luxury of wit now containes nothing but extreame barbarisme and stupidity in it Athens so glorious in times past for Philosophers is now the temple of ignorance as in respect of her temporall estate shee hath lost her beauty pared her large dimensions deposed her scepter wherewith shee over-ruled and sway ed all Greece so in respect of her wisedome knowledge and skill in disciplines one might now seeke old Athens in new Athens and not finde it As therefore God dealt with the land of Canaan which being sometimes the mirrour of the world for fertility and abundance of all things now for a testimony of punishment to the ingratefull inhabitants he hath made it subject to many curses and especially to that of barrennes so hath he done to these nations even plagued them with extreame wante of that knowledge the abundance of which their fathers did so wantōly vnthankfully abuse Now beloued for this which hee hath done for our soules what exacts he againe at the hands of vs his creatures temples or basilikes or marble pallaces for his Majestie to dwell in Why the earth is but his footestoole and the heaven of heavens is not able to containe him or is it the bloud of bulls goates that he is delighted with why Mille sui Siculis errant in montibus agni all the beasts of the forrest are his and so are the sheepe vpon a thousand mountaines What tribute therefore is it which hee demands at our hands what is the coyne that he requires to be paid with Why the Psalmist tells vs. Offer vnto the Lord the sacrifice of praise and thankesgiving Well might we feare lest God should haue required some thing without vs some thing in the house that the mothes had corrupted some thing in the garner that the mice or vermine had consumed some thing in the field that the fox or wolfe had devoured but he sends vs to our selues to our owne ward to the inmost closet of the soule which none can vnlocke but God onely ara tua conscientia saith Sr Austine thy conscience is thine altar offer thereon the sacrifice of praise Here you see how litle it is that God challengeth and yet as litle regarded I pray God it be not one day as hard laid to the charge of Christians as it was here to the Gentiles that they were not thankefull And so I come from the parts of that contempt and neglect which the Gentiles shewed in the abuse of that knowledge which God afforded them of himselfe in that they glorified him not as God neither were thankefull vnto the effects of the same which were as before I shewed you a promptitude to invent and foster vaine falsehoods and a difficulty to credite the truth but first of the pronenesse they had to invent falsehoods which commeth in the next place to bee treated of but became vaine in their imaginations Bonaventure on the 2d of the Sent. is so confident that he pronounceth it impossible esse culpam in aliquo quin ad ipsam poena sequatur inseparabiliter that there should bee a fault in any man which punishment doth not follow inseparably at the heeles Wee perhaps would cast about whence this punishment should come wee looke if our goods doe diminish our stocke be impaired our health be abated our friends alienated but alas then had this maxime prov'd false in these Gentiles which had no cause to complaine of any such disasters But the punishment was in their mindes sinne begot sinne errours begot errours falsehoods begot falsehoods and that saith Durand either by way of a finall cause as one misconceit being more plausible vnto them then another and to defend it they invented others in which kinde Aristotle in the first of his phys saith truely that vno absurdo dato sequuntur mille or else by way of an efficient cause the one habituating and disposing them as we commonly see it experimented in lyars to coyne other fables with as great facility as the former And thus stood the case with the Gentiles at this time they had no sooner detain'd the trueth in vnrighteousnesse that is laide downe one false Maxime of examining the trueth of the God-head by the fancies and inventions of men but that straight as necessarily as a false ell makes a false measure or light waights errours in trafficke their braines conceiv'd meteors and aerie speculations and brought forth idle and vaine imaginations And therefore the Apostle taking his phrase from the dealing of a tyrant which detaines hisprisoner vnjustly in a darke dungeon not judging him according to forme of law saith that the Gentiles detain'd the trueth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in vnjustice for vnjustice it is to trie a man by his enemie and the wisedome of the flesh is at enmity with God Rom. 8.7 it is vnjustice to make them of ones jury which cannot vnderstand the cause in hand and the naturall man cannot vnderstand the things that are of God 1. Cor. 2. As therefore saith Chrysostome vpon my text hee which either travailes in an vnknowne way or sailes in a darke night amongst dangerous rockes not onely is not liliely to arriue at his intended port but also for the most part doth miscarry so they which enter vpon the way to heaven and rejecting the light necessary to their journey instead thereof doe vse the darkenesse of their owne inventions seeke for God incorporeall in bodies for God without figure in earthly figures must needes suffer shipwracke and sinke with the waues of their owne vaine imaginations Neither hath the Gentiles onely beene partakers of these inconveniences but the Iew also hath tasted of the like sawce because saith the Lord Esay 28. the feare of this people towards mee is taught by the precepts of men there was the trueth detain'd in injustice therefore behold I will proceede or I will adde to doe a marveilous worke and a wonder for the wisedome of their wise men shall perish and the vnderstanding of their prudent men shall bee hidde Sr Paul in the 1. Cor. 1. points at the fulfilling of this prophesie when hee askes where is the wise where is the scribe where is the disputer of the world hath not God made foolish the wisedome of this world where as a learned writer of ours in his miscellanea sacra hath observed are described the vaine imaginations not of the Gentile onely who was puft vp with his owne reasonings from effects to causes from accidents to substances when hee sayes where is the wise nor onely those ecclesiasticall Doctours which expounded the Scriptures according to the grammaticall sense for the instruction of the people when he addes where is the Scribe but also in concluding with the disputers hee would signifie the musicall expositors of the Iewes whose apes our postillers seeme to bee which expounded not the Scriptures after the ordinary way but busied themselnes about allegoricall tropologicall and anagogicall senses and the places in Ierusalem were call'd the houses
their litle stocke in the country make a colour of cōming hither like the foolish virgins to buy more oyle that they take heed lest the bridegroome passe by in the meane season or that they shew not themselues more foolish then the virgins and when they come for oyle mistake the vessell and bestow their talent vpon a differing ware as also to those which are well fraughted with spirituall food that they would not take hold of that dispensatiō which the law provided for emptier vessels he which caused the widdowes barrell of meale not to wast nor her cruize of oyle to faile vntill the day that se sent raine vpon the earth will make thy lampe not to waxe dimme nor thy store to decrease till thou hast watered and enlightned those barren and darke places whither thou art sent Consider the Prophet Ieremie a man would thinke that he had not a fourty years vnder-age but child-hood on his side to avoyd so waighty a worke as to be a Prophet vnto natiōs but when God had once set him to destroy and pull downe to build and to plant there was his calling and put forth his hand and touched his mouth there was the collocation of gifts requisite to his calling why his plea of want of yeares did him no good ne dicas sum puer say not then I am a child Ier. 1.7 The second and third points I propos'd which concerne the care that God exact's of every man that hath a flocke do shew those whom either services or greater imployments haue call'd away what conflicts as the Apostle tels vs they should haue for their flockes and I hope they will all herein imitate the example of St Paul Col. 2.5 though they bee absent in the flesh yet they will bee with them in the spirit joying and beholding their order at least they will escape that complaint of the Church Cant. 1. My mothers children were angry with mee they made mee the keeper of the vineyards but mine owne vineyard haue I not kept The last point which intimates the high respect wee should beare to our office of labouring in the vineyard cōdemnes in all sorts any proposing to themselues of inferiour ends or reasons inducing their absence other then is the profitting of the Church in generall or in particular O beloued I feare mee if many pried but into their owne hearts they should find the state of the questiō somewhat altered from that which they propose vnto the world it would not bee whether they might dispence with themselues to be absent from the place where their particular calling lyes vpon case of sicknesse or persecution or the establishment of their neighbour Churches or assisting of Synods assēbled or lastly which seemes to be Mr Hookers ground and indeed is an excellent one to bring to the Church in case of necessity a greater profit but they should finde that pleasure too often would challenge as great a priviledge as persecution and private profit would thinke her cause as good as profitting of whole Churches and herein would consist the controversie of our worldlings whether these be causes sufficient to make it lawfull for a labourer in the vineyard or a Pastour in the Church to liue not for a small time but ordinarily remote from the place of which hee is a labourer or pastor and to commit the principall worke vnto an hireling I name not these as though other pretences might not be inserted into the state of the question but these giuing aime as it were vnto the rest and the difficulty herein consisting not so much in scientia as in conscientia all men vpon what pretence soever they liue away leaueing the higher subtilties to the Schooles I desire them that they would but first according to these Criteria examine a litle their owne soules Fathers and Brethren I know not what to say if these carnall motiues are sufficient to make any negligence in this case excusable hath not Christ taught vs that a good sheepeheard will lay downe not his goods or his wealth for that were a small matter but even his owne life for his flocke Ioh. 10 Mathew had abounded more in wealth had be still fate at the receipt of custome and not followed our Saviour and Paul might more freely haue enjoyed himselfe had hee still continued at the feete of Gamaliel But Mathew thou hadst beene poore to Christ hadst thou not made thy selfe poore vnto the world and Paul had beene hard hearted to vs had hee not beene cruell to himselfe the world had lost an example wee had lost our lesson the Church had lost an instructer and Christ an Apostle The good Fathers I am ashamed to speake it Tertullian to Fabius and Austine to Honoratus made more scruple of leauing their flockes when cruell persecutours fought their liues then many now adayes doe to abide with them when they are oppugned onely by their carnall appetites they prodigall of their liues and bloud charged the enemy in open fight and cast him out rescuing kingdomes and subduing the nations of the world to Christ and his Gospell and shall wee when the field is wonne forsake our colours bee slacke inpursuite and giue the adversary leaue once more to make a re-entry But the time bids mee bee breefe I will leaue therefore the farther application heereof vnto your owne consciences and so I come to the time reprehended in my texra all the day Why stand yet here all the day idle I shewed you the Sunne before in his rising when to you beloued yet hanging vpon this our mothers breasts my advise was that you would not stand idle there wanting not oportunities of entring into the vineyard my next lesson was for those which had taken earnest and were already hired that they would not stand here idle out of their proper place the vineyard loe to them the Sunne stood as it were in the midst of the firmament but now we must behold him not stationary as at the prayer of Ioshua nor retrograde as in the dyall of Ahaz but going downe and the glorious lampes of heaven whisome obscured by his brighter beames almost ready to make their appearance now was the time or never for the husband-man to bestirre himselfe now must the labourers do something to earne their penny poore men it was the 11. houre of the day and they in the same case as at the first O but let not the Sunne go downe in this manner worke the worke of the husbandman dum dies est whilst it is yet day the night will come when no man can worke then hee which hath stood all the day idle shall loose all the dayes hire the the crowne of eternall glory Many good conclusions might from hence bee deduced as first how dangerous a thing it is for a man to deferre his entrance into a new course of life haec parabola saith one tollit desperationem non docet praesumptionem this parable taketh away desperation not
or could doe his Master hee thinkes not of but high promotions and munificent rewards are already his Butt he shoote's at and his question is What shall we haue God's rewards beloved to his Servants are vneffable Yee which followed mee in the regeneration Christ Tell 's them shall sit vpon twelue thrones and judge the twelue Tribes of Israel an answere no doubt satisfying to the full both Peter and his Companions but so it fall's out oftentimes that the best prescrib'd potions vndiscreetly taken proue banes vnto the Patient and the wholesome proposes of an instructer vttered for the confirming of one in a good course by mis-applying produce the contrary effect Christ therefore lest confidence should beget in them sloathfulnesse his benignity prejudice their forwardnesse too much security of the prize make them idle in the race in this Chapter he rouses them by the Parable of an Husbandman sending out labourers into the Vineyard where some being hired at the dawning of the day some at the third and sixt houre others but at the ninth and the eleuenth yet all equally receiuing their penny nay the last in some respects being preferr'd before the first he giue 's his Disciples to vnderstand that it is labour not earely calling which gett's precedency in God's Kingdome the mansion houses which their Father will bestow on them should bee according to their diligence as they multiply'd their talents so should they be remunerated with Cittyes if they looke to sit on the Thrones he told them of and would shine as the brighter starres in Heauen they must here on Earth be more eminent then others in painefull conversation there are primi vocatione the first in calling and there are primi affectione the first in affection those oftentimes for their fainting in God's Vineyard shall haue a lower place at his Supper and these for their forward zeale after their calling shall sit in the higher roome and so the first shall be last and the last shall be first Interpreters for the most part doe agree that by the Husbandman in this Parable is meant GOD himselfe by the labourers Men vpon Earth by the Vine-yard the Church of God to which men being called should in it according to their vocation doe deedes of piety and justice and by the penny which was payde in the evening to be vnderstood the Crowne of glory which at the end of the World God giue 's to his Elect. The difficulty resteth chiefly in the houres some as Hierome relate's it would haue the eleuenth houre to signifie the calling of the Gentiles and the former to be referred vnto the Iewes which liu'd before Christ's comming in the flesh Gregory Beda and Theophylact are of opinion that the labourers of the first houre doe signifie the Patriarchs from Adam to Noah those of the third the Fathers from Noah to Abraham those of the sixt from Abraham to Moses the ninth from Moses to CHRIST and the eleuenth from CHRIST to the end of the world But heerein I suppose that the Logicke rule is to be obserued which sayth Omnis Similitudo claudicat Chrisostome especially vpon this place giving this note that in Parables wee should attend chiefly to the generall scope and not bee too curious in particulars wherefore with our best reformed Interpreters in that our Saviour was pleased to name 5 houres we rather take an ornament to bee added thereby to the Parable then any mysterie to be involved in the number and by those seuerall houres doe vnderstand onely seuerall ages and seasons of mans life according to which God calleth some sooner and some later into his Church some in their infancy some at riper yeares and some not long before their death of which latter sort the Housholder heere in my Text speaketh Why stand yee heere all the day idle Maldonat the rest of Popish Commentators would haue these loyterers to be blamed here in my Text not so much for that by their carelesse security they endangered the losse of that invaluable Crowne which God freely giue 's to whom he pleaseth but in that forsooth they merited not ex condigno and meritis operum the Kingdome of Heauen wherein I know not whether they may justlier bee branded with ignorance or impiety for pretend what they can a maine difference will euer appeare between the merits which they maintain the practise of these men here in my Text for first the husbandman pretēds here that it is lawfull for him to do as he will with his owne the Papists wil haue him deale according to mens deseruings for justo Dei judicio debetur meritis bonorū operū merces vitae aeternae saith Bellar. in his 5th book de Iustif 16. cap. Againe the penny here was wages sufficient for the whole day therfore admit that the first labourers were idle for some part of the day yet they can neuer make it good that the laborers which wrought but one houre in the day could challēnge the whole daies hire ex meritis to conclude Bellar. in his 5th de Iustif 17. cap. would haue good works meritorious ratione pacti operis simul in regard of the perfectiō of the work the promise of God annexed withall whereas besides the first labourers none are found in this Parable to haue had any pactū or agreement made with thē as their own men obserue therfore their kind of merit can agree with none of thē saue peradventure the first which were least respected last paid besides were noted to be great murmurers in which regard Musculus is content that the Papists shall share with thē for their satisfaction shall find something correspondent to thēselues in this Parable The husbandman therfore in my Text dealing not with those which had turned ouer Peter Lombards sentences or Thomas Aquinas summes vsed not as I suppose those schoole quiddities to simple labourers but seeing thē sloathfull idle he thought good to blame thē for it before he hired thē as if he should thus haue argued the case with thē Idlenes you know is vnprofitable to all men being labourers inexcusable in you your Vocation methinks should prompt you to sedulity where the harvest is great hirers many you should be more solicitous for your selues not be deficiēt in your own cause your idle manner of stāding it seemes is an impeachmēt vnto you causeth that either hirers heed not you or you not thē therefore Why stand you idle Again you are labourers of the Vine-yard there it is that you should exercise your endowments this is a market-place for buyers and sellers a tribunall for justice a councell-chamber for actions of state wherein you by your Vocation which another way had diverted your imployments cannot deale and therefore why stand you heere idle To be briefe the day is the time in which a man goeth out vnto his worke vntill the evening would you be coūted worthy of
thing so much as at our owne darknes that cannot see our selues Let vs looke at the last into the Closet of our owne soules and if wee finde the roome then darkened that in seeing wee see not and the Word is a sealed booke vnto vs then wee must know that it is some foolishnesse in the heart which is the cause of that blockish dulnesse which is come vpon vs anger hath troubled our affections pleasure hath stolne away our attention profit hath corrupted our judgements then must we returne vnto the Lord with prayer that by glorifying God as God and being thankefull wee may haue our vaine imaginations removed the foolishnesse of our hearts expurged and our darke vnderstandings enlightened through Iesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost one God and three Persons be rendered all praise honour and glory might majestie and dominion from this time forth for evermore AMEN AFFLICTIONS THE CHRISTIANS PORTION ACT. 21.31 For I am ready not to be bound onely but also to dye at Ierusalem for the Name of the Lord Iesus I Thinke sayth this blessed Apostle 1. Cor. 4. that God hath set foorth vs the last Apostles as men appointed to death for we are made a gazing-stocke vnto the world and to Angels and to men If any of the Apostles could receiue this testimony as indeede there was not any of them which liuely exprest it not in the whole course of his life witnessing S. Iohn's banishment Peter's imprisonment Iames his beheading yet much more was it true of S. Paul were they persecuted so was hee were they afflicted so was hee in labours more abundant in stripes aboue measure in prisons more plenteously in deaths often 2. Cor. 11. Nothing seem'd wanting to this valiant Souldier of Christ but the time of his offering and loe and Agabus is heere present to fore-tell him that that likewise drew neere and was at hand What would you I should propose vnto you a man wrestling with his enemies abroad or with his friēds at home with his owne afflictions or the Churche's necessities all seeme to dehort our blessed Apostle from his combate yet he which desired to bee dissolv'd for Christ speak 's roughly Pharaoh-like as a son of thunder to himselfe Vinciatur Paulus modò liberè discurrat Evangelii sermo immò occidatur Paulus modò vivat apud omnes vigeaque gloria nominis Iesu Let Paul be bound so that the Gospell haue its free passage yea let Paul bee put to death so that the glory of the Name of Christ do liue flourish amōgst all men pericula non respicit coronas respicit plagas non horret sed praemia numerat saith Cyprian he respect's not the danger but the crowne he feares not the strokes but conceives the rewards Come therefore afflictions come torments come bonds come death hee 's ready not to bee bound onely but to dye at Ierusalem for the Name of the Lord Iesus The summe is a protestation or declaration of S. Paul's zeale constancy and forwardnesse in the maintaining and defending Christ's cause Wherein obserue with me I beseech you these three parts viz 1. Affectionem personae the affection and disposition of the Person I am ready 2. Gravitatem rei the greatnesse of the thing which he was to vnder-goe not to be bound only but also to dye at Ierusalem 3. Qualitatem ceausae the quality or nature of the cause for the Name of the Lord Iesus Within these bounds by Gods grace your Christian patience I shall confine my meditations first de affectione personae the affection or dispositiō of the person which comes in the first place to be handled I am ready Hee sayth not I will be bound or I will dye but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 paratus sum I am ready to bee bound and to dye Wherevpon sayth Thomas 2◠2 ae q. 124. Non debet homo occasionem dare alteri injustè agendi sed si alius injustè egerit ipse moderatè tolerare debet A man ought not to giue an occasion to a Tyrant to do ill but if a Tyrant should do ill he ought moderately to beare it Raise not warres thy selfe sayth Chrysostome for this is not a part of a souldier but of a seditious person but if the trumpet of piety shall summon thee march then on without lingering contemne thy life enter the lists with alacrity breake the rankes with thine adversary and retraite not till the victory bee thine owne Origen in his 31. hom on St Iohn giues the reason why wee may not giue any occasion to others to persecute vs Not onely sayth hee because the event of so great a temptation is vncertaine but also lest wee bee a cause that others by shedding our bloud become greater sinners then otherwise they would be The words are not therefore to be Categorically vnderstood but Hypothetically if a just occasion be offered not absolute absolutely say the Schoole-men but secundum praeparationem animi one must haue his minde prepar'd for 't all beating vpon this conclusion That a good Christian should alwayes bee ready and prepar'd in minde manfully to vnder-goe such crosses and afflictions as it shall please God to object him vnto In prosperity sayth Chrysostome expect adversity in a calme thinke of a tempest in health of sicknesse in plenty of want There is not one minute left vs wherein we may so glut our selues with the enjoying of a present good as that wee are not likewise to prepare and fit our selues to sustaine a future ill There is therefore a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to day or now in all the mandates almost of the King of heaven So our Saviours Watch Marke 13.37 the Wise-mans Consider Eccles 7.14 St Pauls armour Ephes 6.13 containe no other thing then what the same Apostle so much beates vpon Phil. 4.11 I haue learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I know how to be abased and I know how to abound every-where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need All backwardnesse is sliding backe and delayes are denialls when our Saviour sayth vnto us Take vp thy crosse and follow mee Wee must therefore bee like valiant souldiers alwayes in armes sober watchfull ever expecting the enemy Wee must bee prepared in Christs Scoole to answere ad vnguem all the divels sophistry to refute the objections of the world with the answeres of the spirit the motions of our appetites with Gods commandements and to oppose Satans Hoc dabo This will I giue thee with Christ's Scriptum est It is written It was Nabal's curse to be strucken at his feast and the rich-mans doome to haue his soule taken away when it was possest with worldly projects Farre bee it from those which account this world but as an Inne where they may non abide this life but the high way to a better
the daie because it is the cause of it physicke is necessary for the recovery of a mans health because it is the cause of it or else a thing may be said to be necessary by way of an effect or of a condition and so heate is necessary to the fire light to the sunne moystnesse to the water not that heate is the cause of the fire nor light the cause of the sunne nor moystnesse the cause of the water but that the fire and sunne and water are rather the causes of them and they necessary effects of these Vpon this distinction depends the great controversie betweene vs and the Church of Rome concerning good workes We agree on both sides that to do and performe the word of God to do good workes is necessary for every man which expecteth to be justified by Christ the difference consists in this they say that good workes are necessary to justificatiō as being causes of it we say they are necessary to justification only as being effects of it I need not insist much vpon the deciding of the controversie in these barren times of ours wherein there are so few which do good workes I wonder what they aile to busie themselues so much in musing what gaine or merit shall accrue vnto them from them whether it shall bee a merit of congruity or desert whether of the first grace or of the secōd when as their store me-thinks is yet so small that though they sell all they haue and become bankerupt marchants they shall never bee able to purchasse the least pearle which adornes the crowne of glory I know that diverse are of opinion that it is a good pollicie to perswade the common people as the Pope doth that good workes are the meritorious causes of justification so by a consequence of salvation because by this meanes the heat of sin say they will bee repressed in many men will bee the more carefull in the performance of good deeds But were these men either well catechised in their religion or else were any whit skilled in the writings of the adverse party I doubt not but they would soone perceiue that their doctrin of works addes fewell rather to increase the flame of bad desires in one thē any way extinguisheth or diminisheth the vigour of it For besides that they teach that many grosse hainous sins are no sins that they mince many and of mortall make them veniall say that the hope of the reward for their good workes the feare of punishment either in hell or in purgatory for their bad do something moue rouse thē vp to performe good deedes yet judge you beloued whether the easy avoiding of those punishments which they haue devised will not as much giue thē courage to goe on in sin persevere in the way of wickednesse Why marke but a little their doctrine in any sinne there are these two parts the guilt of it the punishmēt the punishmēt they make to be twofold the one eternall which is in hell the other temporall wherewith say they God either afflicts men in this life or else in purgatory whē they are dead Now would you know how easie a matter they make it to be freed from the guilt of sin from hell fire Why Bellarmine will soone resolue you for that tell you that these are taken away by confessing of ones sins to the Priest by receiuing an absolution frō him in his 4th booke de poenit and 1. ch and because contrition is so necessary to make the absolution to be of force hee will tell you that a servile contrition is sufficient for that purpose such an one as ariseth not from a feare of offending God but only from a feare of the punishment which God will inflict vpō thē as we find it in his 2d booke de poenit 17. ch which kinde of contrition and sorrow for ones sinnes if it be sufficient I make no question but that the divell himselfe might bee absolved from his sinnes for besides that hee trembles which argues that hee is possest with such a feare as this Saint Iames tells vs moreover that he beleeues which I think is more then many Papists do who content thēselues with an implicit faith as they terme it and a blind zeale but because when the guilt and the punishment of hell fire is taken away they teach that God leaues a temporall punishment to bee vndergone by them either in this life or after this life in purgatory you shall see that the meanes to avoid that will bee as casie as the former For to omit more going about then needes if they would take a speedy way it is but purchasing an Indulgence of the Pope they may haue plenam pleniorem plenissimam as they terme them for halfe their sins or for one third or fourth part or if the Pope please for all as wee may well see in Bellarm his 1. booke de Indulgent chap. 9. Who would not bee a Papist if he were desirous to liue as he listed When besides the Indulgences for a certaine number of Ave-Maryes repeated at some altars which the Pope appoints he may haue a pardon for more yeares then the world is like to continue But to leaue them a while to themselues it shall be enough at this time to shew you that howsoever we holde not good workes to be the causes of salvation nor yet that we are to merite Heauen by them as they doe yet that wee make them absolutely necessary for those which are the heires of salvation and so withall that our doctrine rightly considered doth more necessarily require them of vs then the Papists doe For first wee holde them to bee necessary in respect of God that his Commandement may bee obeyed that his will may be done that wee shew our selues obedient children vnto him that wee bee thankefull for our redemption by CHRIST that wee may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven Secondly we hold them to bee necessary in regard of our neighbours that they may bee helped that they may be wonne by our example and that by doing good the mouthes of our adversaries may be stopped Thirdly we hold good workes necessary for our selues and that notably in these respects First that wee may haue some assurance of our faith and of our salvation for when wee cannot discerne our faith whether it bee a true and liuely one or no but onely by the workes which it bringeth foorth as the tree is not knowne but by his fruite it greatly concernes all those which would over-come all temptations at their death to make good proofe of their faith in their life which is the thing pointed at by the Apostle S. Peter in his 2. Ep. and 1. Chap where he saith giue diligence to make your calling and election sure And herein the Schooles afford vs a good distinction and tell vs that aliud est fiduciam ponere in operibus aliud fiduciam