how long or short while after he knowes not receiue for an inheritance and he went to it not knowing whither Yet comâ—e to his iournies end he might in wisdome haue requested eiâ—â—er better assurance or leaue to returne whence he came But the same faith which moued him to go he knew not whither binds him there to expect Gods leasure for the time when he or his seed should enioy the benefit of the bequest content in the meane time with what estate the diuine prouidence should allot him For by faith he soiourned in the land of promise as in a strange land dwelling in Tabernacles or as Saint Steuen more significantly notes God gaue him none inheritance therein no not so much as to set his foote in onely he promised that he would giue him a possession for his seed after him when as yet he had no child Long delay of accomplishing this promise might well occasion Sarahs distrust to proue the Mother of a mighty nation The tentations to withdraw her Assent from the speculatiue truth whereon it was set Gods power were not terrible grieuous or painful yet not so easie to be foiled because they had got fast hold within her Barren shee was by naturall constitution and no better then dead hauing so long out-liued the naturall time of bearing children but he that without her consent or knowledge made her gaue his promise for reuiuing her dead womb and she could not continue doubtfull of the euent without distrusting his fidelity that had promised By faith therefore she receiued strength to beare seed and was deliuered of a child when she was past age The ioifull issue of her beliefe may serue as an earnest to assure vs of what Christ hath promised I am the resurrection and the life he that belieueth in me though he were dead yet shall he liue and whosoeuer liueth and belieueth in me shall neuer die He that truly iudgeth Christ faithfull in this as Sarah did God in the former promise shall see life spring from death But faithfull herein hee onely iudgeth Christ that esteemes the faithfull execution of his will deerer to him then all the pleasures of this life which is neuer without the checke of death By such a faith only as arms vs with constancy in Christs cause against all the terrors that accompany this last enemy wee are to deale withall shall we receiue strength to conceiue that immortall seede whose fruite is ioy peace and gladnesse euerlasting 5. Or if we consider the date of Abrahams life almost expired in it selfe but extraordinarily renewed in young Isaac how much more welcome had his owne cruel executioner been vnto him then the execution of this commaundement Take now thy sonne thine onely sonne Isaac whom thou louest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering vpon one of the Mountaines which I will tell thee of But some happely will reply God neuer puts any child of Abraham to such a desperate point of seruice as this wherein notwithstanding what was required which some Heathens haue not performed vnto their false gods The manner of training vp the father of the faithfull as it were by degrees vnto this giues vs all to vnderstand that throughout our whole course of life wee should esteeme whatsoeuer is most deare and neere vnto vs as base and vile in respect of Gods fauour of whose coÌ„tinuance none are capable but by faithfull performance of his will All his commaundements are Mercy and Truth iust and good vnto the party that vndertakes them by liuely faith which cannot rate either declination of any euill or execution of good incident to mortalitie at so high a price as obedience of which in cases wherein it is vnquestionably due it is so rigid an exacter as will admit no dispensation no not in case of grieuous sicknesse or extreamity of death So soueraigne and high a hand it likewise hath in marshalling and ranking all our affections for Gods seruice that for an aged father to kill his onely child at faiths designement becomes an act of mercy in the slayer and an exercise of pitty vppon the slaine for good it was to young Isaac to yeeld vp his life in obedience to his Father willing in obedience to his God to take it from him As CHRIST is the Way the Truth and Life so in this act of Abrahams faith fore-shadowing his future sacrifice we see an entrance opened vnto the path which must lead vs vnto this maine way of life for thither we come by treading the foot-steps of our father Abraham The point of whose supportance in these tentations whereon all the motions of his will and other acts of his obedience reuolue as the dore vpon the hinges or the heauens vpon the poles was his firme Assent vnto the Article of Gods omnipotent power For the holy Ghost assigning the cause why he that had receiued the promises should offer vp his only begotten Sonne of whom it is sayd that in Isaac shall his seed be called sayth he considered that God was able to raise him vp euen from the dead from whence also he receiued him in a figure His beliefe as hath been declared was of an obiect vnseene perhaps vnheard of in the world before but grounded vpon an euidence of the pledge exhibited in Isaacks miraculous birth We that referre all that befalls vs vnto naturall causes or contriuances of our own or others wit neuer sensibly feeling the finger of God in the procurement of our good vsually faile in the performance of seruices conditionally annexed to diuine promises And albeit we pitch our faith where Abraham did his yet when stormes of tentations arise our sensuall desires draw it being destitute of firm grounds after them as ships in great winds do their anchors cast in loose grauell or stony chanels 6. Many of our times could discourse more plausibly of Gods omnipotency more distinctly vnfold the seueral branches therof and bring arguments to conuince deniers of it more forcible then Abraham could which cannot conuince their owne diffidence or distrust in easier trials because not accustomed to rely vpon Gods prouidence or to traine their affections to obedience in lesser matters Should the practice of some duty nothing so difficult or distastfull to humane affections but altogether as subordinate to the diuine power be enioyned vs by expresse commaund from heauen we would not directly deny that God were able to effect his will but question rather whether it were he that called vs or so perswaded with those in the Poâ—â— seeke a milder interpretation of the oracle Aut fallax ait est solertia nobis Aut pia sunt nullumque nefas or acula suadent Our cunning failes if oracles should counsell vs to ill They holy are and would not we should sacred reliques spill What should they cast their mothers bones behind their back God forbid sure the oracle had some other meaning Magna
death Thus much of true faith and the errors concerning the Nature of it It remaines we intreate of misperswasions concerning the possession or presence of it with the right vse of it and other spirituall graces that attend it SECTION 2. Of immature perswasions concerning mens present estate in grace with the meanes to rectifie or preuent them CHAP. I. The generall heads or springs of hypocriticall perswasions with briefe rules for their preuention 1. HHappy were we whom God hath appointed to sowe good seede in others hearts because not altogether without hope to see some fruits of our labours if this censorious age would permit vs to strike as freely at the rootes of Atheism infidelity or hypocrisy as it is ready to censure Atheists Infidels Hereticks or Hypocrites To me it hath often seemed a question very doubtfull but farre aboue my capacity to determine whether such as reuolt from the orthodoxall Church vpon obseruation of monstrous dissonancy betweene the truthes professed in it and the professors liues or resolutions be in case better or worse then such as embrace true religion vpon no better grounds then they or their confederates oppugne it Thus much the word of God will warrant that the portion of hypocrites shall be the bitterest in the life to come And yet hypocrisie if it be of that stampe which our Sauiour so much condemnes is alwaies moulded in that deepe notice or strong perswasion which men haue of their owne loue and others opposition vnto diuine truthes of their owne diligence and others negligence in performance of sundry duties expresly required by Gods lawe And this is a miserie of miseries peculiar to the hypocrite that whereas the height of others impiety ariseth from their opposing the way of truth and godlinesse this monster the more he detests falsehood and error or the impietie whether of others practises or opinions the more still he increaseth his owne corruption and warres vnwittingly against his owne soule For seeing loue to himselfe indulgence to his deare affections or carnall glorying in prerogatiues perhaps spirituall is the common roote as well of his imaginary loue vnto such points of truth as haue some kinde of coniunction with his humours as of the detestation he beares to others obliquities that in life or profession ill consort with him the oftener he lookes either on their knowne transgressions or his owne precise obseruance of such duties as by nature hee is addicted or otherwise accustomed to by both meanes he more pampers and nourishes that vicious habit whence the forementioned bad fruites did growe And thus at length by vsing the helpe of strong but impure vnruly affections to abandon particular errors he ouerthrowes his owne soule as the ancient inhabitants of this land did their state by vsing the Saxons aide to driue out the Picts 2. After this manner the Iew by nursing a loathsome conceit of Publicanes and open sinners dissoluâ—nessesse not tyed vnto so much as any solemn acknowledgement of their misdeeds or set forme of repentance tooke a surfet of those outward ceremonies which God had ordained as sauees to sharpen not as foode to satiate his appetite of sauing health Other-whiles fiercely bending his indignation against the idolatrie of the heathen by too much depression or debasement of their folly he sublimated his owne naturall inclination vnto pride and haughtinesse into presumptuous boasting in the purity of that lawe which God had giuen him by Moses Whence in the fulnesse of time sprung an irreconcileable hatred of the long expected Messias desperate contempt of his Gospell and wilful refusall of saluation preached in his name But howsoeuer the deadlinesse of this disease was most conspicuous in the fall of Gods chosen people whom wee may without suspition of slaunder seeing the holy Ghost hath written the obseruatioÌ„ safely charge with the infection yet the danger of it amongst all professors of true religion throughout euery age and nation continues the same as hauing a perpetuall cause in nature For whether wee speake of contraries morall or phisicall the enmities of the extreames is alwaies greater then betwixt them and the meane from which they alwaies so much further decline as they more eagerly entend their force each against other The greater strength heate and cold from their vicinity gather whether by mutual irritation or a secret kinde of daring each other to combate or by a stricter vnition of the materiall parts wherein their forces lodge the more both disagree with the luke-warme temper The more likewise the prodigall detests the niggards manners or the niggard his the farther both roaue the one ouer the other short from that marke whereat they aime but which truly liberality only hits And as the mutuall discord of extreames grows greater by the increase of their seueral strengths so the hastie or violent introduction of the one into a subiect capable of both makes waie for the others entertainment and excludes the meane which findes no entrance but where it is vshered by moderation So water too much or too violently heated is more apt to freeze then to retaine the middle temper Young prodigalls we often see turne old niggards seldome liberall vnlesse their education haue been exceeding good their naturall discretion extraordinary or the seeds of vertue in them very strong And what more vsuall then for a niggards feast because not agreeable to his ordinary disposition to smell of waste and prodigalitie Buzzards by naturall constitution through extreamity enforced to take heart and turne againe ouerrunning valour boisterously rush into fury And desperate hotshots once made to feele the smart of their folly become afterwards basely timerous The Cynicke could spurne at his fellow Philosophers pride but so as his scornfull heeles did bewray his preposterously proud ambitious heart 3. Are these obseruations true in workes of nature or morall affections onely and not in perswasions of religion Yes euen in these also for hath not the vntimely heat of indiscreete precisenesse disposed sundry in our daies to freeze the sooner in the dregges of Popery Haue not others mounted so high in groundlesse and presumptuous confidence that their sudden fall hath made them sinke for any helpe man could affoord without recouery into the very suds of melancholy and desperation Others vpon a dislike of their former hot enforced zeale haue changed their wonted confidence into carelesnesse and become open professors of licentiousnesse like the possessed childe in the Gospell falling sometimes into the fire sometimes into the contrary element And experience prooues it so common a thing for young Saints such I meane as affect to be ripe in holinesse ere well growne in ordinary discretion or common honesty to prooue old diuels that the bent of nature vnseasonable or too much curbed in the parents oftentimes burst out in the vnbridled affections of their children 4. The reason of the experiments whether in nature moralities or religion is as perspicuous as they are true For contrarie exstreames alwaies
but as good to vs in the practise as much better then auoiding the displeasure or gaining the fauours of any earthly powers Secondly That this Assent must be vniforme and a like sincere to euery truth a like strong to euery practise alwaies increasing according to the seuerall degrees of truth or goodnesse apprehended in the obiect or different exigence of times and place wherein wee liue these points are most cleere That Christian faith is more directly oppugned by wilfull neglect or auowed violations of morall or Euangelicall precepts then by bare errors in opinion or such heresie as directly include not blasphemie against the blessed Trinity for the chiefe euill of all others consists in reference to wicked practises whereunto they lead or incline men That the Ministers of the Gospell may deny CHRIST or manifest their ashamednesse of his Gospell as directly by not laying his Lawe as closely to the great Herods of the world as Iohn Baptist did suppose the case be as notorious and as well knowne vnto them as if they had been afraid to confesse him for feare of being put out of the synagogue or â—ayd with those other Iewes wee know that God spake with Mose and gaue authority vnto Magistrates but this man we know not whence he is nor do we care for his Counsells Yet were Iohn Baptists kinde of preaching vsed in many kingdomes though by such as professe the same Religion with the Potentates they should offend with their boldnesse I think it would proue matter of martyrdome in the end That any age since Christian Religion was first propagated hath wanted store of Martyrs is more to be attributed vnto the negligence ignorance and hypocrisie or want of courage in Christs embassadors or appointed Pastors then vnto the sincerity mildnesse or fidelity of the flock especially of the bell-weathers or chiefe ring-leaders Or if Satan had not abated the edge of primitiue zeale and resolution by that dishonorable peace concluded betweene Christianity and Gentilisme after the setling of Gothes and Vandalls in these parts of Christendome had hee not vtterly benummed mankinde by locking vp their spirituall senses in mid-night darkenesse and fettering their soules in superstition since the time he himselfe was let loose Rome Christian had seene more Martyrs euen of such as did not much dissent from her in most opinions held within sixe hundred yeeres of CHRIST in one yeere then Rome heathen at any time had knowen in ten Euen in Churches best reformed it would bee much easier I thinke to finde store of iust matter for Martyrdom than of men fit to make Martyrs And hee that hath liued any long time in these quiet mansions and seates of Muses secure from Mars his broiles or externall violence hath great cause either to magnifie the tender mercies of his gracious God or suspect himselfe for an hypocrite if hee haue not suffered some degrees of Martyrdome But vnto such as haue been exercised therein it bringeth the quiet fruite of righteousnesse and ought to encourage rather then daunt them whilest they liue in these Paradises free God bee praysed from boysterous blasts as taint other plants of the same nursery remooued abroad to vse this calme and happy season they enioy for setting their faith and loue aright that they may spread themselues equally to euery point of that compasse by which they are to direct their course in this troublesome sea of vncertainties that their strength in practise and profession may iointly increase without all respect to persons or particular duties saue what ariseth from the excesse of worth in the things themselues belieued or loued or of necessity or speciall occasions of performances that they may further as much as in them lies by word and deed the vnpartiall execution of their blessed Founders statutes of whose beneficence they daily taste albeit oft-times with opposition to them or offence taken by them in whose arbitrement their estimation in the world or a great part of the maintenance prouided for them depends If by framing our resolutions and affections by little and little to march on constantly though but slowly in this vniformity and proportion wee can come at length to repell proffers of Honour whereunto we cannot ascend but by winding and crooked steppes or of gaine not easily gotten but by vnlawfull meanes or to hold fleshly pleasures as deadly poisons to our soules then shall our deaths bee acceptable in the sight of our God and if it be his heauenly wil hereafter to call vs to resistance of iniquitie euen vnto blood wee haue these sure grounds of hope that we shall offer vp our mortall bodies in sacrifice vnto Him the onely true and euerliuing GOD not to the sactious humours of these corrupt times or vaine Idoles or our foolish fancies 9. This vniformity of growth in faith and want of partiality in our zeale I haue affected since I knew what belonged vnto either the rather because as I sincerely professe in the sight of God the first ground of my dislike vnto the chiefe sollicitors of reformation in our Church men whose excellent parts and good labours I then did and euer shall reuerence was the difformity of their zeale for had it been vniforme no question but it had moued them to lay downe their liues for redressing knowne enormities in the Common-weale as much more materiall and more neerely concerning the aduancement of the Gospell then those doubtfull controuersies for so I apprehended them of formalities about which they stroue as death it selfe is more terrible then depriuation The principall authors or abettors of which enormities notwithstanding were imboldened by these encomiasts in whose language euery Cormorant that would countenance their cause was a sanctified person a sonne of God Their partialitie herein towards others may occasion vs to obserue a blast of like temptation naturally rising from like humours which oftentimes ouerthrowes faith where it is well-nigh rightly set and ready to take By nature if not preuented by grace and a watchfull eye ouer our perswasions we seeke to make amends for our delinquency in points whose practise our affections cannot well brooke by a supererogation in some other duties wherein we either naturally delight or can inflict vpon our selues as an easie penance because not much distastfull to our sweet desires nor contrary to our principall resolutions Many gallants of dissolute and debaushed behauiour and sometimes Ministers of life scandalous and obnoxious though neither of there I vse as instances for proofe of my assertion will in their discourses bewray an affected desire of declaiming against errors in generall opinions abstract from vse or reformation of life or some antient heretiques whose heresies might oft-times sleepe with their bodies were they not wakened by loud out-cries against them What is the reason that such men as are most vnfurnished in these subtilities are vsually most forward to entertaine conflicts with the dead or men farre absent They are afraid to looke vpon themselues without
craue my foe to foyle Nor follow I these furious broiles with purpose thee to spoile Vouchsafe t' accept my seruice now I now before thee stand Victorious Caesar hitherto as well by sea as land So now I may thy Souldier true for euer will I be His be the guilt this bloody breach that caus'd twixt Thee and Me. Such allegeance will euery Iesuite professe vnto his natiue Soueraigne and yet dispense with his oath if he shall in any sort offend the Romish Church But the Lord our God is no meane Lord hee accepts not of fealty tendred with such reseruations as Iesuites vse in their oathes of allegiance serued hee will be with the whole heart and affection and will not be sharer with the diuell the world of flesh as in the next place from Apostolicall aurhority confirming the reasons hitherto alleadged is to be shewed CHAP. V. That true faith is the soule of good workes That it equally respects all the Commaundements of God and can admit no dispensation for nonperformance of necessary duties 1. THat no man without faith can please God two reasons there be very pregnant the one because the wrath of God remaines on all persons without it as being not contained within his couenant the other more immediate because albeit the party destitute of it were not preiudiced by his first parents sinne or his owne thence deriued his actions neuerthelesse could not be acceptable in Gods sight not truly good because not vndertaken and managed by that faith which interests vs in Gods couenant and engrafteth vs in his Sonne Whether such faith can be wrought in any without expresse and actuall knowledge of CHRIST were perhaps curiositie to examine and presumption to determine yet thus much supposed the conclusion is vndoubted that their workes should for Christs sake bee accepted of his Father who better knowes the hearts of of such then they do his sonne or wee the extent of his decree of mercy in this case of this we may be sure albeit the best deeds of his dearest children are acceptable onely for his Sonnes sake yet for his sake he neuer accepts the impure or euill deeds the practise I meane of things forbidden of such as actually know his sonne and are expresly contained within his couenant but those onely wherein they truely resemble him Now euery action whereto that faith by which we are engrafted in Christ is concurrent is in it selfe sincerely and truely though imperfectly good Euery action without concurse of such faith is in it nature bad though of an obiect truely good or at the best but indifferent if the obiect be vncapable of morall good or euill and fall not within the precincts of any diuiuine commandement or prohibition As the workes of nature depriued of influence from their proper and principall causes become defectiue or if the materiall or passiue be not subordinate or fashionable to the formatiue or actiue causes monstrous so are our moral actions either altogether deficient from the rule of goodnesse or preposterous and contrarie to it vnlesse the faculties affections or inclinations whence they flow be inspired directed and moderated by a true and liuely faith 2. It is a Canonicall saying which the sonne of Sirach hath to this purpose In euery worke or as some read In euerie good worke bee of a faithfull heart or as Drusius trust thy soule but most directly to the Authors meaning belieue with thy soule for this is the keeping of the Commaundements But what is it hee wils vs to belieue with the soule that the thing is good which we intend to worke But vnlesse such it be in it selfe before intended by vs it will sooner make our beliefe bad then become any whit the better by our belieuing it is good For to belieue or trust our own soule that shold be good which in its nature is either bad or but indifferent or not good in such a degree as we deeme is to belieue an vntruth To do that which in its owne nature is good with doubt or scruple that it is euill is to sinne against our conscience from which guilt our full resolution to the contrary or sure trust to our owne soule rightly examined doth acquit vs and warrant our actions And in case our doubt or scruple of spirituall euill bee not accompanied with equall probabilitie of as great good that may follow Saint Paul aduiseth euery man to be fully perswaded in his minde ere hee aduenture on that which his soule had distrusted as euill But the recalling of such distrusts or raising confidence in our soules doth onely warrant vs that therein we do not sinne it doth not make our action good albeit the obiect were such before Now the sonne of Syrach praesupposeth the workes hee speakes of should be good in themselues and vndoubtedly acknowledged for such by all as being expresly commaunded in the lawe But with the first rudiments of Philosophy morall we haue learned that it is one thing to do that which is vnquestionably right and good another to do it rightly or well that it is not euery performance of what vertue enioines or commends to vs but the performing of it constantly and discreetly as knowing it to be good and honest and delighting in the practice of it because such whereby a man becomes virtutis veraecustos rigidusque satelles so true a friend and faithfull obseruer of vertue as he may be instiled truely good and honest Now seeing to keep the Commaundements doth dignifie a man with titles of an higher ranke and denominates him godly holy or religious it is not the bare doing of what is commaunded or a firme perswasion that it is lawfull but the faithfull and constant doing of it as perfectly knowing it to be good because a branch of his wil who is goodnesse it selfe the fountaine of whatsoeuer is called good in others in whose seruice wee ought to fixe our whole delight which makes vs keepers or obseruers of the Commandements The Commaundements in that sense he takes them are the totall obiect or complete rule of righteousnes and Faith being a firm Assent vnto the diuine nature attributes whose shadow and picture the Law and the Prophets exhibite hath the same place and extent in diuinity that Prudence or vniuersall iustice hath in morall Philosophy It includes the compleate and practicall knowledge of good and euill inclining the faculties of our soules to auoide all commerce with the one and embrace euery branch of the other Whence he that aduiseth vs In euery good worke to belieue with our soule supposeth the same obiect of this beliefe Saint Paul doth in that speech vvith the heart man belieueth vnto righteousnesse not by belieuing or trusting his owne heart but by hearty belieuing Gods mercy in CHRIST and vnfaigned relying vpon them as is sufficiently expressed by our Apostle and was implicitly contained in that speech of Syracidâ—s who perhaps did not expresly or actually conceiue of
there were in sight hee were altogether blind and ignorant And I thinke it would be hard for any man to prooue that all such as our Sauiour restored to sight had sauing faith before he opened their eyes or that Naamans condescending to his seruants counsell my father if the Prophet had bid thee doe some great thing wouldest thou not haue done it how much more when he saith to thee wash beclean was an assent of iustifying faith yet were all these cures as immediate workes of Gods power as is the illumination of the minde by faith What God hath wrought in them we know but if Naaman had beene so wilfull as not to haue washed himselfe seauen times in lorden or those blinde men so wayward as vpon the constant fame of former miracles not to haue besought CHRIST to worke the like in them all of them for ought we know or can imagine to the contrary had remained still in their former misery Thus if we graunt that a man altogether vnregenerate vpon the hearing of Gods word or the report that others whom he hath no reason to distrust doe make of the vertue thereof may haue a naturall apprehension of his naturall misery and a desire meerely naturall to bee like them whose estate hee knoweth no better then he that is borne blind doth the light or that as well his apprehension as desire is but a qualification meerely passiue tending onely to this purpose that ascribing the worke of faith to Gods power alone hee may be a subiect not vncapable of this creation we shall auouch nothing contrary to reason naturall or supernaturall For knowledge naturall and spirituall differ not in respect of the materiall obiects knowne but in the manner of apprehending their truth and properties What subiect is there whereof we may not logically dispute albeit demonstration or scientificall conclusions we can haue none but from the proper principles of that science whereto it belongeth first distinctlie and infallibly apprehended And what doth hinder vs to conceiue a naturall or morall assent vnto truths diuine as not impossible though to haue a true tast or homogeniall apprehension of them be the sole and proper effect of faith infused or supernaturall Of the same Diuine truths or rather of the goodnesse annexed to them there may be a naturall or morall desire right in it kinde though not such as Gods lawe requires or can immediately please the lawgiuer yet such as he requires that we may be capable of better None I thinke but would perswade a man whom he knew to be as yet vnregenerate to confesse his sinnes to crie for mercy how spiritually so to perswade him were a mockery but rather to sue for grace that hereafter hee might spiritually desire what now he naturally doth Nor doth he amisse in praying thus albeit his praiers in respect of the fountaine whence they spring be meerely naturall polluted with the poison of sinne Absolutely he praies not aright but in his kinde in as much as his desires are set vpon right obiects though not so symbolized or proportioned to them as they should be This rectitude of naturall desires or endeauours which ariseth from the rectitude of the obiects wheron they are imperfectly set not in respect of degrees or circumstances onely but for the very essence or substance of the act is the point whereunto this discourse is directed Whether this right vse of faculties as yet vnsanctified be in some degree possible to all that heare the word or whether if possible to all any are absolutely excluded from saluation without presupposall of some neglect or abuse of naturall faculties is to be disputed in the seauenth booke From our assertion thus explicated we may inferre the true meane betweene Pelagianisme and Stoicisme to be this Albeit man before regeneration hath no abilitie of doing any thing in it selfe not deseruing Hell yet is there a true and reall possibility left him of doing that which being done maketh him capable of grace to be created in him but which not done by him he shall remaine vncapable of such creation 3. Vpon these plaine grounds we hope now to proceed without offence to God or man It was the meere good will and pleasure of God to ordaine his meere wisedome to reueale those meanes of mans saluation vnto which now reuealed the naturall man may so farre assent as to make some triall of their truth as Naaman did of the Prophets words The deeper apprehension though but naturall man hath of his naturall misery or want of ability to raise himselfe the more apt hee is not to lay but to haue the sure foundation of faith laid in his heart by CHRIST IESVS who is the foundation and chiefe corner stone in the spirituall Temple so he will but frame his life by his masters precepts and example CHAP. III. Of the fundamentall rule of Christianity to forsake all and denie our selues That the sincere practise thereof is a method more admirable and compendious for the attainment of faith then any Artist could prescribe the principles of Christianitie being supposed That the want partly of instruction in the duties contained in it partly of solemne and publicke personall protestation for their performance is the principall cause of hypocrisie and infidelitie 1. THat CHRIST the Sonne of God should suffer so many indignities of the Elders and be killed seemed a doctrine so strange to his Apostles that one of them begins to checke him for abooding so ill of himselfe Bee it farre from thee Lord this shall not come vnto thee What was the reason touching this particular they were not as yet spirituall Thus much at the least our Sauiours reply to Peter imports Get thee behinde me Satan thou art an offence vnto me for thou sauourest not the things that be of God but those that be of men This truth the Prophets long before had deliuered though not so plainly as it could easily bee apprehended without any expositor Our Sauiour therefore vpon this dialogue betwene him and Peter shewes not onely his owne willingnesse to vndergoe all the calamities the Prophet had foretolde but withall that vnlesse his followers which had confessed him for the Messiah were made conformable to him in this point they could not be his Disciples not capable of any other lesson of sauing health If any man will follow mee let him forsake himselfe and take vp his crosse and follow me Necessarie it was the wisdome of God should thus plainly reueale this fundamentall principle of Christianitie vnto whose necessitie notwithstanding men in some sort may assent without the spirit of sanctification or any branch of supernaturall inherent grace Ordinarily it is as true of the first as of the second resurrection First is that which is naturall then that which is spirituall Manie haue assented vnto this rule as true which did neuer spiritually assent vnto it as good in the choyce albeit they haue desired so to do Now
we haue most reason to reioice in our defects or infirmities seeing the lesse temptations wee haue to glory in wealth strength or wit or whatsoeuer men call their owne the better opportunities we haue to glory in him who is the Lord of life and strength the authour of wealth and onely giuer of these and euery good gift To keepe mirth though actuall and externally occasioned within the bounds of wisdome or mingle much laughter with discretion is a skill whereof many natures are not capable much harder it is to retaine such strong naturall inclination as are the fountaines of our internall and habituall delight the chiefe pillars of our glory and principall rootes of our reioicing within the compasse of natures pollitique Lawes Hence as the Philosopher obserues excellency of beauty of bodily strength of birth or abundant wealth will hardly bee subdued vnto reason With what difficulty then will such glorious prerogatiues of flesh and blood bee drawne to yeeld loiall obedience vnto the humility and simplicity of faith when as that subiection which Aristotle requires in his morall patriot is but a formality in respect of that absolute deiection or prostration which true faith requires ere our soules be capable of it presence the best seruice which our inferiour faculties owe to reason morall or meerely naturall being but as dead and liuelesse in regard of that alacrity in performances wherewith grace expects to be entertained 2. The Epigramatist acutely imputes the stoickes contempt of death vnto the slender appertenances of his poore life in whose losse there could bee no great harme For who would much desire to see himselfe without change of apparell basely clad to lodge in a sordid cabin and goe to a hard bedsted hungry and colde but had he beene a while accustomed to those pleasures of which Rome till that time had neuer scarcâ—tie and Domitians present Court greatest variety he would haue wished vnlesse the Epigrammatist rashly or vncharitably censure his disposition that his life had beene lengthened as farre beyond the ordinary course of nature as Philoxenus did his wesand might be aboue the vsuall size of other mens Yet howsoeuer it be for the particular the indefinite truth of his coniecture is confirmed by the knowne experiment of Antigonus souldier who after the perfect recouery of his health became as tenderly respectfull as any of his fellow souldiers were of life whereof whilest his body was troubled with such a loathsome disease as made his soule desire to be diuorced from it he had beene so prodigall as made his generall admire his valour It may be both of these were willing to make a vertue of necessitie or if the stoickes resolution were rather out of choice yet it comes short of that true valour which the censurer by light of nature sawe to bee truely commendable and diuinity teaches to be absolutely necessary to a Christian souldier Rebus in angustis facile est contemnere vitam Fortiter ille facit qui miser esse potest A sorry life 's soone set at naught to leaue want is no losse His soule hath marched valiantly that sinks not vnder 's Crosse What the souldier did out of humour or constraint a wise man may doe out of deliberation or choice and without controuersie great is the liberty they gaine of others in good causes that from a serious forecast and view of a better end then these men did apprehend can prize both the present possession and all future hopes of life as low as these did their bodies in their calamities 3. Some critickes willing to shew they were able to espie a fault where there were one indeed haue taxed it as an indecorum in Homer which was none to bring old Chryses into Agamemnons presence neuer daunted with sight of the Grecian armie when as men of his age are vsually timerous And it is no maruell if that courage which springs from heate of blood and makes men aduenturous in boisterous encounters doe coole as the roots of their bodily strength and agility decay Notwithstanding the short remnant of a feeble life is easily ouerswaied with calme and quiet apprehensions of an honourable death wherewith the strong hopes which fresh spirits minisâ—â—â—nto yong men of long life are seldome stirred For vnto them the fight of death is alwaies gastly vnlesse it be presented in troubled blood nor can they vsually be drawne to meet it but vpon confidence of victorie or at least of making others die before them Thus vnlesse there be some other defect the lesse way old meÌ„ haue to run the farther start they haue of youth for freedom of speech or resolution before such as can put them to death without resistance Hence another Poet bringing in an aged sire more sharply expostulating his coâ—tryes cause with a Prince of fiercer disposition then Agamemnon as if â—ec had purposely sought to preoccupate all captious or criticall censures expresseth the reason of his boldnesse Vnde ea libertas iuxta illi finis aetas Tota retro saeraeque velit decus addere morti What freedoms this A priuate man to take a Tyrant downe His race being run t' was now fit time the end with praise to crowne Could we out of mature deliberation rest perswaded of what the doctrine of faith deliuers as a truth vndoubted that promotioÌ„ comes neither from the East nor from the West that length or shortnesse of life depend not on the course of nature but on his will and pleasure who hath euery member of our bodies written in his booke able to deface all instantly with one dash of his pen that if we spare to speake before others in his cause we may want breath to plead our owne before him How easie would it bee for vs to confesse Christ by professing the truth before the mightiest amongst the sonnes of men when as now our seruile dependance on such as our Christian freedome and resolution might bring in subiecton to the truths they scorne on such as haue not power to hurt our bodies or depriue vs of food and raiment or other necessaries of priuate life but onely to repell vs perhaps from ascending higher then any opportunity of doing good seruice to our Lord and Master calls vs makes vs daylie and howerly ashamed of him and his Gospell which the great ones of this present world confesse in words mightily oppugne in deeds as we doe scandalise the power and vertue of it by our silence Great were the materials of the contentments which Hester enioyed in Ahashuerus Court so were her hopes of hauing them continued or enlarged Mordecays admonition notwithstanding grounded vpon the considerations before mentioned mooued her to hazard all and to aduenture on her gracious Kings extreame displeasure rather then preiudice the cause of Gods people by forbearance of petitioning on their behalfe Many of vndaunted courage in the open field would hardly haue pressed into the kings presence against the Lawe for though the daunger
so not exposed to flouds of violence the apter it is to suck in the deaw of Gods blessing in greatest plentie 4. The poore Galilean or vulgar Iew had liberty to follow CHRIST euery hower not ashamed to be seene at midday in his company But the conspicuous eminency of Nicodemus place compels him to repaire vnto his Lord like a thiefe by night an ill aboodance that those heauenly misteries wherewith he sought to enlighten his minde should seeme obscure This man was growne so great in Israell that he could hardly be taken downe to the pitch of childhood or infancy into which mould of necessitie he must be cast ere he can be borne anew or receiue the kingdome of heauen aright Men in our times of farre greater place then Nicodemus was may safely professe themselues CHRISTS disciples for not to be such in profession or not to shew themselues sometimes openly in the assembly of his Saints is their greatest shame and ignominy but so to strippe themselues of the flesh of the world of all prerogatiues of birth or secular emmency as they must ere they can be regenerated by the spirit or become new men in CHRIST IESVS would vtterly spoile their goodly fashion in the worlds eye in which if we might examine their hearts by their practice or auowed resolutions they onelie glorie Confesse CHRIST then in speech they may but how is it possible they should truely belieue in him when they loue the praise of men more then rebuke for his sake and receiue honour one of another not seeking that honour which commeth of God alone To beleeue CHRIST in ordinary phrase is lesse then to belieue in him yet he that seekes but in the lowest degree to belieue him must abandon that humour which he hath discouered as the principall roote of Iewish vnbeliefe or deniall of him Was that then such grosse ambition as our corrupt language onely takes notice of was it immoderate desire of greater places then they enioied or rather onely feare least they should no longer enioy these The sight of his miracles and euidence of his diuine predictions had won the assent of some euen amongst the Rulers vnto his doctrine as true whilest simply considered or compared onely with the speculatiue arguments brought against it by his aduersaries But what they belieued in part as true they did not assent vnto as good or not as better then the praise of men For saith the Euangelist they loued the praise of men more then the praise of God Did they then expect to haue their praises sounded out by some panegyricall encomiast in solemne assemblies or vnworthyly to gaine an honorable report amongst posterity No these are rewards of resolution in speech and action not of silence Iust suspition we can gather none of anie such haughty conceipt or desire so farre exorbitant seeing all they could expect for not confessing CHRIST was not to haue their good names or fame called in question or to speake as it is written because of the Pharisees they did not confesse him least they should be cast out of the sinagogue Liable they were vnto the former verdict of louing the praise of men more then the praise of God in as much as they feared the losse of their places or reputation which they enioied more then CHRISTS censure of such as are ashamed of him or his words before men Ashamed of him most of vs in our owne iudgement are not for in that grosse construction which hypocrisie suggests of this speech in deed we cannot as being brought vp in a state which as it acknowledgeth him for the Redeemer and Iudge of the world so is it able to disgrace vs and our acquaintance enduring life and both our posterities after death if we should denie him openlie before the Iew or Turke But the words which he spake and must iudge the Iew for refusing him will in that last day condemne vs also if we receiue not them Such as receiue not him receiue not God that sent him and he that receiueth not his wordes receiueth not him He that is ashamed of the one is vpon the same tearmes ashamed of the other and whilest we haue his Gospell and other Apostolicall writings not belieuing them better then these Iewes late mentioned did him it were hypocriticall euen Iewish credulity to think we should haue belieued him though we had beene eyewitnesses of his miracles or resurrection from the dead How many then of higher fortunes especiallie can we without breach of charity towards our Sauiour and the truth of his Gospell suppose this day liuing that can iustly say their hearts are free from such rootes or seedes of ambition as haue beene discouered in these Iewish rulers yet these such as admit no compossibilitie with the seede of faith What cause so good what truth so manifest or so highly concerning the honour of God what persons so deare vnto his sonne in whose furtherance or iust defence either feare of sharpe censure in a ciuill or of excommunication in an ecclesiastique court losse of their places or deiection from such rule or dignity as in Church or Common-weale they beare will not make most men either afraid or ashamed to speake at least openly to oppose their superiours in honor onely not in knowledge of CHRISTS lawes or precepts Is not this to loue the praise of men more then the praise of God to haue the faith of our Lord IESVS CHRIST the Lord of glory with respect of persons Or if the obiects of our vsuall feare be in themselues of lesse force to withdraw vs from confessing Christ before men then the temptations which these Iewes had for what to them more terrible then to bee cast out of the synagogue our faith musts needes be lesse then theirs was though theirs no better then none because it vanisheth as fast vpon the first approach or rather conceipt of persecution as the morning deaw doth at the sunnes appearance But if the Pharisees whose censure they feared would haue countenanced our Sauiours doctrine they had beene as forward Confessors as the best of vs and Christians altogether as good as any that loue the applause or feare the checke of men in authoritie when truth disgraced or destitute of assistance requires their testimony 5. If the least spice of this disease be so dangerous what mischiefe may the heat of it procure vnto the soule of man It may as it often doth enflame the heart in which it kindles with ardent desires of false martyrdome but feares the conscience that is can neuer become truely Christian vntill euery sparkle of this strange fire be extinguished and the sore it bred moistened with teares or mollified with true humilitie Mindes tainted with other corruptions seldome shrinke in defence of the truth whereto they assent vntill assaulted by violence or pinched with some reall persecution Ambition onely though in the lowest degree or but kindling in tickling loue of applause or iealousies