Council Nice We do not offer worship to the matter as Wood or Stone or painting in colours but through these being brought to the person represented by them we give due honour to him knowing accordingly that the respect to the Image passes to him who is represented by it Chap. 9. Proving that Man hath Free Will to do Good or not to do it contrary to the Opinion of Protestants DId those men which deny this point of Faith but admit in the height of their passions either of reason or consideration they would blush for shame when they shewed them what Traytors they are to themselves in robbing their natures of one prime quality which God hath given them for an ornament to the same for take from man his free-will and you may turn him like a Nebuchadnezzar amongst the beasts for God by Miracle can make him do good actions in that form and nature but for the want of prudent considering the actions of their lives they run into as many disorders as their giddy fancies pleases to suggest to them but this is the misery of most men that when the Devil tempts them to these evils they will not resist but entertain all and amongst al his hellish deceits he hath none that takes more with weak understandings then this sly trick of his seeming to attribute all to God as he tempts Hereticks to believe that Angels must not be reverenced nor Saints respected nor prayed too but all to God which is his devillish slight to hinder that service to God as I proved before and that all mens good works done by Gods holy Grace are sinful and merit nothing onely to hinder and make men carefuless to do such good works and that man hath no free-will onely to make man idle and not strive to imploy those graces that God hath been pleased to bestow upon us so that did all men but once discover these tricks of Satan we should easily see that God is honoured by these things because they are his gifts and benefits which he hath been pleased to bestow on us to enrich our souls and make us more capable of serving him The truth of this shall be as plainly proved by Scripture and Reason as any thing before treated of that so we may lay open the shameful hypocrisie of those that work their self-ends from ignorant people meerly through the blinde pretence of Scripture which being so done you will finde hem rotten at the very heat And first of all concerning Cain where God tells him Gen. 4. v. 7. If thou do well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou dost not well sin lyeth at thy door so here it is plain that God left it to his choice to do well or not to do it Again God said unto Moses Behold I will rain bread from Heaven Exod. 16. v. 4. and the people shall go out and gather it every day that I may prove them whether they will walk in my way or no now if they had not had a free-will why should God say he owuld try them so that you see God left them to their free-will to see whether they would serve him better or no. Again God saith to them in Deuteronomy Deut. 11. v. 26. Behold I set before you a blessing and a curse a blessing if you will obey the Commandments of your God and a curse if you will not obey Now consider that as this is plainly and truly Gods word so plainly and truly doth it show free-will to be in man Again God saith to them in the same Book Chap. 28. v. 1.2 If you will hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all his Commandments I will set thee on high above all the Nations and so tells them how many sorts of blessing he will bestow upon them if they will keep his Commandments but if they would no Ver. 15. he tells them how many curses should light upon them And in the same Book again he saith to them in a very strange manner I call heaven and earth to record this day against you Chap. 30. v. 19. that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that thou and thy seed may live I might justly stand amazed here at these Texts of Gods word and admire with what face men can say they believe the Bible and not tremble when they say so considering how they deny this free-will in man which God hath given him and other principles of Christian Religion proved before for here we see God himself layes it before us and leaves it to us and what would we have God do more unless he should work Miracles daily and we lye like beasts or stones and do nothing The same did God offer to David by his Prophet Gad saying 2 sam 24. v. 12. God and say unto David thus saith the Lord I offer thee three things choose the one of them that I might do it unto thee Now here God would not execute his Justice on David till he had chosen what punishment he would himself that might be most for his good And to his Son Solomon God saith likewise 1 King 6. v. 12. If thou wilt walk in my Statutes and execute my Judgements and keep all my Commandments then will I perform my word with thee by all which is still more plain that Solomon had a free-will Now though this that hath been said might serve sufficiently to convince those that have held the contrary and desire to imbrace the truth of Gods word in reality yet I will proceed for their further satisfaction and knowledg of the truth in this point and first out of the Gospel of Saint Matthew where our Saviour cryes out Mat. 23. v. 37. O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered you together as a hen doth her Chickens but you would not see here how Christ complains of them because they would not imploy their wills in his holy service as he would have had them done for saith he I would but you would not and in another place he saith I thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments so that in every place it is referred to our free-will to do and not to do any good action as is plain by all these places of Scripture by which you may see what folly they are guilty of that say we have none or that it takes away the honour from God which can no wayes be for since we say that free-will in us is a gift from God and the good actions we do by that will is inspired into us by God then is God the Original of all and we onely the instruments of doing it or not doing it for we all know that God often inspires us to good actions which we never do to our shame we may say it and that he would have us to do them is clear or else he would not inspire us
in either place we know there is no coming out as Saint Luke saith Luke 16. v. 26. speaking of Dives and the other Lazarus so that we must conclude his soul to be in that temporal Hell spoken of in our Creed or no where at all and Holy David cryes out to God saying Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell for Lord thou lovest me c. Now this may be objected two wayes against Protestants First that if it meant the Grave what should his soul do to be left there And secondly if it means that temporall Hell as undoubtedly it doth then it plainly shows that his soul was there because it saith Thou wilt not leave it in Hell We may gather much to our present purpose from the last Text mentioned in Saint Luke where Dives being in Hell lift up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off ver 23. and Lazarus in his bosom which plainly proves Abraham and Lazarus not to be in Heaven for could the damned in Hell see the Saints in Heaven it would be no Hell to them since the sight of Heaven is so glorious it would take away the sense of Hell and so make them happy in that unhappy place Again if Abraham had been in Heaven according to Protestants opinion they could not hear one the other speak being at that vast distance as Heaven and Hell is for they say how can the Saints hear our prayers on earth much less if not so could they hear them in Hell We may again observe that the place where Abraham and the Fathers were was not far from the local Hell of the damned but as St. Augustine saith The upper part or over it some distance where holy Abraham saith ver 26. there was a gulf that separated the passage one to the other because they could both see and speak one to the other And thus having made it so manifestly appear I hope none that professes the truth of the Bible will now any more defile their souls with envy to the holy Catholick Church which teacheth all truth and nothing but the truth if you had but as right an understanding of all that is there taught as you have of this but be rather induced to the practice of it and with Saint Augustin to conclude Who is there but an Infidel August 99. Ep. in prin will deny that Christ was in this temporal Hell Chap. 5. Proving that Angels and Saints in Heaven do know what passeth here on Earth and so consequently may be prayed to by us for their mediation to God in our behalf THe mindes of men being naturally inclined to search and know the nature of hidden things doth oftentimes take indirect wayes to accomplish the knowledge of them and yet come short in their designs too This thing as it was the sin of our first Parents so is it a great corruption in this present age amongst many thousands which would make us believe they know on earth what power and happiness the Blessed Angels and Saints have in heaven and will grant them no more priviledge then what their shallow brains can comprehend they have quite contrary to that saying of Saint Paul 1 Cor. 2. ver 9. Eye hath not seen nor ear hath not heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him so infinitely out of our understanding are the qualities of glorified souls which Angels and Saints are But to let those people know how much they deceive themselves in fostering such pernicious opinions I will prove both by Scripture and Reason that they do know all our actions here on earth and that it is agreeable to the nature of Angels to know them my first place is from Saint Lukes Gospel Luke 2. ver 13. where so soon as our Saviour was born on earth the Angels came from heaven to the Shepheards to anounce it to them and singing with great joy a little before one in particular told them ver 10. that he preached to them great joy for a Saviour was born to them by which it is plain that the Angel knew when he was in heaven that he was born so likewise our Saviour when he was in the Wilderness after his temptation the Text saith Mat. 4. ver 11. The Angels came and ministred unto him by which you may see how ready those blessed Spirits are in all things and occasions to assist in our salvation Again when our Blessed Saviour was in his direful Agony in the Garden sweating drops of Blood for us Saint Luke saith Luke 22. ver 43. There appeared an Angel to him from heaven and strengthned him from which words we may gather 1. That if Angels lent their assistance to strengthen Christ who is the God of strength much more will they to us by Gods permission who are of our selves nothing but weakness 2. That if they knew not what passeth on earth how could they so readily assist us as we read in many places of the Bible they have done and as I shall prove hereafter Our Saviour saith likewise by the same Evangelist Luke 15. ver 13. That there is joy in heaven of the Angels at the conversion of a sinner by which it is clear that they must know when every sinner is converted or how should they know when to rejoyce So likewise in the tran figuration of our Saviour Christ Moses and Elias appeared to him and talked with him so that if they being out of this world had not known of his being on Mount Thabor Mark 9. ver 4. how should they have waited upon him And again our Saviour saith That his Apostles shall sit with him in judgement Mat. 19. ver 28. and judge the twelve Tribes of Israel and Saint Paul saith The Saints shall judge the world 1 Cor. 6. ver 1.2 which could not be if they did not know what passeth in the world for in reason no Judge can or will pass Sentence upon any man before he knows what he is guilty of by all which it is as manifest and clear as to see the Sun when it shines in the Firmament that Angels and Saints know what passeth here on earth Again it is very much to our purpose to consider what passed at the Death of Saint Stephen where the Text saith He looked into heaven Acts 7. ver 54 55 56. and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and said Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God from whence it is evident and plain that if Saint Stephen could upon earth see into heaven where God himself was that he can now being glorified in heaven see and know what passeth upon earth in a far larger measure and so may be prayed unto for his assistance Ver. 60. for if he at his Death had so much charity to pray
Justice expected satisfaction by repelling them from thence and yet for that sin many thousands have and shall be damned and for the sins of the world we know Gods Justice was so urgent for satisfaction that he drowned the whole world except those in the Ark he satisfied his Justice also many times in the punishing of the Israelites in the desert and for the sins of Corah Dathan and Abiram we all know what satisfaction God gave to his Justice Num. 16. v. 31.32 when he caused the earth to open and swallow them up alive Now is it not strange to think how little reason we have to flatter our selves as we do and think we shall get to heaven in a dream without any satisfaction on our part at all If we did but truly consider our own state we should not have so good an opinion of our selves as to think God should punish so many to satisfie his Justice and we should scape scot-free Nay those whom he dearly loved as Moses in depriving him of entrance into the land of Promise 2 Sam. 12. ver 10. But more to our purpose is that of holy David where for his sin with Bathsaba God told him the Sword should never depart from his house Now here Davids sin was pardoned as to the eternal punishment but yet Gods justice requiring from him this temporal satisfaction as the sword cleaving to his house and the death of of his Childe Ver. 14. A plainer place cannot be to prove what is here treated of and I hope it is good Scripture But to let you see further that you may be totally undeceived conform to this place is another concerning the same man where for his sin in numbring the people 2 Sam. 24. ver 14.15 16 c. though God told him by the Prophet Gad he had pardoned him his sin yet he to satisfie his Justice caused his Angel to destroy seventy thousand of them which to Davids heart was a hot Purgatory or temporal punishment Thus you see many times God hath been pleased to be so favourable to some of his dearest friends to purge them here by the fire of tribulations as Adam Moses and David with many others which might be shown but this to reasonable men will suffice since it is so plain by the holy word of God And now it will concern me to shew you by the fame word that there is a temporal punishment or Purgatory after death I will onely give you this reason for it before I quote my Text which is that since there be many servants of God which dye unpunished here in this life for their sins committed and so have not satisfied Gods Justice must of necessity do it by being purified before they can go to heaven for the Scripture saith plainly that no unclean thing can enter in there and if so we may easily judge how unclean thousands are which dye Christians and in communion with Gods Church but yet not jump just to heaven but are purged by fire And to satisfie you in this you must observe what Saint Paul saith in his Epistle to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 3. v. 12.13 where first he tells us the different sorts of works by the similitudes of Gold Silver precious Stones Wood Hay Stubble and then how this fire shall try them for saith he Every mans works shall be made manifest and the day of our Lord shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is Again saith he Ver. 15. If any mans work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire by which it is plain that we must pass through this fiery tryal before we get to heaven either by great crosses here in this life or else in the purging place of the life to come It would be worth our time did we but seriously consider how that many persons which have been the dearly beloved friends of Christ have had in this life the greatest share of temporal punishment as his ever Blessed Mother though I will not say for her sins the twelve Apostles and many thousands of Martyrs which have satisfied Gods Justice with the loss of their blood and yet we now adayes hug our selves in a sottish security and think we shall be conveyed to heaven in Beds of Roses as if God were so partial to mankinde to punish those that were good and holy and spare us that have much more deserved it But now again to the Scripture to let you see what our Saviour saith concerning paying our debts to God and remission of sins in the next life as in Saint Matthew he saith Mat. 5. v. 27. We should be at agreement with our adversary lest he deliver us over to the Judge and the Judge throw us into prison from whence we shall not get out till we have paid the utmost farthing Now in respect of our sins God is our adversary and if we agree not with him here that is to satisfie his justice by Alms-deeds tears and suffering in this life he will throw us into the prison of Purgatory till we have satisfied the debt there Again saith our Saviour Mat. 12. v. 32. Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost shall never be pardoned in this life nor in the world to come by which it is plain that as Gods justice is satisfied here by the pardon of sins so there is sins to be pardoned in the life to come which must be in Purgatory for out of Hell is no redemption nor no expectation of pardon of sins Did there not want a right understanding in the hearts of men concerning Scripture there could not be so much errour and blindeness in the reading of it as there is for all those places which plainly show Christian Religion and the Catholique Faith are past by and no more minded then if they had no relation to Gods word at all If most Protestants that happens to read this book should but examine their own consciences they could not but confess that most places here cited to prove our faith was so little taken notice of that they knew not whether they were in the Bible or no And now after all these Texts here mentioned out of holy Writ to prove this point if any Protestant will or can shew me but one place in all the Bible that any one went or was conveyed to Heaven as soon as they dyed I do assure them I will as once I was be of their Faith but if they cannot then are they obliged in conscience to believe what is said or be guilty of Infidelity to God and his Holy Word and to the intent that I may plainly discover the errour of those that believe there is nor before Christs coming was any other places then Heaven and Hell after death it is my purpose therefore in the next Chapter to prove that there is a
third place wherein the Fathers of the New Testament were which could not obtain Heaven till Christ had shed his Blood for them according to that of Saint Paul speaking of the Faith of those holy men yet he saith Heb. 11. v. 39.40 All these having obtained a good report by faith received not the promise which was Heaven God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect But the common objection and deceit against this which takes so much is that Christ hath satisfied Gods Justice for our sins what need we do any thing at all and this is the usuall juggle of those that teach against this point of satisfaction but we are to consider how far Christs satisfaction extends to us that is he dyed for the pardon of our original sins and not for our actual transgressions though they be the easier pardoned by the merits of his Death too for if all our actual sins were pardoned and satisfied for by the Death of Christ why then all Heathens and Turks and Whoremongers and Murderers and Blasphemers should be saved which Saint Paul saith Shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven so that this is but a trick of our Adversaries making the people believe that they attribute all to Christ when indeed if justly considered they load his shoulders with their actual sins that hath suffered enough already for our original ones and so they would fain free themselves from all kinde of sufferings here and hereafter when our Saviour saith We cannot enter into life eternal without much tribulation but as I said God is merciful to save so he is just to punish and it is not good for us to presume too much upon hhis mercy lest we fall into a provocation of his Justice and so perish everlastingly And since it is so plain both by holy Scripture and Reason that there is a purging place or temporal punishments in the life to come proportionable to every ones sins let every man consider what obligation he hath first to believe it to be so secondly to live so holily in this life that God may be pleased to spare us by extenuating our sufferings in those purifying flames agreeable to that of B. St. Bernard Serm. 6. tribulat in fine Oh would to God some man would now before-hand provide for my head abundance of water and to mine eyes a fountain of tears for so haply the burning fire should take no hold where running tears had cleansed before Chap. 4. Proving that none of the Holy Fathers of the Old Law enjoyed Heaven till Christ came and that there was a distinct place where they waited for their Redemption by his coming REason doth tell us and experience will justifie the same that all the glorious and splendid things of this world are obtained with much difficulty and travel so that scarce the tythepart of men have the fruition of them and is it not to be lamented that we have so poor and beggerly apprehensions of heavenly glory as to think it requires no difficulty no patience nor no suffering to obtain that Kingdom the contrary will plainly appear when I shall prove by Scripture that no soul from Adam till Christ dyed enjoyed heavenly Glory but suffered with long patience and expectation till they were redeemed by the precious Blood of our Saviour and so freed from their long captivity conformable to Saint Paul who writing of our Saviour Christ Ephes 4. v. 8.9 saith When he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men And again Now that he ascended what is it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth Now I would from these words have every Protestant consider these two things First to what place Christ descended after his Death and secondly who they were that he led with him captive at his ascension from that place It is clear to all Christians that Christ did not descend to the Hell of the damned to release them from any captivity for as I said before there is no redemption for them what other thing can be concluded but that he went to release them which could not be saved till then for is it not madness to think that any people went to Heaven before Christ had redeemed them with his precious blood next you shall see what St. Peter saith concerning this point 1 Pet. 3. Ver. 18. Ver. 19. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit by which also he went and preacht unto the spirits in prison Now what can be desired more plain then this showing so plainly that when Christs flesh lay dead his spirit preacht to those that were long in expecting of him in a prison to them that sighed so long for his coming the same did the Prophet Zachariah foretel where speaking to Sion Behold Zach. 9. ver 9. saith he thy King cometh he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an Ass and upon a Colt the foal of an Ass here he speaks of Christs coming and in the other verse Ver. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy Covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein was no water Now what pit can this be imagined to be but this place where these holy men were in which he prophesies that Christ at his coming to Sion would deliver them out and if we consider this point as we ought to do we shall finde it to be an Article of our Creed Article 4. of our Creed which saith He descended into Hell the third day he rose again Now some object by this Hell is meant the grave but how absurdly let every one judge that considers how ridiculous it is to think Christs soul should remain in the Grave his Body we grant did so but his glorious Spirit went to perform what before had been said of him according to his own most blessed words when he said That as Jonas was three dayes and three nights in the belly of the whale so shall the Son of man be three dayes and three nights in the heart of the earth so his body as I said was in the Grave and his Soul in the other place which is commonly called Hell because it is believed to be under the earth as the Hell of the damned is Now this place may suffice to any reasonable Christian yet I shall propose one or two things more to your considerations as first concerning Lazarus John 11. v. 42 43. who was dead and buried four dayes and was raised to life by our Saviour I hope none will say he was in Hell with the damned and had he been in Heaven you may be sure his Sisters had a better sense of that Glory then to wish him upon earth again and if he had been
ravening Wolves But again our Saviour saith in Saint Marks Gospel Mark 10. v. 29 30. There is no man that hath left house or lands or Wife and Children for my sake and the Gospels but he shall receive an hundred fold here and in the world to come eternal life Thus in many places is this truth made so clear to us by Christ himself that I hope none will be so much an Infidel as to practice the contrary But further to show you this truth observe this notable place concerning this point where our Saviour speaking concerning the general day of Judgement declares for what causes some are saved and some damned for to the just he saith Mat. 25. v. 34. Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you and then in the next verse he tells them for what causes they are made eternally happy Ver. 35. For I was a hungry and you gave me meat I was thirsty and you gave me drink naked and you clothed me c. And the reasons why them on his left hand received the sentence of hell fire was because they did not do these good works which the other had done Ver. 41 42. and so as the just by good deeds had obtained heaven so the wicked by their evil ones had obtained hell Now I verily think that if a Heathen or Jew should read this Book they would say it was rather made for instructing them in the Faith of Christ then for those that profess themselves Christians and to believe the Bible and yet to deny all this thus proved by the Bible Now having proved this by the words of Christ we will see what Saint Paul his Apostle saith who I will warrant you is of the same minde as you shall see by his words to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 3. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour by which words it is plain that every man shall receive his reward according as he hath himself deserved And in the second to Timothy he saith I have fought the good fight I have kept the faith Chap. 4. v. 7.8 henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which God the righteous judge will give me at that day and to all that love his appearing Now here we see that Saint Paul knew his reward for those good works and declares that all that loves Gods appearing shall be rewarded at the last day And more in his Epistle to the Hebrews Heb. 6. v. 10. he speaks to the purpose in this point That God is not unrighteous to forget you work and labour of love which ye have shewed towards his name in that ye have ministred to the Saints Now you may perceive St. Pauls Opinion which was that it would seem unjust in God if he should not reward our good works but as certain it is that God cannot be unjust so is it as certain that he will reward our good deeds done in communion with his Church which if our works did not deserve or merit we should receive no reward at all but on the contrary receive an eternal punishment Again Saint John Evangelist saith in the Revelation Rev. 3. v. 4. To him that shall overcome shall thus be invested in white Garments and I will not put his name out of the Book of Life and I will confess his name before my Father and before his Angels And again Ver. 12. He that shall overcome I will make him a pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go out no more And in another place he saith Ver. 21. To him that shall overcome will I grant to sit with me in my Throne I might and could produce many more places out of holy Scripture to this purpose but they that will not believe these will not care for ten thousand proofs made against their perverse principles but I will onely advise those that have any care of their salvation to consider first what Gods word which is truth it self declares to them And secondly what the practise of our Church is in this and other points of Religion and how agreeable to the same word as is clearly shown for in reason onely is this apparent to all Christians that if God as he doth inspire us to do all our good works then must needs those works be meritorious because God inspired them to be done and hath promised to reward the doing of them according to that of Saint John Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life Rev. 22. v. 12. And behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according to his work Chap. 11. Proving that Gods Church cannot Erre in her Doctrine of Religion and so may be trusted in by every Christian contrary to Protestants opinion DID the Adversaries of Gods Church but consider with themselves what authority and courage and order it hath exercised for this sixteen hundred years they would surely conclude that no government but that of Gods holy Spirit could ever perform the like for by its authority it hath alwayes supprest and beaten down Heresies and by her courage overcome all the torments and sufferings her enemies could invent to lay upon her and by her Order hath ever retained in her Members one uniform Faith and Obedience in all places where her Doctrine hath been spread which if it be granted or can be proved that Gods Holy Spirit is at all times with his Church to direct her in her Doctrine I hope none will deny but that then she is infallible and so cannot possibly be capable of Errour and that it is so shall be made manifestly to appear if you will believe Christ himself who cannot deceive us where in Saint Johns Gospel telling his Disciples that he must go to his heavenly Father to prepare them places at length he gives them and his whole Church this Consolation And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever John 14. v. 16. Now we all know that the Apostles were not to remain for ever upon earth for they are dead and gone so that this promise of Christ was to them and his Church after them which is to remain to the end of the world and in the next verse he tells them who this comforter shall be Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive Now I would fain know how Gods Church can Erre in what she declares to us of Faith Ver. 17. when Gods Holy Spirit is with it And again But the Comforter Ver. 26. which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things Now we may be sure that since the Holy Ghost is to teach the Church all things there can be nothing but Truth taught