the hatred and strifes were taken away by Iesus Christ our Lord and so god of a Iudge was made a Father Betweene God and the Angels there is another reasoÌ„ for in thys case ther was no offence or starting backe and therfore ther was no separation or alienating yet ther is two reasons why the Angels should be attoned with God For since they be creatures they wer not out of danger of stumbling but that they wer strengthed by the grace of our Lorde Iesus This now helpeth greatelye to make continual peace with God to wete to tarry in one steady state of righteousnesse so that ther be no feare of falling or reuolting or otherwyse dooing so that they might be estraÌ„ged from god Moreouer in this same obedience whiche they yeld to God it is certayn that there caÌ„not be so exquisite or so perfit a perfitnesse as may thorowly and in al respects satisfie God so that they shuld neede no pardon And for that consideration is it that good Iob sayd God shall finde wickednesse in hys Angels So whatsoeuer perfecte cleannesse a man may finde out if it be broughte before the Iustice of God it shall be but vncleannesse Wherefore let vs conclude that the Angels haue not so perfect righteousnesse as sufficeth to â—oyne theÌ„ wholy with God Wherfor they haue nede of a peace and attonement maker by whose grace they may cleaue fully vnto God 31 My flesh is verely meate Ioan. 6. The flesh profiteth nothing Ioan. 6. THAT is very true which is sayd in the 36 Psalme to weâ—e that the spring of life resteth in God and no man can iustly vaunt hym to haue lyfe but in somuch as it is breathed into him by God But bicause the maiesty of God should be as a hydden fountayne as in dede it is farre aboue oure knowledge it is openly shewed foorth in Iesu Christ in him we haue a clere welspring whereout we may drawe we may see it by that whiche is sayed Ioan. 6 â–ª that as y â— father hath life in himselfe so he hath geuen to hys sonne to haue life in himself Wherby he sheweth that he only is the fountaine of life and that by his voice and word he spredeth thys life on al men for life would not flow from his mouth vnto vs if he had not in himself the cause and originall of it for it is not sayed that God hath life in himselfe only bicause he oÌ„ly liueth of his owne power but also bicause that hauing in himself fulnesse of life he geueth lyfe to all thinges So hee woulde not haue life to be as it were hidde and buried in himself And for this cause he hath yelded it ouer vnto his sonne that so it might fal downe vpon vs. Now then this life is poured into y e flesh of Iesu Christ so that whosoeuer seeketh life els where shal finde Death The soules then finde no wher but in his flesh the meate wherw t they are fedde into euerlasting life This is a wonderful secret of God that in our flesh he hath offred vs life wher before there was but mater of Death and by that meane he prouideth for our infirmity and weaknes when to enioy life he calleth vs not aboue the cloudes but displaies it vâ—on earth as if he drew vs into the secrete places of his kingdom In the meane time correcting the â—Oâ—tinesse and pride of our mindes he tryeth the lowlinesse and obedience of our fayth His wil is that to finde lyfe we shuld stay on the flesh of his soÌ„ne whiche in shewe is litle to be regarded As the body waxeth weake and dryeth vp when the ordinary fode is taken from it so if the soule be not fed with y â— flesh of the sonne of God which is the heauenly foode it wil sodainely sterue for hunger When we seeke the matter of lyfe in the fleshe of Iesus Christ then we finde life in hym So the glory and excellency of the children of God is in Christ crucified for that as sone as we turne vs back from the sacrifice of hys death we can finde nothing but death and there is no other meane by which the faythful are brought to the knowledge of his power but by his death resurrection If then we wil the sonne shall shewe hymselfe vnto vs to be the head and authour of life we muste receaue hym as the seruaunt of hys Father For we are made rich in all sorte of good thinges in that he empouerished and abased hymselfe hys humbling of hymselfe and hys going downe into Hell hath lifted vs vppe into heauen by taking on hym the curse of the cros hee hath raysed vppe a triumphaunte bowe in token of glorye and victorye But now Christ hymself sayeth of hys flesh that it profiteth nothyng Yet in so speakyng bee doothe not exclude alyke all profyte of the fleshe as thoughe there were no profyte to be taken of it Hee sayeth it profiteth nothing when it is parted from the spirite Whence proceedeth it that it geueth lyfe but inasmuche as it is spyrituall They that stycke at the earthy nature of hys fleshe shal fynde nothing in it but that that is Deade But when wee lyfte vppe oure eyes to the strengthe oâ— the spirite which is spread vpon the fleshe wee shall there fynde effectuously and by the experience of Faythe that it is notte wyth oute cause that it is called quyckenyng Well then wee maye wel saye that the flesh of Iesus Christ is verelye meate and yet for al that it profyteth nothinge It is meate bycause wee gette lyfe by it bycause that in it God hath bene reconcyled vnto vs bycause in it we fynde all the parts of our Saluation accomplished It profiteth nothing if it be considered according to it own nature and beginning For the sede of Abraham whiche of it selfe is subiecte to Deathe can not geue life but it receaueth of the spirite that wherwith we may be fedde For our part to the ende we may eate we must bring with vs a spiritual mouthe of fayth before we can be truly norished or sustayned by it now the selfsame flesh is not immortal of it selfe Moreouer it belongeth not to the nature of it in any wise to quickeÌ„ souls yet though this vertue yrocede from els wher notwithstanding it letteth not this title to belong to it Euen as the euerlasting word of God is the spring and fouÌ„tain of life so the 〈◊〉 that is in him in his diuinity commeth from the flesh of hys sonne euen vnto vs as by a pipe But we shal yet better vnderstand this if we marke what is the cause of life to were righteousnesse Thoughe righteousnesse come not but from God yet it caÌ„not be clearly shewed vnto vs but in the flesh of his sonne for in the same the redemptioÌ„ of men was fully ended in the same the sacrifyce was offered to wype out synnes in the same the obedience was yelded to God by which he was
rule of prayeng to God they haue al in one maner that whych is requisite for the profession of theyr fayth Nowe the meane by whych al the flocke of God is gathered together is when there is but one shepheard for all and when hys voyce onely is heard when the Churche is made subiect to Christ onely and obeyeth his cōmaundement and heareth his voyce and his doctrin then is it in good state But when the Lord Iesus is dumme when his maiesty is troden vnder fote when hys holy ordinances are set forth to be mocked at and contemned what can a man saye of that goodly vnitye but that it is a diuilish Sinagoge or cōspiracy worse and more execrable with out all comparison than anye waste or spoyle There is no Church but where Christ raygneth there is no knowlege of God but wher the honor of the shephearde is geuen vnto Christ But the other sentence sheweth that al the disorders that are thys day in the world shalbe brought agayn into good ordre There are Hypocrites mired w t the true chyldren of God they haue sō shew to be of the flock and are among the sheepe but when the sonne of God shall come to restore them the goates shall be put apart and cast 〈◊〉 and the shepe shal be gathered together into the eternal Kingdome of God The state of this Kingdome shall be wel gouerned when the iust shall haue obtayned the crowne of glorie and when the wycked shalbe recompenced as they haue deserued Now this diuision which shall be of goates from among the lambes signifieth that nowe ther ar wicked mired among the good yea in suche 〈◊〉 that they liue as in one self folde So the faithful must not thinke their state ouer troublesom bycause as nowe they bee constrained to liue with the goates yea and that at their hand they endure terrible assautes and displeasures 64 God rested the seuenth day from al the vvorkes that he had made Gensi◠2 ▪ My Father vvorketh euen tyll thys houre Ioan. 6. A MAN muste vnderstande what the rest of God is and then he shal easly resolue this doubt when it is sayd that he rested the seuenth day that is not to say that he left his workes so as he hath no more care of them as if a master Mason or Carpenter hauing finished the building of his house shuld leaue it to him that could ocupy it not caring any more for it or as a shippe-wright afterthat he hath finished a vessel should geue it ouer to the waues of the sea not caring what shoulde betide of it So the reste or Sabat of God is not a sluggishnesse or idlenesse but a sound perfection which bringeth with it a quiet state of rest God then rested from al his workes that is to saye hee ceassed from creating of new kindes of any thing There was so sounde a perfection that nothing coulde bee added Wherfore it is said that God hath set to the last hand And that which is recited by Moises is asmuche as if hee had said that which God was determined to do was thē fulfilled To be short this is spoken onely to shewe the perfectnesse of the building of the worlde so that heere of a manne coulde notte gather that God so rested frō his workes that he hath left them of seing they haue no vertue or force nor substance but in hym In the meane tyme it is certayne that God worketh and is occupied continualy in that he vpholdeth the world by hys power that he gouerneth it by hys prouidence that he maintaines al creaturs in their being and also multiplies them Thereby a man may see how true thys sentence of the Sonne is My Father worketh from the beginnyng euen tyll now for if God neuer so litle wythdrawe hys hand all thinges shal perysh in a momente and shall be strayghtways brought to naught as it is sayd in the. 104. Psalme Besydes a man could not well know that God is the creatour and fashioner of heauen and earth except this be attributed vnto hym that he geueth strēgth and quickening to al things that he sustaineth the world by hys hygh vertue that he gouerneth it by his hyghe councel and mayntayneth it by his goodnesse and stayeth al things acording to his good pleasure as well beneath here in earth as there aboue in heauē Lo thē how it behoueth vs to conclude the makyng of the world was perfect in syx dayes but the gouerning it dureth for euer God is continualy busied to maintayn and cōserue the ordre of the same This is that which Saint Paul sayth Act. 17 that we lyue and haue our mouyng and beeing in God And he not onely mayntayneth by a generall prouidence the nature whych he hath created but also he gouerneth and ordreth euery parte of it And chiefly hys faythfull be gouerned and kept by him whome he hath receiued vnder his defence and safegard 65 It is appoynted for men that they should once dye Hebr. 9. VVhosoeuer beleueth in me shall neuer dye Ioan. 2. ALthoughe we had no wytnesse of the Scripture yet our own fraylnesse doothe warne vs enoughe of the truth of thys sentence that it is ordained that al men shal once dye The riches the honor the dignity strēgth of men nor whatsoeuer there is beside can redeme a man from this conditiō And this argument is infallible wher sinne is there is death al men are sinners it foloweth then that al men shal die we nede no other reason to proue that all that went beefore vs were sinners but that by Death they were taken out of this world and that we also and they which shall followe vs be sinners but that it is decreed by the sentence of God that we and they shal die Death is the hyer or rewarde of synne But now that which is said hetherto extendeth vnto the Deathe of the bodie for the body is subiect to Death bicause of sinne Furthermore we must vnderstand how Christ protesteth so often times that he is life and how he saith els where that Who so beleueth in hym are now already raysed from Death to Lyfe that they shall neuer dye He speaketh of the soules of his faithfull whiche are begotten anewe with an vncorruptible sede and whiche haue the spirite of Christ dwelling in them by whiche they receue continuall force The body is subiect to dy bycause of sinne but this spirit is life bicause of righteousnesse Rom. 5. Then Iesu Christ is the life bicause he neuer suffreth the life to decay which he hath once geuen but conserueth it to y ◠end Seing the fleshe is so fraile what wold befal of men if after they haue once obtayned life they were lefte to themselues Therfore we muste conclude that there is a continuall and permanente state of lyfe grounded in the strengthe of Iesus Christ to the end he may perfourm that which he hath once begon This is verye true that the outewarde
Iesu Christ in the seconde place speaketh of hys Gospell when he maketh protestation that he spake not of hymselfe but hys father that sente hym he hymselfe gaue commaundement to hys sonne of y ◠whiche he shoulde saye and speake And he addeth that he knoweth well that thys commaundement is eternall lyfe To vnderstande thys opposition it behoueth vs to returne to that which Saint Paule sayeth in the self place 2. Cor. 3. the lawe was written in tables of stone Then it was but a doctryne of y ◠letter Thys lacke in the lawe was to be amended by the Gospel for so long as it was engraued in tables of stone it must needes be frayle The Gospel then is holy vnbreakeable attonement forasmuche as it was ratifyed by the holy ghost In steade then that the lawe is the minister of death and damnation the Gospel by which men are regenerated and reconciled to God by y e free forgeuenesse of synnes is the minister of ryghteousnesse and consequentlye of lyfe It was sayd that the office of the law is to set forth the sicknesse but not to shewe what remedy a mā might haue to heale it But the offyce of the Gospel is to geue to the hopelesse a redy remedy It was shewed that y e lawe leauyng a man to hymself geues pronounceth sentence of death but y ◠Gospell brynging vs to Iesu Christ opens the gare of lyfe So a man may say at a woorde that thys is a continual accident to the lawe to kil bycause all they that abyde vnder it ar vnder the curse But in the Gospel the iustice of God is reueled from fayth to fayth and therefore it is the power of God to saluation to euery one that beleueth 69 The lavve is the minister of death 2. Cor. 3. The lavve of the Lorde refresheth the soule the testimony of the Lorde geueth vvysedome to the ignorante his commaundement lyghteneth the eyes Psal 1◠HERE before a mā myght see how the lawe is the minister of death not that it is such in it self for perfect ryghteousnesse is contayned in it and by consequent life is inclosed in it But suche it is in vs whiche be weake and not able to fulfyll it and as breakers of it not able to drawe any thyng out of it but death whiche it pronounceth to all those that shall not do y e thinges whiche are therin contayned If nowe we wil agree these two sentences we must adde to them that whiche Saint Paule hymselfe addeth in thys thyrd Chapter of y e second to y ◠Corrinthians to wete that oure Lorde is the spirite He had sayd before of the lawe that the letter killeth but y ◠spirite ioyned with the letter quickeneth The doctryne of the law is litteral and not onely dead but also the geuer of death Contrarywyse he calleth Christ y ◠spirite of it sygnifying therby that then it shalbe quicke and quicknyng when it shal be breathed in by Christ Let the soule bee ioyned with the body and of those two shal be made a man quycke garnyshed with sense and vnderstandyng and mete for all workes of lyfe Take awaye and part the soule frō the body and it shal be but a carrayn dead without any felyng at al. Now a man may accord these prayses whiche Dauyd geues to the lawe with these sentences of Saint Paule For when Christ is ioyned to the law as the soule with the bodye the prayses which Dauyd geueth it belong to it it lighteneth the eies it geueth wisedome to little ones it refresheth the soule Take away and seperate Christ from the lawe and it shal remayne dead and the minister of death and damnation Then Christ is the lyfe of the lawe These thinges verely seme to be cōtrary altogether one agaynst another that the lawe recreateth the soules and yet it is a dead letter and geueth death that it lyghteneth the eyes and yet it suppresseth the lyghte which is wythin hauyng a Veyle set agaynst it that it reioyseth the heartes and the spirites and yet brynging a spirite of bondage it astonneth and agasteth But Dauyd speaketh not symply of the bare commaundements but he comprehendeth al the league by which God had adopted the childrē of Abraham for his people And therefore he ioyneth the fres promyses of saluation with the rule of well liuyng yea Christ hymselfe vpon whom the adoption was grounded Saint Paule whoe had to doe with the peruerse interpretours of y e law which dyd separate it from the grace and spirite of Christ doth but touch the symple ministery of Moyses Now it is very certayne that when the lawe is not quickened by the spirite of Christ it is not only vnprofitable but also it bryngeth death to y e scholars of it For without Christ there is in the lawe nothing but an vnintreatable rigoure whiche bringeth all mankynde vnder y ◠wrath and curse of God Moreouer the rebellion of the fleshe taryeth remaynyng in vs whiche inflameth in vs an obstinate hatred agaynst God and his law and thence procedeth thys weary bondage and horrour 70 Novv vvhy tempt you God in laying a yoke on the neckes of hys Dysciples vvhich neyther our fathers nor vve haue bene able to beare Acte 15. And his commaundements are not heauye 1. Ioan 5. OVR own experience and the holy scriptures sufficiently beare witnesse y ◠the yoke of the law is more thā we can beare Moreouer it is clere y t bicause the renouncing of our self is as it were a trial of the true obseruation of y ◠law We dare not say y ◠it is easye for a man to renounce hymself but rather seyng the lawe is spiritual as Saint Paule saith of our part we ar nothyng but fleshe ther must nedes be a great difference beetwene y e lawe of God and vs. And where Saint Peter sayeth it is a yoke whiche not oure fathers were able to beare he speaketh not of y ◠onely which men haue accomplished but also of y ◠which they myght haue done Neyther speaketh he of any cōmon persons but of y ◠holy fathers seth he sayth that such coulde not beare the yoke of the lawe it appeareth that it is impossible for mē to beare it Here he medleth not only with the woorkes and will of men but also with theyr power abilitye With this also Saint Paule agreeth affyrmyng that it was impossible for the lawe to geue vs life bicause it was weake through y ◠fleshe If any man can performe the lawe certaynly he shall fynde in it the lyfe whiche was promysed in it But when Saint Paule sayth that lyfe cannot be attayned by the lawe a man may well conclude that in it is requyred a righteousnesse so hygh and perfect as man can not accomplyshe If a man looke vpon nothyng ells but the strength of mans nature not only he shall not bee strong ynough to beare the yoke of the law but also he shal
be vnable to moue hys little fynger to fulfyll the least iote of it These sentences are very certayn and true that al the thoughts of mans vnderstandyng are peruerse euen frō chyldehode y ◠al the senses of the fleshe are enemies to God that there is none that seketh God and many other lyke which ar often found in the scriptures A man then may conclude that not only mans abilitye is weake and vnperfect touchyng the fulfylling of y e lawe but also y ◠he hath no strength or power at al to accomplishe it What is then to be vnderstode of Saint Iohns wordes who sayth that the commaundements of God are not heauy This is the answere that the hardnesse procedeth not at al from the lawe but from the fault of our fleshe Thys is that whiche was alledged by Saint Paule whoe after he had sayd it was not possible for the lawe to iustifye vs byandby after layeth the fault on our fleshe Saint Paul in these sentences which haue ben here aboue alledged compareth the lawe with the faultie nature of man Dauid in other places which seme to bee very contrary to the fyrst sheweth how they are mynded and affectioned which are regenerate by the holy ghost thei take great pleasure in it And in dede Saint Iohn restraynes thys sentence to the children of God saying that thys commeth of the power of the holy ghost that it is no grefe to the faythfull to obey God Yet hereunto a man may reply that althoughe the faythfull are gouerned and regenerate by the spirite of God yet haue they a harde fyght to sustayne agaynst their own fleshe And let them enforce themselues the most they can yet scarcely shal they do halfe their dutye And besyde there is thys withal that they are oftentime shaken and ar ready almoste to fall downe vnder the burden We see whereabout Saint Paule that greate and excellent Apostle went He complayneth that he was kepte captyne mournes accompting hymself to be in miserable case in that he can not serue God with a franke will But consyder whye the lawe is called softe and easy it is forasmuch as beyng defended with heauenly power we ouercōme the concupiscence of our fleshe For howsoeuer the fleshe stryueth the faythfull see that there is nothyng that maye more delyght them than the seruyng obeying and folowing of God But yet that thys may be better vnderstode it behoueth vs to Ioyne with these commaundementes y e fatherly goodnesse of God by whiche the rigour of the lawe is asswaged So when we knowe that God beareth fauourably with vs although we can not fulfyll the lawe with oure workes yet thys goodnesse maketh vs readyer to obeye hym And thys is that whiche is sayd in the. 130. Psalme Forgeuenesse is with thee O Lorde that thou shouldest bee feared and redoubted So a man maye perceaue hereby y ◠the lawe is softe easy to kepe And if it chaunce y ◠faythful to fal in some sorte yet their heart fayles thē not bycause y ◠pardō holdeth thē vp 71 No man euer hated hys fleshe Ephes 5. They that are of Christ haue crucified their fleshe Gal 5. THese two sentences are altogether different but not contrary at all The Prophet Esay willing to shew what one man oweth to another saith Dispyse not thy flesh we ar bones flesh one of another we ar of one self shape nature We can vse no violence or do wrong to another except we defile our own shape nature whyle wee scorne other the rebuke is on oure selfe Though thys bee spoken of the cōmon nature of al men yet Saint Paule applying thys sentence to the coniunction whiche is betwene a man and his wife passeth farther forth shewing that ther is not betwene them a coniuntion only by likenesse of nature but also y ◠bonde of mariage which maketh thē both one He then formeth hys argument bringing it from nature it self to exhort husbandes to loue their wyues For there is no man but that naturally loueth himself no man can loue hymself vnlesse he loue hys wife also in asmuch as his wife is hys own fleshe What letteth thys but that we may say that they which are of Christ haue crucifyed their fleshe For is not the crucifying of the fleshe a hatyng it or rather tamyng it to the end y ◠it turne not a man awaye from hys saluation And thys is our true Christendome as touching our lyfe that we make not a false profession to be Christians That is to say that thys faulty flesh be mortified which is a worke of the crosse of the Sonne of God for it is not the propre worke of men but by the grace of God we are graffed in the fellowshyp of the death of Christ to the ende wee shoulde lyue no more after our owne appetite So then we enioy the pryuyledge of Gods chyldren when wee are buried with Christe through a true renouncing of our self and abolishing of the olde man not that flesh is altogether destroyed but bicause it may not haue rule but rather must geue place to the spirit What contrariety or dyscorde is there betweene these two sentences 72 They haue not receyued the promises Hebr. 1◠They haue obtayned the promises Hebr. 11 ALTHOVGH god remayn true thoughe we all should be vnfaythful yet our vnfaithfulnes maketh the promises to bee vnto vs vayne and without effect Faith contrarywise maketh men to haue experience of Godds truth in al hys promises So it is sayed that the fathers obtayned the promyses of God But it behoueth vs to adde that which is there also added It is saied in the same Chapiter that Abraham offred hys onely sōne after that he had receaued the promises It seemed that in the deathe of Isaac al the promises shuld ceasse For it was sayd thy seede shalbe called in Isaac Furthermore we must not consider Isaac as som priuate man among other but as hym that had Christ inclosed in hym But Abraham had so receaued the promises by faith that he gaue such honor to god that had made the promise that he was able to rayse his sonne Isaac from the dead Now then he reiecteth not y e promysse that had bene made but he stretcheth the vertue and the truth of it farder thā the lyfe of his sonne for he limiteth not the power of God within so strayght bonds as though it should be tied or buried in y e death of Isaac Loe how he was not afterward disapointed of y e truth of y e promises But now let vs see how the same Apostle saith y t the fathers receaued not the promisses He speaketh not simply but by cōparison sheweth what difference is betweene the fathers of olde tyme and vs where God aboundantly poureth forth hys grace vpon vs he gaue them onely a taste of it wher he sheweth hymselfe as it were presente to oure eyes hee shewed them from a farre in the darke the
signifieth Goddes Iudgemente as thoughe hee sayed that we were condemned before God And we were such by nature that is to say from our byrth and from our Mothers wombe And if the Iewes were for a while the blessed seede yet as touching nature they wer like vnto other the difference was onely herein that God dealing graciously with them deliuered them from distruction but thys was a remedye that followed the il But howe soeuer man eauyl the Holye Ghoste pronounceth that there is neyther Iewe nor Greeke but are al by nature subiect to condemnation And if we be of nature worthy of condemnation it followeth then that sinne hath the firste and chiefe place in euery one of vs for God is not angrye but agaynste synne And the other sentence of the seuenth Chapiter of the fyrste to the Corinthes tendeth to a diuerse end for it is spoken of the holinesse of Mariage The band of mariage is singular The wife is the half part of the houseband there be two in one flesh there the housebande is the wiues hed ther the woman is her husbandes fellow in al things It seemeth thē that a faythful man cānot dwel w t an vnfaythful wyfe or contrarywyse but that by so strict a knotte the faythfull muste bee polluted but Mariage leaueth not therefore to bee holy neyther muste thou feare the infection as though the beleuing part were defiled by the vnbeleuing And beholde the argument is brought from the effecte If the Mariage were defiled the chyldren which should come of it should be vncleane but they be holy it foloweth then that the Mariage is holy Euen therefore as the vnbeliefe of the one of the twayn either of the father or of the mother letteth not but that y ◠children are borne holy so also it letteth not but that the Mariage is holy How then shal we agree this sētence with the other that of nature wee are the children of wrath or with this sentence of Dauid Beholde I am conceyued in sinne As it hath bene sayed before ther is an vniuersall encreasing of synne and Damnation in the seede of Adam All then from the fyrst to the laste are shut in vnder thys curse whether they be descended from the faythfull or frō the vnfaythful for the faythful get not children accordyng to the fleshe in asmuche as they are regenerate by the holy ghost There is therfore in al one equall state and condition of nature so that they are subiect as wel vnto sinne as to eternal death But where the holy ghost geueth here a special pryuilege to the faythful that procedeth from the benefyte of the league and when thys grace foloweth y t former course of nature is blotted out and they which before were prophaned and foule of nature are now sanctifyed and halowed to God by grace 97 Clensyng it in the lauer of vvater by the vvord Ephe. 5. The bloude of Iesu Christ clenseth vs from al synne ◠Ioan. 1. WE muste not let passe that whiche was sayd before to wete that the Sonne of God gaue himselfe for hys Churche to the end he might sanctifie it from al vncleānesse which thing is done throughe the forgeuenesse of synnes and by the regeneration of the spirite the sanctifycation is inwarde but hee addeth an outwarde sygne in which the cōfyrmation appeareth that is that the pledge of this sanctification was offered in baptisme but it is not ment that we should make vs an Idol of baptysme We are washed cleane sayth Saint Paule by baptysme but it is bycause God in it geueth vs a testimony of our washyng and in y ◠same instante doth that whiche he representeth vnto vs. For if the truth were adioyned to the sygne thys were no fytt manner of speakyng to saye baptysme is a washing of the soule for who is so blockheaded to graunt that y e outward sygne which is water hath in it y ◠power to clense the ordures of the soule if there wer nothing els in the baptysme but water And a man could not truly saye that baptysme is the washyng of soules The true and onely washing of them is the bloude of our Lorde Iesu which is applyed vnto vs by y ◠power grace of y ◠holy ghost And we must beware y t we geue not ouer to the outwarde sygne to the figure or to y e minister y ◠which belongeth to God only The minister ought not to be accounted y ◠author of thys washyng nor water to bee estemed as the washyng of soules for y ◠belongeth only to y ◠bloud of the sonne of God Besyde we must take hede y ◠we in no wyse trust eyther in y e element or in y e man seyng y ◠only lawfull vse of y e sacrament is to leade vs straight as it were by the hande to Christ there to staye vs. So. S. Iohn sayth that it is the bloud of Christ that washeth vs from all vncleānesse he excepteth nothing to the end y ◠no part of oure washyng howe little soeuer it bee should be attributed to any thyng ells For thys is y ◠cause of our clensyng y ◠Christ hath blotted out al our offences with hys bloude to the end y ◠faythfull should be assured y ◠they are pleasyng vnto hym bycause he is appeased towardes thē by y e sacrifyce of y e death of his sonne And this sacrifyce cōtaineth vnder it clensyng washing and sanctification wherfore y ◠power workyng of al these thyngs belongeth onely to y ◠bloud of Christ But albeit it be God y ◠clenseth by the bloud of hys sonne and that it is not lawfull to transporte hys glory to y e sygne or to impart it to the figure neuerthelesse ther is no inconuenience or absurditie in saying y ◠God vseth y ◠sygne as an instrument not y t y e power of God is inclosed in y ◠figure but bicause according to the conceiuīg of smalnesse weaknesse he dystributes his vertu by such an aide And God so workes by y ◠sygne that the whylest al the vertue and efficacye of the sygne dependeth on the spyrite of God and that is to the ende we shoulde not feare that any thyng is taken from the holy ghost whiche belongeth vnto hym for ther is nothyng therby attributed to the sygne more than that it is an inferiour instrumente vnprofitable of it self sauyng in asmuch as it borroweth hys vertue els where 98 VVho can forgeue synnes but only God Marc. 2. VVhose synnes soeuer you haue forgeuē they are forgeuen vvhose soeuer you haue kept they are kepte Ioan. 20. CHrist hauyng healed the gowtye sayed to hym man thy synnes are forgeuen thee The scribes hypocryte Pharisies hearyng it althoughe he had spoken nothyng but what the Prophets were wonte to say whē they bare witnesse of the grace of God they murmure notwithstandyng blame Christ as thoughe he had spoken blasphemy and of a