an innocent person Yea the moe Dauids giftes and graces were and the more he was prospered of God and liked of the people all these was more wood to the fier and farther matter for his enuious imagination to fret it self vpon euen as in the fable of the snake comming into the smithes forge and finding a file there seing it had teeth thought nothing should haue teeth but it selfe and began to licke it and licked so long til she had licked off her tongue so Saul could neuer be quiet and Dauids good deeds successiuely following still one vpon another encreased Sauls greefe and out-rage continually so much the more as the fier burneth and in burning consumeth it selfe so was it with Saul and so is it with al enuious men One of the philosophers for a punishment could wish to the enuious person nothing but that hee might haue many eies and eares to see and heare the good haps and prosperity in other men For then is he lanced and cut and pearced with such euentes as it were with kniues and arrowes and sharp weapons on euery side where he discerneth any good Who euer he were that wrote those collations ad * Serm. 18. Aug. Tom. 10. fratres in Eremo among recital of sundry ensamples that Basil and Cyprian and others had touched before him as of Caius enuying the sacrifice of â—…el which was accepted Esaus enuying Iacob 〈…〉 when yet hee had sold it the Patriarkes enuying of Ioseph for their fathers liking and Sauls enuying of good Dauid c. Amongest other parables hee likeneth enuy to the worme in the greene gourde that shadowed the prophet to the worms in Manna that marred the Angels foode to the frogs in Aegypt in their fairest parlers Among the rest he compareth an enuious man to the Phoenix and they say there is but one bird of that kinde In deede it were to bee wished that there were neuer such a Phoenix at all as enuie is The story or the conceaued opinion of this bird is that she gathereth togither the driest and sweetest sticks of Synomom and the like and carieth them vp to some high mountaine and hote place neere the sunne and with flapping her winges vp and downe ouer the pile of stickes shee incenseth them and enflameth her self withal and both burn in one fier And this is right enuy which to burne another mans house setteth his owne house on fier and to put out both another mans eies wil be desirous at least to loose one of her owne yea and is content that her owne bowels may be eaten out to bring forth a viperous effect Paul teacheth vs a fairer way that we prouoke not one another but that we preuent one another in giuing honor and enuying no man and neuer contending but vppon necessary and butifull occasions crucifieng the fleshe which woulde otherwise rancle and fester and the affections of the fleshe which will boile and seeth and the lustes of the fleshe which against the true liberty of the spirit And thus if we liue in the spirit the life of the spirit is the death of the flesh and backwarde the life of the fleshe is the death of the spirite which maketh a man as colde as a stone and as stiffe as a dead man that wee cannot wagge much-lesse walcke in the waies of Godlinesse of righteousnesse and temperate behauiour in any good path But the Lorde loueth a bodie that is deade to sinne and hee altogether delighteth in the soule that liueth through his spirite For without his spirite wee cannot liue CHAP. VI. 1 BRETHREN if a man be sodenly taken in any offence yee which are spiritual restore such a one with the spirit of meekenesse considering thy selfe least thou also be tempted 2 Bear ye one an others burden so fulfill the Law of Christ 3 For if any man seem to himselfe that he is somewhat when he is nothing he deceiueth himselfe in his imagination 4 But let euery man proue his own work and then shal he haue reioycing in himselfe only and not in another 5 For euery man shal bear his own burden FOR a preseruatiue against the vices last spoken of viz. ambition strife enuy the best treacle is to take a quite contrary diet The ambitious the contentious the enuious maÌ„ wil keep a needelesse stur and trouble euery man without all cause But the contented Christian desireth to pacifie al things and to help euery where where help is wanting Sathan is a mighty enimy and man is weak and flesh is fraile and our waies are slippery Now if a man which is better than thy neighbours Ox or Asse whereof notwithstanding in cases thou standest charged if a man nay if any man thy like in nature and brother in Christ if any man for all may not onely of thy friends or thy kinne or some of thy family but if anie man be supprised by Sathan preuented by suttlety inueigled by sleights intised by sinners taken and vpon the suddain * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ouer-taken by infirmity what is to be doone He that is fallen may rise againe reach-forth thy hand and help him vp A member dislocated out of ioynt may bee set in againe restore such a member yea restore you such a man saith the Apostle that is fallen out of the order and place he should haue kept himselfe in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mutual help If one walke alone and no man goe with him nor any man care for him and fall then is his fall the more dangerous Likewise the single thread is soone snapt a sunder but when men intertwist themselues in mutual loue to help one the other the double the triple-folde woorke is like to hold out In like manner if men could and would ioine in one to the behoofe of one another I see no reason why things may not bee wel restored and reformed without any great a-do The Spirit of Lenitie The maner of this restoring is not to play the rude Chirurgian but to do al that may be in the spirit of lenitie The good sheepehard laieth the straied sheepe that straid by simplicity on his own shoulders the tender mother carieth the sicke childe in her armes the mercifull Samaritan setteth the wounded man vppon his owne beast and himselfe goeth a foote Yet note there is a difference between simplicitie and wilfulnesse betweene fore and fore leaper and leaper plague and plague fault faults sinners and sinners But this is the property of a peruerse zeale and perfect hypocrisie to stand most vpon trifles mint and commin and vpon matters of lesse importance to stick at a straw stride ouer a block to swallow an Oxe and straine a Gnat to hallow with hue and cry after a mote as if the sheepheard shoulde still trouble the weake sheepe and let the scabbed ram walke at will and spread his venom throughout the whole flock No brethren If any man be howsoeuer preuented in a
all their former pains and his preaching should thus come iust to nothing and be in vaine he qualifieth discreetly and with a good affectionate correction that saying with this addition If yet in vain He seeth the worst which was very bad therefore reproueth them worthily notwithstanding declaring his intent harts desire hee hopeth the best and wisheth that his labour and their good beginnings might not be as water spilt to no purpose and to no profite but all in vaine When the patient is past hope the Physician wil neuer tarry but while hee applieth Physicke the sicke man may recouer The Galathians were farre gone euen like sicke-men when they katch after motes in the aire which is a very euil signe so they catching after ceremonies thinges which now were lesse worth than motes their case was hard Howbeit Paul in tender loue discreet zeal charitable hope leaueth them not in their extremities And desireth to ransom and redeeme if it were but a tip of an eare or a top of a toe out of the iawes of their cruel deceauers 2 The doctrine hee taught them is euident what it was by their default For if they defaulted by adiecting to the Gospel which could suffer no addition then the simplicity of the Gospel was the single truth which they disobeied ô ye foolish Galathians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth Therefore he taught them the truth He taught them neither wine nor weomen I meane neither the fancies of mans braine nor the lusts of mans hart but the truth of God which was the verity of the Gospel which also was the truth in regarde of former figures and types Ioh. 1.17 The Lawe was giuen by Moses but grace and truth came by Iesus Christ Wherefore it was a vanity to preach other things and a vae and a vengeance hung ouer their heads that durst venter farder or would not go so far as not to betake them to their vnder-taken taske of preaching the Gospel To preach and speake is one thing and to preach the Gospel is another thing Except the Trumpet be blowen with the breath of the Lord it giueth an vncertaine sound or a false alarum The sum of the Gospel is Christ and him crucified Paul painted this doctrine among the Galathians and Christ was euen crucified by him among them Yet he was not one of them that put Christ to death neither died our Sauior in Galatia but in mount Caluery in Iury. Paul painted out Christ not with thâ—â—encil but 〈◊〉 is said Sed carmina maior imago So Pauls preaching Pauls writing was Pauls painting And he painted Christ among them yet was he no image-maker no Painter no Goold-smith to make Crucifixes no Carpenter to frame Roods this was a verbal Painting but yet a liuely description of Christ that according to our sauiours own prescript direction Go preach Not goe paint me out The contents of the Gospel summarily cited and speciallie reckoned vp As in one woorde summarily the argument of the Gospell is Christ so in some fewe woordes to saie a little more amply the Gospell containeth the glad yeare the acceptable time the ioyfull tidinges that is the birth the life the death of christ Iesus The mystery of his incarnation the innocency of his life the agony of his death The grace of his woordes the power of his woorking the merit of his crosse his mighty resurrection his glorious ascension his session at the right hand with the father The glory of Israel the ioy of the Gentiles the Sauiour of the woorld The promised seede the expectation of the faithful The anoynted of God to be the Prophet of truth the sacrifice for sinne and the king of his choosen 3. My third note If we looke to the Law we shal find the first draft of this painting to bee a grosse a fleshly a rawer kinde of knowledge fit for such a people til the fulnesse of time when nowe God would not distill by droppes as before but poure downe in plenteous sort his spirite vpon al fleshe 4. Wherein was and is my fourth note of the prerogatiue and dignity of the gospel But reuert wee to my second note whereon I rest for this present this gospel and those thinges in the Gospell and many moe of like nature and of like inestimable price were the matter of Pauls preaching and that as by one man came death and a passibility of and a pronenes to corruption in a guilt both of the first and second death so by one and therefore by nothing else came very life euen life euerlasting and not as our aduersaries say a new ability forsooth to liue so that wee our selues will purchase saluation by woorking and desertes of our owne Paul did not so teach Christ Num. 21. As the children of Israell iourneyed towarde the promised Land many of them waxed weary wayward and wanton and their soule lothed the bread of heauen as a wearish and a waterish foode without rellish they murmured against God and against Moises Wherefore the Lord sent fierie stinging Serpentes among them and had not Moises prayed and had not the Lord taken compassion on them by a brazen Serpent to bee erected whereon they shoulde looke that they might bee recured there was no remedy but death Appliably to speake for this story was but a figure of Christ The brazen serpent a tipe of Christ vpon his crosse In the wildernes of this world what Dragon more fierse than sinne What Serpent so fieris as Sathan Who so is strung hereby is enflamed to death in euerlasting flames Notwithstanding it hath pleased God to prescribe a perfect and a soueraigne help That Serpent was erected so was Christ exalted on the crosse hee was crucified on the tree And stil is as it were crucified before our eies by preaching him crucified and in the beholding thereof is health and saluation And wee may sate in faith that * Luk. 2.30 Simeon said when hee sawe our Sauiour in the flesh Mine eyes haue seene and doe see my saluation So effectually the preacher painteth foorth Christ in precious colours And when I heare what he preacheth by hearing commeth my faith and my faith is fixed in Christ who is onely and alone preached to be A IESVS to bee that Serpent and to bee A SAVIOVR This was the duetie which Paul discharged And euen as the * Mat. 2.9 Star that stoode right ouer the place where Christ was borne so Paul perpendicularly and directly standeth vpon Christ vpon his natiuity and vpon the rest of his life but the * The chiefest argument of al our sermons is Christ Iesus on his crosse death of the crosse was a chiefe action significantly shewing what we eternally deserued and should haue felt if hee had not died And therefore he painted that out most Gen. 30.37 And as Iacob when hee would haue the Ewes to yeene speckled Lambs stript
most preeiselie and properly taken which his fault was reproued as appeareth in Austine Tom. 6. contra Epist Funda c. 5. 6. And which title because the Pope being also a Bishop doth claim he most resembleth Manicheus The abuse of things abolisheth not their good vsage But to the matter whether he vsed or abused this salutation it skilleth litle for our partes we are not disposed to mislike the innocent sheepes fel because the rauening woolfe hath sometime put it on wee are not so fonde as to refuse the Arke of God 1. Sam. 8 because the Philistines had once got it into their hands we cannot neither will wee God willing refuse the vsage of our godly greetings because your coyishnesse would bar vs thereof and appropriate good words at your fantastical pleasure As wel you may for ought I knowe interdict men of well dooing as of wishing wel vnto their neighbours and brethren And farther if you imagine as it may seeme you doe that there is some operatiue and working benediction in those wordes beside that the euent hath prooued the contrarie for what is now become of that graceles vnhappy Church of Galatia the verie words following confute that your folly most sufficiētly For Paul wisheth Grace and Peace not as enclosed in his wordes and interlaced in his lines or fixed to his letters but to bee giuen by God and by Christ which gaue himselfe c. In which fourth and fifth verses are to bee learned these three conuenient obseruations as they lie 1. The end why Christ gaue himselfe to deliuer vs out of this present world 2. The enducement thereunto according to his good wil. 3. Our duty therefore in giuing him glorie and deserued prayse for euer The end of our deliuerie by Christ 1 Deliuerie presupposeth captiuity and the greater the enemie the dearer the ransom and the ioifuller the deliuerance The enemie here named is the world the ransome Christ we are the deliuered The enimie mightie the ransom pretious and therefore our deliuery most ioyful But hee that is in hel thinketh many times there is no other heauen So faire a glose can the world set vpon the matter and so forcibly can it woork Gen. 29. In the booke of Genesis Laban made promise to Iacob that he should haue to wife for his faithfull seruice fair Rachel Iacob in hope thereof indureth al toile and pains But when the time of his couenant was expired Laban in the night substituteth Lea in steed of Rachel Euen so O guilful worlde how sweet how pleasant are thy promises but the things thou yeeldest in the end how bitter how ful of gall are they Thou promisest bewtiful Rachel but thou performest squinteyd Lea. He which seeth thy vanitie and discerneth thy wilinesse would hee be deceaued or ought he not of all thinges most to desire his deliueraunce from thy thral The world a transitorie and a wicked world Our Apostle describeth this world worthilie in two woords terming it the present wicked world The wickednesse of the world may seeme delight-some yet such delightes endure not long They are but a basket ful of sommer fruit a Ionas his gourd they spring in the night and fade the next day That which is past is as if it neuer were that which is to come is vtterly vncertain and that which is present is but a glimse for a moment a morning dew and gone againe Notwithstanding were the world only a fickle and a transitorie vncertainty the benefite of our deliuery were the lesse Glasse is a brickle metal and yet a cleane The world is not only vnstable and fading euen the verie fashion thereof but it is as Saint Iohn speaketh altogither set on wickednesse Our deliuerance from the world doth not driue men to shorten their time in the world and therefore Christ gaue himselfe for our sinnes that he might deliuer vs out of this present euill worlde I say not neither saieth Christ from not being at al in this world but from liuing after the fashion of the world For it is written Thou shalt not kil that is thou vpon a feare or fancy thou shalt not dispatch as not an other so not * Aug. de ciui Dei li. 2. cap. 20 thy selfe out of the woorld Thou shalt not dig thine owne graue and enter into it before thy time no Thou shalt not hang thine owne winding sheete before thine eies thou shalt not be cause or occasion of thine owne death Iob. When holy Iob cursed the daie of his birth it was but a pang of imperfection Act. 16.28 In the Actes when the prisoner woulde haue killed himselfe Paul crieth out that he should do himself no harm as if to kil were to hurt himselfe Then if to kill were to doe harme verily to liue cannot be harm And were it absolutely vnlawful to liue or laweful to liue or not to liue when mans lust were and with * 2 Machab. 14. Rasis to leaue the station wherein God hath placed vs there could haue beene no doubt Philip. 1.23 or no great doubt in Pauls choise to the Philippians where he casteth with himselfe whether it were better to choose life or rather death for the desire he had to be dissolued and to be with christ Yet in fine he resolueth for considerations that it were better the course of his race to be continued And then why chose he life if to liue were vtterly il and simply naught as some in their impatiencie imagine Ioh. 17.15 In Saint Iohn our Sauiour prayeth for his not that they be taken out of the world but that they may bee preserued from euil For the creatures in the woorld and the woorlde and our life therein though euil and tedious are not in fault The faultes of the woorld must bee shunned and from them wee are deliuered namely from the guilt of sinne thorough Christ 1 Ioh. 1. and by his spirite from the degrees of sinning wilfully lustfully or finally to death But which is my second note who is hee or what is it hath deliuered vs the grace of God through Iesus Christ And why The inducement why God vouchsaued our deliuerance The causes of gods doings must not be sought for else-where then in God himselfe His grace his fauour his mercy his fatherly goodnesse his pleasure purpose wil and good wil are the onely things specified in Scripture as agent causes of sending so great saluation to the sonnes of men Our Apostle Paul euerie where intentiuelie looking into the state of our redemption when he feeth the father satisfied the Son sacrificed man saued from sin and deliuered from the world he hath alwaies recourse onely to the goodnesse of God who is most free in willing inflexible in doing repentant in neither and in both without all compartner For who hath or can be his associate or Counseller Rom. 11.34 to induce him this way that is
preciousnesse of the gift 3. the certaintie in receauing 4. and the neede of the receauer 1. The freenesse of the giuer For what is freer than gift And then a gift proceeding of loue Which loued me 2. For the preciousnes of the gift what can bee more precious than the Sonne of God the heire of al Hee gaue himselfe 3. The certainty of receauing is vttered in the specialitie of speaking for mee But O blessed Paul what meane these * Christ is not receaued in a general conceat but by a special applying enclosures Why Is Christ thy Christ Is hee thy Sauiour And is hee not rather the Sauiour of the world That which is thine is none of mine Is it not so In worldly thinges true the right and propriety is in the true owner onely and in him alone and in none other In spirituall rightes it is not so altogether Christ is the Christ of all in generall and in speciall too yet not a diuided Christ but whole and entire whosoeuer hee is In natural thinges see a resemblance hereof the Sunne in the aire is a generall light in the eye a speciall and the sound in the ayre a generall noyce yet seerely discerned in the eare so Christ is a general Sauiour of all that shall bee saued but specially is hee receaued discerned and applied by the eye of faieth which faieth commeth by hearing him generally deliuered but specially applied As take eate take drinke at the Lordes Supper feede on him by thy faieth And blessings so speciallie and certainely taken haue euer a quicker tast in the receauer and prouoke thereby the more thankefulnesse towarde the donor 4. The neede of the receauer appeareth in this * The price of the ransom doth proue the neede of the party and the hainousnes of his trespas who is to bee ransommed that if a lesse ransom would haue doone the deed so great a payment had not needed But somuch it cost to saue one Soule And whereas hee saith Christ gaue himselfe For me it is plaine in how harde a case hee was before that Christ must dy that wee may liue or else wee dy euen as the Ramme was Sacrificed that Isaake might bee saued Wherefore of his perfect mercy and for our pure neede Christ dyed for thee for me and for vs al. Why Christians die though Christ died for them It is but an easie demaunde and soone satisfied why I must dye though Christ died for mee Yet God doubtlesse requireth no double satisfaction hee desireth not to bee twise paied for one debt Notwithstanding nothing is more certaine than that death is the common and vneuitable Lodge and Receptacle of the liuing The Wiseman shall dye as wel as shal the Foole. Dauid when he had * Acts. 13.36 serued his time was reposed to his Fathers and the statute is generall and cannot not be dispensed with al must dye By sin * Rom. 5.12 came in death and as sinne is in al so must all dy If there had beene no sinne there shoulde haue beene no death nor dissolution no not of our mixt bodies no more than there shall be of the very same bodies after their restitution glorification By sinne death entered and must goe ouer all But the question is why wee dye whom Christ hath deliuered both from sinne the cause and from death the consequent of sinne As we are deliuered from sinne not that it bee not but that it sting not so are wee deliuered from death not that it come not but that it conquer not that it lead vs not in a triumph ô death where is thy sting The sting of death is sinne but sinne is doone away and therefore ô graue where is thy victory Death is no Death to a good Christian Thou takest holde of vs not because wee are stung to death but because of a natural necessity indeede inducted thorough sinne at first yet for that the guilt of sinne is taken away death is no right death nowe but a dissolution and a passage to a better life and a very instrument whereby mortality putteth on immortality and whereby we liue for euer And the assurance of our certaine departure hence is hence-foorth a noble monument of the weight of sinne to weane vs from sinning and to win vs to Christ in perpetual thankefulnes for that we are freed from the curse of the Lawe against sinne from the guilt of sinne in it selfe and from the danger of death for sinning and all this by his infinit desert in dying for vs that otherwise should haue died a death euerlasting This grace would not bee abrogated I abrogate not the grace of God this grace of his Gospell Steuen Gardiner Steuen Gardiner in King Edwards time whē he stood much but falsly vpon his innocency and would not yeelde that hee had offended yet at length being asked whether he would accept the Kings pardon or no nay saith he I am learned enough not to refuse the Kings pardon In like manner men may dally and play and vse figge leaues at pleasure truly the greatest wisedome in the end will be to renounce all and craue mercy and stand vpon pardon and to trust vnto Christ and onely in him Grace is reiected when works are annexed And for a good fare-well and end of this Chapter be it remembred and written in the hartes of humble men for euer that wee after the example of our Apostle we disanull not we reiect not we frustrate not we abrogate not we throwe not away the grace of God which necessarily ensueth by meashing or adnexing either the association of Ceremonies or the obseruation of the Lawe vnto his free and absolutely free Grace free in GOD though deserued by Christ our Iesus and onely Sauiour CHAP. III. 1 O FOOLISH Galathians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the trueth to whome Iesus Christ before was described in your sight and among you crucified 2 This only would I learne of you Receaued ye the spirit by the workes of the Law or by hearing of faith 3 Are yee so foolish that after ye haue begun in the spirit ye would now end in the flesh 4 Haue yee suffered many things in vaine If yet in vaine 5 He therefore that ministreth to you the spirite and worketh miracles among you doth he it through the workes of the Law or by the hearing of faith O YEE foolish bewitched and disobedient or incredulous Galathians These are vehement speeches But this vehemency proceeded of great zeale and this zeale for them was grounded vppon many reasons 1. Christ was described before their face and crucified in their sight 2. They had receiued the spirit and the graces of the holie Ghost not by the deeds of the Law for they were Gentils but by the Ghospel preached vnto them And the Law in comparison is flesh and grosse the Ghospel is spirituall Should they beginne with the better and relaps to the worse Be
wands made and laid them of a party colour before the eies of the Ewes when they came to the watering trowes where they vsually were wont to engender that they might conceaue and bring foorth accordinglie Christ is our sauiour workes are but the dueties of Christian men saued by Christ and no sauiours of themselues euen so when men come to the wateringes of life when you repaire to our Lectures Readinges and Sermons THE CHIEFE CONCEAT we wold imprint in your mindes is Christ and Christ as your onely Sauiour and your Christian woorkes we teach not as Sauiours but as fruites and signes of a saued people So we preach and so we teach and so did Paul and all the Apostles and Scriptures before vs. The imitation of Paul in the matter of his teaching is necessary and pertinent to all but Paul putteth them also in minde that he wrought miracles amongest them which was proper to that time The motiue from miracles And therefore we maruel to heare our aduersaries to make anie motion and demaund for miracles specially in the waine of the woorld For wil you heare Miracles are not all true which you obtrude nor to a good end Many are but pipt nuts illusions either of false men or of lying spirits as that images should light their owne candles that the Roode of Naples shoulde giue the Schoole-men high thankes for deuising and distinguishing how they should bee proportionably and duely worshipped a very gewgaw in diuinitie and as true a miracle and to as good a purpose as are the rest of your Legendary woonders Againe Miracles are not for all men * Mat. 12. A frowarde and a peruerse Nation asketh for signes Signes and Miracles are for * 1 Cor. 14. infidels and not for beleeuers Ezechias in his sicknes Gedeon as it were in his nonage asked and had signes But these were either willed so to doe or extraordinarilie moued thereunto True wee must neither aske signes vnoffered at all nor refuse them if they bee offered of God But doe they forgette that they are Christians This motiue doeth argue them of incredulitie Paul commeth not now againe to the Galathians with new signes and miracles hee onely remembreth them what hee did at first Young plantes newly planted may bee watered But Christianitie is nowe of a good grouth The watering by Miracles and by extraordinarie meanes hath ceased ordinarily to bee long since The waies to know the truth true professors are no bipathes now I doe but reason he that can and list to reade a most famous place for this question let him resort to Chrysostom euery where but speciallie homil 49. In Matth. And likewise to Austen De vnitate Eccl. cap. 19. To whom also he seemeth a prodigious wonder that seeketh wonders to confirme his faith * Aug. de ciuit Dei lib. 22. c. 8. The truth of doctrine doth distinguish miracles but miracles must not carie vs from true doctrine yet At these daies And I pray you yee Miracle-mongers what will yee doe with your Miracles Suppose yee could work wonders For the time and questions sake be it graunted you What then You by your Miracles would admixt your viid sweat to our Sauiours sacred bloode your pilgrimages your wil-seruice your woorkes your deedes your pretensed desertes your wicked liues to his precious death Is this the Gospell Could Saint Pauls Miracles confirme the simplicitie of beleeuing stedfastly in Christ and shal your miracles think you force vs to a compound obiect and marke for our faith to looke on Whether God speak or howsoeuer he worke hee is neuer contrarie to himselfe and therefore your Miracles that thus crosse his woorde they are not of God wee cannot follow you by them we care neither for you nor for them in that respect Signes though true yet without the woord are litle but * Deut. 13. miracles thwarting his word are lies or monsters and wee abhor them And talke you at pleasure of beleeuing by your miracles If you beleeue not the Scriptures you will not beleeue if an Angell should come from heauen or a * Luk. 16.31 dead man from his graue Hee that refuseth ordinary foode in Canaan hee that will not bee instructed by the woorde taught by Preachers in Schooles and Vniuersities and in other places but first learned by long endeuour great labour and study if hee were extraordinarily fedde with manna immediatlie from heauen hee woulde grudge and murmur and repine no lesse there is no question To conclude al that I haue said is that 1. miracles are neither al good 2. nor for all persons 3. nor for al times 4. wee haue the olde miracles with the trueth and we neede no new 5. you falsely and profanely pretend newe to ouerthrow the olde And so much for the motiue of miracles making most and altogither against your selues 6 Euen as Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed to him for righteousnes 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham 8 For the Scripture foreseeing that God would iustifie the Gentiles through faith preached before hand the Gospel to Abraham saying In thy seede shal all the Gentils be blessed 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham The false Apostles Pharisaical enchanters opposed two maine helps as they dreamt greatly furthering their commixing of Christ with Moses To wit 1. the priuilege of the flesh 2. and the worthines of their works Paul refuseth both And to make the matter more manifest and plaine 1. first of al hee depainteth out the cause liuely before their eies by the fairest and most famous example of auncient memory namely of Abraham Abraham beleeued and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnes Abraham did as many good woorks as the best But he beleeued not in his works but in God the woorker of his saluation Abrahams faith manifoldly proued to the vtmost This beleefe brought him from Caldea from his fathers house from his natiue countrie and dear kindred In this beleefe he came into Canaan not rested there but walked through it and beeing constrained by famine went into Egypt and thorough beleefe by occasion of grombling and churlish seruants hee sustained the departure of Loth euen the losse and cutting off as it were his right arme as likewise he tolerated as hee might the strife and brables of Sara and Agar in his owne bozom And for a great time the barrennes of Sara whom he most loued was no doubt a worme and a griefe of al griefes at his hart but by faith he ouercame such naturall passions and when God willed him to number the starres if he could and said Euen so shal thy feede be Abraham beleeued and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse in that hee trusted in the promise and beleeued vnder hope against hope in mans eye but he beleeued strongly and constantly he staggered not at the matter
Trinity O grosse ignorance and greeuous Idolatry many cakes many images many Christs and yet these cakes these images Baruch 6. â—… these false Christs cannot saue themselues Doctor Clement much lesse thee out of the fier as likewise else no image Sathan the prince of darkenesse hath a great drift herein to take the booke of Scripture out of mens handes and to force them to hold vp handes and hang downe head before a puppet of cloutes before a titularie image of Christ and not only of Christ but of all his creatures yea the vilest creatures as Saint Anthonies pig Saint Georges horse Saint Frances ragges haue their roome and place in the chiefest places of our sacred assemblies There is no point in popery but serueth for gaine Images make Pilgrimages Pilgrimages make the pot seeth and without ignoraunce there would be no Idolatry and without Idolatry the Popes kitchin would be cold and the liuing god should bee serued as hee ought and would and the persons and things which by nature are no gods should be esteemed accordingly in their owne nature Christians woulde neuer relaps to the first follies the Gentils were borne and trained vp in and the Israelites and Iewes sometimes for wantonnes and euer for want of good knowledge and true instruction were tainted with But now seeing yee knowe God The comfort of true knowledge Once they knewe not now they know they were in darknes they are in light And in this light is life for in their darknesse was death and confusion And as while Toby lacked his sight and when Sampson had lost his eies both were in a comfortles case so the want of this knowledge of that inwarde sight of God was the he auiest lotte that might befall and the restitution or graimt of this good vnderstanding was a very heauen of ioy If labour might compasse it the traficke thereof were much better than of siluer goolde euen the goolde of Ophir The Galathians knew but the Apostle by way of correcting himselfe or else rectifieng the sense of that saying addeth that they were knowen of God For our knowledge is as water infused into a vessel and not as water in the spring where it floweth naturally and he knoweth not god whom God knoweth not first and whom God endueth not with his knowledge The 7000 that serued not Bal that by nature was an Idol and no God those 7000 serued God but therefore they serued him because he first had * King 19 18. reserued them vnto himselfe And no man yea no man the case is no speciall case no man commeth to christ and to this knowlege of the sonne but the father driueth nay * Iohn 6.44 draweth him thereunto But now for the Galathians being brought to this passe that they were wel enstructed after al this knowlege which was a blessing of blessings ensuing vpon their former ignoraunce any way to relapse againe was a passing follie and perfect shame And to speake directly to the purpose the Apostle prosecuteth they who were so ignorant were deliuered not onely from their ignorance but also from the prison the schoole-house the none-age and seruice the Iewes were detained in and should they desire to bee in case that the Iewes were before They had the body and they catch after the shadow they haue Christ and in Christ al-sufficiency and they wil haue Moses withal They haue the maister and they care for the seruaunt They haue the fish and they esteeme the shel They were as men of perfect growth and they long for the swathes and truckles and beggerly elementes of the Iewish childhoode Is not this a very childishnesse The ceremonies at the first were beautiful rites but being expired are but beggerly Elements and al their beuty is most perfectly found in Christ whoÌ„ they signified By the way bee it noted that Paul calleth the ceremonies once ordained of God impotent rudiments and beggerly elements in deed beutiful at the first when they were instituted as it were a new garment But now in continuance as an out worne vesture torne and tottered and things out of date Euery thing hath his time The huske is for the good of the Corne to keepe it in the eare but when it is winoëd the huske is a beggerlie chaffe And what neede a rich man be a begger and a begger at a beggers doore Mat. 9.20 The woman in the gospell had an ishue of bloode twelue yeares together went to the Physicions spent her mony and wasted her body and al but scant to some litle purpose at length she came to Christ the Physicion of our soules and found remedy of her bodilie sicknes Whereupon I ask now were it not more than a folly being throughly recured to recourse to her olde vnprofitable Physicke To repaire to any Gilead if ther be no treacle no healing gome no souerain balm no helping medicine in Gilead The Apostle for the foresaid respectes feareth least al his former labor with them were but lost He looked for an 100 fold for 60 folde or at least for 30 fold encrease espectally after so good a feed time But their ceremonious seruile obseruation of dayes of the saboth and of moneths and years and times decreased his expectation encreased his Apostolique care and feare in their behalfe What thinges are abolished in the Saboth and what remaineth to be obserued on our Christian Saboth daies And here you see fit occasion is offered to treat somewhat of the vse of the saboth and holy-daies 1. There was a ceremonious vse of them 2. And there remaineth a ciuil vsage and an ecclesiastical order in them among vs yet The bond of the ceremony in the Saboth was of a stronger twist to keepe in the Iewes and they were willed precisely to remember to keepe holy the Saboth both in their minds and in the bodies of al that euer was in their housen The seruaunt the stranger and their cattle were not excluded This rest so determinatly sette the seuenth day is not so prescribed to vs Christians I say so as to the Iewes whose Saboths had many significations The ceremonious vse was various 1 First their Saboths were tokens they should rest with ease in the promised Land 2. their Saboths were signes they should rest spiritually with all happines in the Messias to come 3. their Saboths were figures of eternall felicity in the Land of the liuing 1 First for their rest in the promised Land of Canaan so many of them entred that rest as were of a patient spirit and with whom God was pleased should enter and possesse the land 2 As for the blessednes in Christ promised all the promises haue had their accomplishment in him and in him are they yea and Amen 3 CoÌ„cerning the fruitioÌ„ of euer lasting blisse we walke in faith and liue in hope and not vp figures Colos 2.16 the kingdome of Christ consisteth not in meates and drinkes in a newe
question therein The motiue of Succession Now for the extent of persecution did it liue die in their persons Our aduersaries would fain holde and maintaine by succession the goodnes of their relligion I knowe they knowe that they cannot shew neither orderly beginning nor vnbroken continuance for the matters we charge them with But coulde they prooue a prolonged race what then * Hard. detect Pag. 217. a. Must we then seeke our faith in the Romish comperts A scrole of names is a sory proofe to proue a truth in doctrine Cain killed Abell so did hee so doth he still Ismael mocked Isaack so doth he euer since till this day Persecutors draw after them a long taile and descent of a continued line in euill Wherefore succession is no firme argument to inferre their errors or to infirme our truth The wicked haue it most the good may misse it manie times What did it profit Cham that he was the sonne of Noe or Absolon that holy Dauid was his father Learning Wit Eloquence muchlesse godlinesse goe not by descent in a right line Aristippus was a fine cunning Courting Philosopher which may better beseeme Philosophy than Diuinity but his sonne was a very loute Demosthenes was most eloquent in the grauest kinde but his Sonne was too too rude Cicero was both wise and eloquent and yet his son was a very sot Ely of himselfe except in cockering vp of his children was no euill man but his Sonnes degenerated and were as the Sonnes of Belial Naturally man is naught and therefore a natural succession in persons cannot be good by nature and which is to be noted succession in the place and in the room of predecessors addeth no sanctity and holines Numb 32. Numb 32. Behold you are risen vp an increase of sinnefull men insteede of your Fathers Behold likewise the pleasant valley of Sodome was changed into Surphur Salt Pits of Brimstone and the like stincking matter Oye generation of vipers saith our Sauiour to the Pharisies who sate in the place which God had chosē reprouing them both because they were vipers and because they were a generation euen SVCCESSIVELY a venemous race The motiue of Antiquity Pa. Supra 42. Againe our Aduersaries claime by antiquitie but doe you not see the elder brother persecuting the younger the elder brother killing Abel the elder brother selling young Ioseph into the hands of strangers And euen so is it nowe as it was of old But of this Motiue more before And note also that it is the lot of the best both to bee interrupted 1. in their continuance while the badde produce out whole generations and then 2. to be the yongest in their beginnings and lastly 3. to be euil intreated euen of their brethren 3 The thirde difference betwixt the children which I obserued was the right the obtaining of their inheritance wherein is set forth that the bond woman by name with her brat for their intolerable brables at the fast were shut out of dores and cast as it were out of the the Arke of Abrahams family Cain complaineth findeth fault that he was as a rough stone cast out of the hande of God to bee a vagabond vpon the face of the earth Agar also and Ismael of whom we speake betoke them to their portions but such portions are * Gen. 21. soone spent and in the anguish of soule they were a cōfortlesse couple and cried out for want which was a pattern of farder distres For though the chaffe for a time growe in the field and rest in the mow and lie in the flower in greater quantity than the good graine yet after fanning time the chaffe shal be cast out into the fire and the corne shal be receaued into the Lordes euerlasting garners While they were in prosperity who but Agar against Sara Ismael against his brother the Iews against the Gentils The chaffe exceedeth the corne and the corne seemeth to be but chaffe But that day is neuer intirely faire that endeth in a wette raine Ismaels scoffing iollity commeth to nothing Isaac obtaineth the promise and tarieth with his father and inioyeth the inheritance and Ismaels pleasureable waters of many frumpes and sundry delights runne all into the salt Sea receiue a bitter end and onely Isaac inioyeth that inheritance Now looke ye to it saith the Apostles exhortation of whether Testament of whether Hierusalem of whether Mother of whether Mountain of Agar or Sara of Sinay or Sion will ye be Will yee bee Ismaelites or Isaackes With Moses or Christ alone will you Christians hold Will you tarry in the house and inioy the inheritance or be cast out of doores CHAP. V. 1 STAND fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made vs free be not intangled againe with the yoke of bondage 2 Behold I Paul say vnto you that if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing 3 For I testifie againe to euery man which is circumcised that hee is bound to keepe the whole Law 4 Yee are abolished from Christ whosoeuer are iustified by the Law ye are fallen from Grace 5 For wee through the spirite wait for the hope of righteousnes through faith 6 For in Iesus Christ neither circumcision auaileth any thing neither vncircumcision but faith which worketh by Loue. The happy condicion of a true Christian THE case of a christian man stādeth thus The horror of death the terror of hel the suttlety of sinne the frailty of the fleshe the might of the world the power of Sathan haue naught to doe with him For why the fauor of God the comfort of the spirit the merit of the son the force of faith the nature of hope doe swallowe vp all those former enimies and terrible inuasions For are we not a royal race children of choice sons of the promise wheritours with Isaack a freed and a free people manumitted from the Law and set at liberty by Christ Iohn 8.36 Whom the sonne freed they are free without question The apostle hath inculcated this heauenly doctrine both in plain words often likewise by sundry parables as also by certain special euentes in the family of Abraham and thereupon he willeth the Galathians to bee wise and couragious to mainteine their liberty to stand to it yea to die in the quarell A million of liues were well lost in such a cause and yet not lost but well and wisely laide forth This liberty is no humane freedome as from the Turkes Gallies or Spaniards Mines or such like Aegyptian Slauery but a liberty of conscience from a spiritual thrall and euerlasting damnation Christianitie is not made as Lincy-Wolsey of diuerse matters The purchase of this liberty as wee say cost whot water nay my brethren it cost the shedding of the precious bloode of the sonne of God and of the Lord of glory and therefore stand to it saith Paul quit your selues like men loose not this liberty entangle not
it coulde not bee Saraes laughter though it were stoln behind the doore was seene of God Elizeus may say the Lord hath hidde or concealed this or that from mee but no man can say I can hide any thing from thee O lord which searchest the reins and seest the hart and readest the booke of my conscience though I would clasp and shut it vp neuer so fast Thou art the God that wilt not bee mocked and wilt mocke them that shal seeke to illude thy commandements which thou hast so carefully prouided for the prouision of thy seruantes in their holy trauailes Though the Parson bee naught yet the Parish must pay their tither Yea mary say some if they would trauel if our minister were such a souldiour such an haruest man as you speake of I could be content to haue giuen the benefice free at first and still yet would I pay my tithes and make him partaker of al my goods euen by the tenth which was an order set downe before the Law as a reasonable rate in nature and vnder the Law of Moses continued and by the positiue Law since imitating the wisdome of God constituted by great consent of all Christendome for the ministery and the fry thereof in Vniuersities Schools Cathedral Churches and collegeat houses and separate parishes Yea if their sponges were full of holsome water if their brestes of syncere milke that we might sucke them if wee were taught by them we who are taught would communicate of al our substance very willingly to our teacher but our Parson neuer commeth at vs we neuer saw him since he read his Articles and as we heare he soiournieth in some Hall or Colledge in one of the Vniuersities and doth nothing there neither that we may conceaue some hope that he will come to vs and doe vs some good heare-after I am sorry to heare these complaints in part perhaps tru in part I hope false but suppose they be true yet your benefices and tythes by publicke Law are laide foorth you must not priuately alter a publicke order And as the Leuits and ministers of whome I spake before when there was a hard diuision made their part left out yet were they not their owne caruers but the ancient and chiefest amongst them brought their cause before Eleazar and Iosue and so order was taken And I am sure you of the laity as they speake and yet hauing in your handes the Church-liuings which were giuen to spirituall vses will not suffer that we enter vpon our owne euen therefore because you haue by hooke or crooke gotten and impropriated them against al reason in the time of darckenesse into your handes Likewise no more may you deale euil with the euill or refuse to render your tythes and duties thereby not agnising God to bee the giuer and the blesser of your possessions because some of Helies childrē play vnruly pranckes either being present or in their absence from their charge No certes and I am perswaded if discreet complaint in this necessary matter were made to Eleazar Iosue in dutiful sort some speedy remedy woulde haue bin thought of gone through with ere this Why He that laboreth not shold not eat Tru. But priuate men must not barre men their commons at their discretion no more than subiects may withdraw their fealty and tribute from Caesar if Caesar should deal otherwise than beseemeth his imperial function These reasons send to confusion and mutinies and must be represt And yet dear brother as God wil not be mocked of the scholar that mocketh him in his tythes so wil he not be mocked of thee thou teacher in thy security Catechising He that seeth the false-hood in tything seeth also thy not teaching the worde is Catechising whereby a most religious a godly Echo is heard in the church of God and the elements of religion are taught and the euidences of our saluation are thoroughly perused to the euerlasting saluation of many a soule And though thy Parish deale corruptly with thee they in the end shal reape as they sowed But deale thou according to duty tille thy lande cast thy seede and that plentifully couer it warily and commit the successe to God and possesse thy soule in hope and patience and in the end the Lord will be thy sufficient reward far exceeding al the commodities out harde and pinching masters detaine from vs. 9 Let vs not therefore be weary of wel doing For in due season we shal reape if we faint not 10. While wee haue therefore time let vs doe good vnto all specially vnto them which are of the household of faith The last exhortation was proper for the maintenance of the ministerie and this is inferent and concluding the same togither with an enforcement of doing good vnder hope of an answerable haruest in due season if we tarry our time and expect his leysure without wearines fainting being bountifull 1. While we haue time 2. Generally to al 3. But specially to the faithful Couetousnes The extreme couetous man keepeth his goods and all is for himselfe Auidis auidis natura parum est Hee woulde faine reape but hee dare not sow and if he sowe he so dealeth as hee supposeth he may be sure to vndo another and gain himselfe But blessed is the rich-man that is founde without blemish that knoweth howe to doe good and is not weary of wel doing For it is good to ware old in this seruice of wel doing The * Plato Heathen man said it was a harder thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was a harder matter to be good stil than to be made good for a while And for the speciall hinderāce in this wel doing our sauior giueth out this caueat Take heed of couetousnes Luk. 12. Take heede it assaulteth secretly it entreth like a friend it hath pretenses many and faire as men drincke many times much at the first to quench their thirst yet in drincking too much and too often the dropsie is engendred so though at first a man take pains in the sweat of his browes to maintaine himselfe and his yet if hee looke not to it this lawful paine at first may end in a couetous desire to gaine ouer hastily and to lay vp to purposes hee shall neuer enioy whereas a Penny wel gotten and wel imploied is the grace of God and wealth enough 1 The first note was that wee doe good in due season and that while we haue time For the life of man is a span long of smal continuance we see it so but where is he that considereth therof in such sort as he should The suddēnes the certainty of death is known but that knowledge sleepeth in a man and is not remembred to amend euerie man himselfe In the booke of Genesis Genes 5. it is repeated and repeated again on this wise al the daies that Adam liued were nine hundred and thirty yeares and
he died all the daies of Seth were nine hundred and twelue years and hee died All the daies of Enos were nine hundred and fiue yeares and hee died and so foorth of others and still though the daies were neuer so many yet and he died was the conclusion of al. It is strange the Scripture should so curiously inculcate a matter whereof no man doubteth why doth it tel vs that we know We knowe that they are dead And we see daily that men dy before our face and our life is a vapor a buble a flash a weauers shuttle c. In deede if in reading such like sentences to this effect or going with a corse to the graue or hearing the preacher beate vpon the immortality of man we assent thereunto but when the remembraunce of death should bee as it were the siue or searser to our owne and of our owne actions Omnis illa assensio illabitur Our former knowledge is quite forgotten Yea euen when we see other men weake sick or feeble and when we can thinke and when wee can say of them as they who ferrey on the tems that the bote that goeth harde on the other side by vs rideth swiftly yet we dreame that our own barge standeth still as it were a shippe at anker or that we passe verie slowly O Lord while wee haue time and the time is short while we yet liue and haue any being which cannot bee long for the life of man is not a perpetual light but as the little candle that is wasted with the winde and blowen out with a puffe or consumed after a while O while wee haue time let euery man conforme himselfe to some well doing These * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after-wits were neuer good that wil be wise when it is too late that would enter when the dore is shut that come to the faire when market is don the Lord abhorreth the blind sacrifice that cannot see the acceptable time the halting sacrifice that is soone turned out of the way neuer commeth duely in a timely season Too much curiositie in giuing of an almes is not good 2 My second note was for the generalitie of doing wel If thy right hand be extended to many thy left hand must not draw it in If thy clouds be ful they may powre downe both vpon the habitable and inhabitable places better loose an almes giuen to one that needeth it not than to withholde thy mercy vppon suspicion where the neede is great though for circumstances a man may be perswaded to the contrary An almes giuen to one in the name of a Prophet though he be a counterfait yet giuen vnder that forme looseth not the reward so a reliefe bestowed as to a man as thou art and to thine owne fleshe is accepted of God that made you both The times are not nowe that Israell must forsake the land for famine and go into Aegypt The times are not as they haue beene that men haue bin constrained to buy Pigeons-doung at a deare rate the times are not as when men haue eaten their own ordure yea the mother her own child the times are not as when the Father the Vncle and the Son haue strouen for a rotten mouse and when whole multitudes haue beene driuen to fry out moysture out of old leather The times are not as they haue beene in England when bread was made of fearn-rootes as of late in Queene Maries time commonly of Ackornes Notwithstanding this yeare is a deare yeare the multitude are needy and their need is great And therefore a large releefe and a generall liberality is most requisit and he that hideth his corn will not giue nay will not sel is the curse of the people But he that selleth reasonably and giueth cherefully blessing be vpō his head for euermore Good Zacheus when saluation came to his house hee began to thinke whether hee had dealt hardly by wrong cauillation with any man offered to make quadriple recompence with the one halfe of his goods the other moity hee was content franckly should be for the poore Halfe your goods in constituted cōmon-weals vnder christian dealings is not euer required and the poore sort must bee no proud beggars Ruth was content with peaze Elias with a litle meale Lazarus wished but a few crommes and beggers must be no chusers Yet in the booke of Ruth I note to the great commendation of Booz that Booz seruantes when Ruth came at meale-time Ruth 2. and stood not like a saucy begger but mannerly beside the reapers they gaue her plentifully and she did eate and was sufficed and left That the poore may eate and be sufficed it is liberality but to be sufficed to eat leaue is great liberality A wanton prouerb amongst beggars The diet then was but parcht corne Our age is ouer nice And broun bread breedeth melancholy But very neede must teach vs the parcymony and homelines of elder yeares and yet if we could spare our impertinent attire and our superfluous fare our country dearth were yet but a cheapnes our hospitality might be greater our charity enlarged our bodies more holesome and our soules better accepted of God that accepteth them that liue temperately and in their temperance consider the needy and regarde the poore In this story I note one note more that Booz tooke order that Ruth should bee liberally vsed and yet he would haue her labour and gleane for that shee had So my brethren if there were order taken that they who coulde woorke and take paines and if their paines would not fully suffice then there might bee some supply by letting fall some sheaues of our plenty some lone of mony and some way else to further the labors of numbers which now goe vppe and downe idly and of this idlenes there now commeth nothing but innumerable inconueniences and thus much for the generality of relieuing 2 It is the wise mans exhortation cast thy bread vpon the waters Eccle. 11. By bread may be ment the seed of bread by casting may be ment sowing and men when they sow they sparse not all in one place but they sowe with discretion by waters some think is meant moist places which in whote countries are most fruitfull Some by waters think are signified the sea that on the very Sea a man should not stick to venter his goods and euen to ship them ouer to farre countries to doe them good and in the sight of God this trafique will be a very acceptable trade and in the ende to thee verie profitable For though men maie thinke thy bread is cast away and thy seede is lost yet in the returne of time thou shalt reape of thy liberalitie thy bozom ful But I argue Must I cast my bread vpon the waters If by waters the fruitfull ground bee ment as the bozom of the poore who euer is the fertill ground so yet the case of the poore faithfull
man is the most fertilest field of all others If it seeme that by the waters I must helpe euen strangers that neede my help that are far off and discluded by the Sea then I reason if I must doe good which I denie not euen to straungers what must I do to the man that dwellech by mee and to the poore Christian which perisheth vnder my nose and in my sight Must I care for the lilly of the field and not for the lilly in my garden Or must I feed the rauen and starue the innocent and simple Doue Or must I doe good to all and not most specially to the houshold of faith who most commonly needeth most and deserueth best If garments must be variously cut out according to the proportion the persons be of that must weare them then verily greatest respect must bee taken of them whom the world hateth and double care for the houshold of the poore faithful But if I speak my cōscience I would it might affect where I wish amendment Of all men the poore professor is least set by euen by them whom yet I perswade my selfe are of the same housholde of faith It is strange but the common vsage hath made it no strange thing This offensiuenes in entertaining the bad and excluding the good if it be to win them it is well but in the sight of all men if it fode them vp in their follies it is more than a folly Thou canst not eate thy bread alone neither doe but let thy delight be in the releefe of them with whom thou shalt meete and rest with in the land of the liuing 11 Ye see how large a letter I haue written vnto you with mine owne hand For reforming of the Galathians and for their perfect enstruction Paul dealeth not by woord of mouth but hee writeth vnto them and that a long letter euen with his owne hand 1 The length of his letter declareth the largenes of his loue 2. With his owne hand sheweth the certainty whence the letter came 1 The mencioning of this length was not with a lawier-like entent to be paied by the lines which they lengthen of purpose but as I saie of loue to affect them with the moe woords whom a few woordes could not moue hee willeth them to consider you see how large a letter I haue drawn as who wold say were the matter of smal weight and not your soules health I might spare my labor and with more ease be vtterly silent or at the least much more briefe But you see I am long Wherefore consider thereof accordingly 2 Pauls Letters were not onely long but though they were long and hee leasurelesse yet he writeth al with his owne hand The Apostle was vnlike manie men in the world who speak one thing and doe another haue one thing in their tongue and another thing in their hand but as Sampson Iudg. 14.9 when he came to his father he came with honny in his mouth and honny in his handes so Paul hath the same doctrine sweeter than honny and the comb as at first in his teaching so now in his writing and he putteth all downe vnder his owne hand In the second of Kings 2 King 4.34 we read of the manner which the Prophet Elizeus vsed in restoring to life the Sunamits sonne He sent his seruant with his staffe and it would not be wherefore hee commeth himselfe hee spreadeth the child abroad hee putteth his mouth to the childs mouth his eies vpon his eies and his hands vpon his hands and he stretched himselfe vppon him and the fleshe of the child wareth warme Paul in some resemblance taketh the like course he spareth no pains he sheweth all tender affection and what doth he not to restore them to life whom the false Apostles had euen wounded to death He putteth his mouth to their mouth he speaketh in their eares hee spreadeth himselfe vppon them he writeth a large letter hee laieth it before their eies and putteth his epistle into their hands and he powreth this wholesome Doctrine into their sores and because they should certainly knowe that the Phisicke came from himselfe hee writeth all out with his own hand The false Apostles euen in Pauls time were growne to a wonderful impudency to broch their errors vnder the names of the true Apostles and al others follow that deuise as Manichaei saith Austine Contr. Faust lib. 22. Cap. 8. legunt Scripturas Apochryphas c. The Motiue of Traditions and vnwritten verities The Manichees read secret hidden Scriptures cobled vp I knowe not by whom vnder the name of the Apostles But our aduersaries at this day as in part they tread the pathes of such their predecessors so yet they haue a tricke also ouer and aboue when they want forged writings they make vp their claim by vnwritten verities which they call Traditions You see this is an olde practise to fetch about to wind in men into their * Aug. in Ioh. tract 97. coulorable errors Wherefore in great wisedome and like goodnes both in special for this Epistle likewise for the rest of the Scriptures the Lord God prouiding for the Maiesty of his own worde and entending the certaine saluation of the faithfull would not commit that the foundation of faith shoulde bee grounded or depend only vpon the toungs of men but himself spake from Heauen openly in his son and inspired his Prophets of old and afterwarde the Apostles to draw forth write out his whole mind to the end there might be an vndoubted Scripture assuredly sufficient and able to make men perfect complet in all good workes It is not denied but many things were doone by our Sauiour in the daies of his fleshe manie things by the ancient prophets in ample and particular manner not laide forth yet that which is written was therefore writtē because God knew what was sufficiently certaine to the attainment of a good beleefe and through beleefe to euerlasting life Secret Doctrines vnwritten Traditions and such stolne waters are sweet onely to corrupt tasts and to men that will needes either be spirituall witches or els be bewitched 12 As many as desire to make a faire shew in the flesh they constraine you to be circumcised onely because they would not suffer persecution for the Crosse of Christ 13 For they themselues which are circumcised keep not the Law but desire to haue you circūcised that they may reioice in your flesh Paul hauing spoken of his owne affection toward them speaketh now againe of their doing As many as desire c. As many ergo there were belike many And no maruel if ruble be rife where precious stones are refused In the multitude of these false teachers I marke 1. Their vaine-glory and then 2. Their vaine feare Vaine glorie 1 Their vaine glory was to make a faire shew that they and who but they were the conuerters of so many and so many prosilites This is a