted and atchieved in regard of the goodnesse of the Treatise and a good thing the more common and vniversall it is the more commendable and the better it is The same reasons which do vrge that the holy Scriptures should be written in a knowne tongue doe likewise proportionally enforce that divine and godly Treatises vpon severall passages and places of Scripture should be made familiar vnto the vnlearned and common people as whereby they may be the better enabled to vnderstand the Scriptures and so to be furthered in their Salvation So that if thou censure the translating of such Authours thou wilt very easily drawe vpon thee the blemish and suspition of Popery it selfe Thou must not thinke gentle Reader that the Lord would have it to be amongst vs now Gen. 11.7 as hee himselfe caused it to be amongst them which built the tower of Babel whose language was so confounded that they perceyved not one anothers speech but that God would have it so to be in his Church now as that every man should say Acts 2.11 Wee heard them speake in our owne language the wonderfull works of God But I trust I shall not neede to make excuse for this our small labour but rather presume of thy loving and friendly acceptance thereof whereof perswading my selfe I commend thee to the tuition of the almighty promising thee that if thou wilt by thy good endevours so breake the shell of an vnknowne tongue or language as that eyther my selfe or the Church may by thy good meanes come vnto the sweete kernell of any good Treatise I would give to God the glory and to thee thy due prayse And so I doubt not but that thou wilt walke according to that vpright rule set downe by our Saviour Christ Whatsoever yee would that men should doe vnto you even so doe you vnto them Mat. 2.12 for this is the Law and the Prophets Farewell The summarie Contents of this Golden Chayne WHerein consisteth mans eternall happinesse or everlasting woe Chap. 1. Fol. 1. The five linkes of this Chayne are 1. Gods foreknowledge 2. his predestination 3. his calling of men 4. his iustifying them 5. his glorifying them Chap. 2. Fol. 4. That God exerciseth those whom he calleth in continuall affliction thereby to conforme them to the image of his Sonne Chap. 3. Fol. 9. How many wayes the foreknowledge of God may be taken and the vse thereof Chap. 4. Fol. 12. Distinction betwixt predestination and foreknowledge and of how many degrees it consisteth Chap. 5. Fol. 18. Of Adams fall and Gods foreknowledge therein Chap. 6. Fol. 23. The causes of predestination the definition thereof and difference betwixt it and Gods providence Chap. 7. Fol. 34. The divers kinds of predestination and properties of election Chap. 8. Fol. 40. Election whereon dependeth salvation is the chiefe foundation of a Christians faith Chap. 9. Fol. 43. Of Gods wonderfull mercie mixed with his iustice Chap. 10 Fol. 49. Gods free mercie is the true cause of Election Chap. 11. Fol. 54. The Papists fiction of faith and good workes foreseene confuted Chap. 12. Fol. 63. The horrible offence of the Papists touching faith and good workes foreseene by vnanswerable arguments confuted Chap. 13. Fol. 71. The proprieties of Election The faith of the Elect vnmoveable Chap. 14. Fol. 84. The Consciences of the Elect are by this doctrine strengthened most stedfastly Chap. 15. Fol 94. The strong comforts of the Elect touching their salvation Chap. 16. Fol. 98. The doctrine of Election is most necessary to salvation Chap. 17. Fol. 103. God is debter to no man therefore hee may save or damne whom it pleaseth him Chap. 18. Fol. 119. The reprobate have not to blame God but their owne sinnes for their damnation Chap. 19. Fol. 126. The horrible damnation of the reprobate turneth to the good of the Elect. Chap. 20. Fol. 137. That the Elect cannot become reprobates nor the reprobates ever be elected Chap. 21. Fol. 142. In reprobation of the more parte Gods great iustice appeareth as in electing the fewer Gods infinite mercy And how men should examine themselves Chap. 22. Fol. 147. How many things necessary to be knowne in the doctrine of Election Chap. 23. Fol. 152. A passage from predestination vnto vocation as from the cause to the effect And how diversly vocation is vnderstood Chap. 24. fol. 159. The Papists confuted touching mans strength and how farre free will extendeth Chap 25. Fol. 171. Of free Iustification knowne by Vocation and what it is to be iustified after the phrase of the Gospel Chap 26. Fol. 182. What thing Iustification is with the three properties thereof Chapter 27. Fol. 191. What benefites come through Iustification by faith and to whom the same doe properly appertaine Chap. 28. Fol. 207. How to amend our corrupt nature and to restore the Image of God in man Chap. 29. Fol. 210. The obedience of the Godly though vnperfect is accepted of God The meaning and true vse of good workes Chap. 30. Fol. 223. Why God accepteth of the vnperfect workes of his Elect and calleth his owne free gift our reward Chap. 31. Fol. 233. The great commodities both publike and private comming by the studious care of good workes That the Protestants doe not reiect good workes Chap. 32. Fol. 244. Regeneration is begun in this life though vnperfectly and without it is no Salvation To whom it belongeth Chap. 33. Fol. 251. By what bands the Elect are vnited to God by what signes they are knowen and how assured of Salvation Chap. 34. Fol. 255. The effects and benefites of Predestination Chap. 35. Fol. 262. How the Linckes of this Chayne must be considered and how vnseparable they are Chap. 36. Fol. 265. The world shal fade away but the gifts of this Chayne are everlasting Chap. 37. Fol. 268. The effects of Election and of reprobation are contrary What benefites of God common to both and what not and Gods iudgement touching both vnchangeable Chap. 38. Fol. 270. The Conclusion exhorting to
sinceritie of life Chap. 39. Fol. 273. THE GOLDEN Chayne of Salvation Conteyning and opening all the causes thereof and orderly reckoning vp and displaying all Gods benefits that come vnto vs by the eternall election through CHRIST out of the words of S. Paule Rom. 8. verse 29. 30. For those whome GOD knew before c. The Proeme shewing wherein both the eternall happines and misery of man consisteth and so way is made vnto the present busines that is in hand CHAP. 1. AS there is nothing that can happen to a man more to be desired or more comfortable in this miserable life then for him well and plainly to know the true God and his due worship so can there nothing befall him more miserable or hurtfull then for him to be ignorant of the true God and his due worship And as nothing can more effectually reioyce the heart of man then a good hope and an vncorrupted conscience for in a good conscience God himselfe liveth and in it Christ dwelleth and worketh by his power vnto eternall life so also is there nothing that more disturbeth a man or more sharply tormenteth him then an evill and a desperate conscience for in it Sathan hath the chiefest place and in it ruleth and worketh powerfully vnto eternall destruction wherefore every man ought dayly through the course of his whole life earnestly to weigh with himselfe and alwayes with a deepe and serious cogitation to consider by what meanes he may be reconciled to God againe and so be freed from the slavery and tyranny of the Devill Which that he may attaine vnto he must labour and strive to come to the true way to know God and the proper causes of the attayning of salvation The former of which he shall find in Gods word alone and the latter in his goodnes only For looke what things soever God would have knowne of man heere concerning his good and acceptable will those things hath he most plentifully and lively expressed and manifested in his word conteyned in the bookes of the Prophets and Apostles And that in such sort as that God himselfe will precisely be acknowledged such a one and so be worshipped as he is revealed in his Gospell They therefore do attribute due honour and glory vnto God who do acknowledge him to be such a one and serve him in such manner onely as the holy Ghost hath set him forth in the holy Gospell of our Saviour But whosoever have a minde to worship and acknowledge God otherwise then he hath manifested himselfe in his word they do not only swarve from the right way to salvation but also seeke God without God and frame vnto themselves a vayne idoll in steed of the true and living God and enter into an intricate laborinth where out they shall never finde issue but eftsoones come to naught and vtterly perish in their errours Furthermore although God in his eternall essence and maiesty be infinite and conteyned in no one naturall place nor can be comprehended and perfectly knowne of any creature eyther caelestiall or terrestriall for betweene a thing infinite and a thing finite there is no proportion yet notwithstanding he hath so lively and manifestly declared and layd open his wonderfull goodnes towards man in his sonne and in his merites that no man except he be altogither an infidell and an alient from God can doubt of it For God hath sent his onely begotten Sonne our Lord Iesus Christ into this world Iohn 3.16 that in him he might give vnto vs true wisedome and righteousnes true holynes and redemption Whosoever therefore do truly acknowledge and freely confesse his Sonne to be their Redeemer and Saviour 1. Cor. 1.30 they do not onely see the secrets and as it were the open breast of God layd open vnto them but also shall have him their mercifull and loving Father who otherwise is a seveare and terrible Iudge and may be as sure and certayne of their salvation if they perswade themselves and beleeve that God is constant and true in his word of promise as if they did sensibly and fully enioy it alreadye For Christ by his bloud which was shead vpon the altare of the Crosse hath set them free from the power and slavery of the Divell and God hath taken them to favour agayne and by the power of his spirit hath renewed and reformed them and drawne them to Christ and planted them in him by a true and a lively faith And to conclude by his mighty power he doth shield and defend them against all the deceits and assaults of the Devill Whosoever therefore goe about to overthrow and destroy them must first overcome God himselfe and seeing that he can be vanquished of none therefore their salvation is so sure and firme as God in his heavenly Maiesty and mighty power is invincible Heere the summe of the whole worke with a briefe declaration and division of it is conteyned CHAP. 2. BVt that all the causes of Salvation may be layd open in order some place of Scripture must be chosen for declaring of them And although the causes of Salvation do offer themselves heere and there in many places both of the old and new Testament which do plainely and distinctly enough declare and substantially inforce all the parts of this happines yet amongst all others that place to the Romanes especially pleased me Ca. 8. v. 29. 30. and seemed fittest for this purpose For that place conteyneth and vnfoldeth whatsoever is necessary to the attayning of Salvation The words of that place are these there the Apostle amongst other things sayeth thus Those whome God knewe before he also did praedestinate that they should be like fashioned vnto the shape of his Sonne that he might be the first begotten amongst many brethren Moreover whome he did praedestinate them also he called and whome he called them also he iustifyed and whome he iustified them also he glorified There the Apostle especially handleth and discourseth of the calamities and sorrowes of the godly namely that they which are chosen of God from the beginning vnto the fellowship of Salvation are neither at all adventures nor by chance nor by any their owne losse afflicted with these or these evils and inconveniences but that by the eternall and vnchangeable will and providence of God and of his especiall goodnes they among all others are grieved and afflicted with these miseries for the children of God must heere vndergoe a long and grievous warrefare before they can come to the attayning of victory and triumph Therefore God bringeth them to the excellent and heavenly glory by an vneasy and an ignominious crosse So that the Apostle heere tearmeth this grievous crosse continuall persecutions all manner of reproaches and rebukes and all other iniuries and misfortunes by the name of the shape or image of Christ because the elect must indure them patiently as long as they live even as Christ hath indured them Therefore although it was the
Apostles purpose to exhort the godly to an invincible patience and an vndaunted perseverance that being susteyned with a certayne hope and constant assurance they should wayt for an happy issue out of all theyr miseries yet notwithstanding he layes open the true fountaynes and springs from whence salvation flowes and springs foorth and sets downe the fyrst causes from whence it is derived poynting at them as it were with his finger And surely in every word of that place there is not onely great importance and singular grace but also the words themselves are for the most part compleat and perfect oracles and conteyne in them whole sentences I have thought good therefore briefly to runne over and compendiously to expound them But before I set vpon the exposition of the words the order and course of the causes of Salvation must seriously be weighed and considered For the causes in regard of their coherence are raunged and displayed by Saint Paule by a most divine skill and a most exquisite and logicall methode For in the first place he setteth downe the foreknowledge of God as the first and soveraigne cause Then he proceedes vnto predestination as being next to that Next he turneth his course and manner of teaching to the effects of both these as to the subordinate and second causes For God by his foreknowledge foresawe all things from before all beginnings Nothing is exempt from this foreknowledge of God but all things and every one thing is contayned and comprehended in that After this hee descendeth from this generall and common fore-knowledge of God as from a large and vnlimited voyce vnto predestination as vnto a more speciall kinde included in this fore-knowledge and so hee proceedes from a generality vnto a more certayne and particular kind For the foreknowledge as in the larger signification it is taken for his providence is Gods eternall decree by which he determined to make the world and all that is therein and to make his glory manifest vnto reasonable creatures namely vnto men and Angels by the governement of the things which hee had made But predestination chiefely is referd and restreyned vnto mankinde which God by predestination hath divided into two kindes of men so that of his owne sole and vndeserved grace he hath chosen some from eternitie whom he would make his heyres in Christ and bring to everlasting salvation and hath appoynted other some vnto everlasting punishment and destruction to the which also he brings them by his iust iudgement from their owne deserts Then the Apostle proceedeth vnto the subordinate causes of salvation and sheweth by what meanes and degrees the elect on the one side come to eternall life and the reprobate on the other side are brought to eternall torments as hereafter in the declaration hereof shall clearely and plainely appeare Furthermore also I thinke this worthy the observing to shew in what order Saint Paule hath disposed and placed the causes of Salvation in respect of time And he hath digested them with such arte and method as that he hath divided them into three distinct differences of times For certayne of them do farre surpasse and exceede all transitory times as Gods foreknowledge and predestination these two causes of Salvation were from eternity appoynted of God without any beginning Certayne of them are made and remayne in time and in these succeeding ages as vocation and iustification the former of which is wrought by the outward preaching of Gods word and the inward working of the holy spirit in the heart and will of man and the latter is gotten and bestowed vpon man by the onely merites and power of Christ his passion So these two causes doe arise in this life and in our age Certayne of them are mixt so that partly they are wrought in this life partly in the time to come after this life as namely they which are begun heere and finished there as glorification and those things that depend thereof This glorification consisteth in the true image of God and the conforming of our will with his will And this image of God and fashioning of our will with his will ariseth and springeth from true and effectuall regeneration And regeneration beginneth in this life presently vpon our vocation and is increased and continued through the whole course of our life vntill at the last it be throughly consummated and finished in an other life Therfore these inferior second causes are as it wer certaine means interposd degrees by which the holy men of God by his eternall counsell are brought to the full possession and fruition of everlasting life and salvation as heereafter shall be shewed in the handling of them In the next place these causes do as aptly agree together betweene themselves in their order and placing as the links of any chayne so that no one of them can be moved out of his place but the whole rancke and order of them will be broken and fall to nothing The order therefore and placing of these causes is in the manner of a golden and princely Chayne whose linkes hang together so artificially and workemanlike that not one linke can be taken away without the breaking of the whole Chayne And this Chayne is nothing else but an excellent glasse of Gods goodnes and mercy for the holy Ghost hath made and linked together this Chayne of the best and chiefest of Gods benefits and it is the highest honour and incredible glory of Gods children with which they are beautified in this life and shall be crowned like Kings in that life eternall which is to come and shall shine more bright then the Sunne it selfe in his chiefest glory And to conclude this Chayne is as it were a golden and celestiall hooke wherewith the Sonne of God letting it downe from heaven draweth his elect from out this world as out of a raging and tempestuous sea and bringeth them into his heavenly and everlasting rest as into an harbor most safe from the danger of any storme and into a most pleasant place of refreshing and freedome from all miseries Lastly the Linkes of this Chayne are in number five in every of which what and howe great benefites of God are conteyned and included in the declaration hereof shall hereafter be shewed These thinges I thought good for certayne causes to set downe as some briefe and compendious Preface before I would handle the exposition of the words which now beeing finished I doe betake my selfe orderly to those thinges which as yet remayne to bee handled and discussed Now the holy Spirite vouchsafe to bee present with me by his holy inspiration and direction and to guide me that am to speake of such high and hidden Mysteries of Heavenly thinges and so inlighten and direct my vnderstanding by his bright-shining Light that those things which shall be spoken concerning the chiefest Articles of Christian Fayth and Principles of Religion may be so spoken of me that they may tende to the Honour and
holy although he willeth those things which the vngodly do because God willeth them with a farre other manner of counsell and end then the vngodly do will and do them So in the death of Christ the action of the wicked was so evill that in respect of them it could not be worse nor more vile for they slew the innocent and killed the Lord of glory and intended in that one consent and outrage of theirs to hinder the salvation of mankinde yet that very same action in respect of God was so good and holy that no other coulde bee better nor more holy because he by the death of his sonne would redeeme miserable sinners from eternall death and translate them into heavenly glory and eternall life Wherefore wicked and vniust men oftentimes vnwittingly and intending some other thing doe fulfill and performe the good and righteous will of God Yet notwithstanding afterward God iustly punisheth condemneth them because they pursue their owne wicked desires and vngodly enterprises and respect not nor regarde Gods will at all They preferre their owne perverse affections before God and before his will So the actions of Almighty God and of wicked men differ by their diverse purposes and are distinguished one from another in their diverse ends So also at this day God suffereth many sinnes to bee committed of wicked men throughout sundry Nations and in the greatest kingdomes where he doth not vouchsafe them his word nor reforme them by his spirite and doth not enlighten their mindes with the knowledge of himselfe nor governe and incline their willes and affections so that they may propose to themselves this principall end as their onely marke namely to endevour to execute Gods knowne will earnestly and continually and to frame and fashion themselves their life and their manners vnto it as vnto a continuall rule to walke by and to honor God by their obedience in eschewing of evill and dooing of good these things except God worke in them by his word and spirite whatsoever they intend or doe howsoever before men it may seeme good and iust yet all that in the sight of GOD is nothing else but vglie and execrable sinne For God doth not at all regard nor respect the outward workes except the integrity of the heart go with them and appeare in them therefore where that wanteth there sinnes are accounted for no sinnes and vertue with vices and one thing with an other are confounded and so there will be but little difference betweene honesty and dishonesty Heere the author returneth to his purpose and ioyneth the third degree of praedestination then the causes of praedestination are vnfoulded next the definition of it is given and lastly praedestination is distinguished from providence CHAP. 7. THese things it seemed good to touch by the way and lightly to handle concerning permission which is the second degree of predestination now we must come vnto the third degree of predestination Thirdly to predestinate heere is nothing els then to purpose to choose some and to adopt them for sonnes in Christ out of the vniversall company of wicked men For God by his mercifull foresight did ordayne and appoynt from amongst sinfull men and such as were past cure in respect of themselves to receive some vnto mercy without any merit of theirs to redeeme them through Christ and by him also to bring them vnto eternall life But heere more properly and peculiarly is meant the other acceptation of this word election as in the definition heereof a little before we have declared This word election is taken diversely in the scripture so that sometimes it hath reference vnto some office or duty and sometimes to life eternall After the former manner Saul and Iudas were elected the one of which was chosen to a Kingdome and the other to an Apostleship neyther of them to eternall life But seeing that no definition can rightly be made or vnderstoode vnlesse the causes of which it is compounded and made be well perceived and knowne therefore I thinke I shall not do amisse if first I lay open the causes of predestination before I set downe the definition of it As for the efficient and first moving cause of predestination there can no other be set downe and appoynted but onely the eternall and onely purpose and good pleasure of God For God onely is hee which by his most wise counsell and iudgement doth discerne betweene men and men and hath decreed from everlasting what shall become of every man God hath lively expressed and declared this in his word manifestly and playnely for men considered in themselves and by themselves are all alike corrupted so that some are no whit better then other some Therefore in the iudgement of man some cannot be preferd before others because there is one and the selfesame condicion of all But God the highest iudge of all hath elected some men to eternall life in Christ and hath in his iust iudgement appoynted others to everlasting destruction and whome he hath chosen vnto salvation those hath he chosen by his owne meere mercy and vndeserved grace hee regarded nothing that is without himselfe but whome he hath elected he did onely for himselfe and in himselfe and not for any other cause Moreover he could finde nothing in those whome he hath chosen that might be worthy of election because they were all defiled and strangers from God also he could foresee no good thing in them as proceeding from them for which they should be chosen If he foresaw any good thing in them himselfe wrought it wholy and altogether in them For there can be found no good thing in them nor elsewhere of which God is not the sole author and onely effector Therefore what good thing so ever is and abideth in them that God himselfe wholy beginneth and finisheth in them And he beginneth and finisheth nothing in them but he decreed from everlasting that he would begin it and finish it in them For if in time he should worke any thing in them how little soever which he decreed not before time then should there be found manifest change in God which should do some thing by a new will and not by his eternall will Those things which the Papists pratle of here concerning workes foreseene whose cause and beginning should be man are vayne and frivolous fictions which after in their places shall more largely be confuted and reiected seeing the efficient and first moving cause of election is onely and alone Gods mercy and goodnesse hee by his bountifull and more then fatherly good will hath from everlasting made and finished the whole decree of Election Ephes 2.5 moreover Election is altogether the free and vndeserved favour of God For all men by nature were wholy corrupt and the children of wrath therefore in them God could foresee nothing at all but extreame and most absolute wretchednes They also which take the name of election which is found in many places of the
Will Therefore the everlasting good pleasure of God is the onely vnmooveable ground of our Salvation so that our Salvation is subiect and in danger to none of the devices of Sathan to no troubles of the world nor to no waverings of the flesh because it hath a most strong foundation vpon Gods everlasting Decree Secondly this circumstance of eternall time hath prevented the entrance of Sathans temptations For if God should have taken the first care of our Salvation after the Fall of man was committed and had not thought of it before then surely this Will of God might seeme to have a beginning And Sathan might thereby take occasion maliciously to alledge against God and to perswade vs that the Will of God concerning our Salvation is not certayne and constant because that as it had a beginning so it might likewise have an ende and wee being prone vnto all diffidence might quickly have thought it had beene so and by this meanes might have beene in doubt of our Salvation Therefore God by his provident goodnesse hath timely prevented these temptations and sleights of Sathan and hath found out an excellent remedy for our diffidence teaching vs that his Decree for our Salvation is no sudden thing nor limitted within the listes of momentany time but eternall and vnchangeable So our fayth is then builded and grounded vpon a strong and vnmooveable foundation when we heare and know that our Salvation was ordayned and appointed of God from everlasting Lastly this Note of eternall Time is profitable for this purpose namely to withdraw and reclaime vs as well from all regard or respect of our owne merits and worthinesse as also from the opinion of the intercession of other men for vs. For God did know that the divellish opinions of our owne satisfaction and merit would often times steale vpon vs so that wee should thinke that there is some goodnesse in vs by which we should be gratious and acceptable before God For man doth not willingly humble and cast himselfe downe thus farre as to attribute all the prayse of his Salvation vnto the Grace of God only These things and the like the holy Scripture doth prevent and dispell shewing that God hath elected vs from everlasting before we were and hath given vs Salvation in Christ and so doth condemne vs of foolishnes and vngodlinesse if wee now created would get or deserve our Salvation by any other meanes For such is the vntowardnesse and blindnesse of mans disposition because that wretched men are so bewitched of Sathan by sinne that when there is any speech of Salvation and everlasting Felicitie they would gladly beginne from themselves Hence they frame to themselves divers preparations by which they strive to prevent and deserve the favour of God But by what meanes I pray you can they deserve any thing which are not at all And what good works or merits of theirs could there be before the world was made and before their owne Creation Therefore the eternall Election of God doth every where throughout the whole Scripture proove that this Mercy is the free gift of GOD and that hee for his owne sake onely was mooved to elect vs. So that this eternall Election doth not onely set farre aside all respect of mans worthinesse but also throweth man downe even to Hell together with all his merites if hee should bee dealte withall according to his owne desertes and Gods iust iudgement Here therefore is set downe a continuall contrariety and opposition betweene mans merite and worthinesse and Gods eternall Election yea such and so great an opposition that the affirming of the one is the manifest deniall of the other Looke how much therefore the Scripture attributeth to Gods Election 2. Tim. 2.9 so much it detracteth from mans worthinesse For this cause the holy Scripture hath set that eternall Election and mans worthinesse as two things extreamely contrary one to an other teaching vs that a man may sooner and easier wring oyle out of a Flint stone or strike fire out of the middest of the Ocean then that God should finde any thing in mans Nature worthy of his Election They therefore which seeke for Salvation or the least parte thereof without the eternall Election of GOD they doe not onely seeke Life in death and Salvation in the middest of condemnation but also they seeke God without GOD and by such seeking shall finde nothing else but hell fire and eternall punishment because that one and the selfe same thing cannot proceede from divers causes For God onely is good and so good that hee can finde no good elsewhere at any time or in any place but onely in himselfe and contrariwise mans Nature is so wicked and depraved that out of it can proceede nothing but wicked deedes and vngodly practises But of this hereafter wee will speake more largely It is therefore the vndeserved and altogether the free goodnesse of God in that hee from everlasting ordained and appointed eternall Salvation for vs when wee were not as then created And therefore of so good and bountifull a God who would not hope well Moreover seeing God hath elected vs to Salvation and Life everlasting hence it manifestly appeareth that none could bee our Intercessour to God for vs. Because then there was no man beside God onely and alone which was the whole cause of our Election Hence likewise as out of a most cleare Glasse we may see what care God hath of our Salvation because that from everlasting he did so providently prevent and turne away all the hindrances of our Salvation So the incredible and more then fatherly goodnesse of God is chiefely made knowne in this namely that he was carefull for our Salvation before we were And let these thinges suffice to bee briefely compiled concerning the first Proprietie of Election The second Proprietie of Election is that Election is an high and hidden Decree not onely because God from all eternitie before the foundation of the world before any thing was created did fore-ordaine and appoynt it with himselfe but also in respect of those things which are contayned and ordayned in that eternall decree which are so deepe and hidden in the meaning and vnderstanding of them that they doe not onely farre out-strippe mans capacity but also doe as farre exceed the vnderstanding of the Angelles themselves as the highest Heaven is distant from the lowest earth For the manner of redeeming and saving of Mankinde is so deepe and secret that the very Angels themselves cannot surmise the least of it much lesse consider and determine of it For this cause it is often called in the Scripture the Mysterie that is hidden in God Ephes 3 9. Col. 1.26 because it is manifest and knowne vnto God onely and because no Creature can know it but by Revelation And so it is called by Paul to the Romans Cap. 16.25 the secret Mysterie that is vnknowne to the Creatures In this great and secret Consultation the Sonne
say he ordayned Christ from everlasting to bee the Mediator for the Salvation of the world that he might reconcile God vnto the worlde by the Sacrifice of his death Here beholde and admire the inestimable Mercie of God in that hee had rather his owne Sonne should die then that all Mankinde should perish Here agayne beholde and reverently embrace the incomprehensible goodnesse and mercy of the Sonne of God towardes wretched man in that hee accounted the Salvation of Mankinde more precious then his owne life Christ himselfe having respect to this sayth in Saint Iohn Iohn 3.16 So GOD loved the Worlde that he sent his onely begotten Sonne that by him hee might restore and bestow vpon Mankinde Life that was lost and Salvation that was past hope Therefore this provident Wisedome of God was wonderfully necessary for Mankinde and very profitable yea and in such sort that without it all Mankinde had perished So that the Wisedome of God is to be adored and reverenced of vs and ought continually to bee the onely rule and measure of our wisedome and that so as that all other wisedome without it should be base and of no value and be no more regarded then meere folly and foolishnesse it selfe And for as much as God of his infinite Wisedom found a meanes to deliver vs from such a bottomlesse depth of miserie hence should the Godly entertayne and conceyve great hope in all their adversities For seeing hee hath found out a most wise meanes and way out of so deepe and intricate a mischiefe out of which the wisedome of men nor Angelles could give no direction how to escape therefore surely hee can very easily deliver vs from any dangers of this life how great soever they bee for in his hand are many and incredible meanes of delivery So that where there is no counsell nor meanes of delivery with man there is there a certaine issue and ready way with God Therefore in these dangers which threaten assured death presently and savour of nothing else but of the open grave and vn-avoydable destruction in these GOD most wise hath many meanes of helpe and deliverance from them For it is an easie thing with him to make an issue where there is none sooner then in the twinkling of an eye if it bee his pleasure This then is our onely hope and strong consolation in our extreame temptations and troubles that wee have God for our Helper and Deliverer which in the middest of death can stretch forth his handes and restore vs to life and hath many more meanes to helpe vs then there are Creatures in the whole vniversall worlde And thus farre of the thirde Proprietie of Election The free and vndeserved Mercy of God is the true cause of Election and that is greater by many degrees then that the greatest Sinner can or ought rightly to doubt of it though never so little much lesse despaire of it CHAP. XI THe fourth Proprietie is that Gods Election is altogether a mercifull free and voluntary Decree that is to say that God had no other reason to induce him to choose miserable man but onely his owne meere mercie and favourable good-will as is aforesayde in the causes of Predestination This Mercy of God is not any affection in God which beginneth of a sudden sometimes and sometimes endeth of a sudden neyther is it any Passion which sometime increaseth and sometime decreaseth for if there were any such succeeding change in God God should in no wise be God but it is an eternal and a most ready good Will to do good vnto miserable men Therefore this eternal good Wil in God himselfe is the onely and sole cause why he elected miserable man to the attainement of Salvation Aske nowe what is the reason that he hath receyved this or that man into favour and hath pardoned his sinnes and remitted the punishment and there can no other cause bee rendred but even Gods vndeserved Mercy And hee is sayde to be mercifull to him whom he vouchsafeth his favour and grace such a favourable and gratious affection of his good Will to speake after the manner of men is called Mercy which in God is nothing else but an eternall and gratious purpose to have mercy on those on whom hee will have mercy that is to say to give them freedome from their misery This is alwayes one and the selfe same in God which never altereth but standeth and abideth continually in one state and degree For the names of these affections that are given vnto God from the Passions that are in man doe not set forth any Passion or Change in God but paynt out vnto vs his vnspeakeable liking or hatred of those thinges which then are in hand So this Mercy of God is no new or sudden motion and affection in God but his eternall and vnchangeable Proprietie which as it is once such it is alwayes without which God cannot be God As often therefore as any man thinketh of God let him remember his vnspeakeable goodnesse and readinesse to helpe which can in no meanes be separated nor dis-ioyned from God But many times those things that are proper vnto man are attributed vnto him because his Properties cannot be comprehended of man and therefore they are shadowed forth vnto man by the properties of man as it were through a Lattice and so are made knowne vnto him So God doth after a sort represent vnto vs as in a Glasse his spiritual and heavenly Mysteries and hidden Decrees by the speech or affections of man And thus God for his vnspeakeable Loves sake toward Mankinde doth not thinke much to descend from his greatnesse and from the Throane of his Maiestie and debase himselfe so lowe as to apply himselfe to the capacity of a rude and frayle man And from hence is seene better then in any Glasse how great care God taketh for the Salvation of Mankind This Mercie is that most speciall goodnesse of God which is not bounded and restrayned within the limites of this life but stretcheth and reacheth vnto all Eternity so that it bringeth with it everlasting Life and eternall Salvation and contayneth and includeth those onely which are elected from everlasting and those that shall be blessed for evermore This differeth very much from the generall Mercy of God by which hee cherisheth and maintayneth all living Creatures for it is one thing to have a care over all living Creatures to provide thinges necessary for them and mercifully to guide and governe them So that although God in his Fatherly care doth not forsake even the bruite beastes but careth for each of them yet more especially God declareth his goodnesse in Mankinde For he doth good not onely to the righteous and godly but also to the vniust and vnthankefull For hee maketh the Sunne to rise vpon the good and the badde Mat. 5.45 Luke 6.23 sayth Christ in Matthew and in Luke Such benefites of God are temporall and common to the Godly and to the
give his glory to another which by the Prophet Esaias he flatly denieth to doe saying Esay 48.11 I will not give my glory to another that is God will not cause that any Creature should have infinite strength or infinite wisedome For of ones selfe to perfourme and bring forth those workes which may merite Election and eternall life is not in the power of any creature For life eternall is a farre more excellent good and greater worke then mans strength is able to compasse That life is heavenly and infinite and therefore not to bee gotten or procured but by an heavenly and infinite power For as wee have sayde before there is no comparison nor proportion betweene an infinite good thing and a finite worke and merite Therefore when as the Papists brag that they are able to make themselves worthy of their elelection by their owne proper workes and merits they doe more foolishly and fottishly then if they should take in hand to build and set vp a new heaven and a newe earth with mallets and other tooles For albeit that this bee altogether impossible for them to doe yet that other is farre more hard and much more impossible For God the onely Almighty One was able to create the Heaven and the Earth and all that is contained in Heaven and in Earth by his word onely without any difficulty but he could not redeeme Mankinde from eternall damnation but by the precious blood of his Sonne So the Scripture calleth them that shall bee saved the Chosen in Christ namely in that hee hath redeemed them by his blood and restored Gods Image in them Wherefore seeing that Salvation could not bee recovered by any other meanes but by the most bitter death and passion of Christ hence it clearely followeth that there-obtayning of Salvation doth farre exceed the strength and power of any creature whatsoever Wherefore it is most false and wicked which the Papists dreame of that man is elected vnto Salvation for such or such good works foreseene Because those workes cannot pacifie the exceeding great wrath of God nor make satisfaction for the sinnes of man For as we have sayde before they are altogether repugnant and contrary vnto God therefore they doe not pacifie him but offend him and provoke him the more to anger Surely the whole masse of the worlde may farre more easily bee stayed vp with a staffe of reede then Salvation can bee gotten or obtayned by the power of man But that fiction concerning workes fore-seene should have the more likelyhood of trueth if they did bring forth such workes to deserve Salvation as were truely good but they can bring forth no such for as wee have sayde before man is wholly corrupt and wicked therefore there can bee expected from him nothing but corrupt and wicked deedes Lastly by theyr workes fore-seene they doe manifestly tempt God as if he were not able to save his Elect and bring them to happinesse by his meere grace being apprehended by fayth vnlesse they should put to theyr owne good workes as helpers and furtherers of his Grace And surely by offering theyr workes they shew that they are in doubt whether the Grace of God bee able and sufficient to save them and so denie God to be God For God cannot bee God vnlesse hee bee absolutely good and infinitely mercifull otherwise he should be imperfect and conditionally good such an one as the Papistes doe make him to bee with theyr good workes and merites fore-seene And a greater dishonour cannot redound vnto God then for a man to doubt of his infinite goodnesse and free mercy and God cannot be iniured more then if a man should preferre his owne workes fore-seene before the mercy of God as if by them God could bee mooved or turned this way or that way like man Certaynely whomsoever he hath not chosen for his owne mercy sake him wil he not chuse hereafter for any fore-seene good works of his owne For it is all alike to choose a man to Salvation for his owne workes as if God should cease to be God For if God should choose a man for his workes there would bee found manifest change in God and so God should cease to bee God but they which thinke themselves vnworthy of Election and yet doe truely and constantly beleeve that they are from everlasting elected vnto Salvation by the free mercy of God they give vnto God his deserved honour For a greater honour cannot be given vnto God then that hee is much more good and mercifull vnto vs in Christ then if wee had never sinned at all For hee that beleeveth in Christ and layeth hold on him by a true fayth hee hath the love of God and shall as truely and certaynely attayne life everlasting for his Passion sake as God in his Nature is everlasting and vnchangeable in his Will But the Papists which make their owne workes and merites the cause of theyr Election doe labour to abolish his mercy and to establish theyr owne integrity and righteousnesse as if God had chosen man not because he himselfe was God and mercifull but because man was thought acceptable and approoved of God for such or such good workes fore-seene when as the Gospel teacheth the cleane contrary Luke 18. that before Gods iudgement seate no workes nor merites of man may be suffered to approach but that a lowly and humble prayer powred out in the blood and merites of Christ shall bee heard and accepted Therefore the least imagination or establishment of mans merit is the manifest abolishing of the grace of God and the merits of Christ and a most certayne hazard and losse of eternall life By these things that are spoken it appeareth evidently enough that this fiction of workes fore-seene is as an il favoured head which hath many vnseemely members vnder it For where one absurdity is graunted a great many must needes followe after 2. Tim. 2.17 For errour is as a fretting canker For where the least chincke is opened to errour there the very greatest Monsters of errours throng in by troopes other most vngodly sins are heaped together vpon them So out of this false opinion as out of Pandoraes box there do flie horrible reproaches and blasphemies agaynst God For they which doe misvnderstand and falsely expound one place of Scripture it must needes follow that they mis-interpret and misvnderstand many places Because that all the Articles of Christian fayth are so artificially lincked together that one of them cannot be hurt but all the rest are wronged neyther can one bee taken out from amongst the rest but the whole rancke and order of all the rest will be broken and fall to nothing Certaynely the Papists being the subtile teachers and patrones of good workes fore seene doe openly declare that they neyther know the strength of sinne nor the vntowardnesse of our corrupted nature nor the iustice and wrath of God against sinne and so they are most ignorant of that which it
be created of him vnto destruction By this most fit example we are taught that it is in the free choyse of God onely to make a difference betweene men and by his wisedome to ordeyne and appoynt what shall be done with every one So that God doth love and choose most freely whomesoever he loveth and chooseth as also he doth refuse and condemne most freely whomesoever he refuseth and condemneth For this is the force and liberty of predestination namely that God hath freewill to save and choose that man whom of his meere grace he chooseth and saveth so also that he hath free liberty to reiect and condemne whomesoever in his iust iudgement he will have refused and condemned So that this is the eternall and vnchangeable will of God of his vndeserved favour to choose and save some and in his iust iudgement to cast others off from all mercy and to condemne them This will of God in both these decrees is most absolute and simple which hath no other cause so that he saveth some because it is his pleasure and wil and he condemneth others because it is his pleasure likewise Therefore it is at Gods free choyce to shew or deny mercy to whomesoever he will It is in his power to have mercy on whom he will Rom. 9.18 and whom he will to harden And he taketh mercy of his owne great goodnes only and hardneth with no iniustice that he that is saved should not boast of his owne merits and he that is condemned should complayne of nothing but of his owne deserts In Euchiriad Laurentium ca. 99. as Augustine sayth So there is no cause above Gods will but that is in the highest degree that vnto vs it might be in steed of all causes So the will of God is the first and chiefest determiner of our election and of all other things Therefore the onely absolute will of God ought to suffice every one as the most weighty cause and the chiefest reason of every thing So that it is an execrable wickednes to aske the causes of the will of God seeing that is the first and the onely sufficient of all other causes which hath no other cause above it Lib. de pradestina sanc 1.9 wherefore Saint Augustine sayd most truly and most rightly Call not into question why God chooseth this man or reprobateth that man except thou wilt fall into errour for this will of God is sure and constant because hee hath created mankinde Rom. 9.22 partly to shew his free mercy and partly to declare his iustice for he were vnmercifull if he should condemne all and on the other side hee might seeme vnmindfull of his iustice if hee should save all Therefore God created men such that they might fall that by their fall he might shew what the benefit of his mercy and the iudgement of his iustice were able to do of which reade Augustine in his booke De correp grat And this ought not to trouble the godly because that all are not appoynted to salvation and but a few onely shall be saved for they know and beleeve having learned it by the word of God that all have fallen into most iust condemnation and why all men are not delivered from thence is not in mans power to determine and iudge but must be left wholely to the iudgement and wisedome of God Further it doth hence appeare that all are not elected because that the scripture affirmeth in many places that some onely are elected and the rest reiected Agayne the scripture sayth manifestly that he hath mercy on whom he will Rom. 9. â—8 and whom he will he hardeneth Agayne if all were elected the Gospell of the sonne of God should be preached every where throughout the whole earth and faith should be given at randam to all and every one Cap. 1.1 For Paule to Titus teacheth that faith is proper to the elect But the Gospell is not preached through all parts of the earth 2. Thes 3.2 and faith is not given to all men therefore all men are not appoynted vnto salvation And that faith is not given vnto all men it is evident Mat. 25.46 because many shall be condemned and go away into everlasting paine Agayne it may hence appeare that all are not elected and shall be saved because that election or choosing is of some and not of all for if all were received there were no election so that there are some elect and some reprobates But they which have a true and a lively faith in Iesus Christ our onely Saviour and do put their whole trust and confidence of salvation in him alone they are the very elect for to this end are they elected of God that by the power of the spirit they should beleeve in Christ and in him obteyne salvation And let such embrace with thankefull hearts the incomparable goodnes of God towards them and freely with their mouth make the same knowne vnto others praysing God And although God hath not ordeyned every one vnto salvation but hath appoynted some vnto eternall destruction yet there is no accepting of persons with him as if God did elect and save this or that man for any outward good things such as are riches honours noblenes of birth cuntry comely proportion beauty excellent knowledge and learning and other things of the like sort these things albeit among men they are in great estimation yet with God they are of no account For God respecteth and esteemeth the sincerity of the heart and the innocency of life although that as concerning the decree of election he respecteth not these neither but these outward good things howsoever they be most pretious and to be esteemed as the good gifts of God and his name ought to be praysed for them yet in the matter of election he setteth nothing by them for they are not of such worth as that any for them should be elected vnto eternall life If they were the cause of election it would manifestly follow that everlasting salvation might be attayned by the goods of nature or by the study and merits of man Wherefore they which heere make a question of the accepting of persons do neyther know themselves nor the iustice of God rightly as they ought to do and do grievously offend herein because that in this matter they stick not to liken and compare God with lying and deceiveable men who often times are blinded with the outward hew of things and are withdrawne from the right way so that they give their verdit and sentence in the behalfe of vniust causes Moreover they fall into a fallacy full of ignorance or else of wickednes for they foyst in fayned and imaginary causes in stead of true and necessary causes as if they should set mouse-doong to sale in stead of pepper For if those outward good things were the cause why these or these should be chosen then surely oftentimes the worst should be elected and the
vnto Sathan partly to their own concupiscēces and desires So that they follow not so much the swinge of their owne corrupt nature as the perswasion and temptation of the Devill by which they are carryed hedlong into all filthines and lust of sinne 2. Tim. 3.13 Apoc. 22.11 and are so besotted with the custome of sinning that being blinded with it they wax dayly worse and worse This hardening and delight in sinne is opposed as contrary vnto true faith and saving repentance and this inborne corruption is with actuall sinnes as it were with fewell augmented and increased Therefore the wicked being left to the corruption of their nature and hardned by the enticements of sinne can do nothing else but sinne So that these are those vessels which Saint Paule to Timothy sayth 2. Epist 2.20 were made and appoynted to shame and dishonour So the reprobates by filthy and odious meanes are brought to everlasting shame and dishonour For for the most part the ends are iudged of by the meanes and the meanes by the ends Therefore although the reprobates do commit sinne the affection and indevor of their whole nature tending hastily vnto evill yet notwithstanding by sinning freely and of their owne accord they do accomplish those things which God will have done by them that by them they might iustly be condemned according to Gods purpose from everlasting For in their open misdemeanures God executeth his hidden and secret iudgements as in all the actions of each man els So that those sinnes which the wicked commit are the secondary causes by which they discend as by certayne steps into everlasting perdition Therefore the reprobates although from everlasting they be ordeined vnto damnation yet they cannot iustly murmur against God nor excuse or defend themselves because they themselves are the cause of their owne damnation therefore they are forced to acknowledge their owne guiltines whether they will or no and that the iudgement of their condemnation is iust But God is not therefore the author and causer of their perversenes because that he doth not correct them and amend them For before that they be forsaken and hardned by God in their wickednes the roote welspring of their corruption abideth and sticketh fast within themselves and in their owne nature which they procured vnto themselves by their wilfull falling away from God in the loynes of Adam But it is Sathan which doth excite and stirre vp in them evill thoughts and wicked desires and doth hurry them and incense them as his owne bond-slaves at his pleasure into all manner of wickednes whatsoever and doth take from them all sence and feeling of their misery that they might consume and perish in it Hence is it that they contemne and scoffe at the iudgements of God against sinne and extenuate their sinnes as much as they can So that it is no mervayle though they perish in their evils because they know not the causes of their evill neyther feele nor consider with themselves the greatnes of them yea they are so farre off from seeking to the phisition for remedy against it as that they refuse it being offered Moreover the reprobates by their free and voluntary will which is the onely cause and originall of all actuall sinnes do choose the things that are evill and pursue them with a most eger desire and so are carryed from sinne into sinne and dayly even to theyr dying day do adde and heape sinne vpon sinne vntill they fall into everlasting destrucction vnto the which by such meanes they were ordeyned By these things it most evidently appeareth that the cause of sinne ought not be layd vpon God but to be acknowledged in them which have offended And although God for a while do seeme to winke with his eyes as it were closed vp at their great and detestable wickednes yet that temporall forbearing of their wickednes is not the forgiving and pardoning them for ever but God for his infinite goodnes sake doth favour them many times in this life and dealeth gently with them Rom. 2.4 that so he might allure them vnto repentance but they for the hardnes of their hearts come not vnto this vndeserved mercy therefore he commeth vnto them at the length with deserved punishment These sinnes and evill deedes which the reprobates commit do necessarily follow their reprobation but they are not the causes of it But the reprobates do bring forth them of themselves and are properly the cause of them and that in time when as they were reprobated of God before time therefore their condemnation is properly the wages of their sinnes and the peculiar fruite of their evill deed So the wicked themselves are the first true cause of their own destruction but God is a iust iudge which taketh from them nothing which was theirs but rewardeth payeth vnto thē that which they by their enterprises actions have deserved Therefore when he condemneth them he doth them no iniury but doth make and pronounce vpon them the sentence of their deserved condemnation even for their owne facts Math. 25.43.44 So that such reward shall be rendred them before the iudgement seate of Christ as their labour hath beene heere and such wages shall be payd them there as their deserts have beene heere So two beinnings or causes do go before the condemnation of the wicked to wit the iust decree of God and their owne corruption and impiety Gods decree is the cause farthest removed which hath iustly ordeyned and wisely disposed this their condemnation their owne corruption is the neerest cause which is still in operation and by that operation deserveth condemnation Moreover as often as two causes do concurre to one effect then the effect taketh his nature and name of the neerer cause Therefore the iudgement of the effect ought to proceede and be taken from that Now where there is stiffe-necked incredulity and a wicked life seene replenished and overwhelmed with sundry sinnes and iniquities continually as long as life doth last there do the tokens of reprobation appeare Yet notwithstanding sometimes some are converted vnto God at the last gaspe of death and attayne salvation which through their whole life long have lived dishonestly leawdly in such God doth manifest his incredible mercy and doth indeede shew more cleerely then the Sunne at mid-day that life eternall is by all meanes his owne meere gift and benefite So that God teacheth vs in them that we should hope well of every one as long as they live heere but to denounce the sentence of damnation vpon this or that man for such or such misdeedes is a thing very rash and much dissonant from charity The horrible damnation of the reprobate by the wise and mercifull providence of God turneth vnto the good of the Elect and therefore ought publikely to be preached although some restlesse bust-bodies rage and storme thereat CHAP. 20. THis most iust and horrible condemnation of the wicked maketh for the best
Christ himselfe in Saynt Iohn sayth that God so loved the worlde that he gaue his onely begotten Sonne Chap. 3.16 that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Christ here doth not restrayne fayth vnto those onely which were then present and beleeved in him but enlargeth it vnto all the Elect in generall which have beleeved in him from the beglnning of the worlde and shall beleeve in him vnto the ende of the worlde This hee evidently sheweth and expresseth by this word world by which he comprehendeth and poynteth out the Elect and chosen onely of all ages which have beene and which are now and ever shall be vnto the ende of the world dispersed through all the Coastes and Countries of the world And so Christ figuratively putteth the whole for the most chiefe and most excellent part But Christ therefore calleth his Elect the world because that in theyr nature they are corrupted and in theyr will strangers from God and in theyr desires and studies onely bent and fixed vnto thinges of the worlde and not to things that are above and spirituall And so Christ doth highly extolle and commend the love of God in loving them and doth condemne and throw downe to hell theyr workes and merites So that by the name of the worlde he doth signifie the Elect onely which alone he so loved that he gave his onely begotten Sonne for them but hee did not meane the reprobates by that name for hee vouchsafeth not them so much love as to give his Sonne for them for so they also should bee saved which cannot bee Indeed hee loveth them with a temporall love as to create them to preserve them and to enrich and endue them with many benefites which ende with this life But he loveth them not with his everlasting and free Election And Christ will have vs instructed here that the gift of heavenly vnderstanding and saving fayth is not onely a certayne and altogether an vnfallible token of the grace of God Act. 13.48 but also that it is not common to the reprobate but proper and peculiar vnto the Elect onely Therefore faith is called by S. Paul to Titus the fayth of the Elect. Tit. 1.1 Seeing therefore that fayth is given onely vnto the Elect and that the greater part of men refuse the pure doctrine of Christ and of fayth and lend theyr eares vnto fables the multitude of the reprobate ought not to make the fayth of the Elect vnconstant or wavering because that theyr incredulity and stubburnesse doth not derogate any thing from the doctrine of the Gospel and Christian faith Certainely it is no marvell that the whole world from the East vnto the West and through all other coasts thereof is so replenished and over-flowed with such grosse errours and so many corruptions and disorders and that the wholesome and blessed Gospel of the Sonne of God is of so many and such great ones despised scorned and hated seeing that faith is so rare a gift Cap. 2 3. for that as S. Paul sayth to the Thessalonians is not of all men Therefore although the multitude of the Infidels do goe about to put to the worse and to scatter this small company of the godly yet because this relyeth vpon the faithfulnesse and power of God it shal never be vanquished and that multitude shall never obtayne that which with great and continuall contention it coveteth to obtayne Forasmuch therefore as fayth of the Gospel and sure trust in Christ are two most true arguments and tokens of everlasting Election and Salvation let all Christians which professe the Gospel of God and doe beleeve in Christ beleeve and bee resolved of this as of a most sure and certayne thing that they are elected of theyr mercifull God from everlasting and let them vncessantly beseech God with fervent prayer that theyr fayth by dayly addition and encrease may be augmented and strengthened Phil. 1.6 For fayth and the encrease of it is promised of God and he will beginne and perfect both so that hee which beleeveth not to day or wavereth in doubt may beleeve to morrow and have a more settled hope For every one ought from the great goodnesse of God to conceyve and entertayne great hope also And let not a man doubt or distrust of free mercy and eternall election for these or these slippes or falles For the examples of all Ages and the lives of the most holy men doe openly enough declare that man as long as hee is in this transitorie life is frayle and subiect to falling but the grace of God standeth and remayneth sure and never fayleth So that he sustayneth those that fall Psal 145.14 and lifteth vp those that be downe But more signes whereby a man may more surely know and be perswaded that hee is elected shall be produced hereafter in the Tract of glorification and these things here spoken shall be then further enlarged THese things I thought good to speake of the Proprieties which are vnder the doctrine of Election and ought to bee considered with this minde and purpose that so great a thing in which the whole matter of Salvation consisteth might the more playnely and familiarly be conceyved and vnderstood in this particular distinction For in the generall handling of any thing there is indeede some light and knowledge but in the particular doctrine where the whole is divided into his partes and the partes are handled orderly one by one there appeareth and is conceyved much more light and perspicuity So that in these Proprieties a man may most safely build vp and soundly confirme his fayth and salvation as in the most infallible principles of Christian religion For these Proprieties are such both in effect and second act and also in their nature as in the first act Therefore each of them as causes have their vertue and effectes following them so that the effects with the Proprieties and the Proprieties with the effects have a continuall agreement and an vnseparable relation Such therefore as the Proprieties are in themselves such things likewise do they effect and bring forth in the elect So that as Election it selfe is eternall and free in like sort the gifts and graces which do spring redound vnto the Elect out of it as out of an heavenly Fountayne must needes be eternall also by which they are changed and refourmed vnto the Image of God from glory to glory vntill they come to life everlasting and into that blessed and heavenly world to come Here is taught what and how many things are necessarie for them to know which desire to be conversant in this doctrine of Election rightly and with sound profite to themselves Agayne although many more shall perish everlastingly then obtayne Salvation yet no Christian should for that distrust any thing of his Salvation because the Scriptures doe no where expressely affirme that this or that man in particular is of the number of the reprobate
vnderstood rightly expounded it is the effectual wholesome instrumēt of the holy spirit to convert save mē So that the word of God his spirit is the singular and inestimable treasure and the excellent peculiar goods of the Church of which the Church according to that promise ought never to be deprived but to be alwayes begotten of it and to be continually directed and preserved by it Therefore the Holy Ghost is the begetting cause of faith he doth create and worke it in the hearts of the elect and by the dayly proceedings and increase thereof doth augment and preserve it vnto the end of their lives But the stedfast apprehension and applying of the promises of God and the merit of Christ is the expresse forme and lively image of faith in this consisteth the whole force and efficacy of faith Gal. 2.20 So S. Paule doth in expresse words set downe saying The sonne of God loved me and gave himselfe for me So true faith doth behold the generall promise of God and apprehendeth it and maketh particular application to it selfe certainely setting downe this that that promise of grace and salvation doth no lesse appertayne vnto it then vnto the rest of the beleevers For then the promise of God is effectuall in men and commeth to the proper end and issue of it selfe when it is apprehended by a true faith Againe the word publikely preached in the ministery of the Gospel is the instrumentall cause of faith and therefore that word is called by Paul the power of God vnto salvation Rom. 1.16 Rom. 10.17 vnto every one that beleeveth because that the holy ghost worketh by it in the hearts of the elect so that faith springeth from the preaching hearing of the Gospell Therefore whatsoever the elect do heare with their outward eares from the publike preaching of the word that doth the Holy Ghost make fruitefull and effectuall in their hearts Furthermore a stedfast confidence and a true hope in Christ a fervent love towards God also a sonne-like feare and reverence of God a sincere love of our neighbour and other honest and holy actions are such effects of the holy spirit which do accompany and attend vpon true faith as naturall and inseparable vertues So true fayth doth rest selfe vpon the fatherly love of God and doth heartily reverence and worship God as a good and loving Father and doth continually study how to please him and cleave vnto him and carefully avoydeth whatsoever may offend him and lastly doth steadfastly hope that it shall be partaker together with Christ of everlasting life and heavenly glory But the finall cause of fayth is 1. Pet. 1.9 the comprehending and conceyving of good thinges to witte life eternall and blessed immortalitie And if any shall here subtily obiect vnto a man and say that fayth is alwayes here lame and vnperfect and therefore cannot make a man perfect and happy For that which ought to save one must be every way perfect and absolute wee must answere him that fayth as farre forth as it abideth in the heart of man as in the subiect thereof is alwayes imperfect here and scarce deserveth the name of vertue But as it beholdeth and apprehendeth Christ so it is effectuall and maketh men of the sonnes of perdition the children of God then great power and saving actions are ascribed vnto it by the Scripture as that it iustifieth men that it quikneth them and saveth them So that fayth doth not save and make happy any man in regard of the subiect in which it remayneth but it is sayd to save and iustifie a man in regard of the obiect whither it tendeth and which it apprehendeth For Christ being layd hold on by fayth saveth a man whether that fayth be great or small And that Christ being apprehended with a little and slender fayth doth yet save and iustifie a man the examples of the holy Scripture declare manifestly enough For that Ruler in Iohn although he were endued with a very slender and weake fayth in Christ Iohn 4.49.53 yet for all that Christ reiecteth him not but iustified and saved both him and his sonne with all his houshold So likewise he in Marke Marke 9.24.25 although he was sayd to have a meane and a weake fayth yet Christ being layd hold on by it tooke pittie vpon him and healed his sonne that was possessed of the divell Here is notwithstanding diligently to be marked that in these manner of speeches wherein in the vertue of saving is attributed vnto fayth the power and force of the efficient cause is attributed vnto the instrument by which it worketh and is effectuall So that when iustification salvation is ascribed vnto faith as vnto the cause then the obiect of fayth is vnderstood For Christ cannot be apprehended but by sayth onely as by the instrument wherewith it is done Furthermore here is carefully to be considered that this saving Calling is produced and wrought more by the inward working of the spirite then by the outward preaching of the word For although God by his Ministers should speake and call vnto vs a thousand times by the voyce of his word in the Ministery yet vnlesse wee be drawne inwardly by the spirite of God we shall never come vnto him Many and most wonderfull examples of all ages have sufficiently declared this and do yet at this day declare it Whereby it may bee gathered that this Calling is placed in the good will and hand of God onely farre out of our owne reach For he alone can illuminate vs and convert and change vs into new creatures For in this calling the whole man is repugnant vnto God that calleth Iohn 6.44 Psal 51.12 Therefore Christ in S. Iohn vseth this word drawing David vseth this word creating speaking of the conversion of man Christ by the word drawing sheweth that this heavenly grace cannot bee conceyved of the naturall man but that there must be a new mind and a new vnderstanding to conceive it And David by the word creating would teach vs that the renewing and amendement of man is so difficult hard a worke that it can be wrought or brought to passe by no creature Bara This he sheweth by the Hebrew word Bara he created which properly signifieth hee made a thing of nothing which which was not before Secondly it signifieth to bring to passe some singular and wonderfull worke out of some matter already created which cannot possibly be imitated by any creature So that this regeneration of man is a certayne spirituall creation by which the regenerate are transported into a newe life and prepared for that heavenly glory which never shall have ende Here is refuted the errour of the Papists concerning the strength that is in man and shewed in what things an vnregenerate man hath free-will and in what not and how farre free-will stretcheth it selfe And the grosse ignorance or manifest impietie of the Papists is disclosed
be obtayned for vs but by the obedience of Christ his death Therefore sinne which is set as a wall betweene God and vs must first bee taken away For as long as sinne remaineth and is imputed vnto a man there is such and so great disagreement betweene God and man as that he shutteth vp from man all entrance vnto his grace So that the forgivenesse of sinnes without which nothing can fall out happily for any mortall man as it is alwayes the first and greatest benefite of God towards vs as concerning Salvation so alwayes by right it taketh and challengeth vnto it selfe the first place for of it all other the gifts of God doe depend For God doth not lively and savingly doe good and shew favour vnto any but to those whose sinnes he hath first pardoned and forgiven So that when they by the Fatherly compassion of God are taken away and wiped out then the spirit of sanctification commeth in place by the vertue and operation whereof miserable sinners are renewed vnto the patterne and study of godlinesse Therefore God doth first reconcile men vnto himselfe by the free remission of their sinnes Then doth he regenerate them by his spirite into righteousnesse and newnesse of life and calleth them to himselfe and draweth them to Christ Saint Augustine having respect vnto this sayd rightly Regeneration beginneth from the remission of all our sinnes with which saying that holy man would teach vs that God then worketh by his grace in man vnto righteousnesse and eternall life and is then truly and lively perceyved when a mans sinnes are pardoned By this it cleerely appeareth that free remission of sinnes is the first benefite that commeth vnto man in this world tending vnto eternall life They therefore which begin from any other benefite of God which concerneth Salvation are like vnto foolish Phisitians which are carefull onely to curesome griefe and little or nothing desirous at all to know and take away the cause of the disease For that is the sound curing of any disease which beginneth at the cause taketh that away So likewise that is a true deliverance indeed whenas God by the free remission of sinnes sheweth him selfe a good and mercifull father Therefore this remission of sinnes in respect of God goeth before our Calling for God doth not reconcile man vnto himselfe nor take him vnto mercy by any other meanes but by the free remission of sinnes But in respect of vs our Calling goeth before it for by it we beginne to knowe and vnderstand that wee are iustified For when wee are called then is the gate vnto righteousnesse opened vnto vs then is declared what is given vnto vs and what we are to looke for then also doe wee beholde the milde and mercifull countenance of God as in a cleere and chrystall glasse But that Iustification may the more playnely bee vnderstood and the more familiarly conceyved these five thinges ought to be marked and considered First what that word to Iustifie doth signifie and whence it is taken Secondly what true Iustification is and what is the cause thereof Thirdly what manner of thing Iustification is and what proprieties it hath Fourthly what good commeth vnto vs by it and how it may be knowne Fiftly who are they that are iustified and doe obtayne free remission of theyr sinnes To Iustifie in the Hebrew phrase is to acquite one and to pronounce him iust This is a politicall word and a terme of law which is very often and much vsed in civill governement As if an innocent man should bee accused of others as guilty and should stand before the iudgement seat of a iust Iudge there when iudgement shall be given and sentence pronounced according to his innocency then is that man sayd to be iustified before that Iudge Then this word of Iustifying is translated from a politike and civill order vnto spirituall matters and so in the vsuall manner of the Scripture to Iustifie is to forgive and pardon a man his sinne But before this be more largely vnfolded two phrases or fourmes of speach in Divinity are to be explaned for the vnderstanding sake of the more simple sort namely what it is to be iustified by works and what it is to be iustified by faith He is sayd to be iustified by works in whose life and manners there is thought to be so great integrity and holynes as that it may deserve the prayse and testimony of righteousnes before God So in this our time there is found that wicked sect of the Papists which attributeth so great integrity vnto it selfe as that in the perfection thereof it may fully answere and satisfie the iust iudgement of God How true this is Rom. 10. the day of the last and great iudgement of Christ shall declare But they which so establish their owne righteousenes do fall from the truth of the Gospell and lose the mercy of God But he is sayd to be iustified by faith which layeth aside all thought of his owne merits and doth apprehend and apply vnto himselfe the righteousenes of Christ purchased by his death with which being invested and clothed he appeareth in the sight of God not as a sinner but as iust Therefore in this article of iustification wee must pray for true faith and hope from God that wee may be able to renounce our owne merits and worthines and rest our selves vpon the mercy of God onely otherwise we shall never have entrance vnto true righteousenes which is of worth before God for the grace of God only is abundantly sufficient vnto righteousenes as Saint Barnard elsewhere speaketh most wisely and godly when as he sayth It is sufficient for me vnto all righteousenes to have him mercifull vnto me against whom onely I have offended Therefore he is sayd to be iustified before God in the phrase of the Gospel which in his iudgement is thought righteous and is accepted and approved of him for his righteousenes and is no more accounted of him as a sinner but as a righteous man and by that name standeth before his iudgement seate with an vndaunted conscience and ioyfull countenance For a miserable sinner being excluded from his owne righteousnes doth by faith apprehend the righteousnes of Christ that is to say righteousnes purchased by his death whilest that he applyeth the obedience of his death vnto himselfe with which being clothed as with his owne obedience he appeareth now in the sight of God not as a sinner but as a righteous man and being endued with the obedience of Christ his death he is much more gratious in the sight of God then if he had never sinned and had righteousnes of his owne gotten by the iust and perfect works of the law Heere therefore to iustifie is not of vnrighteous to make a man righteous which can be righteous indeede and have no sinne in him but it is to account and repute him for a righteous man which wanteth righteousnes in himselfe to acquite him from
of man a false and fayned cause thereof And although the scripture do oftentimes promise a reward vnto the workes of the godly yet from thence can be gathered no merit wherein God as a debtor should be bound vnto vs because that reward dependeth vpon the meere mercy of God and not vpon any worthines of the workes Therefore the Papists whilst that in this question they do ioyne the reward and merit in a mutuall relation are very much deceived Certainely such are despised and reiected of God which shall put the least part of their confidence in their owne workes This doth the Sonne of God lively expresse and teach vs in the example of the Pharisy Luk. 18.11 Moreover the Papists get nothing in this when as they bring forth the examples of the Saints how that they oftentimes did freely rehearse and plead their integrity innocency before God this they do not to this end purpose as if they would declare themselves to be free and exempt from all imperfection and stayne of sinne nor as if they hoped that they could stand in the sight of God being indued with their owne power but they do it to a far other end namely to shew that they have a good lawfull cause against their adversaryes of whom they are vniustly hurt and oppressed So that the holy men do not compare their owne integrity by the sâ—uare rule of Gods iustice but they oppose it against the violent iniury of their enemyes and do call God as a iust iudge and the onely witnes of the truth betweene themselves and their enemyes Therefore by that comparison made with their enemyes by whom they are vniustly oppressed they shew forth their owne righteousnes and singlenes of heart that by that reason they might the more easily perswade God to help them This therefore is the reason why the holy meÌ„ do labour so earnestly in pleading the cause of their owne righteousnes so that in those speaches of their owne cause the question is not concerning their whole life and continuall perfection and innocency thereof but onely the goodnes of the cause is layd open and declared against the iniury of the wicked Agayne although the Saincts sometimes lay open their good workes 2. King 20.4 Psa 18.21 that they have walked before God with an vpright heart and have not departed from his commaundements yet notwithstanding they doe not produce those works as meritorious but onely bring them in as signes and fruites of their calling that they might comfort themselves concerning their free adoption and so do not extoll and prayse their owne merits but the gifts and benefits of God and do testify that they do rely with a quiet conscience vpon the only favour of God and obedience of Christ Also sometimes when the Scripture speaketh of the integrity of the Saincts it distinguisheth them from hipocrites to whom it is sufficient to have an outward shew of godlines So this integrity is not every way the perfection of the whole life but it is taken for the singlenes of heart which is contrary to dissimulation Also the Papists by their interpretation doe corrupt all those places of Scripture which promise a reward vnto good workes and wrest them into an other sence and so doe fall into a fallacy of the ambiguity of a word And further because they ascribe that vnto the merits of man which is due alone vnto the grace of God and to the onely merit of Christ they mingle contrary causes together and out of them do frame and forge I know not what But to enforce some merit from a free reward they do not only make a foolish and rash consequence but also do deny God to be the onely fountayne of all goodnes and do conclude that there is some good thing in wretched sinners which are wholy corrupted Furthermore that which they babble of inherent righteousnes is altogether vayne and foolish for the free forgivenes of sinnes and the imputation of Christ his merit doth quite overthrow as well this inherent righteousnes as that righteousnes of workes for these are two contraryes which can never stand together nor be attributed vnto one and the selfe-same thing but one of them alwayes confoundeth and driveth away the other Surely such fictions of the Devill and vayne men are altogether to be reiected and condemned which pull in pieces the whole doctrine of the free remission of sinnes For they which goe about to establish and set vp theyr owne righteousnes do not submit themselves vnto the righteousnes of God Rom. 10.3 they do not onely deceive and as much as in them lyeth condemne themselves and others but also they arrogate the honour of God vnto themselves or at the leastwise much weaken it for as soone as they set vp their owne righteousnes they throw downe the righteousnes of God for this is the onely beginning to obteyne the righâ—…nes of God that men should altogether renouâ—â—â—â—heir owne righteousnes and to confesse and acknâ—â—â—â—dge themselves to be voyd of all righteousnes For as long as a man thinketh that he hath the least good thing of his owne he is vnfit to receive the righteousnes of God which he giveth and imputeth freely for God receiveth into favour and saveth none but sinners such as are voyd of all righteousnes Hence is it that the Prophets and Apostles do set the only grace of God and sole merit of the Messias Dan. 9. 1. Tim. 1.15 as contrary vnto all the merits of man and all outward causes which prophane and wicked men in their inconstancy and rash attempts do invent for by this meanes they teach vs that there is no other way for men to become righteous and enter into heaven but the onely and meere goodnes of God and the merit of Christ alone Agayne they teach vs that all and singular the endevours and merits of man by which men go about to deserve the grace of God are nothing else but manifest illusions and sleights of the Devill by which ignorant men are made strangers from God and throwne headlong into the deepe pit of condemnation Therefore this free iustification ought alwayes to be remembred and thought of for Sathan laboureth and watcheth for nothing more then that he might quite put out or at the least darken this free iustification of faith This he hath gone about in all ages and obtained in many places But let this suffice to be spoken of the first quality of iustification Secondly this iustification is by all meanes perfect and most absolute for God doth not pardon one or two sinnes only but he forgiveth all and every sinne Neither doth he only forgive sinnes that are already committed past but he doth remit the dayly falls of his children if they repent This the scripture teacheth vs in many places and diligently vrgeth Iohn sayth playnely 1. Iohn 1.7 that the bloud of Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne S. Paul to the Colossians
doe call vpon God Gal. 4.6 as our loving and mercifull Father without trembling So that fayth by which we relie vpon God and love which wee have towardes God and prayer by which wee call vpon him are three most certayne signes of our Iustification For these doe necessarily follow Iustification But of these more shall be spoken hereafter in Glorification Last of all this Iustification belongeth onely to the Elect and such as shal be saved This Paul plainly teacheth here whilest hee sayth that God calleth and iustifyeth those onely whom hee hath predestinate Here therefore Vocation and Iustification are set vnder Predestination as the effects vnder theyr cause So that Iustification doth not reach farther then Predestination For the effectes cannot bee larger and reach farther then theyr causes They therefore which thinke that Iustification belongeth vnto all in generall ought first to teach and proove by the word of God that Predestination or Election is common to every one Agayne Act. 13.48 Tit. 1. Iohn 10.26 the Scripture playnely teacheth vs that Iustification is given and belongeth onely vnto those that are appoynted before vnto Life eternall But this thing is so cleere and manifest that it needeth no long proofe Let these things therefore bee spoken here briefely concerning Iustification Here is declared by what remedy the corruption of our nature is amended and the Image of God restored in man and in what partes especially regeneration is wrought Likewise how grossely the Papists and the grosser sort of Vbiquitaries doe erre which thinke that there is an hidden power in the outward water of Baptisme which is able to convert a man in the very act of Baptizing CHAP. 29. NOw Glorification beeing the last Lincke of Pauls Chayne this followeth to be set vnder Iustification very fitly For so Paul teacheth that the gift of the holy Spirit and the renewing of our corrupt nature vnto the Image of God doth necessarily follow our free receyving into the favour of God and cannot bee separated from it Wherefore Glorification followeth Iustification in a most divine order because it is the finall cause of it For therefore is this or that man iustified that in the end he may be glorified Therefore after Paul had taught that sinnes are forgiven men by the onely free mercy of God now he proceedeth rightly to teach and declare how sinnes are abolished and purged and so sheweth how Glory and the Image of God is recovered in man This hee sheweth in the worde glorifying Therefore to glorifie is nothing els then to abolish the corrupt nature of man and so to reforme man vnto the Image of God and make him fit for eternall Glory So that regeneration from the effect and last end thereof is called by the name of Glorification in asmuch namely as the Elect by it are renewed vnto the Image of God and then translated into everlasting Glory For God wil have his Glory and holinesse to shine in the Elect here after a sort And fayth being in some sort inflamed by the holy Spirite in our calling and our will somewhat changed is here more inflamed and changed But this is perfourmed and brought to passe by no other meanes but onely by our regeneration For God doth not beginne and finish the worke of our regeneration in one day and at one instant but doth continue and perfect it by little and little Here therefore a few things ought to be spoken concerning Regeneration which that they may be handled and intreated of the better and more plainely with the greater fruite wee ought to consider these foure severall heads First what Regeneration is and by what meanes it commeth Secondly in what parts it consisteth and of what sort it is in this life Thirdly how necessary it is and for what thinges it is profitable Fourthly by what signes and tokens it may bee knowne Concerning the first thing Regeneration is not the abolishing of the former substance and the establishing agayne of a new neyther is it the changing of one substance into an other but it is the reforming of our corrupt nature and the repayring and restoring of the Image of God in man So that in this Regeneration there remayneth the same frame of the body and substance but the inward and wicked affections of the mind onely are amended and changed which seeing it is a spirituall change it is felt inwardly before it bee learned as Saint Cyprian speaketh elsewhere And it is nothing els but the amending and abolishing of the corrupt and wicked qualities that remayne in the substance of man Therefore whom God hath iustified those also hee doth regenerate and change vnto his most blessed glorie and purity of life that they may repent and be ashamed of theyr former life that so they may betake themselves vnto a better course For no man can have an earnest desire vnto the grace of God except first he know his sins and be displeased with himselfe in them So that a renewing is required For God will not have his Elect to abuse his gentlenesse and long suffering and therefore doth he renew and frame them to sincere manners and holy actions Therefore they which are effectually regenerated do begin to be displeased with themselves for their sins and to be grieved in their hearts that they have displeased God and with theyr whole heart doe detest all wicked deedes whatsoever so that hereafter they will not commit or doe them and so doe shew theyr thankefulnesse by eschewing of evill and doing of good and there is in them a turning away from Sathan and evill deedes and a turning vnto God and to good workes And although the regenerate doe fall often yet they doe not defend nor allow of theyr sinnes but desire dayly more and more to hate and eschew them So they which are converted begin to savour of better thinges and doe change theyr evill custome and kind of life and revoke theyr former course of living and so convert theyr actions and endevours from evill vnto good as from one contrary vnto an other They which are thus affected doe feele true ioy in theyr hearts in that they have God at one with them for theyr Mediatours sake from whence followeth an earnest desire to obey God in all his Commandements Let the regenerate therefore know that now the time is come wherein they ought to approve and fulfill those most wholesome precepts of divinity not so much by discoursing of them as by performing them constantly living godly because they can by no other way obtaine blessed immortality heavenly Glory but onely by true fayth and ready obedience vnto the commandements of God Therefore how much or little soever it be which the children of God have and savour of regeneration to it they ought to frame theyr manners sayth Augustine Tom. 7. colum 694. Now this renewing as is abovesayd in the Treatise of Vocation is begun and finished by the word and spirit of God By
the word he sheweth vs what things he wil have done or not done by vs and by his Spirite there is strength ministred vnto vs to performe them This regeneration is especially wrought continued in the mind will and heart of man So that God sheweth forth and declareth his goodnesse towards his children here three manner of wayes First hee doth enlighten and dispell the blindnes of the mind by the Sun-shine of his Spirit For whatsoever man savoureth of his owne selfe Rom. 8.6 7. is enmity against God bringeth death with it This blindnesse of mans mind is not simply the ignorance of God and of himselfe but it is a stubborne rebellion and prowd presumption against God So that by how much a man excelleth and is indued with the greater quicknes of nature by so much the more doth he resist and strive against God himselfe and his owne Salvation Because such an one feareth not to charge the wisedome of God with extreame folly For all men as long as they are not renewed with this new and heavenly light do thinke the holy mysteries of God to be foolishnesse So Paul whilst hee preached Christ crucified vnto the Grecians sayth 1. Cor. 1.23 that to them he preached foolishnes So that the enlightning of this rebellious and hurtfull blindnesse is a great and inestimable benefite of God After this inlightning followeth a right iudgement and opinion of God of his will and of his workes because that then men begin to know God rightly and to iudge of him accordingly when they be inlightened by the spirit of God Secondly it changeth and reformeth the will of man which is extreamely contrary vnto the law of God And of evill it maketh it good and of vnwilling and stubborne it maketh it ready and obedient Phil. 2.13 So the will of man doth then begin to be good when it is reformed and renewed by God Here also the infinite goodnesse of God sheweth it selfe whilest that it maketh man of an adversary and foe to become a friend and heyre of heavenly glory which otherwise in himselfe is so corrupted and depraved that hee hath mind to nothing but evill and hateth God extremely This will of man howsoever by nature it be so wicked and perverse as to resist and withstand God and his will yet no will can be so wicked and stubborne but God if he will can mollifie it and make it good as Augustine sayth well Now God will doe this in the Elect Ezech. 36.26 27. because that of his owne accord hee hath promised that he will doe it Thirdly it converteth and reneweth the stubborne vnapt and disobedient heart and so doth weaken and debilitate the strength of sinne in his children and doth create in them an earnest study and desire to live godly and maketh them altogether forward vnto all piety Lastly it stirreth vp in them good workes and endueth them with sincere and holy behaviour Phil. 2.13 So God worketh in them both to will that which is good and doe that which is right So that all power to live godly proceedeth and commeth not from theyr owne power but from God onely which worketh in them effectually by his Spirit For this spirituall renewing is called in many places of the Scripture by an excellencie The creation and worke of God because that it is his worke to illuminate the blind vnderstandings of men with the knowledge of himselfe and to change theyr crooked willes and hard heartes and to frame them vnto the obedience of his owne will For these are so hard and difficult workes that they can bee brought to passe and effected by none other but by God onely Therefore the Lord by EZechiel promiseth that he will cause that we shal walke in his commandements shewing that regeneration and power to doe well is a worke farre surmounting all creatures The vse of this doctrine is divers First that the grace of God by which onely the Elect are changed into new creatures may be maintayned agaynst that divellish invention of free will which the Papists dreame of But here the Papists offend grievously for looke how much they attribute vnto the power of man so much doe they detract from the grace of God and merit of Christ For the grace of God and the power of man are in this matter two contraries which cannot be maintayned of one and the selfe same subiect at one time Therefore Saynt Austine in one place sayth very well that that is not free which the grace of God hath not made free For the Scripture as we have sayd before doth not leave a man so much as a good thought which is the least part of a good worke 2. Cor. 3.5 For such is the blindnesse and frailty of mans wit that it is not onely vnable to conceyve and bring forth of it selfe any thing rightly or truely but also that it frameth and inventeth to it selfe many and most dangerous errors even from most true principles An evident example of this we may see in the free-will of the Papists But that most fond dreame of theyrs vanisheth like a vapour by this doctrine of regeneration and the spirit of God onely is prooved to bee the onely beginning and true cause of every good worke Agayne seeing God doth regenerate man and make him fit for good works that other fiction which the Papists have dreamed concerning workes fore-seene is overthrowne and beaten to pieces For seeing no man can doe good except by the grace of God hee be changed into a new creature it thence followeth that God could fore-see no other workes in man but such as hee himselfe should worke in him whence a man may easily gather which considereth the matter any thing at all that this opinion concerning workes fore-seene is a meere and forged fable Moreover the Papists and the more grosse sort of Vbiquitaries do in this place after their manner erre and invent a new fiction whenas they thinke that there is some secret and hidden power in tne water of Baptisme which is able to convert and renew a man And from thence they labour to inferre that they which are baptized are regenerate in the very act of Baptisme This vnsavory invention is the fosterer of noysome errours But the falshood thereof is found first in this that it evidently appeareth by the holy Scriptures that all are not regenerate which are baptized as we may see not onely in Simon Magus but also in many others eyther openly wicked or hypocrites vnder hand and secretly which although they have beene baptized and receyved Baptisme as a true marke of their regeneration yet theyr lives sufficiently declare that they were not regenerate For although that the Sacraments are meanes or instruments by which the holy Ghost is effectuall in the Ministery of the Church yet in his power and efficacy hee hath not tyed himselfe vnto them neyther doth hee so worke by them that that working should alwayes shew it selfe
a reward vnto the works of the godly hee doth it not as if the works by theyr worth and dignity deserved any thing but as a good Father he applyeth himselfe to the affections desires of his childrē For he knoweth that men are thus affected that they will take paines for no man freely but that they looke for some reward from him for whom they labour and so that he might make his children diligent and obedient in his service he calleth his owne free gifts and vndeserved benefites bestowed vpon them by the name of a Reward Therefore God setteth the title of a Reward befor his benefites not to that ende to obscure the prayse of his bounty or any way to diminish it but to encourage his children and make them more willing and ready to the sincere study of obedience And so that hee might give them the more encouragement to live innocently he casteth that vpon their workes which is proper to his owne free goodnesse and mercy So that whatsoever God promiseth or performeth vnto the workes of the Sayntes he doth it not for the perfection and worthines of them but because he hath iustified them and perfumed them with the sweete savour of his grace For hee iustifieth theyr workes and cleaseth them from all the spots wherewith they are defiled and polluted So that he giveth a reward vnto them not as they are vnperfect in themselves and do savour of the flesh but because by his grace he doth account them iust and righteous By this it is more cleerely apparant then the light at mid-day that the reward which God promiseth vnto the workes of the godly is not to be referred vnto the merit of man but vnto the benefite of God Therefore whomsoever God pardoneth to those also doth he give and bestow the spirit of holinesse and righteousnesse by which they are cleansed and made studious of good workes Therefore for this cause are the godly and theyr workes wel-pleasing and acceptable vnto God because he doth behold and accept them and theyr works together with his owne gifts of the spirit Agayne hee doth appoynt sure and great rewards vnto his children that so hee might ease and asswage all the troubles all the iniuries and reproaches to which they especially are subiect and with which they are afflicted in this life as in a miserable and sorrowfull exile So that the promise of a reward doth contayne a great measure of the mercy of God and doth exclude all worthinesse of workes Otherwise if God would sift and examine the workes of his children as they are in themselves according vnto the rule of his law surely there could not be found among all mankind one worke though performed of the very best which might seeme worthy of the least reward Here therefore we must neyther dreame of any relation betweene the reward and the merit nor yet of any recompence that should be due vnto vs. Moreover if any mortall man could be found which had most perfectly fulfilled the law in every respect or could fulfill it yet could he deserve nothing for himselfe thereby nor iustly aske any reward at Gods hands for it Luk 17.10 because he hath performed that onely vnto him which by the right of creation he was bound to performe vnto him Wherefore although a man shall doe all thinges which are commanded him yet he is to be counted as an vnprofitable servant because hee hath done but that which he ought to doe cannot interest or intitle himself vnto any thing from God therby So that they are all to be condemned of intollerable pride and extreame arrogancie which say that they that they can deserve any thing at Gods hands for the worthinesse of theyr owne workes For God in this matter hath no respect of any merit and worthinesse of our owne but is altogether a free debter So that vnto the godly which stand faythfully and fight manfully vnder his banners God is made a debter not by receyving any thing of them whereby he should be bound vnto them but by promising them that which pleased him Thus the godly are they which say vnto God Thou art indebted vnto vs because thou hast promised and the wicked are they which say vnto God Thou art indebted vnto vs because we have given vnto thee as Augustine speaketh Serm. 16. col 336. Therefore all good works which the regenerate and the godly doe are not workes that deserve any thing but obedience which is due vnto God by the right of creation and redemption Agayne although the Scripture in some places doe seeme to ascribe salvation and life eternall vnto good workes this is not so to be taken as if they were the true and proper cause of Salvation but because they from whom such works doe proceed are iustified through the merit of Christ and regenerate by the holy Ghost and renewed vnto a diligent care of religion and to the bringing forth of good workes Secondly there is shewed from the effects of Iustification what are the parts and exercises of true and vnfayned religion So the Sonne of God in S. Matthew Cap. 25.35 ascribeth eternall life vnto good works not because those works do deserve life eternall but because they are certayne meanes by which God bringeth his children into the heavenly inheritance So Christ wil teach vs that this heavenly life salvation is appoynted and promised onely vnto them which with a ready and vndaunted spirit give themselves vnto good workes and strive dayly vnto the price of theyr high Calling Thus the Scripture setteth forth true faith by that which followeth namely by good workes and the fruite thereof and sheweth certayne tokens whereby men that are iustified and regenerate may bee discerned Hether appertayne all such like places of Scripture which seeme to attribute Salvation vnto the workes of men So fayth is not defyned by the causes from that which goeth before but is onely described by the effects from that which followeth after Let these thus suffice to be spoken of the second thing Now the third thing remayneth to be handled First here is to be noted that wee reiect not the good workes which God commandeth and the law setteth downe as certayne popish divines with theyr lying lips doe slaunder vs but we admit here a wise and necessary distinction because that they are not to be done to that purpose that by them the iustice of God might be satisfied and Salvation attayned For this were nothing els but to deny the merite of Christ to mocke God and leade men out of the true way to Salvation seeing there is none to be found that can performe perfect workes and agreeable vnto the Law of God So that concerning workes this is the controversie and manifest difference betweene vs and the Papists For they admit and defend workes to bee the causes of grace but wee embrace them as the effectes of grace And they have no ground for theyr opinion but onely
severall branches having bin by a divine order conceived before time are set downe in time by an Apostolike method and ordered and ranged with excellent skill And if a man should more intentively and deeply consider all the linckes of this chayne the only will of God shall be the efficient cause of all the rest for vpon it the summe of all the rest dependeth and consisteth Therefore the freewill of God is the first and most generall cause for from it proceedeth the first motion and whole power of working so that without it in this matter nothing can be wrought or brought to passe And heere is a most excellent and artificiall order of the causes of salvation for from the first and highest cause vnto the secondary causes and from thence vnto the effects there is a continuall gradation vntill we come vnto the last end whether all and every of them tend and have recourse What are the effects of predestination and how great benefits come from it vnto every beleever Next there is shewed that this cheyne of salvation is made of the meere benefites of God CHAP. 35. HEre now remayneth briefely to be handled what and how great effects and benefits doe arise and come vnto vs by the free grace of predestination These effects may be declared and enlarged by sundry and severall degrees and they are in number tenne all which are set downe in order The first of them is Christ the Mediator the head and beginning of all the elect Hee in this doctrine of election is to be esteemed the onely foundation and ground-worke of salvation for without him there can be no election vnto salvation so that of him dependeth the election of all the rest for hee vouchsafed to come downe from heaven and to become man that by his sacrifice and bloud he might redeeme and save others for ever The second effect is the creation and bringing forth of every of the elect into this world The third is an effectuall calling vnto Christ by the holy Spirit and the word of the Gospell and a true conversion vnto God The fourth is iustification a stedfast faith and a certaine hope which layeth hold vpon and applyeth vnto it selfe Christ and his merits and relyeth wholy on him not desiring nor longing after any thing else The fift is regeneration and the good workes which necessarily follow it for whome God hath appoynted vnto any end he also ordayneth and sheweth him certayne meanes by which he may attayne vnto the end that he is appoynted vnto Therefore good workes are not the beginning and cause of election as the Papists dreame but they are onely the effects and meanes by which as by certayne succeeding degrees the elect are brought vnto life everlasting The sixt is the dayly increase and accesse of faith and sanctification so that the workes of charity and effects of faith doe one after an other dayly growe greater and better for a man is not good except he have a desier to be made and become better And he that goeth not forward in the wayes of God goeth back from them as Saint Barnard sayth else-where The seaventh is invincible patience and courage in induring adversity quietly The eight is vndaunted and perpetuall constancy and finall perseverance in faith and sanctification daily increasing The ninth is resurrection from the dead and the reuniting of body and soule The tenth is glorification life eternall that is to say spirituall ioy in God with thanksgiving and everlasting gladnes in Christ By these things we may see cleerely what great and saving gifts and benefits are included in predestination onely They therfore which feele the effects of the grace of god within themselves ought with great admiration to have them in continuall remembrance to consider of them within thēselves for they which do acknowledge how greatly they are bound vnto God for so great a benefit which hath vouchsafed to choose them from out of such a number of wretched persons and being elected to reforme and renew them into his owne image and heavenly glory Let them then with certaine hope found confidence rely vpon that free goodnes of God and that his vnchangeable counsell concerning their salvation and let them be as surely perswaded and made as certayne of their salvation as if they had it already layd downe vnto them in theyr hand and did enioy it in full and present possession So that these gifts of God and merits of Christ are to be thought vpon seriously and religiously and to be preferred before all the riches of the whole world for they do bring with them everlasting life and blessed immortality But they which turne aside vnto transitory and fading good things are not wise for themselves for they perish at the last with certayne destruction Moreover these effects are some of them of one only respect and sort which are such effects as can never put on the nature nor take vpon them the turne of an efficient cause of which sort are all the secundary effects from the first effect vnto the last end Others are of a two-fold respect and sort which may sometimes be effects and sometimes efficient causes Such is the first effect namely Christ Iesus which though he be God eternall and in this respect can be an effect vnto nothing when as he maketh all things yet as he is man and a mediator he is the first effect of predestination and he is such an effect thereof as notwithstanding may neverthelesse be an operative and efficient cause of all the rest for hee is the cause of all the effects which are placed betweene predestination and glorification which is the last of all for it is he which hath called which hath iustified which hath glorified vs. So that all the linckes of this whole chayne are the meere benefits of God and no merits of man are found in it Therefore he that reckoneth vp mans merits among these free benefites of God as he doth derogate from the bountie and glory of God so also doth he hazard his owne Salvation But all they which love God and doe seeke for theyr Salvation in his goodnesse and in the Sacrifice of Christ doe know for an assured trueth that all the lincks of this Chayne are the very effects of Christ and the meere benefites of God himselfe Therefore to him only ought they to be thankefull for them Moreover out of this Chayne wee may see that in the whole course of Salvation the Scripture mentioneth and speaketh of nothing but the grace of God onely and many other gifts which proceed from that Therefore also the true fayth of the godly ought to receyve and acknowledge nothing besides them The Linckes of this Chayne ought to be considered by an Antithesis that the goodnesse of God may the more appeare and be magnified so that wee proceede from the enioying of the one contrary vnto the remooving of the other Secondly the Linckes hang together with an inseparable