in sense and doctrine peruerted this place and swarued from the godlie iudgement of former times Ierome I meane and Augustine whose wordes are most plaine and pithie Ierome euen vpon this place that wee haue nowe in hand saieth thus Hic vult futuram gloriam commendare vt praesentes pressuras facilius tolleremus Et reuera nihil possit homo condignum pati gloria coelesti etiamsi talis esset illa qualis modo est vita Quicquid enim passiâ—s fuerit a morte plus non est quam etiam peccatis suis antea moerebatur Nunc autem peccata donantur tunc vita aeterna praestabitur consortium angelorum splendor solis c. quae sanctis legimus repromissa that is to saie The apostle mindeth in this place to commend the glory that is to come that so wee might the more easily beare the present troubles and afflictions And certainely man is able to suffer nothing that is worthie of or in worthines answerable to the heuenlie glorie yea though that that were but such as this life nowe is for whatsoeuer hee shall suffer by death or at deaths hand it is no more than that which hee had euen before deserued thorowe his sinnes But nowe both our sinnes are forgiuen vs then eternal life shal be bestowed vpon vs the company of the Angels the brightnes of the sunne c. which wee read are againe promised to the saints And Augustine De verbis Apostoli sermo 15. Pro nihilo inquit saluos facies illos c. For nothing saith one thou shalt saue them what is meant by these words for nothing thou shalt saue them This is the meaning thou findest nothing in them wherefore thou shouldest saue them and yet thou sauest them Thou giuest freelie thou sauest freelie yea thou giuest altogither freely and sauest freely euen thou I say dost this which findest nothing wherfore thou shouldest saue men but findest much wherefore thou shouldest condemne them And thus farre for this point now it followeth in the Apostle vvhich shall be shevved vnto vs. Euery word here carrieth with it force to perswade the trueth propounded to wit the excellencie of the ioyes of that life that is laid vp for the sonnes and seruants of God and serueth also to teach all the faithfull in all manner of holie patience to attende and looke for that that shall in good time bee made manifest vnto them yea the full fruition and possession whereof they themselues shall haue That worde shal be instructeth all of vs with faith and patience to expect the manifestation thereof not doubting but stedfastly beleeuing that though there be some delay of the accomplishment of this yea and though our present afflictions be neuer so many great and greeuous that yet notwithstanding a time will come when they shall be vtterly remooued and taken away from vs and we our selues put into actuall and reall possession of eternall ioyes promised the faithfull performaunce whereof we did and yet do in some measure of a sound hope looke after Neither doubt I but euen in this behalfe namely touching the delay of the things promised there do and wil arise by meanes of their natural corruption many temptations in the mindes of Gods children and those also increased not onely by Satans malice who laboureth to make vs beleeue that either GOD can not or will not be as good as his word but fostred and fed by texts of scripture also not wel vnderstoode or rightly applied as when the holy ghost shal say Prou. 13.12 The hope that is deferred is the fainting of the hart c. But against these we must learne in al blessed wisdome of the spirit and mightie power of the word to set such comforts as it shal please God out of the holie scriptures to manifest vnto vs. Amongst which these folowing are in my poore iudgement though not of the greatest force as some may perhaps thinke yet of some good effect doubtles to represse such assaults of diffidence In worldly matters when men deale with men yet are they not dismaied with delayes but rather raise vp their hope herein that the deferring of the things promised is not a taking away of the same or else persuade themselues that the length of time shall be recompenced either with the excellencie fulnes of the things themselues or with som one consideration or other an other waie How much more should we be coÌ„forted not only in this that we deal not with man who is euen as the wind and weather wauering vncertaine but with God who alwayes continueth like vnto himselfe and haue from him the assured promises as of al benefits generally so of such blessings in the life to come particularly as with the least wherof al the delights and pleasures of this worlde whatsoeuer no though they were al laid togither bestowed vpon one man were anie maner of way matchable specially sith that GOD knowing our harts and state better than we do our selues doth therfore many times put off the performaunce of such excellent things that so hee might make vs the more reuerently to esteeme of them when we receiue them and the more earnestly to desire them when we want them that are so exceedingly coÌ„fortable profitable for euerie one of vs. Neither doth god dally with vs herein as men do who wil either giue fair words do no good deeds or else many times shew vs good things a farre off that so they might seeme more faire and beautifull and by that meanes as a man woulde saye set our teeth on edge vppon them and yet notwithstanding not bestowe them vpon vs neither when they haue done or giue vs any other good thing in stead thereof that so in some testimonies of fauour we might haue our hope vpheld in obtaining of matters of greater importance in time to come but dealeth farre otherwise with vs not onely giuing vs a sight but a sensible feeling sometimes as of many outward benefits and blessings pertaining to this life so of sundrie and singular spirituall graces but specially of those incomprehensible ioyes that in heauen are hidden for vs in Christ before the foundations of the worlde were laid Whereof that we might be the better persuaded yea euen then when he letteth vs for a little while want our former comforts hee doth yet vouchsafe vs innumerable tokens and pledges of his most constant loue and that not onelie in bodily benefits as health wealth libertie c. but as was said before in spirituall blessings also as in his worde sacraments praier and a great number suche like effectuall meanes to bring vs in good time to that quiet hauen of heauen and eternall rest that wee in the midst of the manifolde tossings and turmoils of this wretched life haue often and earnestlie wished for And yet this faith may be fostered and fedde in vs by an other worde in the text namely when he saith that it shall
you come to these wordes of the seuenteenth verse if so be that we suffer with him c. Where he beginneth to shew and declare by what wayes and steppes as it were Gods children must come to the enioying of that euerlasting felicitie to witte by treading the same path and running the same race Hebr. 12.2 that Christ The author and finisher of our faith himselfe didde that is by manifold crosses and grieuous afflictions in this life for so it pleased God to Consecrate both to himselfe Hebr. 2.10 and to vs the prince of our saluation euen through afflictions we also thereby thus far-foorth making our profit that if It haue beene doone thus in a greene tree Luke 23.31 wee should not much maruell if it be so In dried braunches neither be dismayed that if after the wicked and vngodly haue reuiled the maister of the houshold and done to him whatsoeuer they listed they practise the same against his seruaunts and friends Now forasmuch as for The present time Hebr. 12.11 no chastising seemeth to be ioyous but greuous rather as the Apostle saith wherof this may be one reason amongst many bicause that is laid vppon men which they like not but abhorre and would gladly flee from and forasmuch also as that not onely men but euen godlie men likewise aswel by the reliques and remainders of sinne in themselues as also by the greatnes and greeuousnes of the afflictions that they ate subiect vnto this being their common case in the worlde that the more godlie they are the more they are molested and troubled cannot wythout some special comforts vndergo the burthen of the crosse being so heauy and waighty as indeede it is the Apostle therfore for the sweetning of that bitter cup of the crosse intermingleth with that that semeth vnto vs as bitter as gall or wormewood that which is in it selfe and of it selfe a thousand fold more sweeter than the hony or hony combe that is the moste pleasant promises of eternall life Neither is he spare or pinching in propounding comforts but dealeth in that respect very liberallie and plentifullie with vs that so in the multitude of our consolations we might both with patience for the time beare and through faith and constancie at the last for euer ouercome that great swarme as it were of our sorrowes and griefes And first he telleth vs that wee are not alone in that case and conflict but haue Christ our head and captaine not onely a common companion as you would say with vs in those afflictions but one that hath gone before vs in that path and straight way as hauing broken as you woulde saye the ice for vs and before vs that so wee might go on forwarde with the lesse daunger and the 〈◊〉 boldenes In worldly warfare doubtlesse it addeth no small corage vnto the cōmon souldior that he hath other with him to sustain the hard assaults of the enimie yet if he haue a valiant couragious captaine he is much more cheered and hartned bicause souldiors look not so much one of thē vpon another as haue all their eies bent vpon the ringleader to the rest if they be perswaded that hee is such a one that can as it were with a worde or countenance confounde their aduersaries how valiantly do they not onelie giue the first onset but mightily hold on to the end of the field that so euery one of thē may at the ende of the skirmish or pight battel cary away with them some notable ensigne or token of the victorie Oh how much more ought this to cōfort vs in spiritual combats and conflicts that we come not alone to the field but haue with vs besides the rest of Gods saints and infinit number of holy angels God and all his graces to be as it were a brasen wall vnto vs yea Christ Iesus himselfe the head of men and angels who hath not onely all creatures at commandement to vse for our good and the hurt of his and our ennimies Ioh. 18.4.6 but with the least breath of his mouth is able to ouerthrowe them as hee did those that came to take him and with the meanest sparke of his maiestie to confound and abolish them 2. Thess 2.8 as hee shall do Antichrist vvith the brightnesse of his comming Against which though our naturall corruption may seeme to say somewhat when it obiecteth this fleshly reason how can we suffer with Christ seeing he is in heauen and we in earth or howe can we be partakers of his spirituall graces and infinit power seeing we our selues are earthly and tied to a place yet if wee weigh eyther that spirituall vnion that is betwixt him as the head and vs as the members the effectuall feeling whereof is to be perceiued onely by a true a liuely and a stedfast faith grounded generally vpon the canonical scriptures but more particularly vpon the sweet and gratious promises therein contained specially such as concerne the free pardon and ful forgiuenes of all our sinnes through Christ and in him also the assured hope of eternall saluation or regarde those plaine places of the word vttered not by men onely indued with Gods spirit but by Iesus Christ himselfe the eternall sonne of the eternal father and that for the comfort of the godly and the terror of the wicked wherein this is aduouched Iuke 10.16 Matt. 10.40 that Iniurie offered to his is accounted as if it vvere done to his ovvne blessed person and kindnes shewed to them is esteemed as if it had beene practised vnto himselfe though indeede hee standeth not in neede of any such thing or respect the nature and strength of holie faith that maketh things past present and things to come as if wee had them in possession yea that most effectually ioyneth things togither though they be as farre asunder as heauen and earth otherwise howe could we be partakers of Christs death to the forgiuenes of our sinnes or of his righteousnes to the possession of the eternall inheritance or of euerlasting life all of them being matters that wee must of necessity be familiarly acquainted withall We shal cleerly see with ease enough to answeare this argument that the blindenesse of flesh and bloud would seeme to make agaynst the trueth it selfe Me thinketh rather that sith in this reason of the Apostle the holie ghost alludeth to the common custome of men and after a sort as a man woulde say stoupeth downe to their weakenesse who if they haue companions wyth them in their afflictions doe more comfortably for the most part and paciently carry the same perswading themselues that a burthen diuided is more easy and light than when the whole weight of it lieth al vpon one mans shoulders that therfore we shold much more comfort our selues not onely that we haue one to beare some part with vs but ra her that beareth al for vs who if we suffer or indure any thing specially for his sake
these two wee say that it floweth from following of a wrong translation in this place I meane that that they call their olde vulgar Latin text which rendreth the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being a simple worde by the compound Latine word condignae worthie togither as you woulde say which whether it be not contrary to the fidelitie and vpright dealing of a good translator let euen all the worlde iudge that haue attained to a crumme either of sounde learning or godlie wisedome And if this course may be kept that compounde wordes may be vsed for sinople wordes wee shall quickly turne vpside downe all certaintie of the written worde all trueth of religion and all honest and faithful dealing amongst men All the Greeke copies that euer I coulde see reade it in the simple and so doeth Saint Ignatius himselfe alleage it in his epistle to Marie and it is the first epistle in his booke of epistles yea and their owne Arrius Montanus a man of lesse corruption I had almost said more vprightnes in translating the worde than they all though otherwise popish conuicted by the euidence and trueth of this point rendreth it rightly in his interlineall text howsoeuer for fashion sake he set the vulgar reading in the margine Saint Augustine in his booke of eightie and three quekions quest 67. readeth not condignae as these men doe but indignae that is vnworthie And in his fift booke of the citie of God chap. 18. where he doth of purpose shewe how farre off christians ought to be from boasting if they had doone any thing for loue of the eternall countrie hee alleadgeth euen this very text of the Apostle thus Ind gnae sunt passiones huius temporis c. The sufferings of this time are vnworthie the glorie which shall be reuealed in vs. And so doth some other of the ancient fathers translate it as if I delited in multitude of allegations I could easly shew By whith we may not onely see the true and naturall meaning of the Apostle in this text that is to debase our sinterings and to magnifie eternal life but also that that vulgar translation is not either so olde as they pretende or else was not in those dayes of sitche credite as they woulde haue it nowe in as much as we see the auncient fathers either vsing some other or swaruing greatly from that And no doubt but as the spring is puddlelie and corrupted from whence this poisonfull doctrine proceedeth so the second thing aboue mentioned to wit the fruits that flowe from it be much more euil and dangerous whether wee respect the eternall God himselfe or Christ Iesus his sonne our sauiour or our selues and other men whatsoeuer For as for God his mercie is greatly obscured if not vtterly euacuated and disanulled by this in as much as mans supposed merits and deserts which indeede are nothing but death and damnation are not onely matched wyth the same to the great disgrace and discontinuance thereof there being as great oddes betweene them as betweene the most glorious thing of the worlde and the filthiest durt or dung that can be but after a sort preferred before it and that not only in the eies of men a matter that should make vs all to blush and hang down our heads for shame but if it might be accepted for currant coine and lawfull paiment tendred at the exchequor of the most high king yea brought foorth into the verie sight and presence and pleaded and alleadged at no woorse barre than at the very throne and iudgement seat of almightie God himselfe And concerning Christ our Sauiour his merites generallie and particularly those of his death resurrection and ascension are quite and cleane dedefaced yea vtterlie abolished when â—â—â—â—…es workes are magnified and our deedes are exalted who hath not appeared vnto anie other ende than to destroie the vvorkes of Sathan 1. Iohn 3 2 nor giuen vppe hymselfe to the death yea euen to the death of the crosse for anie other purpose Phillip 2.8 than to satisfie for all our sinnes whatsoeuer neither is risen from the dead and ascended vp into heauen for any other effect than to bring life and mortalitie to light to communicate vnto vs his owne righteousnesse and fullie and wholie to reconcile vs vnto God which things he hath not exactly performed if we by any or al of our works haue in part or in whole promerited Gods fauour bicause either all the glorie of that most excellent worke must be attributed vnto him alone or else no peece of it for Christ mindeth not to part stakes with vs as we say Lastly if wee would consider either our selues or others of whome this is affirmed and to whome this doctrine is propounded and deliuered we shall well perceiue that by meanes hereof we haue not onely our grosse humors fed and our itching eares tickled we delighting alwayes to haue some thing wherein to glorie both before men and God also whereas in trueth wee shoulde couer our faces for shame in the sight both of the one and of the other but also that we are puffed vppe thereby in al maner of intollerable pride disdaine and emulation amongst men euerie man thinking better of himselfe and his owne workes than of all mans els and set vppon the pinacle of most daungerous presumption before GOD we clayming at his handes not with christian boldnes but with whorish impudencie all good thinges both of this life and of that that is to come not of free fauour and mercie thorow Christs obedience onely but of due debt as a man would say being readie if God should denie vs the same as generally for all our sinnes and especially for this he hath good occasion offered him to reuile him to his face and to accuse him of iniustice and wrong But to come more particularly to the points themselues indeede And concerning the first it shall not be amisse to knowe both their distinction of meritum congrui condigni and also what they meane by the seuerall braunches therof that so we may put downe a more plaine and certaine confutation By meritum congrui or desert of congruence as you would say they vnderstand such workes as doe not of their owne nature truly and indeed deserue saluation otherwise than as it hath pleased God of some certaine goodnes in himselfe to promise the same thereto and of this sort they will haue all morall actions to be specially such as are done before regeneration and iustification And by meritum condigni that is desert of woorthines they meane such works as to which there is wholy and altogither a reward due not so much by reason of the gracious promises of god as in respect of the acts or deedes doone and of this sort they make the workes of the godly after regeneration But for answere both to the tearmes and matter we say that neither the wordes of this distinction nor the distinction it selfe nor the
vppon them from GOD Yea sunder this if it could be which is the accomplishment of all from all other the mercies of God towards vs in Christ and his merits and then what good as a man would say can they do vs For if wee respect worldly things as meate drinke health and such like what are they without this though otherwise they seeme neuer so delightful and plesant vnto vs but so many instruments and meanes to fatte vs as stall-feede oxen against the day of our slaughter And though it be true Rom. 4.25 that we might haue thorow Christ his death the forgiuenes of our sins thorowe his resurrection the imputation of his righteousnes and be inabled so to stand before God as pure and cleane being clothed with his holinesse and innocencie yet if we should not come to that eternall inheritance through the strength and power of his glorious ascension but liue heere vppon the earth subiect to so many infirmities of our own both in bodie and mind as we continually carrie about with vs and lie open to the buffetings of Satan and the blowes of the wicked as his seruaunts who in the rage of their spirites are ready euerie minute of an houre with violence death and destruction to rush in and fal vpon vs what were it els but after a sort to be as it were euen in the pains torments of hel it selfe Let vs therfore sticke fast to this thinke vpon it often and make much of it as a notable bulwark or buttresse to our faith pacience and all other the particular fruits thereof whatsoeuer There followeth a third argument for comforte in afflictions and troubles euen in the very beginning of this text that wee haue now taken in hand to interprete namely in the eighteenth verse and these wordes For I account that the afflictions of this present time c. Which as it is drawn from the great oddes as you would say that is betweene the pains that we indure in this world and the eternall ioyes that are prepared for vs in the life to come the one sort being in it owne nature finite as all things in this life are though perhaps innumerable as in regard of vs the other both as in respect of God the creator as also in respect of it selfe being infinit and vnmeasurable so doth it not onely wel but necessarily also depend euen vpon both the former resons and may fitly be fastned vnto them in this sort that whereas he had in the former made mention partly of manifold afflictions and partly of heauenlie glorie now in this he laboreth to shew that though our troubles and trialles bee neuer so great or many that yet it should not any whit at all discourage vs in as much as there is a farre more excellent glorie by infinite degrees laid vp for vs in heauen than al our sufferings can amount vnto whatsoeuer they be or can be and so deliuereth vnto vs a singular commendation of the woonderfull excellencie and infinitenesse of the said glorie Men we see by daily experience wil force themselues far for worldly preferment for from whence commeth it that in games yea and those of no value to speake of men take such extraordinary pains Psal 127. ◠and in ordinarie trades trauell rising vp earlie lying dovvne late cating the bread of sorrovve and running thorow fire and water as you would say but for som hope that they haue either of gaine or of glorie the markes commonly that men set before them to aime at and hit Yea the more excellent the price is that is prefixed before thē or the reward that they promise vnto themselues or is promised them by others as th end of their trauels the more they striue and straine themselues why should not that adde sharpening as it were and giue a notable edge vnto our corage and constancie in the time of our conflicts and distresses whether they be of bodie or of soule there being as no comparison at all betweene our earthly afflictions and heauenly ioies so much lesse if lesse may be between earthly heuenly rewards 1. Cor. 9.25 Euery man saith thapostle in an other place that prooueth masteries abstaineth from all things they do it to obtain a corruptible crovvne but vve for an incorruptible Wherevnto that hee might the better excite and stirre vp the people to whome he wrote he doth in the same place set before them his owne example vvho did so runne but not as vncertainely and did fight but yet not as one that beateth the aire but did take dovvne his bodie and bring it into subiection to the spirit that so hee might be the more fitte for the performaunce of those his spirituall exercises In all this doubtles we may plainely see and behold two speciall points well woorth the weighing as first our owne backewardnes dulnes vnaptnes and inabilitie to good things which also appeareth by this that we haue neede of so many spurs to prouoke vs thereto as admonitions exhortations reprehensions consolations godlie mens examples and many such like and yet all of them little or nothing preuaile with vs a matter which beeing rightly looked into should make vs so far off from the prowd thoughts of any desire in our willes or abilitie in our power to wish or to doe anie thing good that if wee were truelie humbled before the lord our brethren as we ought to be would make vs go continually with moornful harts and countenances cast down til such time as God had both reformed our wils giuen vs power also for it is he alone that vvorketh in vs both the vvil and the deed of euery good thing ◅p 2.13 that according to his ovvne good pleasure Secondly we may here after a sort feele the greatest loue and singular kindnes of our God towards vs who though he might by his soueraigne authoritie ouer vs command vs and if we did not yeelde obedience might not onelie threaten vs but punish vs also and that with al maner of plagues both temporal and eternal as who hath the fulnes and seuerall sorts of them prest and ready in his owne power to poure them foorth when it pleaseth him is yet notwithstanding pleased by gentle words to intreat vs and by promises of al sorts to allure vs yea by the very example of his sonnes and seruaunts to draw vs on to that which indeed doth most directlie tend to our owne good and wherevnto though indeede wee had none of all these things to mooue vs yet if we were but led by the light of reason wee should carefully and earnestly stryue and labor Neither doth this great and vnspeakable bountifulnes of God once onelie and no more deale after this sort with vs but standeth continually knocking as it were at the doore of our conscience and waiting when by the comforts of his promises hee may haue a free entrance and ioyfull passage into our seuerall soules
is in vs on the other side yea after that we see the truth manifested specially if it concerne our selues or others that we affect as our selues vve call good euill and euill good Isai 5.20 Piou 17.15 so pull a fearefull woe vpon our selues and iustifie the vvicked and condemne the righteous a sin that the holy ghost hath long ago forbidden and noted with a brand as abhomination in his sight Howe much more easly then may we be ouertaken in blind corrupted and partiall iudgement as in respect of spirituall causes The consideration whereof shoulde not onelie make vs wary and watchefull ouer our selues suspecting continually our slipperinesse into this sinne but should prouoke vs also to labour to attaine by al pains possible the true light and heauenlie iudgement which indeede is not else-where to be had or found but in the onelie will of God reuealed in his word as wherein alone consisteth Ierem 5.9 Deut 4.6 all our true wisdome and vnderstanding whatsouer It followeth That the afflictions of this present time The word afflictions importeth al the troubles and calamities that Gods children do suffer in this life whether they be outward in body as sickenes pouertie nakednes banishment persecution and such like or whether they be inward in the mind as teÌ„ptations from our corrupted nature assaults from Satans malice griefe of hart for sin feare of iudgement in this life or in that that is to come al the rest of that sort whatsoeuer And yet he restraineth as it wer that generall terme by these words folowing when he calleth them the afflictions of this present time mening that longer than this life they last not neither indeed can last in the children of God bicause that by our death God doth not only wipe al teares from our eies endeth our miseries vtterly killeth the strength and body of sin but not leauing there 2. Tim. 4.8 beginneth and perfecteth our blessednesse where there are vnspeakable ioies and crovvnes of incomprehensible glorie laid vp for vs and for all those that do vnfamedly loue him and looke for his comming And yet not affirming neither for al that that they always indure and continue so long for though it be true that this is the common cord and portion of al Gods seruants in this life Acts 14.22 by manifoid tribulations to enter into the kingdome of God yet as we see both by former and present expecience the Lord somtimes hauing regard to the weaknes of those that are his doth for the manifestation of his loue toward them giue them a breathing time as it were somtimes agaâ—ne for the declaration of his power iustice against the wicked beateth them downe and raiseth vp his owne children all this being doone â—â—al 225. â— That the rodde of the vvicked might not rest on the lot of the righteous least either the righteous themselues shoulde put foorth their hande vnto vvickednesse or the vngodlie waxe intollerablie insolent and prowde aboue measure This rather is the Apostles minde to oppose as wee may plainelie perceiue the afflictions of this worlde against the ioys of the other life and that in a double antithesis or comparison as it were First setting afflictions against glorie the one being verie base and bitter Hebr. 12. â— as no affliction for the time present is ioyous but greuous rather the other being very excellent and sweete which though it be delaied for a while is yet sufficient to comfort Gods children for the time present and to confirme them in the hope that is to come Secondly opposing this time present with that that is to come meaning by both those times the seuerall states and condicions that then the children of God shal be partakers of proposing this also euen to comfort such as fuffer in Sion in that their afflictions shal last no longer at the furthest than their naturall life but their ioys and glorie shall be beyond and wythout all time euen for euer and euer And euen out of these wordes wee may gather a singular comfort against afflictions to wit that though they be many times great and greeuous yet they are not alwayes long and continuall Which consolation is not vrged here onelie but in diuerse other places of the holie Scriptures Take one or twoo most plaine for the proofe of this point in steade of an infinite number In the thirtie pâ—alme Psal 30.5 the prophet telleth vs that the Lord indureth a small season in his anger but in his fauor is life for eu rmore and vveeping may abide at euening but ioy commeth in the morning And the Apostle agreable therevnto telleth vs 2. Cor 4.17 in the fourth chapter of his second epistle to the Corinthians That our light affliction vvhich is but for a moment or most sharpe season causeth vnto vs a farre more excellent and eternall vvaight of glorie In the often repetition whereof the Lorde doubtles did not onelie regarde the excellencie and necessitie of this doctrine in it selfe but also prouided notablie for our good who besids that vve are dull of heart Luke 24.25 and slovv to learne and therfore had neede to haue the promises pressed vppon vs againe and againe wax also not onelie wearie of afflictions if they lie long of heauy vpon vs but euen pleasures themselues specially in the continuance of them with vs doe many times by reason of our new-fangled and inconstant nature growe tedious and lothsome Good reason therfore is there that we shoulde set this vnto our hearts and make our speciall profit by it against the times of our triall The Apostle addeth are not vvorthie of the glorie his meaning in this place and in these wordes is in my minde plaine and simple who doth not heere compare the dignitie and woorthinesse eyther of our sufferings or of eternall glorie togither as some haue phantasticallie conceiued and more wickedly propounded but laboureth to mitigate the greatnesse of our afflictions by opposing and setting against the same the greatnesse yea the infinitenesse of that ioy and glorie that is laide vp for vs in the life to come wee knowing and confessing that there is no proportion betweene finite and infinite And though this be most true yet notwithstanding Sathan in seuerall sortes of hys seruants as in the schoole-men heeretofore hath out of this place gone about to maintaine that diuellish distinction of meritum congrui condigni as they call it and in our Romish Rhemists also in their late annotations vppon the newe Testament and namely vpon this very place woulde make the sufferings of the saints in this life meritorious and worthie of eternall saluation But in one word generally to answeare them both togither first and then afterwardes more particularly to deale with either of them by themselues We feare not to affirme that these beastly opinions spring froÌ„ a foule and filthy fountaine and bring foorth most bitter fruits and effects For the first of
as much as it hath no good foundation to stand vpon but also bicause it doth wonderfullie darken if not vtterly euacuate and take away both the loue of God and Christes grace and fauour also towardes vs for we knowe and haue learned out of the scriptures and therefore doe beleeue it too that God so loued the vvorlde Iohn 3 16. Rom. 8.32 that he gaue his onely begotten sonne vnto the death for vs all to the ende that euery one of those vvhich beleeue in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life which rich loue of his towards vs could not haue so plentifully and plainly appeared if he had therein as wel prouided for his sons profit as for our good And Christs grace can not but be greatly obscured thereby while we fantastically imagine that he came into the world suffred al maner of villanie at the hands of the wicked for some other cause good for himselfe rather than for the worke of our saluation Whereas we are sure that when the Scripture will magnifie his loue towards vs Rom. 5 6.10 it telleth vs that he died for vs vvhen vve vvere his vtter enimies giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that he had no regarde or consideration of himselfe at all but onely of vs yea hee himselfe saith Iohn 17.19 in the gospell after Iohn that for our sakes he sanctified himselfe c. by which hee plainely declareth that he did not onlie sanctifie himselfe for our sakes alone but also that he deriued the fruit and benefit of his owne holinesse ouer vnto vs purchasing nothing thereby vnto himselfe And no doubt but this is the meaning as of the whole Scripture generally so specially of the Prophets and Apostles when they say Vnto vs a childe is borne Isai 9.6 and vnto vs a son is giuen And againe that hee died for our sins Rom. 4.25 and rose for our righteousnes these words vs and ours being so emphaticall and forcible yea after a sort so particularizing the matter and persons that they shew that for vs and our sakes onely and for nothing to himselfe he became man and tooke vpon him the shape of a seruant which had it not beene wholie and altogither true it had beene as easie a matter for the holie ghost or holie men inspired by the spirite of God to haue saide that hee did it aswel for himselfe as for vs but no such phrase can be found and therefore hee mindeth to restraine Christes humbling and the fruites and effectes of it which indeede are all his merits wholy and altogither to vs. Thirdly it may seeme straunge in reason to all men if it be not erroneous in religion amongest Christians that the merites of Christes sufferings shoulde haue a larger reach and be extended further than his passions and sufferings themselues especially sith that they themselues make his sufferings the causes of his merits and his merits the effects of those causes In common sense we know that as a cause is before the effect for an effect can not be before there be a cause working the same effect so it is and must of necessitie also be as large at the least as the effect it selfe if not more large in as much as it must not only giue life and being to the things for the present time produced but also preserue a continuall life in it self for the bringing out of the like effectes still And they themselues haue a rule in philosophie that whatsoeuer worketh or bringeth foorth such a thing as the thing it self is that worketh or bringeth foorth that thing that bringeth forth is in the same kind much more such a thing than that which is broght forth Shall Christ then by his death merite for himselfe and shall hee not in his death die for himselfe But that Christ suffered for himselfe they dare not aduouch for the scripture affirmeth the contrarie saying 1 Pet. 3.18 that the iust suffered for the vniust and that were to make also Christ a transgressor wheras the word telleth vs that he did no sinne neither vvas there any guile found in his mouth 1. Pet 2 22. Isaiah 53.9 yea it were to leaue our selues in our sins bicause a sinner though he should suffer neuer so much cannot cleare himselfe much lesse others from sin or the punishment due vnto the same And therfore also there is no reason why they shoulde holde that Christ merited for himselfe Certainly touching this point this is my persuasion and I rest resolued that all good men wil easly consent with me in the same to wit that this forgerie that Christ suffered on the crosse that so by the merite of his worke hee might get vnto himselfe some thing which before he had not came without all doubt euen from Sathan himselfe who labored by this as by many other the like corruptions to cast a thicke mist or fogge before the most excellent glorie and grace of our Sauiour that so the same being dimmed at the first though not in the whole yet in some small part of it he might in the ende by a little taint and discredite the whole And whosoeuer they are that see Sathans subtilties indeede do not onely perceiue this to be most true but haue their hearts also thorowe Gods goodnesse inlightned to knowe to what ende Sathan doth it namely to bring them by doubting of some part of Christes great glorie at the least to distrust the whole and so by consequence to suffer him yea and that willinglie also to hold vs captiues in vnbeleefe at his pleasure We had neede therefore not onlie to looke well about vs least we be ignorantlie or at vnwares supprised of him in his grinnes but also to hearken and that attentiuely and carefully to the voice of the holie ghost speaking vnto vs in the written worde which oftentimes telleth vs that in Christs death and suffering we shoulde not labour to see taste thinke feele or knowe any thing else but Gods meere grace and goodnes onely and such great and inestimable loue of our Sauiour Christ to vs-ward that hee as a man woulde say quite and cleane forgetting himselfe and looking at nothing but our good was contented to take his life in his hands and vvillingly to lay it dovvne for vs all Ioh. 10.17 18 yea we shall see that whensoeuer the scripture speaketh of the sufferings of our sauiour in plaine wordes and termes it determineth that the fruit and benefit thereof redoundeth wholie and onely vnto vs affirming that by it eternall life is purchased vnto vs and heauen gates set open for vs wee being thereby not onely purged from our filthines but wholy reconciled to God and restored to righteousnes for which purpose amongst many other see one plaine place Hebrewes 10. vers 14 15 16 c. But if they wil needs haue and hold that our sauiour Christ did merit for himselfe then let them tel vs we pray them first at what time he
as if he should say they are in no case machable or comparable this also being the Apostles speciall purpose not to reason of the value or price of such afflictions as the faithfull indure or suffer for Christs sake in this life but to shew rather that whether wee respect the qualitie or quantitie of them as a man woulde say and compare the same with eternall life and saluation we may easily yet gather therevpon that we shal be infinitly more blessed with Christ when we shal in the kingdome of heauen be gathered vnto him and vnited with him as our true and onely head than euer we were miserable while wee liued here vppon the face of the earth And the truth of this may appeare not onelie by the plaine wordes and very drift and purpose of the apostle as before but also by his maner of speech hee speaking not cōparatiuely specially in extolling of our sufferings which he greatly debaseth by affirming them no maner of way worthy of eternall glorie but rather in magnifieng of euerlasting lise Yea the worde it selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being vsed in his right and proper signification which as the grammarians doe wel witnes is affirmed of those things that being weighed one with another are found to be of equall poise or weight with a negatiue particle put before it to abolish the credit that wee woulde carry with our selues and before others in about our sufferings and to extoll the wonderful excellencie of the heauenlie kingdome can not choose but euince and gaine this point at their handes Touching other allegations as namely that out of Prouerbes 3. and 2. Corinthians 4. for we mind not to stand vppon places alleadged out of the bookes called Apocrypha as Ecclesiasticus Tobie and such like in as much as they are but produced onely for the phrase and yet prooue not the matter for which they are brought forth we shall God willing answere the same in some more conuenient place specially sith we haue bene long already in this confutation this being sufficient for this present to let the worlde vnderstand that they are brought foorth very impertinently and onelie to no purpose but contrarie to truth also There remaineth only one reason that seemeth to haue some pith in it to wit that wee may as well affirme that the workes of sin demerit not damnation as that the sufferings of Gods saints deserue not eternall saluatiō but this indeed as the former hath neither bones nor marrowe nor sinnows nor flesh nor any thing else that may giue it force or strength For howsoeuer arguments taken from contraries may be strong in humane reason and yet there they be not so vniuersall but that something may be iustly obiected against the same yet in matters of religion faith and the seruice of God they haue not any such sure footing as these men fantasie That righteousnes and sinne be contraries as also saluation and damnation no man in his right wits I thinke will deny but that the one should arise from man as wel as the other no man vnlesse he be starke madde and insensible yea peeuishly hereticall Mat. 7.16 will euer affirme Doe men gather grapes of thornes Iames 3.11 or figs of thistles Doeth a fountayne send forth at one place svveet vvater and bitter Can not only the barren but the brierie heart of man yeelde such good fruit as the oliues and figges of Gods righteousnesse Or can that florishing tree of eternall goodnes in the Lorde bring foorth briers and brambles Their owne vulgate translation in a place of the prophet Hosea affirmeth the contrarie saying Hosea 13 9. Destruction is thyne O Israell onely in me is thy helpe As though he should say men by meanes of their sinne pull iudgements and destruction vpon themselues but if they attaine to health and saluation they can no where finde it but in the Lord onely by which exclusiue terme also wee may see that saluatiō is not to be looked for or to be found either in our selues or in others but in the Lorde alone who iustifieth the vvicked Rom. 4.5 and shevveth mercie to vvhome it pleaseth him Rom. 9.15 And doth not the Lorde himselfe most plainely propound this trueth saying in the prophet I euen I am the Lord Isai 43.11 and beside me there is no sauiour Cast away from you for shame these grosse conceits of your owne and in time humble your selues to the trueth of the Lord O ye his aduersaries which in many places of the same confuteth you and iustifieth our assertion Out of an infinit number take one place which is so plaine and euident that though you your selues labour to darken it by an obscure translation and would wring your selues out of the snares that it hath cast vpon you by your corrupt gloses yet can you neuer shift it I meane that last verse of the sixt of the Romans where he telleth vs in the first place that the vvages of sinne is death Rom. 6.13 not onely naturall for that all must taste of Hebr. 9.27 God hauing appointed that all men shall once die and after that commeth the iudgement but eternall proper and peculiar to the condemned onely and consequently sheweth vs that eternall life which hee opposeth against eternall death and damnation is the gift of God through Iesus Christ our Lord setting there-against mans sinne and corruption not mans imagined righteousnes as they would haue it but Gods great gift goodnes bestowed vpon vs in and for Christ Iesus sake onely wythout which of a trueth not onely no one man could euer be saued but all flesh must of necessitie perish In logike there is a rule which also they themselues approoue of namely that as we haue great scarcitie of true differences for many things so the reason of that want is not in the naturall thinges themselues for no doubt but euerie seuerall kinde hath his right difference but in that lacke of light iudgement and experience which lieth lurking in euery one of our selues The like wee can not pretend here both bicause God is more perfect than nature as who is Lord thereof and also bicause he hath inlarged himselfe so that we may plainly perceiue and see the truth of this point And if naturall things may by their seuerall differences be certainly deserued one of them from an other how much more truly surely may we distinguish God from men and the workes of his holinesse and grace from the deeds of our cursed corruption Why do we not deale herein as we do in worldly affaires If wee will rightly discerne of them wee will oppose things that be contrary indeed one of them against another as blacke against white war against peace c. Bicause wee rest persuaded that so they may be best discerned no man in this case dealing so fondly as to compare yellow and blacke togither or to resemble a colour with a thing that is not