hauing greater means of knowing beleeuing and obeying God then man had on earth yea their sinne came from themselues by the suggestion of their owne mindes and the inclination of their wils but man sinned by their prouocation temptation and delusion who as if they had committed a small offence in sinning themselues did adde to their owne sinne the sinne of mankind Moreouer it was not needfull that God should restore these rebels to their former state for the illustration of his loue towardes this creature forsomuch as there are yet in heauen in the state of happinesse many thousands of holy Angels which are so many witnesses and preachers of the endlesse loue of God towards them Againe it was needfull for the working of the saluation of the elect that there shoulde be some aduersarye power opposing it selfe and labouring by all meanes to hinder it that so both the graces bestowed on men might be stirred vp and exercised and the power of God preseruing them from so great danger made manifest Lastly by this vncurable state of these Angels it appeareth that there neither is nor yet can be in any creature any such absolute perfection as that it might be able of it selfe by any proper inherent and naturall vertue and strength beeing not supported by the grace of God eyther to keep for euer or to recouer any good happy estate If it be obiected that the Angels may repente and so obtaine saluation wee answere first that it is vnpossible by reason of the nature of their sinne beeing the sinne against the holie Ghost that they shoulde euer truely repent and secondly that if they coulde after some sorte repente yet they are altogether vncapable of saluation because God hath not taken vnto himselfe the nature of Angels as he hath done the nature of man and so by ioyning it to himselfe who is life it selfe made it a liuing and holy nature the which is needfull for saluation as will appeare more at large in the treatise of iustifying faith Chap. 4. Sect. 3. But to leaue these foule spirits in the bottomlesse pit of hell let vs returne to the consideration of this third state of man the which although in substance it be nothing but the first estate restored yet it is to be preferred before it in these respectes First because it is certaine immutable and eternall it being impossible that any who is once brought from death to this state of saluation should returne backe againe but the first state of man was not onely variable but very short and momentanie as hath beene declared This ariseth not of any naturall and inherent strength of man but of the meere grace and loue of God supporting all his elect seruants in this state and watching ouer them least at any time they should fall away Secondly both the partes of the goodnesse of this estate which are the outward and inward coniunction of man with God or more plainely his happinesse and holinesse are greater then they were before The increase of happinesse the next section doth declare and for the other we cannot doubt but that the loue of man yea all the other partes of his holinesse are increased and doubled towardes God who nowe is not onely his Lorde and creator but also his sauiour and redeemer As he must needes loue more to whome manie sinnes are forgiuen then he who is saued by his owne holinesse for life is not of it selfe so acceptable at any time as it is after death Whereof more at large in the laste Chapter of the third parte of this treatise CHAP. II. Sect. 1. Of the happinesse wherein man was created HAppinesse is the enioying of the greatest highest and chiefest good to wit that which is fully perfectly primarely eternally essentially and onely good as is God onely Math 19. 17. There is none good but God onely Thus doe the Angels in heauen enioy God whose face or more plainely whose glory shining as clerely as the grace of a man doth in his face they doe continually behold Likewise man before his fall liued thus happily in the presence of God with whome he had daily and as wee may say familiar conuersation yea God did many waies reueale himselfe and his glory to him especially in the garden wherein he placed him This is perfect felicitie for hee who hath God who is the fountaine of all blessings ioy and pleasures hath all thinges belonging to happinesse Psal. 16 11. Thou shalt make me knowe the path of life for there is fulnesse of ioy in thy face or presence and in thy right hande there are pleasures for euermore From this fountaine of happinesse there flowed many streames euen all blessings whatsoeuer the preseruation or dignitie of the body soule or of the whole person of man did any way require first for his body it was in respect of the outwarde forme and proportion maiesticall beautifull gracious purchasing feare and reuerence of the other baser creatures and fauour euen in the sight of God for whose glory maketh whatsoeuer is any way commendable in the creature this remaneth in parte euen in the corrupt estate 1. Chro. 12. 8. Dauids men of warre had faces like Lyons Act. 7. 20. Moses being new borne was gratious in the sight of God Secondly the body of man was immortall whereof there is no question to be made seing that the scripture doth euery where teach vs that death came in by sinne 1. Cor. 25. 56. the sting whereby death killeth is sinne Rom. 5. 12. by Adam sinne came into the worlde and by sin death If we shoulde examine this doctrine by naturall reason it woulde be found very doubtfull for it may seeme that the body of man being made of earth shoulde of necessitie at length be resolued into earth againe as well as the bodies of all other cretures yea that it consisting of contraries continually fighting and consuming one another coulde not possibly but be at length destroyed For nothing that is deuided in it selfe can continue for euer Yea besides this naturall death mans body may seeme to haue bene subiect to outward violence as if it shoulde haue bene pierced with a sword or throwen downe from a high rocke no reason can shewe howe the immortality of it shoulde be preserued Whereunto we answere first that we are not to doubt of the word of God howsoeuer our shallow heads are not able to sound the depth of it Secondly that we may as wel suppose man to be immortall as to liue almost a thousand yeares as we read Gen. 5. 27. that Methuselā did for we may well thinke that those long liues of the fathers before the flood were euen the reliques of that immortalitie wherewith Adam was endued at the first neither are we to think it impossible to God to endue mans body with such an exact equall temperature as should continue for euer As for violent deaths although we cannot deny but man was
in this lyfe CHAP. V. Sect. 1. Of the hope of mans first state THe second head of mans holinesse and subiection which he is to performe to God as to his king is called hope the which floweth from fayth after a speciall manner yea in truth it is nothing else but a particular fayth or an affiaunce on God for some particular good For when as the happines whereof faith taketh hold is not present but to come either in part or in whole there commeth out hope which is an expectatiō of the accomplishmēt of Gods promises already apprehended by fayth So that hope can haue no place there where ful perfect happines is present Rom. 8. 24. Hope that is seene is no hope For howe can a man hope for that which he seeth That is if the thing hoped or which we desire be present then the nature of hope is cleane taken away and ouerthrowen for it is impossible that a man shoulde hope for that as being to come hereafter which he presently enioyeth Whereby it appeareth that man in his first estate of happinesse had either none or little vse of this grace because his happinesse was present For howsoeuer the happinesse of Adam in his innocency were not so great and excellent as that whereof the faithfull shalbe made partakers in the world to come yet he then enioyed both perfect and present happinesse Neither doth it appeare in the scripture that God did promise any other happinesse vnto him then that which he presently enioyed and therefore it had not bene holynesse but presumption and sinne for him to haue hoped or looked for any other Howe then can we make hope a part of that holynesse wherein man was created We answere that although Adam in his innocency looked for no other happinesse then that which he did presentlie enioy yet he did hope that God would both continue that happinesse and also reueale himselfe and his glory to him after some other manner then he did at the first and so encrease his present happinesse Sect. 2. Of desperation or the want of Hope MAn falling from faith to infidelitie fell from hope to desperation for so we call that want of the hope of saluation which is in all carnall men neither could he otherwise doe For as he who taketh away the roote and the foundation taketh away the tree and the house yea all that groweth on the one and is built on the other So when fayth falleth the whole holynesse of man falleth to the ground but especially hope the which hath a nearer coniunction with faith then other graces haue and is more naturallie grounded vpon it as it is saide Heb. 11. 1. Faith is the groundeworke or foundation and subsistence of things hoped for For happinesse must first be beleeued in the minde and apprehended by the will before it can be hoped for So that seeing man since the fall doth not by faith depend on God he can not hope to receiue any good thing at his handes neither doth he once thinke of any other happines then is the enioying of the carnall sensuall pleasures of this present worlde The which being ended by death all the ioy pleasure and happynesse of one vnregenerate seemeth to him to be at an end as it is indeed For either he thinketh as most carnall men do that he shall die like a beast and that neither he himselfe nor any other shalbe raised vp againe to life to receaue either good or euill or if he haue some knowledge and beliefe of the word of God wherby he thinketh that there shalbe another worlde wherein some shall haue happines others miserie and sorrow yet he being destitute of fayth whereby his sinnes shoulde be remitted and his person indued with perfect holynesse and righteousnesse can looke for nothing but the eternall anger of God Thus the Apostle describeth an infidell that he is one without hope Ephe. 2. 12. 1. Thess. 4. 13. The signes whereby this desperation may be knowen are these First the generall signe of the want of any one grace to wit the want of other graces which are in a man truly regenerate For such is the nature of this renewed holynesse that where one parte is present there is no parte wholly wanting therfore we may know ourselues to be without hope if that we feele that we are destitute of the true knowledge of God of a liuely faith which is the mother of hope Secondly a proper signe of this desperation is when as a man is not affected with an vnspeakable ioy in regard of the life to come but heareth it mentioned as an ordinarie common and light matter whereas if he had any true hope of eternall glorie he would be replenished and euen rauished with ioy and that in the middest of all troubles and miseries by the consideration of it But because a man may more surely iudge by that which he feeleth to be in himselfe then by that which is wanting therefore men are to gather this desperation by these notes to wit By an immoderate care for the preseruing and prolonging of this present life together with an excessiue feare of death in our selues or sorrow for the death of others 1 Thess. 4. 13. I would not haue you sorrow for the dead as other doe which haue no hope And such other notes plentifully mentioned in the scripture Sect. 3. Of renued hope THe vse of this hope is not so little in the state of innocency but it is as great in the state of regeneration in the which although man be restored to his former happinesse yea to more excellent happinesse then he had before yet it is not present in this world as Adams was but for the greater part to come in the world to come and therefore it can not be here enioyed but onely hoped for If it be asked why God doth not grant to his elect children the present fruition of that happinesse especially seing that the deferring of so great a good cannot but be very grieuous vnto them for as the desire when it commeth is a tree of life so the deferring of the thing hoped for is the drying of the bones Prou. 13. 12. To this we answere confessing that this deferring of the happinesse appointed for the faithfull is and ought to be very grieuous vnto them For as he who is poore sicke weake in prison exile and in all kindes of miserie hath good cause to desire riches honour health strength liberty to see his own natiue coūtrie his parentes kinred and friends and in breife to be happie no lesse cause haue the faithfull to desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ. But God hauing regard rather to their good then to their desire hath in wisdome appointed that it should be otherwise that their happinesse shoulde be hoped for for some space of time before it be enioyned Yea this delay is needful for the good of
the faithfull for that otherwise they could not be prepared and made fit for the enioying of eternall glory And that in these respects First in that the faithfull are left for a while in crosses troubles sorrow sinne and all manner of misery they haue time giuen vnto them to consider both their owne naturall estate howe wretched they are of themselues and also the excellencie of that glory which is prepared for them in heauen and so see and acknowledge the vnspeakable goodnesse of God who hath freed them from the one and will at the appointed time bring them to the other The which thing cannot be so duelie waied and considered by man when he is in the state eyther of extreeme misery or of absolute glory as it is by the faithfull in this present life the which is a mixt state consisting partly of sinne and misery and partly of holinesse and happinesse partly of life and partly of death so that as a man cannot at any time so well diâ—cerne a thing to be black or crooked as when he layeth it beside that which is white or straight so the faithfull doe more easely and truely conceiue their owne misery and Gods mercy in this life wherein they doe sensibly feele them both then eyther they did before regeneration in which time they knew neither themselues nor God or then they shall doe in the world to come wherein their naturall misery is not felt in their owne bodies and soules as it is in this life but onely remembred and beheld in the reprobate Wherein God dealeth with sinfull man as earthly kings deale sometimes with rebels malefactors whom although they purpose not onely to pardon their offence but also to receiue into fauour and loue and so doe restore them from death to life from shame to honour yet they doe not at the first admit them into the highest degree of their fauour to their secret counsell or to their personall presence Thus did King Dauid deale with Absolon 2. Sam. 14. 22. who after that he was pardoned and receiued into fauour was two yeares in IerusaleÌ„ before that he saw the kings face And thus doe the faithfull after that they are fully iustifyed from the guilt of their sinne they doe not forthwith rush into heauen but remaine heere on earth in the outward court of Gods palace waiting till they may be admitted into the glorious presence of God in heauen For we are not to thinke that there ought to be the same manner of the first creation of man of his regeneration that as in the first so also in the second birth man ought incontinently as soone as he doth existe to be made perfectly happy as if happinesse were a small and light matter which might be lost in one moment of an houre recouered in another And therefore we are to put a difference betwixt the first and the second happinesse of man the first beeing giuen immediately by God whereas the other is gotten although not by the helpe yet by the meanes of man who is in some sort to worke his owne saluation and must be endued in this life with some measure of grace whereby hee may be prepared for the fulnesse of it in the worlde to come the which thing cannot be done vnlesse his saluation be deferred for otherwise there woulde be no triall of his faith and loue yea no vse of hope patience praier and such other spirituall graces for the working whereof God doth defer the happinesse of his elect This the Apostle doth plainely teach vs Rom. 8. 24. 25. 26. saying If the thing hoped for be seene hope is no hope for how can a man hope for that he seeth but if we hope for that we see not then we doe with patience abide for it Likewise our hope being thus deferred the spirit helpeth our infirmities in praying for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed Thus we see how it commeth to passe that hope hath so necessary and great vse in this third estate Now we are to declare the nature of it more particularly by shewing first what it is secondly what relation it hath to faith thirdly what are the vses and commodities which it bringeth lastly what are the signes by the which it may be knowen For the first Renewed hope is an expectation of celestiall glory or of eternall glory in heauen This definition giueth vs to vnderstand that the obiect whereat this holy affection aimeth and looketh is not present but to come and yet not any future thing but that which is good for not onely hope but all other affections and the whole will of man yea euen when they are sanctified and in their purest and holiest estate doe abhorre and eschew all euill whether present or future and doe cleaue onely to that which is good for man And yet not any future good is the obiect of this hope but the chiefest good which indeed is all manner of good and euen happinesse it selfe For so we are to thinke that as faith trusteth in God for happinesse so hope waiteth for it And although both faith and hope sometimes take hold of a particular good as Abraham both trusted and hoped in God for Isaac and as the man sicke of the palsey did for bodily health yet neyther faith nor hope rest in a particular good but onely through it looke at the generall good vsing it as a meanes way token or pledge of the generall good and happinesse Yea further there is this difference that faith and hope doe for the most part apprehende a particular good whether it be a temporall blessing or a spirituall grace doubtingly vnlesse there be a special promise of it as was that which God made to Abraham of Isaac as not being absolutely needfull for their happinesse and therefore not needfull to be graunted by God but they lay holde on happinesse which is the vniuersall good without doubting or any exception whatsoeuer So that by hope we meane hope of eternall glory in the which sense this word is vsed throughout the writings of the Apostles Lastly the obiect of hope is not any terrestriall good or happinesse as was that wherein Adam was created but a celestiall happinesse as it hath beene in parte described heretofore In the second place we are to declare the nature of hope by comparing it with faith with the which it agreeth in these respectes First faith is the cause and as it were the mother of hope for a man cannot hope to come to heauen vnlesse he be first taught by faith the right way and true meanes of saluation Yea he is more then madde who thinketh once to enter into the glorious presence of God in heauen being not first cleansed by faith from the filthinesse of his sinne but whome faith iustifyeth him hope glorifyeth Againe as faith bringeth foorth hope so hope like a louing and gracious childe cherisheth and vpholdeth faith for how coulde any man rely himselfe
suspected to be vneffectuall This the Apostle doth plainely testifie 1. Cor. 11. 19. There must be heresies that those who are approoued may be made manifest that is God doth suffer schismes and diuisions to be among you that by this meanes it may appeare whose holinesse is sounde and whose is hypocriticall or at the least light and ineffectuall Secondly men truely regenerate receiue a greater measure of particular graces as of faith loue and patience then the other doe Yea they doe daily increase in grace whereas the other doe commonly stand at a stay neuer attaining to any great measure of godlinesse but abide in a certaine indifferent kinde of mediocrity being neither hotte nor colde Besides true graces are fruitfull but the shadowes are barren eyther wholly or in part as the faith of these men doth not worke and shewe foorth it selfe by loue their loue is without workes of compassion and Christian communion their good works without alacrity Lastly the shadowe of regeneration doth often come to nothing and is turned into meere Atheisme and want of all religion but true regeneration can neuer wholly decay as Math. 3. 20. Some receiue the worde with ioy and afterwarde fall away and Heb. 6. 4. 5 we reade of those who being once made partakers of the holy Ghost doe afterwardes fall away from Christ yea while they doe retaine this resemblance of true sanctification they are not constant but variable in doing good Iam. 1. 8. A double minded man is vnconstant in all his waies that is a man halfe carnall and halfe regenerate doth not keepe throughout the course of his whole life a constant tenour of godlinesse but often changeth his minde opinions affections and practise By these and such other notes which may be obserued in the scripture and by daily experience this shadowe of holinesse may be discerned from the trueth yet we ought not peremptorely to iudge or rashly to condemne any man for there may be found euen in men truely regenerate many wants errours sinnes and alterations as afterwards will appeare Therefore we ought to thinke the best where we see any likelihoode of good and where there is none to hope for better in time to come and so leauing other men to Gods iudgement to censure our owne profession and regeneration by these rules Yet it is both lawfull and needfull that we shoulde knowe howe to distinguish trueth from falshoode right from wrong good from euill the shadowe from the bodie in the professions of our brethren The which it is the parte of euerie Christian to marke and consider to trie and thinke of it according to the trueth of the worde of GOD but in iudging and speaking to vse greate moderation and wisedome CHAP. V. Of the particulars in this supernaturall decrease of sinfulnesse THe first and most vsuall part of this supernaturall decrease of sinne is the illumination of the minde whereby a carnall man who before did not beleeue the doctrine eyther of the law or of the gospell is brought to see and acknowledge the trueth of the one or of both To beleeue the law of God to be true is to haue a sight and a sense of sinne to see sinne is for a man to know himselfe to be so sinfull in nature in soule body in life and actions as indeed he is To feele sinne is to know that for his sinne he is subiect to the wrath of God which is eternall death This first part of illumination is far more easely oftē wrought in a naturall man then is the other because by the light of nature man hath some knowledge of good and euill and that the righteous are to be rewarded as the wicked are tobe punished Hence it is that many make this first step in this shadow of regeneration and goe no further Thus Cain and Iudas with many others did see their sin the punishmēt due vnto it but yet had no beliefe of the doctrine of the gospel for remission of sinne The second part of illumination is to thinke the doctrine of the gospel to be true namely that remission of sinnes and eternall glorie is to be had by faith in Iesus Christ. Heb. 6. 4. This knowledge GOD worketh by his spirit and word in manie reprobates Act. 8. 13. Simon magus beleeued and was baptized of whose reprobation although we can affirme nothing because the Apostle doubteth of it Vers. 22. Yet it is plainely out of the 21. verse that he was not as then truly regenerated Yea many carnall men attaine to so greate a measure of knowledge that there is no point or heade of christian religion which they doe not in some sorte conceiue vnderstand and beleeue although not fully for that is impossible yet so as that they are able to performe the duty of teachers in the Church in laying open plainly and euidently to the capacitie of the hearers the mysteries of the gospel in resoluing al doubtes cōtrouersies questions obiections and arguments which are moued about anypoint of doctrine Thus did the teachers at Corinth of whome the Apostle writeth 1. Cor. 13. 2. Though I had the gift of prophecie and knew all secrets and knowledge and haue not loue I were nothing So Math 7. 22. Prophecie in Christes name whome he doth not acknowledge as his This knowledge is commonly called an historicall faith a gift common to the elect and the reprobate yet not so common as it seemeth to be Yea in truth more rare in respect of the greate multituds of professours and christians then it is common in respect of the small number of true beleeuers For to let passe those who know nothing of religion we are not to thinke that all they who are learned and as we say great clarkes in diuinitie and profound schoole-men do in their mindes and iudgments hold these things to bee true Yea it appeareth plainly in the example of Iudas who although he did preach the gospell with his tongue yet he did not beleeue it himselfe as Christ witnesseth Ioh. 6. 64 that manie doe goe about to perswade others that to bee true which they them-selues thinke to be false And no maruaile for why should it bee thought easie and common for a naturall man to beleeue that which is contrarie to naturall reason we se Ioh. 3. 12 that Christ could not or rather did not make Nicodemus a teacher in Israel beleeue the doctrin of spirituall regeneration And so we may well thinke that many otherwise learned thinke that it is no such supernaturall work but that it may be attained by natural means Likewise how many thinke wee are perswaded in their heartes that this worlde shall neuer haue an ende or that there shal be a new world wherein the bodies of men which were consumed to nothing many thousand years before shalbe raised vp liue for euer But to proceede of the decrease of ignorance commeth the decrease of infidelitie For as
subiect to them if violence had bene offred yet there could none happen in this pure state For then there were no wilde beasts to deuoure teare in peeces no euill constitutiō of the aier to distemper or infect no inordinate affections in a mans minde whereby he himselfe might be the cause of sickenes hurt or death to himselfe but all the creatures were so disposed as that they should euery way further and by no meanes impaire the good estate of man Lastly if it be granted that Adams body had no such strange temperature which coulde continue for euer no one qualitie getting the vpper hand ouer-any other neither any such immunity against violent deaths but that he might by ouersight forgetfulnesse or some humane infirmitie be ouertaken with hurt sicknesse age and death the which opinion is rather to be receaued yet he had this supernaturall priuiledge of immortalitie granted vnto him by the worde of God and confirmed by the tree of life the fruite whereof being taken and eaten had this vertue in it not by nature but by the miraculous and extraordinary worke of God to make man liue for euer by freeing him from all daungers hurts woundes sicknesse and age Likewise this happines was in regard of the soule of Adam exceeding greate he hauing not onely a mind illuminated with the true knowledge of God of all other thinges which did any way belong vnto him but also his wil affections free from al immoderate desires or greiuous passiōs which might any way molest or trouble him The which state of the soule as it is a part of mans holines in that it is agreeable to the will worde and image of God so in regarde of the incomparable pleasure and ioy arising of the true contemplation of God of a quiet conscience and orderly affections it containeth in it a great parte of mans felicity Likewise the whole person of man was adorned with this crowne of glory that he was a monarch here on earth hauing the Lordshippe and dominion of these inferior creaturs giuen vnto him So that to conclude this point the happinesse of man was very wonderfull in that he enioyed all good things whatsoeuer euen God himselfe with all the creatures This was the happinesse of mans first estate whereof this question may be asked whether it was appointed by God to continue for euer or else to be but an entrance to a greater happinesse in heauen whither some doe thinke that man should at length haue bene translated although without death yet not without some change of his earthly body But hereof we cannot say any thing haueing learned nothing in the worde of any other happinesse of this first estate then this which hath in some sort bene described and which although it may seeme to come much short of true happinesse and to be rather a terrestrial then a celestial yet in trueth it was perfect happines although not absolute because it was mutable for wheresoeuer God vouchsafeth to the creature the fruition of his presence there is full perfect happinesse whether it be in heauen or on the earth Sect. 2. Of the miserable state of man since the fall of Adam MAn by his sinne did separate himselfe from God lost the coniunction which he had with him both spiritual which is perfect holinesse and personall or local which is happinesse and was cast out of the presence of God and out of paradise in the which place being a terrestriall garden God did reueale himselfe and his glory to man after a speciall manner and so he loosing the fountaine of happinesse he did withall loose all the streames which flowed from thence belonging either to his body or soule his body which was before beautifull and maiesticall became deformed and contemptible being as the experience of all ages doth teach vs often many waies crooked ridiculous foul yea somtimes horribly monstrous and vgly For continuall health he hath infinite diseases infirmities sickenesses sores For his former felicitie he is subiect to as many daungers as there are thinges in the worlde there being almost nothing which may not become mortall vnto him by some meanes or other his immortalitie he hath chaunged with death often dying before he be borne to liue sometimes in the flower of his age if he liue many years yet al his life is nothing but misery yea euen death it selfe it being the beginning of eternall death Likewise in regard of his soule he is most miserable his vnderstanding which before was as cleare as is the sun at noone day is now ouershadowed and filled with palpable darkenesse grosse errours blockishe ignoraunce and an accusing conscience His will is become peruerse abhorring whatsoeuer is good cleauing to that which is euill His affections are raging in ordinate lusts and in briefe there is nothing in the whole nature of man but horrible confusion For the outward dignity of his person he is now cast out from the company of God of his holy angels who before were his familiar friends but nowe are armed with a sword against him Again he is not now Lord of the creatures for they do oftener tyrannise ouer him deuouring him tearing him in peeces thē perform any seruice vnto him vnlesse they be constrained Yea he is that by his own iudgment more base thē the earth therefore is often sold to perpetual slauery for a little gold siluer brasse or any baser mettall yea he setteth his whole mind bestoweth al his labour vpon them he prostrateth himselfe before the wedge of gold as before his God he loueth it as his life accounteth al his happines to consist in it Besides many miseries do happen in this life which might becounted a kind of happines if that they might haue an end with death but how can we look that that should be the end of it which is but the beginning of that vnspeakable misery which hath no end but shal cōtinue for euer For al the miseries of this life whatsoeuer death it selfe are but an entrāce to that eternal misery which is prepared for sinners The greatnes wherof cōsisteth in ◠things first in that intolerable griefe which is cōceiued by the lack of the cōtrary happines prepared for the faithfull in which respect it is called vtter darknes the lowest pit Secondly in the sustaining of those paines where with the wicked shal be tormēted in body soule the which are vsually compared to a burning fier or Furnace because there is no thing so fearefull to man as is fire which consumeth all thinges where of it can gette holde but in trueth there is no fire yea although it be augmented by infinite riuers of brimstone that burneth so hote is so vnquenchable as is the anger of God which in the day of wrath shall be powred foorth vpon the wicked Sect. 3. Of the renewed happinesse of man THe renewed happines of man is partly in
this life and partly or rather perfectly and wholly in the worlde to come for howsoeuer it may seeme an impossible thing to finde any felicitie in this vaine and transitorie worlde especially in the godly who of all men are most miserable yet God in his mercie vouchsafeth to his seruantes the beginning and as it were a taste of that endlesse ioy which is laide vp in store for them in heauen by the which they may be comforted and vphelde in the mids of those infinite miseries which accompany them whiles they abide in this world This happinesse is not outward and apparant to mens eyes but inward and spirituall for the bodies of Gods elect are as much subiect to sores sicknesses to death it selfe as are the bodies of the reprobate yea in their wiues children friends kinsfolke goods posterity and in all outward respects they are no lesse yea vsually much more miserable then the reprobate although if wee speake properly these outward euils doe not make them miserable but doe make for their good and eternall saluation and therefore wee are to seeke for this beginning of our happinesse in the soules of Gods children and chiefly in their mindes and vnderstandinges For if happinesse doe consist in seeing God and in beholding his glorie as Christ teacheth vs Math. 5. 8. Then wee are not destitute of a greate part of it euen in this life in the which we doe many waies see God although not so fully as wee shall doe heereafter 1. Cor. 13. 12. For heauen and earth euen all the creatures of God are full of the glorie of God Rom. 1. 20. The inuisible thinges of God to wit his Godhead and his power are seene since the creation of the world being considered in the creatures If by naturall men of whome the Apostle speaketh how much more by spirituall For howsoeuer carnal and worldly minded men beholding the glorious creatures of God are no more affected then are the brute beastes which neuer once lift vp their eies to heauen yet the godly doe heereof conceiue matter of great ioy Besides we see God daily in his actions in his iudgements powred on sinners in his mercies shewed towards the godly yea in his patience and goodnesse towardes all men But besides all this we haue yet another meanes of seeing God so farre excelling the former as the beholding of the kinges owne person is more ioyfull to his naturall subiectes then is the sight of his stately palaces For we haue the worde of God euen the doctrine of the Gospell wherein we see God in his mercy that is in his greatest glorie yea we see God in Christ his onely naturall sonne in whome the glorie of God shineth more clearely then in the heauen of heauens For hee is the expresse and liuely image of the Father the brightnesse of his glory and the engrauen forme of his person and thus we see God plainely as in a cleare cristall glasse with his face open or vncouered yea by this sight wee are transformed into the same image from glorie to glorie euen as from the spiritte of God 2. Cor. 3. 18. Thus all the faithfull beholding God in Christ are truely happie howsoeuer they doe not with their bodely eyes see the heauens open and the sonne of God standing at the right hande of the Father as Steuen did Act. 7. 56. To this felicitie of the minde is to be referred the peace of conscience the which being a continuall feast maketh a man happy and ioyfull in the middest of the greatest sorrowes and miseries And to be shorte in the rest answerable to this state of the minde is the will with the affections by the which he cleauing to God louing him aboue all earthly pleasures and delighting in him is replenished with vnspeakable ioy This is the happinesse whereof wee may be made partakers in this life the which eternall happinesse followeth so called because all the partes of it which are nowe to bee mentioned continue and endure for euer without any chaunge or alteration whatsoeuer It consisteth in these thinges First in immunitye or freedome from all daungers troubles miseries calamities crosses sorrow sinne wants imperfections and infirmities whatsoeuer can be named or imagined The body shal not be pinched with hunger thirst nakednesse or disgraced with any deformitie or wearied with labour the darknesse shal not shut vp our eyes and hinder them from seeing for there is continuall light health shal not be impaired by sicknesse or beauty and strength with age the bodie shall not be inflamed by choller or luste or distempered with surfitting and drunkennesse or yet preserued by the corruption of the carkasses of dead beastes It shall not be as it is now of so lumpish and heauy a mould that we cannot without wearinesse and trouble lift vppe our handes or eies to heauen but it shall be a spirituall body that is endued with such perfect strength beauty agilitie lightnesse impassibilitie soliditie and incorruption as if it were a spirite rather then a sensible substance and yet it shall be still a sensible substance endued with the same forme which now it hath but of farre diuerse qualities Likewise the minde being free from al ignorance errour and doubting shall see God clearely and in him all thinges there shalbe no peruersnesse of the will or any inordinate desires no such vncertaine freedome of will as might endanger our estate by drawing vs from God To be short we shall haue daily conuersation in the presence of God Who shall be all in all vnto vs we shall be glorious in bodie and soule euen as are the holy Angels yea euen as is Christ the sonne of God according to his humanitie although not in the same degree but we are not able to declare the particulars of this estate the which then shall be reuealed vnto vs and therefore we must conclude this matter with that saying of the Apostle 1. Cor. 2. 9. Neyther eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor the minde of man once conceiued or imagined those ioyes which God hath prepared for them that loue him Yet we haue a typicall description of this happinesse Reuel 21. CHAP. III. Sect. 1. Of the holinesse wherein man was created THus much of that happinesse wherein man was created the which was not absolute but conditionall for it was giuen to man with this condition That he should liue in perfect holinesse conforming himselfe to the will of God in all thinges in the performance whereof if hee did faile at any time he was forthwith to be wholly depriued of the said happy estate for euer Where we are not to imagine that God did deale hardly with man in imposing so straite a condition for he could not possibly haue done otherwise as we will easely confesse if we consider that happinesse is nothing else but the enioying of Gods presence and company into the which it is more impossible
which he did enioy whilst he liued in alleagance to his lorde so the case standeth with man when as by infidelitie he falleth from God For then he looseth all manner of blessings belonging either to his happinesse or to his holynesse yea it is impossible that a man shoulde either loue feare honor or obey God from whome he looketh for neither good nor euil and therefore infidelitie is to be accounted the roote of all euill Heb. 3. 12. Take heed brethren least that there be in any of you an euill heart of vnbeleefe to depart away from the liuing God Thus much in generall of infidelity the which as hath bene said of faith is of two sorts Legall and Euangelicall legall infidelitie is to distrust Gods promises propounding happinesse to the inherent holinesse of the creature as did the wicked Angels who were perswaded that they coulde not become happy by continuing in holynesse Likewise Euangelicall infidelitie is to distrust Gods promises propounding happinesse to man relying himselfe on the mercie of God in Christ as most of all the men in the worlde haue alwaies done do at this day and will do as long as the world endureth Sect. 3. Of the faith of the gospell vsually called iustifying fayth IT hath been declared that the renewed holynesse of a man regenerate hath two parts Subiection and Conformity The first kinde of renewed Subiection being opposed to infidelity is called as in the first state by the name of faith The nature and force whereof is to repaire that breach which infidelity hath made betwixt God and man and to ioyne man to God in due subiection as he was in his first creatioÌ„ so that it is as it were the haÌ„d whereby man being before separated from God doth lay holde on him by beleeuing his promises and by putting all his trust and affiaunce therein But what bond can be imagined so strong as to be able to knitte God and man being nowe polluted with originall and actuall sinne together in any manner of coniunction being far more conâ—â—ary repugnant the one to the other then 〈◊〉 fire to water or light to darknesse or any oâ—her thing in the world All which doe only in qualitie fight one against another but sinne is contrary to the very nature and essence of God and therefore although that affiance in God which was in Adam were renued in vs yet it woulde not serue to ioyne vs to God because we want that perfect holynesse without the which no faith can ioyne any creature to him So that before that faith can either ioyne vs to God or be any thing auailable for our saluation it is needefull that we shoulde haue perfect holynesse the which whosoeuer goeth about to effect in himselfe will finde it a thing altogether impossible and that in these respects First because man in the very moment of sinning doth make himselfe guilty of eternall death and so he being once deade cannot raise himselfe vp againe or make himselfe capable of holynesse muchlesse worke it fully and perfectly in himselfe Secondly if that this be attributed to the patience and longe suffering of God that man is not straight way as soone as he sinneth vtterly destroyed and so consumed to nought by the anger of God but that he doth still exist in nature and so consequently is not altogether vncapable oâ— holynesse Yet it is impossible for him either to shake off that originall sinne which cleaueth inseperably to his nature or yet to fulfill the lawe of God by actuall obedience both which are needfull for perfect holynesse Lastly if man coulde not onely doe away his sinne already committed but also restore himselfe to his first integritie yet this woulde not serue for his eternall saluation because he were as like to fall away againe from GOD as he was before So that before man can be ioyned againe to God in hapinesse he must do foure things whereof euery one is altogether impossible to be performed either by man himselfe or by any other creature First he must by sustayning eternall death satisfie the iustice of God for his sinne already committed the which if he doe as he must doe if God be iust that is if he be God howe can he euer liue who must dy for euer Secondly he must wholly change his own nature create in himselfe a newe minde harte will and euen a new man the which thing belongeth to God onely Thirdly he must performe absolute and perfect obedience to the lawe of God And lastly he must continew in the saide obedience for euer Howe then is there no meanes of saluation left for man can there no way of performing these impossibilities be inuented Let all the men in the worlde lay their heades together and consult of this weightie matter let them haue the wisdome of Salomon the counsell of Achitophel the naturall wit of Aristotle the learning of the greatest Philosophers the diuining spirits of the southsayres what can they all say to the first question howe will they make man to liue who must dy for euer they will confesse that death and life cannot be together and therefore they must come to this last refuge that man shall not die in his owne person but get some other to dy for him and so satisfie Gods iustice Well this is good paiment if he who dyeth for man be in nature and dignitie equiualent to him but where shall this mediatour be founde As touching man euerie one desireth to liue and abhorreth death yea no man will dy for a iust man much lesse for a sinner But yet perhaps some one wil find such a friend as will not refuse to dy eternally for him Will this serue the turne no truely except he haue moe liues then one because he must first dy for his owne sinne and what then is left to discharge other mens debts But we may fly to some saint or holyman to S. Peter S. Paule S. Mary whose righteousnesse is so great as that it wilbe a ransom both to doe a way their owne sinne and the sinne of others also But there is no merite or righteousnesse which can proceede from any of the sons of Adam no more then sweet water can flowe from a corrupt fountaine yea no righteousnesse of any saint whosoeuer will serue for himselfe or satisfie Gods iustice for his owne sinne but when he hath done all that he can he is an vnprofitable seruant and for any helpe he can haue by his own holynesse in the same state of eternall death wherein others are his greatest righteousnes comming in the name of merite being in the sight of God no better then a filthy and defiled clout So then there is no meanes of mans saluation in man Neither can the oblation of brute beastes serue the turn or stand in the place of a reasonable creature for sinne is not purged by the bloud of bulles and gotes Heb. 10. 4. neither will God accept a thousand
other partes of santification be wanting as the body may liue although it lacke the armes legges and other partes but if the heart be once wounded death is then hard at hand and therefore Sathan doth most of all and in the first place labour to ouerthrow the faith of the faithfull man desiring to strike through the hart at the first stroke that so as Abisai sayeth 1. Sam. 26. 8. he might saue the laboure of striking twise This Christ telleth Peter that sathan had desired to tempt him but he had praied for him that his faith whereat sathan woulde directly strike shoulde not faile The weapons wherwith he vseth to strike at faith are many and diuerse as namely these First the crosses and miseries of this present life which God layeth on his children for the triall of their faith 1 Pet. 1. 7. But they feeling them bitter and after a sorte intollerable to flesh and bloud labour by earnest and continuall prayer as also by all other meanes to be freede from them The which thinge when as they cannot bring to passe being suffered to languishe yea often to perishe outwardly in their troubles they straight way are moued by sathan to thinke that God hath forsaken them and that there is no helpe or good thing to be looked for at his handes This pollicie sathan himselfe doth bewray and confesse Iob. 1. 11 Doth Iob feare God for nought thou hast blessed him in all thinges but lay thy hand vpon him in outward crosses and thou shalt see that he will be so farre off from trusting in thee that hee will curse thee to thy face The temptation is then most forceable when as the faithfull in their greatest miseries are exasperated and as it were haue their teeth set on edge by the great prosperity of the wicked insomuch that they often repent themselues that they haue not chosen that course manner of life whereby they see them to flourish But it is to be withstood by considering that God doth chastice his children and purge them in the furnace of afflictions that so he might make glorious and heauenly vessels of them whereas the wicked are as sheepe fed fat against the day of slaughter that they are by this meanes made conformable to Christ their head that the greatest afflictions of this world are not to be compared to the eternall happines of the life to come that â—s it is Luke 16. 25. as the wicked in this life haue pleasure and the godly paine so in the world to come the godly shall be comforted and the other tormented And therefore they are to be vndoubtedly perswaded of the trueth of that which we reade Eccles. 8. 12. Tho the wicked man doe euill an hundred times and yet prolong his daies yet I know that in the ende it will be wel with them that feare God and with no other Againe the faith of the godly is often tempted by consideration had of the impossibilities of the doctrine of the gospell as of the resurrection of dead bodies For so by measuring the trueth of God by their owne shallowe reason they stagger at it and sometimes fall flat downe 2. Tim. 2. 18. Hymeneus and Philetus taught that the resurrection mentioned in the scripture was already past and so they did subuert the faith of many but for this we are to knowe that nothing is impossible to God The thirde temptation is the obscure secret and hidden manner of Gods working in these last ages wherein he hauing reuealed himselfe fullie in his sonne and in the gospell doth hide himselfe from the eyes euen of the faithfull in that he doth not appeare so in visions reuelations dreames the giftes of miracles in temporall punishmentes and blessings oâ— in any other sensible manner but suffereth all thinges to goe on and worke after their owne inclinations as namely tyrants to rage and oppresse his Church to persecute his people to erect idolatrie to deface his worship to blaspheme his name so as if he had cleane cast off the care of all things here in this world But this ought not to trouble vs for sensible apparitions blessings and actions were for the infancie of the Church which now is come to her ripe age and yet the actions of God are no lesse wonderful then before yea they are as manifest to spirituall eyes as euer they were to the carnall eyes of men The last weapon wherwith Sathan striketh at faith is ministred vnto him by the faithfull themselues to wit their manifould and grieuous sins especially those whereinto they fall againe and againe hauing often repented them wherof they cannot by any meanes get the vpper hand Here Sathan thinketh that he hath as much aduantage against the faithfull as he himselfe desireth For in the other temptations he did feight against the word of God the which now he seemeth to haue on his side for whereas the scripture doth euerie-where teach that all who are iustified are sanctified from a sinfull life and haue power giuen them by the spirite of GOD to resist and mortifie sinne especially great and hainous sins hereof he inferreth after this manner thou hast no such power or grace to resist sinne thou canst not for thy life abstaine from committing it but doest adde one fal to another one sin to another euen against thine owne conscience therefore thy faith is nothing but eyther meere hypocrisie and vnbeleefe or at the most it is but some light shadowe of faith which may be found in many reprobates This argument is harde to be answered and therefore it driueth many faithfull men to their wittes end and euen to despaire of themselues and of the loue and mercy of God which is a most fearefull thing killing all holinesse euen at the roote and therefore to be auoyded by all meanes especially by learning if we be as yet ignorant how to answere this argument thus cunningly compacted by Sathan The best answere that can be made is that he who is thus tempted laboure by fasting prayer continuall reading meditating and hearing of the word of God by auoyding all occasions of sinne and diligent waying the nature and manifolde euils ensuing of it to purge himselfe of the sinne wherewith Sathan doth so buffet him and so to wring his weapon by force out of his hand But if this cannot be brought to passe as often the faithfull cannot get the maistery ouer their sinnes and the corrupt desires of the flesh then we must answere that a true and sauing faith may be at some time without some fruite as the trees are in the winter season as appeareth manifestly by the examples of diuerse faithfull men as namely in Dauid that notable man who did not onely commit adultery which is a most grieuous sinne the harme whereof cannot by any meanes be amended yea and added murther to it a more horrible sinne but also as may be probablie gathered seemeth to haue continued