the soule do not still survive expecting to be reunited to the body S. Paul can speak here of no other baptisme which can profit the dead but the baptisme of pennance for so S. Marke and so S. Luke speaks And certain it is that S. Paul takes his argument from that which with profit to the dead can be performed for them Otherwise when he presseth so hotty those words To what end are they baptized for them one might easily answer to no end True then it is that to a very good end we undertake this painfull Baptisme of Pennance for the dead so taking upon us part of theyr fiery Baptisme in Purgatory This is the language of Holy Fathers expounding Scripture as Bellarmin sheweth l. 1. de Purgatorio cap. 4. out of S. Hierome S. Basil and Bede all expounding those words He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire Matth. 3. That is say they with the Holy Ghost shall he baptize in this world and with fire in the world to come To the same effect he cites S. Gregory Naz. calling Purgatory fire the last Baptisme 17. The second text is 1. Io. 5.16 If any man see his Brother to sin a sin not to death let him aske and life shall be given for them that sin not to death There is a sin to death committed by irrepentent sinners I do not say that he shall pray for it And so we never pray for those whom we know to dy unrepentant This is the true sense of this place and hence it is clear that there be sins to death and sins not to death The meaning is not that there be sins mortall and sins veniall neither according to our interpreters or according to yours who deny all veniall sins As for us we all hold prayer lawfully and fruitfully made for any sin whatsoever during the life of the sinner Wherefore a sin to death is to leave faith working by Charity even to death As S. Austin sayth de Correp gra c. 12. Whence it followeth contrariwise that a sin not to death is that which a man commiteth but doth not persever in it untill he be dead S. Iohn therefore encourageth us with confidence to pray for any whom we do not know to be departed in deadly sin unrepented For it is evident that S. Iohn speaks here of praying for the dead First because before the death of any sinner we may pray for pardon of his sins whatsoever they be and our prayer may be heard But S. Iohn speaks of a sinner now placed in such a state that prayer for him will not be available Therefore he speaks of praying for sinners who are dead And of those some are dead in theyr sins without repentance For these he bids us not pray Others of them are dead after they duly repented theyr sins and for these he encourageth us to pray I prove this secondly because he speaks of theyr prayer who know theyr brother to sin not to death that is to have given signes of true repentance For any such let him aske and life of glory shall be given him sinning not to death Now if this principle of praying for the dead be true it cannot but be true that there is a Purgatory seeing that prayer brings no relief to any that are either in heaven or Hell 18. To these three principles we may yet add severall Texts to the same effect as Apocal. 21. v. 27. There shall in no wise enter into it heaven any thing that defileth Many dy polluted with multitudes of veniall sins unrepented This pollution must be purged before they enter heaven Many allso dye before they have fully satisfied for all pain due to theyr mortall sins forgiven them This full satisfaction must be made before they enter heaven But where In that prison of which it is sayd Matth. 5. v. 27. Amen I say unto you thou shalt not go out from thence untill thou payest the last farthing Vpon which place S. Hierome This is that which he sayth thou shalt not go out of prison untill thou shalt pay even to thy litle sins And so S. Cyprian Now that after the paying of the last farthing there is going out and forgivenesse in the world to come Christ himself doth teach Matth. 12. v. 32. saying It shall not be forgiven the neither in this world nor in the world to come For it is non sense to say I will neither marry in this world nor in the world to come because in that world there is no marrying the like non sense would be in Christs words if there were no forgivenesse in the next world I conclude with S. Paul 1. Cor. 3. v. 15. If any mans work shall be burnt as wood hay and stubble will do by which lesser sins are signified he shall suffer losse But he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire Which S. Ambrose Serm. 20. in Psalm 118. expounds thus Wheras S. Paul sayth yet so as by fire he sheweth indeed that he shall be saved but yet shall suffer the punishment of fire that being purged by fire he may be saved and not tormented for ever as infidels are by everlasting fire 19. All these proofes we have out of Scripture though they be so little noted by our adversaries who dayly read Scripture Yet they are to know that if they will do what the pretend they should by clear Scripture before they deny Purgatory shew us manifestly that there is no Purgatory For theyr prime pretence of just separation from us is that they were inforced thereunto for such errours as they can manifestly by only Scripture demonstrate to be damnable Let them shew this of Purgatory and we have done THE XXVI POINT Of Indulgences 1. TO understand this point well which is misunderstood by a world of people note first what we proved in the former point that full often after that God hath pardoned the guilt of sinne he doth not pardon the guilt of all that paine to which the sinner according to Iustice is still lyable for the sin forgiven Note secondly that we are most grossly belyed by our adversaries who say that our doctrine is that the Pope can forgive us our sins by graunting Indulgences unto us whereas no Catholicke Doctor can ever be shewed to have taught this doctrine We all unanimously teach that the Pope by no Indulgence can forgive any one single mortall or veniall sin For our Faith tells us that those sins are onely forgiven us by true contrition or due sorrow in the Sacrament of Confession joyned allwayes with a sincere purpose of offending no more That which is forgiven by an Indulgence is not the guilt of any sin either mortall or veniall but it is only the pardoning of part or of all that paine which yet according to Gods Iustice we stand lyable to pay for the sins already forgiven Neither doth any Catholicke Doctor teach that the Pope can forgive any sinner this paine at
heaven ever did as those who are skilled in antiquity know Yea Christ himself was pleased to sett forth some more mysticall cures which he did with such ceremonies as you would scoff at thē if our Church in farr more mysticall actions had made use of them So Mark 7. v. 32. in the Cure of a deaf and dumb man First he took him from the multitude a part Secondly he putt his fingars into his eares Thirdly spitting he touched his tongue Fourthly he looked up to heaven Fiftly he groaned Sixtly he used a word deserving speciall interpretation saying Epheta that is be opened So allso Iohn 8. v. 6. In pardoning the adulteresse he twice bowing himself wrot in the earth God knows what And in the nynth Ch. curing a man blind from his nativity v. 6. He spitt on the ground and made a claye of his spittle then he spread the clay upon his eyes Lastly he sayd unto him goe wash in the Poole Siloe which is interpreted sent Thus teaching his Church to use Ceremonies in such mysterious actions as are ordeined to cure our spirituall deafnes spirituall dumbnes spirituall blindnes So we shall see it to be Scripture that sprinkling of water must be used in Baptisme Imposition of hands in Confirmation and Ordination anoynting with oyle in Extreme-vnction Before our Lord gave the Eucharist to his Disciples he Mark 14. made choyse of a roome very spacious and adorned He first washed his disciples feete then setting down he tooke bread gave thanks blessed it brake it c. When he gave his disciples power to absolve and to administer the Sacrament of Confession Io. 20.22 He first sayd to them As my father sent me so I send you when he had sayd this he breathed upon them and he sayd to them Receive the Holy Ghost whose sins yo shall forgive are forgiven c. When the Pastors of our Church use the insufflation or Breathing upon any for the lyke mysticall signification you cry a lowd superstition superstition an apish mimicall action c. 7. There is allso one very great commoditie in the Churches perscribing such and such particular ceremonies in such and such actions that hence it ensues that all her priests performe all these sacred Rites in administring Sacraments offering sacrifice c. after just one and the self-same manner all the world over which is a most comely and orderly thing and could not have happened had not such and such peculiar Rites been prescribed to all 8. But now if after that we have proved Ceremonies to be reasonable you aske why the Church did prescribe just these particular Ceremonies and no other First I answer that eyther these particular Ceremonies are more proper and seemly and as it were more connaturall to such an actiō or secondly they are fittest for some mysticall signification Lastly I say that our unsatisfied adversaryes would have asked the self same question of any other particular ceremonies if the Church had peculiarly appointed them Even as some men will curiously be asking Why did God make the world just at such a particular time and not sooner or later For as S. Augustin wittily answers Had God made choise of any other time to make the world you would still have been asking the very selfsame wyse question Why just now and not sooner or later Even so you would as wisely haue been saying Why just such a Ceremonie and not as well such or such an one Lett this suffice for the Iustification of our Ceremonies THE TENTH POINT Of Baptisme which is the first Sacrament 1. I Will first shew Baptisme to be a Holy signe or ceremony signifying and causing grace in those who duly receave it Ezech. 36.25 And I will power uppon you cleane water and you shall be cleansed from all your contaminations Behold an outward powring of water cleansing inwardly from all contaminations The Baptisme of S. Iohn was an outward powring of water with a solemne profession of doing pennance towards the cleansing of the soul but no grace was given by it to cleanse the soul So Matth. 3.11 sayth S. Iohn Baptist I have Baptized you with water but he Christ shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost His baptisme shall give this soul-cleansing grace Again Act. 2.38 Be every one of you baptized for Remission of your sins and you shall receave the Holy Ghost Again Act. 22.16 Rise up ad be baptized and wash away thy sinns Nothing can cleanse from contamination give Remission of sins wash away sins but that which gives grace Again Gala. 3.27 As many of you as are baptized in Christ have put on Christ Hence Baptisme is called Tit. 3.5 The washing of Regeneration and by it man is borne of the spirit Whence Io. 3.5 Vnlesse a man be borne again of water and the Holy Ghost he can not enter into the Kingdome of God That is to say Baptisme so breeds our spirituall birth in God as our carnall birth causeth our life into the world 2. Wherefore evē the Childrē of the Iust need baptisme For Rom. 5.12 Vnto all men death did passe in whom all sinned Whence David Ps 51.5 And in sin did my mother conceave me And therefore unlesse such an one be born againe of water and the Holy Ghost he shall not enter into the Kingdome of God For of every one it is sayd Eph. 2.3 We were by nature Children of wrath as allso the rest THE ELEVENTH POINT Of Confirmation 1. COnfirmation is approved such a Sacrament Act. 8. v. 14. And when the Apostles that were in Ierusalem had heard that Samaria had receaved the word of God they sent unto them Peter and Iohn wo when they were come prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost For he was not come upon any of them but they were only baptized in the name of our Lord Iesus Then did they impose theyr hands upon them behold the outward signe and they received the Holy Ghost Behold the inward grace given to those who though they had been baptized yet they had not received this particular strength and Confirmation of speciall grace which the coming of the Holy Ghost in this Sacrament did bring unto them It is allso most agreable to Scripture that this Sacrament be given not by inferiour Priests but by Bishops Whence Bede excellently noteth that it was not Philip the Apostle who is here sayd to have converted Samaria but Philip one of the seaven Decons And so though he could baptize them yet he could not give thē this Sacrament and therefore the Apostles sent Peter and Iohn to Samaria Not to baptize them again but to confirme them And though here be no mention of oyle yet it followeth not that no oyle is to be used in this Sacrament For so in the Scripture there is no mention of water in that very Text which mentions the institution of Baptisme as Matthew the last Teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Sonne and Holy
and for forty yeares theyr very Children shall bear theyr fornication and they shall suffer all the incommodities of wandering in a wildernesse Can then any man wonder if they themselves who had theyr pardon on these termes and then were slain the very next day by theyr enemies should for a time yea perhaps for forty years suffer some punishment after death Eternall punishment the old sin being forgiven they could not suffer if they did no new one yet manifestly some punishmēt after death could not but be due to thē seeing that so great a punishment was so justly laid upon theyr Childrē for theyr sake for forty whole years 7. Let vs go on 2. Sam. ch 12. vpon Davids great repentance for his great sins of Murther and Adultery God by the Prophet Nathan tould him v. 13. Our Lord allso hath taken away thy sin Howbeit because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the Child that is borne unto thee shall surely die Behold the sin taken away and yet behold a punishment still due even for this deed Yea for this deed the sword shall not depart from thy house for ever I will take thy wives and give them to thy neighbours and they shall sleep with thy wives in the sight of this Sun v. 10.11 All which great punishments even after this forgiven sin did befall David and his family His son dyed v. 18. Three more of his own sons were slain Ammon in the next chapter Absolom chapter 18. Adonias 1. Kings v. 24. Yea Absolom before his death did raise an Army against David his Father and enforced him to fly Ierusalem being taken they pitched a tent for Absolom in the house top the leads of the place And he went to his Fathers Concubines before all Israël 2. Sam. Ch. 16. v. 22. Thus in the sight of the Sun lying with his own fathers wives called here concubines because they were not admitted to the title of Queenes 8. Our Lord sayd to Moses and Aaron Num. 20.12 because you have not believed me you shall not bring this people into the land which I will give them And v. 24. Aaron shall be gathared to his people that is shall dye for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the Children of Israël because he rebelled against my word and v. 28. Aaron dyed there in the top of the mountaine and Ch. 27. v. 13. God sayd to Moses when thou hast seen the land of promise thou allso shall be gathered vnto thy people as Aaron thy Brother was gathered For ye rebelled against my commandment Thus you see these two great Saints both punished with a most speedy death For that very sin of which they being admonished by God himself questionlesse did repent Whence after this sin committed God did so familiarly converse with Moses from ch 20. to 27. By all these and a world of other such examples it is made evident that upon the true repentance of the delinquent though the pain of eternall death be allwayes forgiven him yet often the delinquent remaines liable to suffer temporall punishments even as in this world though upon the repentance of a delinquent deserving death the punishment of death be forgiven him yet he is justly made liable to suffer imprisonment or condemned to pay such a fine 9. Out of this principle it clearly followeth that there is a Purgatory for seeing that a man may dye before he hath suffered or satisfyed for the punishment due by divine Iustice unto him it doth necessarily follow that this punishment according to the same Iustice must be given him in the world to come not in hell because the sin is forgiven him but yet in the prison of Purgatory out of which he shall not go untill he hath paid the last farthing Matth. 5.26 It remains then proved that this principle so well grounded in Scripture cannot be true unlesse it allso be true that there is a Purgatory 10. I passe to the second principle teaching that some sins are only veniall deserving indeed some punishment but not eternall For as he were a Tyrant who would punish every offence though it deserves but whipping with a cruell death so we should have too too hard opinion of Gods Iustice if we believed that for every merry lye for every idle word or passionate speech for every trifling away of a small time unprofitably for every vain or lazy action he should punish the delinquent with death everlasting and the endlesse and unspeakable torments of Hell fire if the person dyeth without repentance as thousands must needs do who dye suddenly or out of theyr senses or in theyr sleep c. 11. That there be such veniall sins or smaller offences as these are which be truly sins yet not mortall or damnable is clear out of Scripture Exod 1.17 But the Midwives of Egypt feared God and preserved the men Children contrary to the command of the King who questioning them for breaking his commandment they answered The Hebrew weomen are not as the Egyptian weomen for they have the knowledg to play the Midwife themselves and before we come to them they are delivered God therefore did well to the Midwives and because they feared God be built them houses Here you shee the Midwives telling an officious lye which is a sin yet this sin did not take from them the love of God or made God hate them but they even then feared God as the Scripture sayth and he for this theyr fear exercised not in this lye but in theyr Charity and Mercy highly rewarded them Yet this lying being a sin divine Iustice could not but reserve some punishment for it though not eternall 12. Even so Iosue 2.2 The spies sent by Iosue entred the house of Rahab And it was told the King of Iericho He sent to Rahab saying bring forth the men that came to the for they be spies and the woman taking the men hid them and sayd I confesse they came to me when the gate was a shutting in the dark and they withall went out I know not whither they be gone persue quickly and you shall overtake them But she made the men go up to the roof of her house and covered them with the stalk of flax which was there Here you have another officious lye but only a veniall not a damnable sin By lying she sinned venially but by that act of charitably hiding the spies she pleased God For S. Paul sayth by Faith Rahab perished not receiving the spies with peace Hebr. 11. 31. And S. Iames chap. 2. v. 25. Rahab was she not justifyed by works receiving the Messengers and putting them forth another way after that she had first hid them Of these kind of veniall sins the Scripture allso sayth Seven times shall the just fall and rise again Prov. 24.16 For these smaller sins cast us not out of Gods favour wherefore by his grace we soon get pardon
living bread you have all him in it and so you are deprived of nothing He gave us his body not his Carcasse without blood In his body we have all both body and blood You take both from us we give both Agreable to this sayth S. Paul 1. Cor. 11.27 Therefore whosoever shall eate this bread or drink this Chalice of our Lord unworthyly he is guilty of the body and blood of our Lord which he could not be if he did not receive both body and blood so that by either eating or drinking both are received Againe Luke 24. v. 30. And it came to passe whyle he sat at table with them the two disciples in Emaus he tooke bread and blessed and brake and did reach to them Twice Christ with his owne hands gave the Communion First at the last supper under both kinds Secondly here at Emmaus under one kind only For many Holy Fathers without ever scrupulizing at the giving only one kind absolutely say Christ here gave thē the Communiō And the Text insinuates as much by the use of those Sacramentall words of taking blessing breaking reaching with the ensuing effect of opening theyr eyes to know him to be the same Christ who at his last supper had done the same action So that it is the more probable that he did administer Cōmuniō under one kind thē that he did not How thē dare you absolutely condemne this They object drinke ye all of this Matth. 26. But this command was only given to all then present and was fullfilled And they all dranke of it Mark 14.23 So when he commanded do this He did not commaund Lay men to do what he did Theyr other objections are excellently answered by the Scriptures alledged in the Councel of Trent Sess 21. c. 1. in these notable words he that sayd unlesse you eate the flesh of the Son of man and drinke his blood you shall not have life in you hath allso sayd If any one eat of this bread he shall life for ever And he that sayd He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath life everlasting hath allso sayd The bread which I will give you is my flesh for the life of the world he that sayd Who so eateth my flesb and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him hath likwise sayd He that eateth this bread shall live for ever What need wee more then to live for ever THE XIV POINT Of the Masse or of the Holy Eucharist as it is a Sacrifice 1. CHrist in his last supper sayd Luke 22.19 Do this in remembrance of me We must see then what Christ did that we may know what is commanded here to be done If he did offer his Body and Blood then in Sacrifice the Church allso is bound to have some Ministers doing that in remembrance of him We say then that Christ did then offer his body and blood in Sacrifice and we say that the doeing this is the very essence of our Masse I know as soone as Protestants heare the word Remembrance they will object that Christ can not be really offered there where the offering is done to his Remembrance I answere that S. Paul tells us what it is to do this in Remembrance of Christ 1. Cor. 11.24.26 This do ye in Remembrance of me for as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the Chalice you shall shew the death of our Lord untill he come Christ here is remembred by us to have dyed for us yet he doth not here really dye againe bloodily but this unbloudy Sacrifice is done in remembrance of his real bloudy death It is not only in Remembrance of him that we do this but we do this in Remembrance of him dying for us a bloody death upon the Crosse Now his beeing truly present maketh the Remembrance not lesse but more lively and perfect For if a Prince who had gained a great battel with much losse of his blood would have yearely some action or representation exhibited in remembrance of it would in person be present with his wounds acting his owne part the representation would not cease to be a Remembrance but it would rather be a far more lively Remembrance as often as the king should act his owne part And the yeare he should not do this the Remembrance would be lesse lively and lesse representative so c. How perfectly in this Sacrifice is Christs death represēted whilest by the force of these words This is my body only his body is put in shape of bread in one place wholy different from that other place in which by force of those words This is my blood his blood in a liquide shape of wine like blood lately shed is put in the Chalice a part from his body 2. Now I will shew that Christ did truly Sacrifice and offer up his body and blood under the formes of bread and wyne First out of the old Testament Psal 100. v. 5. it is sayd of Christ Our Lord swore and it shall not repent him thou art a Priest for ever of the order of Melchisedech which words S. Paul 5. Heb. 10. sayth to have bin spoake of Christ and of this is Priesthood We have great speach sayth he and inexplicable to utter because you are weake to heare You must looke therefore for a mystery not easily understood by new Christians The famous Priesthood in the old Law was settled in Aaron and his Sonns Levit. 8. they offered bloody Sacrifices and yet our Saviour is not sayd a Priest according to the order of Aaron but of Melchisedech who was not so much as a Iew. He whose descent is not counted from them took tythe of Abraham and blessed him that had the promisses Heb. 7.6 which sheweth he was a Priest of higher dignity then Abraham as S. Paul here proves Lett us see now all that the old Testament sayth of Melchisedech and his Priesthood and you shal find it to be only that which is written Genesis c. 14.18 But Melchisedech King of Salem bringeth forth bread and wyne And he was the Priest of the most high God And he blessed him Abrahā and he gave him tythes of all So unanimous is the consent of all the H. Fathers who did write either upon this text of Genesis or on that of S. Paul or that of the Psalme that the Priesthood of Melchisedech did consist in offering bread and wyne by way of Sacrifice to God and that Christs beeing a Priest according to his order did consist in his offering up and sacrificing his body and his blood for us under the formes of bread and wyne that to deny this is to crosse all antiquity see the Rhemists upon these two last Texts Now becaufe Christ to the end of the world offereth still this sacrifice by his Vicars or Ministers hands in the Sacrifice of the Masse He is sayd to be a Priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech For by force of these words This is my
you harden your harts as Aegypt and Pharao did harden theyr hart And so David cryeth to us all Harden not your harts Psal 94 8. And Ezech. 18.31 Cast away from you all your transgressions and make you a new heart and new spirit for why will you dye ô house of Israël for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth sayth the Lord God Wherefore turne your selves and live ye 3. Behold how God himselfe declares that by the grace he offers us we may make our selves a new heart a new spirit turne our selves and live God speaks cleerly in Deut. 11.26 Behold I sett forth in your sight this day benediction and malediction benediction if you obey the Commandements of our Lord malediction if you obey not but revolt from the way which now I shew you Again Deut. 30.15 See I have sett before the this day life and good and contrariwyse death and evill And v. 19. I call for record this day heaven and earth I have sett before you life and death blessing and cursing Choosing therefore life See here the choise left to our freewill So Iosue 24.15 Chuse this day whom you will serve 2. Samuel 24.12 Choice is given the of three things Chuse one one of them which thou wilt And Philem. v. 14. Without thy minde I would do nothing that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity but willingly And 1. Cor. 7.37 He that standeth stedfast in his hart having no necessity but hath power over his owne will doth well 4. Behold we have power over our owne will to do that which is lesse perfect or that which is more perfect For as it there sayd he who giveth in marriage doth well he that giveth not doth better And wee have power over our owne will to do either Yea Gods grace so enables our power that Io. 1.12 As many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God By this his power we clense our hands purify our harts clense our whole selves wee Matth. 12.33 make the tree and fruit good And as it is sayd Io. 3.3 Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himselfe Hitherto of free will in doing good 5. How frees will comes to lead us to all our evill S. Iames tells us c. 1. v. 14. Every one is tempted when he is drawne away of his owne lust and enticed hitherto no sinne but then when I pray note this then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sinne Then sinne and only then is hatched when free will yealds her selfe to concupiscence so as to consent to what is suggested Ye did not heare ye did choose that wherin I delighted not Isa 65.12 The Texts allso in the following point confirme free will THE XXXII POINT How this free will is still helped with sufficient Grace 1. IF God gave vs not allwayes that grace which is of sufficiēt force to excite us to the effectuall performance of all the good which we are bound to do or to the avoyding of all the evill which we are bound to avoyd our free will could neither do the one nor avoid the other All the former Texts then which so cleerly prove that wee by Gods helpe can if wee will do what wee are bound to do and can avoyd what wee are bound to avoyd do consequently prove that God allwayes gives such Grace to both effects as wants nothing of perfect sufficiency to produce them but our free consent Hence S. Paul thus exhorts us 2. Cor. 6 1. We then as workers togeather with him beseech you allso that you receive not the grace of God in vaine Excellently the Rhemists upon this Text. It lyeth in mans power and free will to frustrate or to follow this motion of God as this Text plainly proveth which really is the very selfesame that the Councill of Trent sayth Sess 6. c. 5. That by Gods exciting and helping grace we are disposed to cōvert our selves by freely assenting and cooperating to the same grace so that God touching the hart of mā by the illumination of the H. Ghost mā is neither void of all action he receiving that inspiration for he receives it so as having in his power to cast it away Neither can he without the grace of God move himselfe And therfore it followeth in the fourth Canon If any one shall say that the free will of man moved and excited by God doth cooperate nothing att all by giving her consent to God exciting and calling by which he may dispose himselfe to the grace of Iustification and that he cannot dissent if he will let him be Anathema Lett those harken to this who harken so much to the Iansenists And let us go on to speake of this sufficient grace which in the next point wee will shew more fully to be offered to all Of this grace Isaias 5.4 What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it For Prov. 1.24 I called you and you refused And that you may not say he only called and did not stretch forth his hand to helpe you to come the next words are I stretched forth my hand and no man regarded But ye have set at nought all my cousel And Isa 65.12 When I called ye did not answer when I spake ye did not heare and did choose that wherin I delighted not Though they did choose thus against Gods call yet this his call was so sufficient to have moved them that God tels Ezechiel c. 3. v. 6. that if he had sent him with so strong and powerfull preaching to barbarous and unknowen people They surely would have heard thee But the house of Israël will not heart thee for all the house of Israël are impudent and hard harted They will not be moved by those calls which would move others And because they answered like Protestants c. 33.10 If our transgressions and our sinns be upon us and we pine in them how should we then live God commands the Catholicke doctrine to be thus delivered Say unto them As I live sayth the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turne from his way and live Turne ye turne ye from your wicked wayes and why will you dye ô house of Israël Note how still he sayth he excites them sufficiently otherwise vainly had he sayd why will you dye ô house of Israël For they might reply we cannot but dye because thou givest us not the grace to live 2. And as God sayd of Ezechiels preaching that it was sufficient to have converted Barbarians though the Iewes would not be moved by it So Matth. 11. v. 20. of Christ it is sayd He began to upbraid the Citties wherein were done the most of his miracles for that they had not done pennance Wo be to the Corozain wo he to the Bethsaida for if in Tyre and Sidon had bene wrought the miracles that were wrought in thee they had
done pennance in hairecloath and ashes long ago Though the Iewes wold not repent yet hence I am sure that Christ did sufficient for that end Hence that most just exprobration both here and Matth. 23.37 Ierusalem Ierusalem how often would I have gathered together thy Children as the hen gathereth together her chickins and thou wouldest not I would thou wouldest not therefore justly it followes Behold your house shal he left desert Again Rom. 10 21. All the day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people Again Apoc. 3.20 Behold I stand at the dore and knock if any man heare my voice and open the dore I will come in to him Whence again 1. Tim. 2.4 Who will all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth And therefore the same Apostle Rom. 2. v. 4. Doest thou contemne the riches of his goodnesse Patience Longanimity but according to the hardnes of thy hart thou heapest up to thy selfe wrath Behold a free will able to contemne the very riches of Gods goodnes in still giving graces and with so much patience and longanimity expecting the effect of them still by mans voluntary malice made fruitles Of such a soule it is sayd Apoc. 2.21 I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not You cannot blame a poore man for not dining because you gave him space to dine unles you allso give him meat wherewith to dine so God could not complain of our not repenting because we had time unlesse allso he offered us grace to repent THE XXXIII POINT This sufficient grace is denyed to none Christ dying even for reprobates 1. IT is evident in Scripture that no grace is givē to any but by the merits of Christ consummated with his death He hath blessed us with all spirituall blessings in heavenly things in Christ Eph. 1.3 So that if you see Point 30. Grace given to all to make the keeping of the commandemēts possible to all if you see point 31. That our free will is still by Gods grace able to do good if you see Point 32. This free will still helped by sufficient Grace to avoid evill and do good you must needs by all this see that this grace can come only from Christs death and therfore this grace being so oftē proved to be offered to all by the same Texts it is allso proved that Christ dyed for all Call to minde how many according to what was proved Point 29. do become reprobates who by vertue of Christs death once received the guift of heavenly grace in Baptisme The like grace was by Christs death given to that just man of whom Ezechiel cited there n. 5. sayth That his Iustices shall be forgotten because he persevered not and in his iniquities he shall dye He therefore became a Reprobate And thus it is true which God sayd to Abraham Gen. 12.3 In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed And Gcn. 22.18 In thy seed shall be blessed all the nations of earth Now as S. Paul sayrh Gal. 3.14 The blessing of Abraham comes on the Gentiles through Christ Iesus There is none therfore to be excepted from being partaker of this blessing seing that all the families of the earth and all the nations of the earth do enioy it Yct it is evident that many among these families and nations be Reprobates Reprobates therfore enioy many blessings by Christs death which eould not be if Christ did not dye for them By the merits of Christs death many are called yet of these many few are choosen Matth. 22.14 Hence Ezech. 18.23 Why Is the death of a sinner my will sayth our Lord God and not that he convert from his wayes and live Which without grace from Christ he could not do Again c. 33.11 I will not the death of the impious but that the impious convert from his way and live Why will you dye ô house of Israël And so Prov. 1.24 To those to whome he sayd I have called and you have refused I have stretched out my hand and you have not regarded He shall say likewise I will laugh when your destruction cometh as a whirlewind v. 27. They therfore shall be destroyed and perish who by Christs death and merits had many graces helps and callings given them Note that in Christ the will with which he called them was a serious will of which 1. Tim. 2.4 He will all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth See in the former Point the many evident Text cited to this effect Hence it is sayd Rom. 2.4 He shewed the riches of his goodnes to those who dispised it treasuring up wrath to themselves Who be those but the Reprobate Again 2. Pet. 3.9 Willing that none should perish And Rom. 5.6 Christ did dye for the impious or ungodly And most cleerly 1. Io. 2.2 He is the propitiation of our sinns And not for ours only but allso for the whole world The whole world comprehends more reprobate then elect He then who dyed for the whole world did allso dye for the Reprobate Wherfore S. Paul more then once warneth us not to be occasion of damnation to those for whom Christ dyed So Rom. 14.15 Do not with thy meat destroy him for whom Christ dyed He therfore for whom Christ dyed may be destroyed and perish eternally Again 1. Cor. 8.11 Through thy knowledge shall thy weak Brother perish for whom Christ dyed And again 2. Pet. 2.1 False teachers bringing in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord who bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction Hence you see that even those who have brought upon themselves destruction have done this by denying him who bought them at the price of his blood and death He therfore even dyed for those Children of perdition Whence Holy Fathers often say that son of perdition Iudas did shedde that blood with which he was redemed Let us then all be as is sayd 2. Cor. 5.14 Iudging this that if one dyed for all then all were dead S. Paul had not proved by Christ his dying for all that all were dead if any man could be found for whom Christ did not dye And that no one should presume to say that any such man could be found S. Pauls next words are Christ dyed for all v. 15. The Councel of Trent Sess 6. c. 3. citing these words sayth But though he dyed for all yet all receive not the benefit of his death but only those to whom the merit of his Passion is communicated Hence it is sayd 1. Tim. 4.10 We trust in the liveing God who is the Saviour of all men especially of those who believe Saviour he is to all men by giveing what sufficeth to save all mē but this sufficiency is effectuall to saluatiō only in the truly faithfull whose works answered to theyr beliefe and therefore chiefely he is theyr Saviour Yet it is true that speaking generally of us all 1. Cor.