Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	law_n	sin_n	sinful_a	4,258	5	10.1705	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17308	Truth's triumph ouer Trent: or, the great gulfe betweene Sion and Babylon That is, the vnreconcileable opposition betweene the Apostolicke Church of Christ, and the apostate synagogue of Antichrist, in the maine and fundamentall doctrine of iustification, for which the Church of England Christs spouse, hath iustly, through Gods mercie, for these manie yeares, according to Christs voyce, separated her selfe from Babylon, with whom from henceforth she must hold no communion. By H.B. rector of S. Mathews Friday-Street.	Burton, Henry, 1578-1648.	1629 (1629)	STC 4156; ESTC S107077	312,928	398

and the other side that it made not against them The Decrees being not vnlike an artificiall indented picturetable which to him that lookes full vpon it presents one kinde of forme or face to him that stands on the one side another forme and to him on the other side a third Or like a plaine picture which hanging on the wall although the posture of the face be set one way yet it seemes to cast equall aspect vpon euery one in the roome Thus is verified that of Guido Clemens Priest and Cardinall of St. Potentiana who saith that in the Church of Rome there is quaedam radix duplicitatis simplicitati columbae contraria a certaine roote of doublenesse which is contrary to the doues simplicitie To conclude this point of Popish preparation it is so farre from fitting and disposing a man to receiue the grace of iustification grace of iustification being rightly vnderstood as it is a maine impediment and stumbling blocke in the way vnto it For where●● this preparation of theirs aduanceth mans free-will and other naturall powers to the attainment of grace what doth this else but puffe a man vp with a conceit of himselfe that he is in a better state than indeed he is as hauing something ●ft in him which being helped by some motion of common ●r I wot not what grace is able to leade him to the full pos●●ssion of grace and so of glory Gregory faith well Hee that ●owes not his disease how doth he seek to the Physitian for the greater the fault is being the sooner acknowledged it is the more speedily ●●ended but the lesser sinne while it is deemed to be as it were none 〈◊〉 all is so much the worse and more securely kept in vro If Saint ●●ul speaking in the person of a regenerate man as exercised ●●th the combate betweene the flesh and the spirit com●●aines that in him that is in his flesh dwels no good thing ●●en what good thing can there be in any vnregenerate man ●o dispose him to any grace whose imaginations of his heart ●●e onely euill continually They are euill and onely euill and that continually onely euill If corrupt Nature haue yet any thing left ●o brag off if any free-will to this grace whereof we speake ●● here is that conuicting power of the Law that makes sinne out of measure sinfull That casts a man downe in the sense of his misery causing him to cry out Wretched man that I am ●●o shall deliuer me from this bodie of death How shall a man come to Christ wearie and laden that he may be refreshed How comes the vngodly to be iustified if hee bring any meritto dispose him thereunto How shall the Law then be our Schoolmaster to bring vs to Christ who came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Wee need none other testimony to con●ince this Pontifician puffe-doctrine of preparatory workes to bee at the least Cousin germaine to that of the Pelagians than the Councell of Trent it selfe The Pelagians held that some men vsing the reason of their owne will haue or doe liue in this world without any sinne To this agreeth that Canon of Trent If any shall say that all workes done before iustification howsoeuer they bee done are truely sinnes and deserue the hatred of God let him be accursed Compare now the Pelagian and Pontifician doctrine together and one egge is not liker another All workes done before iustification are not truely sinnes say the Trent-Fathers therefore the workes of the Pelagian heretickes done before or without iustification whatsoeuer or howsoeuer done are no sinnes as they taught Shall St. Austine be vmpire in this case Pelagianorum sententia est sine vllo peccato aliquos homines iam ratione propriae voluntatis vtentes in hoc saeculo vixisse vel viuere Optandum est vt fiat conandum est vt fiat supplicandum est vt fiat non tamen quasi factum fuerit confidendum est Qui seipsum talem putat ipse se decipit veritas in eo non est non ob aliud nisi quia falsum putat It is the opinion of the Pelagians that some men by vsing the reason of their owne will haue and doe liue in this world without sinne It were to be wished so it were to be laboured for it is to be prayed for yet not to be beleeued as if it were so He that thinkes himselfe such a one deceiueth himselfe and the truth is not in him for no other cause but because he deemeth falsely And in another place hee saith Si Gentilis inquis nudum operuit nunquid quia non est ex fide peccatum est Prorsus in quantum non est ex fide peccatum est non quia per seipsum factum quod est nudum operire peccatum est sed in tali opere non in Domino gloriari solus impius negat esse peccatum Nam quamuis bona malè tamen facit ideo negare non potes eum peccare qui malè quodlibet facit Fructus bonos non facit arbor mala An dicis hominem infidelem arborem bonam If a Heathen saist thou shall couer the naked is it therefore a sin because it is not of faith Certainly in as much as it is not of faith it is sinne not in regard of the worke it selfe which is to clothe the naked is it a sin but in such a worke not to glory in the Lord only the wicked man denieth this to be a sin For although he doth good yet he doth it ill therefore thou canst not deny that he sinneth that doth any thing ill An euill tree doth not beare good fruit Doest thou call an vnfaithfull man a good tree Note here St. Augustine condemnes all workes for sinnes that are not done in the state of grace but in the state of nature and infidelity Therefore St. Augustine is anathematized of the Church of Rome for saying that all workes done before iustification are indeede sinns But whereas the Pontificians may obiect that St. Augustine condemnes onely such workes as are done without faith and not those Pontifician workes of preparation wherof faith as they affirme is the roote I answer St. Augustine speaketh honestly without equiuocation for hauing to do with the Pelagians those enemies of the grace of God hee opposeth the state of grace against the state of nature shewing that whatsoeuer a man doth in the state of nature before he be in the state of grace it is sin stiling euen the best workes of these heathen moralists but splendida peccata glittering sinnes Now whatsoeuer is done before iustification is done in the state of nature consequently it is sinne in St. Augustines sense because it is the bad fruit of a bad tree As for that first grace whereby the Papists teach a man is stirred vp to prepare himselfe for iustification it doth not set a man ipso facto

tooke the purity of our nature in his conception so now hee put on the impurity of our guilty persons in his condemnation And by the way behold here a great mystery The sonne of God not only in our innocent nature by assumption but in our guilty persons by imputation stands before Pilate the Iudge to bee sentenced by him Why what if Christ had beene killed by any of the sundry attempts of the malicious lewes made vpon his person as by casting him headlong downe the steep Rocke as once they made sure account of him when they had him in the midst of them yea had laid hands on him leading him to the brow of the hill No it was not possible in regard of the purpose of Gods wisedome and iustice destinating his sonne to such a death as he must dye as Luke 24. 26. that Christ could be so put to death by all the power and malice of hell it selfe For Gods wisedome so disposed that the death of his son should be such as might bee most effectuall to satisfie and appease his fathers wrat● and giue a beleeuer sure confidence in the day of iudgement as St. Iohn speakes 1. Ioh. 2. 28. Otherwise if it had beene so that Christ had been killed in any such tumultuous manner or in hugger mugger not by a legall i●diciall proceeding against him how had his death secured vs from the terrour of Gods Tribunall Christ must dye but hee must first be sentenced and iudged to dye by a lawfull Iudge And such was Pilate For howsoeuer Pilate was a man and so subiect to be led away with passion and affection which as a bribe doth blinde the eyes euen of the wise and peruerteth the wayes of iudgement yet a lawfull Iudge hee was deputed and appointed for that Prouince by Caesar yea by a greater than Caesar euen by God himselfe for euery earthly Iudge sustains the person of God himselfe who is the Iudge of all the world Therefore Iehoshaphat in his charge to the Iudges whom he sent said Take heed what you do for ye iudge not for man but for the Lord who is with you in the iudgement And such is the iudgement and sentence which proceedeth from the mouth of an earthly Iudge as that it is to be taken receiued as the iudgement and sentence of God himself As the wise man speakes from the mouth of the holy Ghost Many seeke the Rulers fauour but euery mans iudgement co●●●th from the Lord. Euery mans iudgement Yes euery mans iudgement Nay more which is also there implyed euery iudgement whatsoeuer it bee true or false right or wrong it proceedeth shal I say from the Lord Yes from the Lord. Euery mans iudgment cōmeth from the Lord And yet many men cōplain that their cause is vniustly censur'd sentenc'd by the iudge But God is iust shal not he the Iudge of all the world do right doubtlesse he is most iust and euen that iudgement which seemeth to vs most vniust cōming from an earthly iudge yet the same iudgement comming from God is most iust We will vse no other instance but that iudgement of Pilate passed vpon the Lord Iesus Christ. Iesus Christ the innocent Lambe of God stands arraigned at the barre of Pilates iudgement-seate many accusations are brought against him but without any proofe at all And the Iudge must goe secundum allegata probata according to the allegations and proofes or else aequum licet statuerit haud aequu● fuit though hee giues a iust sentence yet himselfe is vniust Well the ●ewes with much vehemencie of mortall malice accusing Christ before Pilate but all without proofe Pilate knowing that of enuie the Iewes had deliuered him to him to bee condemned acquits Christ as an innocent person and that solemnely before them all But the Iewes at length preuailing with their wicked importunities Pilate contra probata passeth and pronounceth the sentence of condemnation vpon Christ that hee should dye A most vniust and wicked sentence if we consider the person of the Iudge Pilate a man swayed by humane affections and especially feare of men the bane of many a good cause who against his owne conscience pronounced Christ guilty and worthy of death whom he knew for no other but a most innocent person But now take mee this iudgement as-proceeding from the tribunall of God and we shall see it to bee most iust for in or with Pilate God sits vpon the Tribunall to iudge his owne Sonne But God and Pilate passe the same sentence with a most different respect vpon Christ. For Christ here sustaines a two-fold person his owne which only Pilate looked vpon not knowing any other and so Pilates sentence of death was most vniust but Christ bore another person vpon him to wit our sinfull person which God looking vpon and finding him now in our stead a guilty person by the imputation of our sinnes being our suretie hee passeth the same sentence of death vpon him that Pilate did and yet Gods sentence is most iust Yea but God the iudge must goe also Secundum allegata probata according to due allegations true proofes for shall not the Iudge of all the world doe right But all the allegations and accusations brought against Christ wanted proofe yea they were most false True But consider Christ now as he stood in our person so all the allegations accusations brought against him were most true In which respect Christ at the hearing of them was silent as guiltie persons who haue nothing to answer for themselues as he that wanted his wedding garment was speechlesse because Christ knew that hee stood there in our person Against whom what accusation of sinne can be produced but may easily bee proued Christ was accused of two maine impieties against God and against the King and the People as a peruerter and traytor All this was true for sustaining our person standing as our surety and vndertaking to discharge all our debts what debt was so great what sinne so grieuous that hee now stood not charged withall and was not as culpable of This made him to be numbred among transgressours not common offenders but transgressors among criminall yea capitall malefactors and for this very reason euen Barabbas a seditious murtherer is preferred before him If Christ had not thus stood in our stead beene iudged and condemned in our persons he had neuer saued the Thiefe vpon the Crosse. And therefore as St. Ambrose saith Nemo est qui possit excludi quando receptus est Latro There is none that can bee shut out when the Thiefe is let in And standing in our stead if hee had not been formally and legally iudged and so condemned wee should neuer haue beene able to haue stood before Gods iudgement-seate But now Christ being cast and condemned by a lawfull ●udge ordained and appointed of God so that this iudgement was not mans iudgement but Gods this

moment how thou hast spent all that time limitted and bestowed on thee to spend thy life in O extremity On the one side sinnes accusing on the other iustice affrighting vnderneath Hels horrible Chaos gaping aboue the angry Iudge within the conscience boyling without the world burning The righteous shall scarcely be saued the sinner taken tardy where shall hee appeare To lurke shall be impossible to appeare intolerable Who shall aduise me Whence shall I expect saluation Who is he that is called the Angell of great counsell The same is Iesus The same is the Iudge betweene whose hands I tremble Pause awhile O sinner doe not despaire Hope in him whom thou fearest flye to him from whom thou hast fled O Iesus Christ for this thy name sake deale with mee according to this name looke vpon this wretch calling on thy name Therefore O Iesus bee my Iesus for thy names sake If thou shalt admit me into the large bosome of thy mercy it shall be neuer a whit the narrower for me True it is my conscience hath deserued damnation and my repentance sufficeth not for satisfaction but certaine it is that thy mercy surpasseth all misdeedes c. It is recorded of Edward the Confessor once King of this Island that lying on his death-bed his friends about him weeping he said If ye loued mee ye would forbeare weeping and reioyce rather because I goe to my Father with whom I shall receiue the ioyes promised to the faithfull not through my merits but by the free mercy of my Sauiour who sheweth mercy on whom he pleaseth Thus by these and such like testimonies of holy and deuout men not in their Rhetoricall declamations to winne applause with men but in their saddest meditations as standing in the presence yea before the dreadfull Tribunall of that iust God it may easily appeare what confidence is to be put in the ●●●● mans workes or inherent righteousnesse All these will proue but dry fewell and stubble when they come to that consuming fire to those euerlasting burnings It is an easie matter for a carnall man seduced with errour and possessed with the spirit of pride while hee is in his prosperitie and senslesse securitie as little confidering as conceiuing the power of Gods wrath as Dauid speakes as little knowing the nature of sin as the terrour of Gods strict iustice to be puffed vp with an opinion of a few poore beggarly supposed good deeds Iust like our first Parents who when they had sinned and so incurred Gods eternall wrath got a few figge-leaues to couer their nakednesse and shame thinking themselues now safe and secure enough But no sooner did they heare the voyce of the Lord God comming as a Iudge towards them but for all their figge-leaues they runne and hide themselues among the Trees of the Garden Their figg-leaues quickly beganne to wither when once the fire of Gods iealousie beganne to approach But let now the brauest Pontifician of them all standing so much vpon the pantofles of inherent righteousnesse let him lay aside his carnall security his loue of the world his wilfull blindnesse hauing looked his face in the glasse of Gods Law and catechised himselfe according to the strict Canon thereof c. and let him now bethinke himselfe of an account he is to make and that presently before a most seuere and vnpartiall vncorrupt Iudge of all his thoughts words workes omissions commissions let him take into his consideration if hee haue so much grace and iudgement to consider the nature of sinne which is such as the least ●innene is sufficient to damne him soule and body for euer for Hee that keepeth the whole Law and yet faileth in one point is guilty of all And the Law saith Cursed is euery one that continueth not in all things written in the Law to do them Mark In all things yea such is sin as it could not be purged nor mans soule redeemed from it nor Gods wrath appeased nor his iustice satisfied but by the only death of the only son of God Tel me what that iustice is which will not be satisfied Tell me what that sin is which will not be expiated but by the extreame humiliation bloud-shedding death passion of the deerest son of the eternall God Tell me how seuere is that iustice how implacable that indignation against sin which would not spare the most immaculate Lambe of God the pure spotlesse Sonne of righteousnes euen righteousnes holines innocency itselfe These things well weighed digested in thy more refined iudgment according to the standard of the Sanctuary come now Pontifician glittering in thy white linnen of thine inherent righteousness set thy self before Gods dreadful Tribunall to receiue thy eternal doom according to thine own deseruings bring with thee all thy merits number now before the iudge of heauen earth thy many pilgrimages thy many Prayers Pater-nosters Aue-Maries Canonicall houres Shrifts Shrine● adored Saints inuoked and the like But thy conscience will giue thee that all these being but will-worship and humane inuentions of which God wil say Who required these things at your hands condemned also in Esay saying Their feare towards me was taught by the precept of men they will vanish into smoke when they are tryed in Gods Test. Therefore howsoeuer the Romane-Catholicke Church preferres these her own Rites and Ceremonies and Ecclesiasticall obseruances of her own inuention asbeeing more holy and more meritorious than those duties of Christian holinesse commanded and prescribed in Gods Word yet in the more sober iudgement of thine vnpartiall Conscience know that if God respect any righteousnesse at all in vs it must be that especially which himselfe hath commanded If therefore thou hast any store of these bring them with thee If thou canst Tell this Iudge that thou hast dealt truely and iustly with all men that thou hast beene liberall to the poore giuen much Almes yea perhaps bequeathed all thy goods and possessions to pious vses ●u●● i●●hy life time and that not to the maintenance of a Monasticall Society of lazie and lustfull Abbey-lubbers but vpon the truly poore indigent Brethren of Christ that thou hast dispossessed and diuested thy selfe of all earthly preferment and honor so become poore for Christs sake thou hast exercised thy self with watchings fastings not as man but as the Lord hath commanded and much more than all this if thou canst alledge for thy selfe Well But all these things must now bee weighed in a iust and euen ballance not of mans imagination but of Gods strict iudgement Now will not he finde thinkest thou an infinite lightnes in thy best works will not his most pure eyes easily discerne thy most pious actions to be fraught with many imperfections defiled with the mixture of manifold corruptions as water running through a puddly chānel he will discouer in all these works of thine besids infinite defects faylings in all thy many sinister ends the pride of thy heart

free will and thereby merit the grace of God which he confesseth to be rendred as due to their free will This accordeth with Romish Schoole diuinitie teaching That homini operanti secundum suam virtutem videtur congruum vt Deus recompenset secundum excellentiam suae virtutis To a man working according to his naturall power and vertue it seemeth meet that God render a recompence according to the excellencie of his vertue Therefore the Catholicke Church of Christ whereof the Church of England is a member reiecteth this Pontifician preparation to iustification as a doctrine repugnant to the holy Scriptures and to the Writings of the Catholicke Doctors and Fathers in the Primitiue Church This doctrine of Rome tending also howsoeuer they would dissemblingly disclaime it in words to a flat derogation from the glorie of Gods grace while it would make man an equall sharer with God in the atchieuement of so great a worke for though they seeme to ascribe the glory to God because say they he stirreth vp the will whereby it beginneth to prepare and dispose it selfe to grace yet this is nothing else but a mocking of God As deuout Bernard speaking of this diuine stirring vp of free will saith Nefas est Deo quod minus nobis quod excellentius sit attribuere It is iniquitie to attribute to God that which is lesse and to our selues that which is the more excellent Now to stirre vp what is it else but as it were to awaken one from sleepe The will is asleepe and God must awaken it before it can do any thing that is good and being thus awakened it sets it selfe a working As Sampson awakened by Dalilah shewed his great strength the glorie of which action is it to be ascribed to Dalilah for awakening and stirring him vp or to Sampson who being asleep wanted nothing but stirring vp to giue him occasion to exercise his strength Mans will therefore beeing but stirred vp of God and Sampson-like doing workes of wonder euen aboue humane strength and naturall force as to prepare and dispose it selfe for that great worke of iustification how shall it not bee honoured much aboue God by how much mans worke herein is greater than Gods worke The Church of Rome is very nice and strait laced in setting out the manner of Gods mouing of mans will in the first grace as they call it as fearing lest more glorie might bee giuen to God than to man for they ascribe no more to God but a certaine stirring vp and helping of the will whereby it should freely dispose it selfe to iustification Whereas Bernard speakes home and like a downe-right honest man in this point Facit Deus voluntarios quatenus dum de mala mutat voluntatem in bonam God makes men willing whole of euill he changeth the will into good So it is one thing to stirre vp and helpe another to change the nature of a thing from euill to good St. Ambrose Voluntas nihil habet in suis viribus nisi periculi facilitatem The will hath no power at all but a propension to perill And St. Chrysostome Omnes homines antequam pecc●mus liberum quidem habemus arbitrium si volumus sequi voluntatem Diaboli an non Quod si semel peccantes obligauerimus nos operibus eius iam nostra virtute ●uadere non possumus Sed sicut Nauis fracto gubernaculo illuc ducitur vbi tempestas voluerit sic homo diuinae gratiae auxilio perdito per peccatum agit quod non vult ipse sed quod Diabolus vult nisi Deus valida manu misericordiae soluerit eum vsque ad mortem in peccatorum suorum vinculis permanebit All men saith he before sinne haue free will to follow the Diuels will or not When once by sinne wee haue captiuated our selues to his workes wee cannot now by our owne power free our selues But as a Ship the Rudder being broken is carried whither the tempest will ● so 〈…〉 ●●uing by sinne lost the helpe of diuine grace doth not that wh●●● himselfe willeth but which the Diuell willeth 〈…〉 God with a strong hand of mercie loose him hee shall abide in the bonds of his sinnes euen vnto death So then this strong hand is more than a bare stirring vp St. Augustine here seemeth to allude to that in the Gospell where our Sauiour resembleth the state of sinfull man to a house kept and possessed by a strong man when the will is wholly capituated by Sathan and cannot befreed but by the power of Christ a stronger than that strong man But the Councell of Trent wants the ingenuitie to acknowledge the mightie power of God in freeing mans captiue-wil from the tyrannie of the strong Diuell Also St. Chrysostome in the prosecution of that his former Treatise compareth mans will before sinne to wit in the state of innocencie to a free-people or state in whose power and election it is to chuse what King they wil but hauing once elected such a one for their King it is not now in their power vpon any dislike to depose him againe although he tyrannize ouer them neuer so much none can free them from this grieuous bondage but only God So it being once in the power of mans will in the free state of innocencie to choose a King God or the Diuell hauing once by the consent of sinne made choyce of the Prince of darkenesse who tyrant-like ruleth in the children of disobedience taking them captiue at his will it appertaines only to the mightie power and infinite goodnesse of God to set free these miserable Captiues out of that Tyrants more than Egyptian bondage A worke no lesse if not infinitely more miraculous than the deliuerance of those Israelites through the middest of that Red Sea Howsoeuer the Trent Fathers mince the matter and obscure the power of Gods mighty worke in mans conuersion parting the glorie of it betweene mans nature and Gods grace as wee haue heard Like the Whoore that would haue the child diuided between her selfe and the true Mother But that the glorie of Gods powerfull grace in mans conuersion may not lye thus smoothered vnder the dampe of earthy and deepe hypocrisie let vs see a little what this free-will of man is in the state of corruption Vega highly commends that saying of Richardus as we noted before Doctè Richardus inquit Cum audis liberum arbitrium esse capt●●um nihil aliud intellige quam infirmum natiuae virtutis potestate priuatum Learnedly said Richardus saith he When thou ●e arest that free-will is a captiue vnderstand it no otherwise than that it is weak depriued of the vertue of its natiue power I wote well these Pontifician spirits would gladly bring mans free-will into credit by filing and smoothing that rougher language which the Fathers haue left vpon it And I dare be bold herein to gratifie the Trent-Councell Let free-will in mans corrupt heart be not

whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen to the glory of God the Father yet withall it doth not restraine its generall influence of beleefe from any part of Gods Word no more than the eye of the body doth shut it selfe from seeing any other thing present before it than that particular obiect to which the radius or beam directly pointeth What need more testimonies yet the ancient Fathers of the Church haue not left vs without witnesse in this point I will vse but one or two for breuity Chrysostome saith This is the propertie of true Faith when a● the promise being made not after a manner customary or familiar with men we confidently beleeue the power of the promiser Thou seest how euen before the euent and accomplishment of the promises Abraham in as much as he beleeued receiueth a sufficient reward For to beleeue the promise of God was imputed to him for righteousnesse Therefore to beleeue Gods promise is both able to make vs iust and shall cause vs to obtaine the promises By Faith we procure righteousnesse and obtain the good promises And the same Father vpon the tenth to the Romanes saith Hoc potissimum peculiare est fidei vt promissa Dei cunctacomplectamur This is chiefly peculiar to Faith that we embrace all the promises of God Thus we see this holy man placeth the promises of God in Christ as the prime obiect of iustifying Faith St. Ambrose saith Si exclusa fuerit promissio sine dubio frustratur Fides Abrahae Quod ne audire quidem se patiuntur Iudaei scientes quia promissio ex Fide est Abrahae Quae promissio ex Fide iustificat non per Legem sicut Abraham iustificatus ex Fide est Hi ergo haeredes sunt promissionis Abrahae qui illi succedunt suscipientes Fidem in qua benedictus iustificatus est Abraham Testimonium ergo promissionis Abrahae testamentum appellatur vt post mortem eius Haeredes essent in promissione Filij eius factiper Fidem That is If the promise be excluded without doubt the Faith of Abraham is made voyde which not euen the Iewes themselues endure to heare knowing that the promise is of the Faith of Abraham Which promise doth iustifie by Faith not through the Law as also Abraham is iustified by Faith They therefore are Heires of the promise to Abraham which succeede him by entertaining the Faith wherein Abraham is blessed and iustified Therfore the testimonie of the promise to Abraham is called a Testament that after his death they might bee Heires in the promise beeing made his Sonnes by Faith So Ambrose Thus wee haue the testimonies of two faithfull witnesses testifying this most Catholicke doctrine of Faith not onely of Abraham but consequently of all the faithfull That the promises of God in Christ are the maine obiect of sauing and iustifying Faith And these witnesses shall stand in stead of many Hence it is that Faith in Scripture is called Confidence or Assiance because it embraceth the promise of God in Christ as the proper obiect of it as we touched before In a word those famous ancient Creeds vniuersally receiued in the Church especially the Apostolicall the Nicene and Athanasius his Creede all of them called the obiect of Faith as being the abridgement of the Word of God what do they commend vnto vs as the maine and sole obiect of sauing and iustifying Faith but Iesus Christ his incarnation passion resurrection ascention session at Gods right hand c. together with the fruits we reape from this tree of life as to bee made his liuing members beleeuing the holy Catholicke Church the Communion of Saints the Remission of sinnes the Resurrection of the body and the life euerlasting all the effects and fruits of Gods promises in Christ. But say the Pontificians faith is an act of the vnderstanding as being seated in the intellectuall part of the soule and not in the will and therefore it is but a bare assent to the truth of Gods word in generall and so also of the promises contained therein and no speciall affiance in the goodnesse of God particularly towards a mansselfe And so they make onely the truth of God reuealed as being apprehended and assented vnto by the vnderstanding to be the obiect of faith and not the goodnesse of God contained in his promises as being entertained and embraced by the will But for the clearing of this point we may first obserue how the Church of Rome as in other points of doctrine so in this maine point of Faith doth most pitifully interfeere For which cause let me here insert a passage in the Prouinciall Councell of Colen celebrated Anno 1536. some nine years before the Councell of Trent which will partly confirme what hath beene formerly said concerning the nature of true Faith and confront this Pontifician obiection now in hand This Prouinciall Synod setteth downe a three-fold kinde of beleeuing following therein St Augustine vpon the Creed Credo in Deum which we haue a little before cited We will set down the very words of the Synod which acknowledgeth Duplicem seu triplicom esse fidei s●u credendi rationem Siquidem vna est qua Deum esse ac caetera quae Scriptura commemorat non aliter quam historica quadam fide recitata vera credimus Vnde historica fides appellatur quam nobiscum Damones commun●m habent Altera qua Deo credimus quae persuasio constans opinio est quae fidem promissionibus comminationibus diuinis adhibemus quam habent iniusti cum iustis communem Tertia fidei ratio est qua in Deum credimus solis pijs peculiaris quae certissima quaedam fiducia est qua t●t●s nos Deo submittimus totique à gratia misericordia Dei pendemus Haec spem complectitur charitatem indiuiduam comitem habet Prima credendi ratio seu fides illa Historica si solam accipias informis est veluti adhuc mortua Altera verò qua Deo tantum credimus nec dum tamen erga Deum religiosa pietate assicimur man●a Sedterti● qua in Deum credimus pioque affectu in ●um tendimus ea demum viuida atque integra fides est c. That is There is a two-fold or three-fold sort of faith or beleeuing One is whereby wee beleeue that God is as also other things which the Scripture relates wee beleeue to be true no otherwise than by a kinde of Historicall faith recorded whence it is called an Historicall faith which the Deuils haue in common with vs. The second is whereby wee beleeue God which is a perswasion and constant opinion whereby wee giue credit both to Gods promises and threatnings which faith the wicked haue in common with the righteous The third sort of faith is that whereby wee beleeue in God which is peculiar onely to the godly being a kinde of most certaine confidence or affiance