that is stronger then hee And indeed this is the very cause of our ouer comming if we beleeue S. Iohn Because 1 Ioh. 4. â—… hee that is in vs is greater then hee that is in the world Therefore Gods constant loue is still to bee lookt vnto as the only cause of our safetie which keepes our wills by grace against these ouer-mightie enemies and wretched were wee if our wills were put to keepe themselues by grace For then if we were but as Adam these principalities and powers would prevaile with vs as with Adam especially having a body of sinne about vs which hee had not But the only cause of our standing against these principalities vnder whom Adam fell is the constant loue and purpose of God By that as S. Paul saith We are more then 2 Cor. 1. 21. conquerours and thence it is that Principalities and Powers cannot separate vs from the loue of God And as by this constant loue of God we are constantly and safely preserued from separation and Apostasie so let our constant saftie ever acknowledge this constant loue and purpose of God to bee the cause of it But both this safetie and the cause of this safetie the teachers of Apostasie doe denie so robbing God of the glory of mans stabilitie and robbing man of the safetie and stabilitie which hee hath from God Finally that yet wee may know our selues to be fully and finally safe the blessed Apostle is not contented to speake of safetie from separation and Apostacie onely in the present time but he denies Apostacie beth by future things and in the future time Nor things present nor things to come c. shall bee able to separate vs from the loue of God Behold a finall and full perseuerance in safetie for things present cannot separate vs and things to come shall not be able to separate vs yea no other creature that is nothing can separate vs and therefore not the Arminians A third way by which our Church in this Article doth teach Certaintie of Saluation is this shee saith that the consideration of Election doth establish in the Saints a Faith of their saluation to bee enioyed through Christ. For the Saint finding in himselfe the mortification and vivification of the Spirit hence ascendeth vp to the knowledge view and consideration of his Election and from this constant Election hath a stable and sure Faith that hee shall enioy eternall saluation in Christ. Now from hence plainly issueth this argument That saluation is certaine whereof there is an established Faith But there is an established Faith of the Saluation of of the Saints Therefore the Saluation of the Saints is certaine The first proposition cleareth it selfe by its owne light For there is not an established Faith of vncertaine and fallible things but of certaine Yea if there were no other word but the word of Faith this Faith presumeth and pâ—…esupposeth a certaine and infallible truth for the obiect of it and consequently in this place a certaine and infallible saluation of the Saints The second proposition is raysed plainly out of the words of the Article For the consideration of Election is there said vpon the view of Sanctification to establish a Faith of Saluation to be enjoyed Wherefore I may conclude in the words of the ninth Article There is no condemnation to them that beleeue and are baptized Which the Article of Ireland thus resembleth Howsoeuer for Christs sake there be no condemnation Num. 34. to such as are regenerate and doe beleeue The first of which is a position of our Sauiour They that beleeue and be baptized shall be saued They Mark 16. 16. are not onely now in the state of Saluation but they shall hereafter be saued for hee that beleeueth shall not Ioh. 5. 24. see condemnation And the other resteth on the saying of Saint Paul who saith that to the Saints there is no condemnation For the Law of the Spirit of life which Rom. 3. is in Christ Iesus freeth a Saint from the law of sinne and death Now if a Saint bee free from death who can make him a bondslaue of death This were flatly to affirme that which the Apostle denyes both here and else-where Wee haue not receiued the spirit of bondage to Rom. 8. 15. feare againe but the spirit of Adoption by which wee cry Abba Father And if a sonne then no more a seruant Behold Saint Paul saith wee haue not receiued the spirit Psal. 46. 7. to feare againe who then dares to put vpon the Saints a spirit of bondage to feare againe and Saint Paul saith by the Spirit of God If a sonne then no more a seruant And how dares flesh and blood to say if a sonne yet againe a seruant But let vs stand fast in the libertie wherewith Christ hath made vs free neither let vs againe be intangled with the yoke of bondage Let vs say with Saint Paul once a sonne and no more a seruant once a sonne and a sonne for euer And indeed Christ himselfe saith That a sonne abides in the house Ioh. 9. 35. for euer onely let vs remember that therefore we are deliuered from this feare and house of bondage That Luk. 1. 74. being deliuered from our enemies wee might serue God without feare In holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the dayes of our liues Our safety is giuen vs mainly 1 Ioh. 3. 3. for an incouragement to holinesse For hee that hath this hope purgeth himselfe as God is pure And now that it may appeare that I haue not wrested a priuate sense out of these publike Articles let vs see whether the same truth hath not beene publikly taught by others There is a worke formerly alledged which hath this Title The Faith Doctrine and Religion professed and protested in the Realme of England and Dominions of the same expressed in thirtie nine Articles the said Articles analysed into propositions c. This worke was made by a Chaplaine of Doctor Bancroft late Archbishop of Canterbury and to his Grace Dedicated But it is well knowne Arch-bishop Bancroft did not fauour any Puritanicall or Schismaticall Doctrine neither is it to be thought that his Chaplaine would or durst offer any such vnto him Neither is it to be beleeued that he would be so shamelesse as to say to the same Arch-bishop in his Dedicatorie Epistle That these Propositions shee that is the Church of England publikely maintaineth if there had beene any Puritanicall Doctrine maintained in them Now this Writer hauing raysed a Proposition vpon these words of the seuenteenth Article constantly decreed he inferreth Wander then doe they from the truth which thinke That the Regenerate may fall from the Grace of God may destroy the Temple of God and be broken off from the 〈◊〉 Christ Iesus The same Doctrine is proued by other Articles more plainely and punctually vnfolding what was in the former Articles truly and really contained though not so manifoldly
dominion in vs. If then we doe pray that the Kingdome may come vpon vs by the force of these words wee doe begge Let me be freed from corruption let me be deliuered from death let me bee loosed from the bands of sinne that death reigne no longer ouer me that the tyrannie of sinne and wickednesse be no longer effectuall against vs. Libertatem suique potestatem ac propriam voluntatè c. Id. ib. Man changed the freedome power of himselfe and his own Will with the heauy and noysome slauery of sinne Qâ—… Christum fâ—…quitur c. Hee that followeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ if he be asked why hee would be a Christian he may answer because it was my Will Which when he saith he doth not denie that it was Gods Will also For the Will of man is prepared of God it is Gods grace which causeth that God is worshipped of a Saint Quando dicit Nemo potest venire me c. When he Hierome adr Pelag. 3. saith No man can come vnto mee he breaketh the proud freedome of Will which if it would goe vnto Christ vnlesse that bee done which followeth Except my heauenly Father draw him it shall will in vaine and striue in vaine And this is also to be noted That he which is drawne doth not runne of his owne accord but is brought either drawing backe and slowe or vnwilling Libero arbitrio malè vtens homo c. Man abusing Augustine Encher ad Laurent cap. 30. Free-will lost both it and himselfe For as hee that kills himselfe kills himselfe by life yet by killing himselfe comes not to liue neither can raise himselfe vp againe when hee hath killed himselfe so likewise when by Free-will sinne was committed sinne ouercomming Free-will it selfe was lost for of whom a man is ouercome to him hee is in bondage This is verily the sentence of the Apostle Peter which being true what can be the liberty of a bond-slaue but onely a delight in sinning Hee serueth God freely who willingly doth the will of his Lord. And by the same reason hee is free vnto sinne that is the seruant of sinne Wherefore he shall not be free vnto Righteousnesse except being freed from sinne hee begin to be the seruant of Righteousnesse Et si homines 〈◊〉 bona qâ—…pertinem c. Although Idem de Prâ—…dest Sanctâ—… cap. 10. men doe those good things which belong to the worship of God it is Gods doing that they doe what he commanded Therefore these things are commanded to vs and yet are shewed to be the gifts of God that it may be vnderstood that they are our workes yet God worketh that we doe worke them Tantum quippe Spiriâ—… Sancto accenditur voluntas c. Their will is so much kindled with the Holy Ghost Ideâ—…do correp gra cap. 12. that therefore they are able to worke because they will and therefore they will because God worketh that they will Plenissimê declaratur omnia c. It is most fully declared Prosper de voc gent. lib. 1. cap. 9. that all things which pertaine to the obtaining of life etenall without Gods grace can neither bee begun increased or perfected and any election that boasteth of Free-will that sentence of the Apostle doth most invincibly withstand when he saith who hath discerned thee Si quis vt à peccato purgemur c. If any man doâ—… 〈◊〉 Councell cap. 4. affirme that our Will doth seeke God that wee may be purged from sinne and doth not confesse that by the infusion of the Holy Ghost and his working in vs it is wrought that wee should Will to bee purged he resisteth the Holy Ghost saying by Salomon The Will is prepared of the Lord and he resisteth the Apostles wholesome teaching It is God that worketh in vs both to Will and to doe of his good pleasure Quoties bona aginâ—…s Deâ—…s in nobis c. As often as Ibid 9. we doe any good workes God in vs and with vs worketh that we worke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peccati nunc sâ—…rvus Iustitiâ—… c. Yee were before the seruants of sinne now the seruants 〈◊〉 Scem 1 14. of righteousnesse c Sinne before falsly said that thou wast a free-man when it held thee a wretched bond-man But Grace noâ—… calleth thee a seruant whom truly to make free shee hath adopted to bee a sonne of God Quid enim aliud potuit c. What can bee borne of Petrus Diaconus de Incar gra cap. 6. a seruant but a seruant For Adam did not beget sons when he was a free-man but when hee was a seruant of sinne Therefore as euery man is of him so euery man is by him the seruant of sinne Regnante peccato habet liberum arbitrium sed liberum Fulgentius de Incar de gra cap. 19. fine Deo c. When sinne raigneth man hath Free-will but free without God and therefore miserably and slauishly free because not made free by the free gift of Gods Mercie This the Apostle doth euidently insinuate saying When yee were the seruants of sinne yee were free vnto Righteousnesse Therefore hee cannot be the seruant of Righteousnesse which is free vnto Righteousnesse because as long as hee is the seruant of sinne he is not found fit to serue any thing else but sinne From this slauery of sinne no man is made free but he that is freed by the Grace of Christ our deliuerer that so being freed from sinne he may become the seruant of God Ipso fatit vt faciamus c. God worketh that wee Id. de praedest ad Meximum lib. 1. worke by whose working in vs all the good that wee doe is wrought Of whom it is said to the Hebrews Let him make you perfect in euery good worke working in you that which is pleasing in his sight Ad indignam mente veniens Deus c. God comming to an vnworthy soule makes her worthy by comming Greg. Mag. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… cap. 22. to her and worketh in her those workes which hee may reward though hee found NOTHING in her but that which he might punish Profectus hominis Dei dâ—…numest c. The profiting Isidore Hispal Sent. lib. 2. cap 5. of man is the gift of God Neither can any man bee amended of himselfe but of the Lord. For man hath not any thing of his owne that is good whose way is not his owne as the Prophet witnesseth I know Lord that the way of man is not his owne Aguntur Spiritu Dei vt ipsi c. Men are actuated Anselme in Rom. 8. by the Spirit of God that they may act that which is to bee done and when they haue done it they may giue thankes to Him by whom they were actuated For the Spirit of God which actuateth them is both their leader and helper in their actions Verba non sunt mea sed Apostoli c. They are not
others cannot bee saned in case of forgetfulnesse by generall repentance It is the saying of Doctor Francis White The promise Reply to Fisher. of Remission of sinns is conditionall Esay 1. 16. 17. c. and the same becmmeth not absolute vntill the condition be fulfilled either actuall or in desire and preparation of the mind Now if that desire and preparation of the mind to Repentance will serue surely I thinke there is no child of God that hath not had a full desire and purpose to repent of all his particular sinnes and especially the great ones Yea we find in them by experience a preparation and readines of mind to actuall Repentance Dauid hauing his sinne plainly discouered to him presently falls to Repentance and is presenly released of his sinne And Hezechiah being convinced 2. Sam. 12. 13. 2. King 20. 19. of his sin in prideâ—… presently accepteth the chastisment of his sinne and his humbling immediatly followeth in the Text. And Peter when he had denyed Luke 22. 61. Christ as soone as Christ looked vpon him he went out and wept bitterly Whence it appeareth that the seede of Repentance in these great falls of the Saints is not dead but sleepeth it lyes in the earth during this winter of grace being ready to bud as soone as the frost of Tentation is dissolved and the Sunne of Righteousnesse warmeth it with a new accesse and increase of beames and heate And here I thinke it is worth the obseruing that there are certaine sins that are certainly knowne to be sins yet while the strength of tentation is vpon the Saints they partake very much of the concealement of secret sins For the same lust and corruption that preuaileth vpon the Will of a Saint to do so great a sinne against which his Will was determinately bent and resolued casteth also very commonly a mist on the vnderstanding of the same Saints that the thing formerly appearing out of measure sinfull now doth not looke like a sinne for the flesh hauing darkened the vnderstanding for a season that appeares not in the shape and odiousnesse of sinne to the flesh which most plainly and euidently appeares sinfull being seene by the spirit And therefore a Saint after a great sinne when he comes truely to discerne it is like a man awaked awaked I say out of a slumber of the flesh wherein his eyes were closed and hee saw not sinne to bee sinne and awaked into the light and sight of the Spirit by which alone a man spiritually discerneth So Dauid had neede of a plaine similitude to conuince him of a sinne that was in it selfe plaine enough but no doubt by lust so couered and hid from appearing in the true shape of sinne that before this discouery which awaked the Spirit in him he had not the full and true sight of the odious and vgly face of his sins Briefly Vzzah who dyed in his sinne was saved or damned I thinke no man will be so cruell as to say he was damned wee see he had a good affection to the Arke of God and no doubt a good loue to God for whose sake he loued the Arke but his good loue was ill managed the wrath of God came vpon him because hee serued that God in an ill manner whom no doubt he loued with a good zeale and affection Now if Vzzah was saued by this Doctrine he must actually repent of this sinne which was so mortall to him But first wee reade of no such actuall Repentance and next the suddennesse of the stroake may seeme to preuent it But on the other side if he did actually repent then may any Saint else be thought actually to repent and so this question is againe needelesse as before was proued to be absurd And surely he which gaue Iezabel that seduâ—…d the seruants of God a space to repent may be thought to be at least as gracious to the spouse of Christ his Saints and members euen to giue them this space to repent to whom wee know he hath giuen the grace to repent If they doe now reply are Saints immortall having sinned I answer by asking againe Was Iezabell immortall when God gaue her lpace to repent Besids no death can prevent Gods mercy God knowes the time of his Saints and if Sparrowes fall not to the ground without Gods prouidence much lesse doe Saints God hath the time of Saints in his hand and the same God hath also Grace in his hand and therefore nothing can hinder him but that he may prevent the time which he hath in one hand with the grace which he hath in an other Yea as he is the Lord both of life and grace so is he of tentations Therefore as hee can command time to stay and grace to hasten so also can he command tentations to take what time he pleaseth and can make them to keepe what distance he will to the last time of the Saints Yet I may adde further and I thinke that Arminians can hardly disproue it If a Saint haue in him the grace of Repentance which would bring forth the Act of Repentance if it had time it were somwhat strange that a Saint should be damned not for want of grace but only for want of time Now the remaining grace of Repentance after the fall of Saints apeares before in Dauid Hezekiah and Peter who readily repented vpon their summons And even Bertius himselfe confesseth that neither Dauid nor Peter in their falls did wholly loose the Holy Ghost Thirdly this question is grounded on the Popish distinction of sins mortall and veniall A distinction which Doctor Francis White in his Orthodoxe hath with sound reasons and allegations mightily battred There it is said by him That concupisence is as verily sinne as Adultery And that there is a plaine Commandement against it now the breach of any Commandement especially the body of it must needes be mortall So when a man couets his neighbours wife yeahis neighbours Oxe hee hath mortally sinned Herevpon appeares a diuers fault and mischiefe of this question or obiection First a man is in perpetuall feare torment because such lusts do so often arise in him Secondly this obiection hath but onely vanity or nothinges in it For it is an argument raised out of nothing and nothing in the hands of the creature will make nothing The distinction of sins into veniall and mortall is nothing for euery sinne is mortall Death runs along with the whole breach of the Commandements Cursed is hee that continueth not in all things which Deut. 27. 26. are written in the booke of the Law to do them Now if the curse and wrath of God bee annexed to the breach of any part of the Law surely the breach of any part of the Law makes a man subiect to wrath consequently Rom. 8. 23. to death For the wages of sinne euen of all sinne without exception is death Now if all sinne be mortall and the mortalnesse
of sin be the reason of the incompatibility of grace and saluation then euery sinne and breach of the Law is incompatible with grace and so a Saint may fall from the state of Grace many times in a day and many times in a day he had neede to be againe regenerated But on the other side if they will allow Grace to stand with mortall sinne in the breach of one Commandement as the tenth they must bee forced to allow it likewise in the breach of another at least if they will allow Grace to be compatible with the mortall breach of one halfe of a Commandement they may be inforced to allow it in the breach of the other halfe For mortalnesse of sinne being the cause of incompatiblenesse with Grace this mortall sinne running all along through the whole breach of the Commandement the effect of incompatibility must needes runne along with it throughout the whole breach of the Commandement Or else as Grace may stand with the breach of one halfe of the Commandement so may it stand with the breach of the other halfe except men will stint the Grace of God and say it cannot reach home to ouercome the whole breach of a Commandement especially one of the second Table as that of Adultery which is vsually reckoned one of their mortall sins Yea it were fit that these â—…inters of Gods Grace should giue vs a Table of all the breaches of euery Commandement and then put downe their finger iust on the place where the breaches leaue to be veniall begin to be mortall This seemes very necesary for the full discerning of a matter of so great consequence and concernment as falling from the state of grace for without this knowledg a man may fall from the state of Grace by some sin which he knowes not to be mortall and then forgeting it or neglecting it there is an end of him he must be damned for euer But to make such a Table by Scripture is altogether impossible and without Scripture it is vaine and friuolous How much better were it to say with the Scripture That in the Iustice of God sin life are incompatible euen any sin with life eternall But by the Grace of God sin and life are not incompatible for God in his Saints leaues euen now a remnant of the body of sin Rom. 7. 8. that often leades them captiue to the Law of sin and yet at the same time there is the Spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus freeing them from an absolute reigne of sin death There is a remainder of the old Adam a seede of the new Adam and the motions yea single acts of the old remainder doe not kill the whole immortall seede of the new Adam As one action doth 2. Pet. 1. Pet. not make a habit so one action doth not destroy a habit especially these infused habits which are grounded in a godly nature and an incorruptible seede But that I may shew them the cause of their mistaking which is the way to remidy it I giue them to vnderstand that their error come from hence because they do not weigh these things in the Balances of the Sanctuary They do not weigh spirituall things with the weights of the Spirit For it in these vpright Balances they did weigh sinne and grace together they should finde that in the old man there being buds and leaues and fruits of sinne sinfull thoughts words and actions and the like in the new man the buds and leaues and fruits of sinne cannot ouer weigh more then the buds and leaues and fruites of grace but it is a reigne and whole body of sinne that must counter poyse and equall a reigne and body of grace More plainly thus one particular sinne may preuent and cut off for the time some act of grace which should haue preuented it but one act of sinne doth not cut of and expell the whole new man and body of grace The whole seede and roote of Grace is not digged vp but by a whole body and reigne of sinne and indeede this whole reigne of sinne is absolutely a sinne which the Regenerate cannot commit There are diuers places that confirme this in the Scripture yea diuers places in S t. Iohns first Epistle I take notice of one Whosoeuer is borne of God doth not comit sinne for his seede remaineth 1. Ioh. 3. 9. 1 Ioh. 5. 4. 1â—… in him and he cannot sinne because his seede remaineth in him A regenerate man wee know can sinne actually but he cannot sinne in the full seruice of sinne and euen our Sauiour himselfe interpreteth the committing of sinne for the seruice of sinne Whosoeuer committeth Ioh. 8. 34. sinne is the seruant of sinne But this seruice of sin and the seede of God are incompatible and therefore the seede of God still remaining in the Regenerate which the Apostle affirmeth this raigne of sinne cannot stand in them with it So are the Regenerate still safe while single actuall sinnnes do not destroy the whole seede of Grace but onely a whole seruice of sin from which the Regenerate are preserued by the seed of God that remainetâ—… in them Briefly a remaining seede is neuer lost neither by actuall sinnes which are committed which do not ouer weigh and preuaile against it not by a body of sinne which the seed of God remaining for ever excludeth And hereupon in the second place these men may also plainly perceiue their error in saying that a Saint by some actuall sinne is in the whole state of damnation For the seede of God remaining in the Regenerate hee cannot be wholly in the state of wrath and damnation for there is something in him with which God will not be angry euen the remaining seede of God But you will aske me perchance Is not God angry with sinne Yes and very angry with a very great sinne but yet his whole wrath doth not arise when there is a seede of Grace that abaites the wholenesse of his wrath Therefore let vs againe set vp the balances of the Sanctuary and as before wee laid the whole seed of Grace in one balance against one single sinne in the other balance so now let vs lay the seede of Grace together with some single sinne in one balance and the whole or full wrath of God in the other And let vs withall know that our mercifull Father looketh vpon these balances through his beloued Sonne Christ Iesus and then wee shall soone find that single sinnes ioyned with a seede of Grace will not draw moue and counter weigh a whole and intire wrath God beholding a Sonne of God though with some sinne through that first Sonne in whome he is well pleased doth not suffer his whole displeasure to arise vpon him There are dropâ—… of wrath as Hierome Hier. in Ezech. liâ—… 1. cap. â—… note and there is a not wrath Psal 6. And there is a whoâ—…e displeasure Ps 78. 38. Now these drops of
wrath may be vpon lesser sinnes yea a hot wrath may be vpon a Saint â—…or greater 〈◊〉 but a whole displeasure is not vpon him except he had a whoâ—…e reigne of sinne and from that as I shewed before a Saint is preserued For there is still a seede of Grace remaining and with that seede God cannot be angry yea he still loueth it and where this loue remaines there the wholenesse of wrath is abated so much as is the measure of this remaining loue Neither is this without the word of God For God himselfe when he hath said of a Saint I will be his Father and he shall 2. Sam. 7. 14. be my sonne he saith also If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rods of men but my mercy shall not depart away from him as I tooke it from Saul God when he was angry with Iehosaphat Hee told him by the Prophet Shouldst thou helpe the vngodly c. Therefore is wrath vpon thee from the Lord. Yet withall God forgat 2. Chron. 19. â—… not the seede of Grace in his heart Neuerthelesse there are good things found in thee thou hast prepared thy heart to seeke the Lord. So though there be a measure of wrath and God in measure contend with these branches Esay 27. 8. of sinne yet the roote of grace remaining Grace also remaineth As long as the seede of God remaineth so long vnion with God remaineth and as long as vnion with God remaineth so long a man is in the state of grace and cannot be wholly in the state of displeasure But as millions of sinnes lying vpon the Sonne of God brought with them such a heauy displeasure of God that in regard of the anguish and plague of it to which he was deliuered vp he cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee and yet as concerning vnion God had not forsaken him so also in the sonnes of God vnited to this Sonne though for some single sinnes a great wrath may arise and God in regard of outward feeling may seeme to forsake them yet that vnion still remaineth and whom God hath thus knit together no man can put asunder In Christ that became sinne for vs all the sinnes of the Saints and vnion with God were not incompatible wherefore sinnes and vnion with God are not incompatible And though this vnion was Hypostaticall and our a lower vnion yet from that Hypostaticall vnion our vnion is deriued and that vnion safegards and preserueth the vnion deriued from it His vnion is the Rocke on which our vnion being built that Rocke preserueth the Church vnited vnto it The strength of Christs vnion is not the weaknesse Math. 16. 18. Math. 7. 25. Ioh. 14. 19. Ioh. 17. â—…0 c. â—… Pet. 2. 5. 6. 7. but the strength of our vnion and in his safe vnion our vnion is safe against the gates of Hell And this is the very point that accuseth and conuinceth their horrible blasphemy that say wee are no safer by vnion with Christ who was God and man then by generation from Adam who was but a man that had not vnion with God But perchance some will obiect this is a dangerous doctrine to be taught That Saints cannot fall from the State of Grace And why Because men will presume But let the obiectors remember that the question is whether it be true or vntrue not whether there may be ill vses made of it For if it be true then this is iust Gardiners argument against whole relying on the merits of Christ because the people would breake out at this gappe and leaue buying of heaven with their owne merits So might wee argue that the Grace of God may not be taught because some turne it into wantonnes noâ—… men send their sonnes to the Vniversity because knowledge puffeth vp But let not Gods truth be muzled vp with carnall policy especially let not truth bee denyed to bee truth because flesh and blood makes ill vses of a spirituall truth But secondly I deny that this doctrne is dangerous to breede carelesnesse in obedience yea it is a spurre and encouragement vnto obedience For if wee consider how it is deliuered and to whome it is deliuered and with what cautions and conditions it is to be delivered it will be found to be a doctrine most comfortable and most advantagable vnto holinesse The vsuall manner of delivering it is by the way of incouragement vnto obedience Euen the whole Law is inforced vpon this ground I am the Lord that hath delivered thee from the house of bondage thou shalt haue no other Gods but me c. which agrees iust with the song of Zacharie That wee being deliuered from our enemyes might serue God without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse c. In the next place we may consider that this Doctrine only appertaineth to the Regenerate To them only it can be so deliuered that it may bee received Now the Regenerate haue in them a godly nature a spirit of loue and the loue of God being shewed and sealed to them the spirit of loue in them is enflamed to a more seruent loue of God And the more a man loues God the more will hee keepe his Commandements So that it is most true which S. Iohn speakes Hee that hath this hope purgeth himselfe as God is pure But the cleane contrary is said by these men He that hath this hope defileth himselfe 〈◊〉 the 1. Ioh. 3. 3. Deuill is filthy In the last place let vs take notice what cautions conditions are annexed vnto this Doctrine God knoweth our frame and he seeth that by nature wee are nothing but flesh Ioh 3. 6. And even after Regeneration there is a great remainder of the flesh even in the Regenerate Now this flesh is apt to be puffed vp not vpon this onely but vpon any excellencie of the Spirit knowledge Revelation yea vpon the grace of God yea vpon humilitie it selfe Therefore God hath certaine scourges for his childreÌ„ to beate downe this flesh from presuming and exalting it selfe aboue measure Whom the Lord loueth he chasteneth and hee Heb. 13. â—… scourgeth every sonne whom hee receiueth Hee hath scourges of diverse sortes he scourges them in their estates he scourges them in their bodies he scourgeth them in their mind yea in their soules themselues He scourgeth them by men hee scourgeth them by Devils he scourges them by good Angels he scourgeth them by his owne hand even by hiding his face by withdrawing his comforts by sending terrours into their soules so that no scourge almost is wanting but only Hell yea their is not wanting a kind of temporall Hell but only a Hell eternall Dauid is scourged with the death of the sonne of his sinne with the rebellion of another sonne with the rayling of Shimâ—…i with an exclusion from the Royall Citie So that hee wept as he went vp and had his head couered and he went â—…refoote he was called A bloody
men must bee continually in seruile feare and to this very end they abusiuely alledge Bee not high minded but feare and Worke out your saluation with feare and trembling In Scriptura sacra aliquando c. In the holy Scripture Id. in Iob. lib. 16. cap. 2. sometimes the gift of the Holy ghost is called an Earnest because thereby our soule is strengthned vnto the Certainty of inward hope Well therefore it is said by Paul Who hath giuen vs the Earnest of his Spirit For to this end haue wee receiued this Earnest that wee may hold a Certainty of that promise which is made vnto vs. Mandatum Dei si timore fit poenoe c. If the commandement Anselme in Rom. 8. of God be done by the feare of punishment and not by the loue of righteousnesse it is slauishly done and therefore not done For that fruite is not good which doth not proceede from the roote of loue c. Wee haue receiued the Spirit of Adoption whereby wee call God our Father For the veryspirit of God himselfe giueth witnesse to our spirit that is hee makes our spirit to know and vnderstand that wee are the sonnes of God Habes homo huius arcani Indiceâ—… spiritum c. O man Bernard Ep. 107 thou hast the iustifiing Spirit for a Teacher of this secret in the same witnessing to thy spirit that thou also art the Sonne of God Take knowledge of the counsell of God in thy Iustification c. For the present Iustification of thee is both a reuelation of Gods counsell and a certaine preparation vnto future glory Aliquis non potest c. A man cannot haue that friendship Aquinus 1. 2. quest 65. art 5. with God which is called Charity except hee haue a Faith by Which he beleeueth that there is such a Society and Familiarity of Man with God and do hope that himselfe pertaines to this Society Now how certaine and infallible this hope is let himselfe also speake Hope goeth Id. 2. secudae q. 18. art 4. on to her end by way of Certainty as partaking Certainty from Faith which is in the knowing Faculty Bradwarden proues Perseuerance to be a free gift of God unto man and therefore not of man to himselfe by Gods Bradwarden de de causa Dei lib. 2. cap. 14. Grace which first position is the very ground of infallible Perseuerance and the latter of falling away and hee inferres Propter haec huiusmodique moâ—…iua c. For these and the like motiues it seemes more probable to mee and more agreeable to reason and Catholicke Doctrine that Perseuerance is not giuen to merits but is freely giuen of God according to his free Grace free Praedestination and free Purpose as the first working grace that iustifieth a sinner Non peccat videlicet ad mortem c. Hee doth not sinne Fâ—…rus in 1. Ioa. 5 vnto death but this hee hath not of himselfl but from this that hee is regenerated into a Sonne of God by Faith and Baptisme for this regeneration doth preserue him For by Faith hee is made the Sonne of God by Faith he is clensed from sinne by Faith hee is preserued in the obtained righteousnesse by Faith hee ouercomes the world the flesh and the Deuill and by Faith hee riseth againe after falling and therefore Satan cannot touch him Hee may indeede dare to tempt the godly So likewise hee durst to tempt Christ Yea sometimes hee driues iust men vnto a fall as wee see Dauid and Peter But FINALLY as in Christ hee could haue nothing so neither can hee preuaile ouer the Saints For none can take Christs sheepe out of his handes Wherefore going to his Passion hee recommended all those that beleeued in him vnto his Father A heartie desire for the conversion of those that hold the finall a version and falling of the Saints AS themselues hold that they may depart from fundamentall Truths vnto fundamentall Errours so I wish that they may also depart from fundamentall errors whereof this seemes to be one That Christ Iesus the Sonne of God is not that Rocke which preserueth the Church that is built on him that the gates of Hell cannot praeuaile against Her THE GROVNDS OF ARMINIANIS ME Naturall and Politicke NAture is a ground of Arminianisme but it is corrupted Nature euen that Nature by which wee are the children of wrath Neither is Nature the fountaine Eph 2 and spring of it by a large common way as the Gal. 5. 20. flesh is generally the mother of haeresies but by a more peculiar inward and deepe generation There are two euills that by mans wretched fall are deepely grounded and intermingled with the very principles and rootes of man and as farre as man is man so farr and so deepe their venome and infection doth enter The one is Prede and evill that by the fall hath so throughly soked and pierced into the foundations of man that man naturally desires to stand by himselfe and to bee a selfe-vpholder which is no other then that miserable perferment which the Divell at the beginning promised to mankind in their first parents That they should bee as Gods For it is God onely Exod. 3. 14. whose Name is I am it is God onely that is a selfevpholder and standeth of himselfe and it is by the stabilitie of God alone that all other things are established from whose establishment as much as the wills of the Creatures are freed so much they are in danger Yea this substantiue and selfevpholding estate is to corrupted Nature a very plausible and desirable thing and man exceedingly desires with the prodigall sonne to haue his portion put by his Father into his one hands euen to haue Gods grace deliuered over to the keeping of Mans Freewill But the miserable consequence of this in that prodigall sonne plainely appeared when hee had gathered all Hee went into a Luk. 15. 13. farre countrey and there wasted all his substance with riotous living Mans will will not keepe the grace of God but will forfite and spend it as Adam our common Father did at the beginning neither may it be hoped that the sonne with a great portion of corruption should stand in that state of fredome wherein his Father newly comming from the hands of God his maker would fall Therefore it is the true safety of mans will to bee held by God rather then to be left free to hold God to bee established by grace rather then to establish grace in it selfe to bee apprehended by God rather then to bee left free whether it will apprehend God or no. Surely the Diuell is as strong as euer if not more strong by being more cunning and man being lesse strong because more corrupt his fall cannot bee but more certaine Therefore if the Diuell and his spirituall wickednesses powers Eph. 6. 19. and principalities must bee resisted and ouercome wee haue need of the whole armour of God yea wee