presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at his right hand are pleasures for euermore fulnesse of ioy not drops or showres of ioy lightly to bedewe or besprinkle vs but riuers of ioy flouds of ioy euen to bath our selues in And looke as vnwilling as a naturall man would be who enioyes the light of the sunne to returne backe againe into his mothers wombe so vnwilling would a glorified Saint be to returne from this shining glory and fulnesse of ioy to the honours and pleasures of this world The seuerall and different degrees of this reward are clearely represented vnto vs by the difference betweene the brightnesse of the firmament that of the starrs They that be religiously wise though they neuer haue the function nor the gifts to teach shall shine as the one but they who haue both the calling and abilitie to teach and withall a blessing vpon their labours thereby to turne many vnto righteousnesse as the other as the brightest starres for ever and ever I am not ignorant that some learned Divines haue not only doubted of this disparity of glory in the Saints but haue denyed it and disputed against it yet those very men haue confessed it to haue beene agreed vpon by the generall consent of the Fathers which for mine owne part I must professe I am vnwilling to forsake specially where the Scripture and reasons drawne from thence are so faire for it and in the analogie of faith nothing against it That there are diversitie of gifts and withall that we are to covet the best gifts S. Paul hath made it evident and our Sauiour that of the seed which fell in good ground some brought forth an hundred some sixtie some thirty fold and what they teach we find confirmed by daily experience That there are different degrees in grace then there can be no question and I thinke as little that there shall be in glory since grace is but a steppe to glory and glory againe the crowne of grace He who hath told vs that in his Fathers house are many mansions seemes to haue intended not only a multitude in number but a difference in order and so did the ancients vnderstand it Let vs heare one for thē all Apud patrem mansiones multae sunt tamen evndem denarium dispares laboratores accipiunt quia vno cunctis erit beatitudo laetitiae quamuis non vna sit omnibus sublimitas vitae saith the great Gregorie in the last chapter of the fourth booke of his Moralls In my Fathers house are many mansions and yet the labourers who entred the vineyard at different houres receaued every one the same penny because all shall enioy the same happinesse though some be advanced to an higher pitch of glory As in vessells some are bigger some lesser yet all are full to the very brimme and of eyes some are stronger some weaker yet all behold the same sunne of righteousnesse yet shall not all vessells of glory be capable of the same measure nor al gloryfied eyes be fixed vpon their blisfull object with the same strength sed in eisdem mansionibus saith the same Doctor erit aliquo modo ipsa diversitas concors quia tanta vis amoris in illa pace nos sociat vt quod in se quisque non acceperit hoc se accepisse in alio exuleet But in these many mansions there shall be a friendly kinde of diversity because so forceable shall be the charity of the Saints in that eternall peace that what every one hath not receaued in himselfe he shall reioyce to haue receaued in and by another He that gained two talents to his Master and he that gained fiue they are both commended for their faithfullnes both entred into their masters ioy yet as their talents were at first bestowed vpon them according to their seuerall abilities so no doubt but their reward was in some sort proportionable to their severall gaines which partly appeares in this that the talent which was taken from him who had but one was conferred vpon him who had gained fiue and not vpon him who had gained but two It is by all Divines freely acknowledged that there shall be different degrees of punishments in hell in as much as it shall be easier in the day of iudgment for some then for others and some shall be beaten with more others with fewer stripes why not then different rewards or rather different degrees of the same reward in heauen It is true that for the greater terrour the degrees of punishments are thus differenced in Gods iustice according to our deserts yet may it well be that for our better encouragement likewise in his mercy he hath thus proportioned out these different degrees in our reward not for any merit of ours but partly thereby to quicken vs in the way of vertue and godlinesse and partly to shew his truth as in disposing of all things so of his rewards as a man that hath many sonnes and promiseth to proportion out his Legacies to them as they shall shoote neerer or farther off the marke set up by himselfe conditionally that they hitt the butt is in a manner bound to bequeath him the fairest portion who comes neerest the white not for the merit of the sonne but by reason of his owne promise Little is the knowledge God knowes very little which we poore wormes here crawling vpon the face of the earth haue of things that are in heauen farther then in holy Scripture they are revealed vnto vs yet thus much we know that those blessed ministring spirits by their maker called Angels because they are his messengers sent forth to minister for their sakes who shall be heires of saluation are not all of equall ranke some being Cherubins and Seraphins others thrones and dominations some of an inferiour sort and therefore termed Angels only others of a superiour in that regard styled Arch-angels which how to interpret or accord were they all equall for my owne part I must professe I cannot possibly conceaue Now as in the life to come we shall be like the Angels free from the vse and want of those perishable things which this life stands in neede of so likewise it is not improbable but the gloryfied Saints may some way resemble the different orders in the severall distribution of rewards and to come somewhat neerer my text and withall fully home to the poynt in hand There is saith the Apostle one glory of the sunne another glory of the moone another glory of the starres and one starre differeth from another in glory then presently inferres so shall it be in the resurrection as one starre differeth from another in motion in situation in colour in influence in order the starres in their order fought against Sisera so likewise both in bignesse and brightnesse and so shall it be in the resurrection Behold saith our Sauiour I come quickly and my reward is with me to render vnto euery man according as his worke
his glorious estate to make Intercession for vs. Yet this is not all for it is further to be observed that Christ is not Priest as Man only but as Emanuell on God-man This the Apostle to the Hebrewes carefully demonstrateth The law saith he maketh men high Priests which haue infirmity but the wâ—rd of the Oath which was since the law maketh the sonne who is consecrated for ever more And againe Christ saith he by his eternall spirit offered himselfe without spot to God And if he were a Priest after the order of Melchizedecke as he was without Father or Mother without genealogie hauing neither beginning of daies nor end of life as also being Vntithed in the loines of Abraham it cannot be that he should be Priest as Man only for of Man only these things cannot be verified therefore as God also If so then Prayer being an act of Christs Priest-hood it followeth that it is Emanuel God-man that prayeth and that his Prayer is a Theandricall action as Divines terme it Divinely-humane or Humanely-divine This speech haply may sound harshly in some eares there are who sticke not to charge it with â—tat Arrianisme as if thereby we made Christ inferiour to his Father whereas hee himselfe thought it no robbery to be equall vnto him Giue mee leaue therefore to bestow a few words for the clearing of this difficulty the rather because it is being rightly apprehended the ground of singular comfort vnto vs. It is a Fundamentall article of the Christian Faith that in Christ there are two distinct Natures his Divinity his Humanity that both these concurre to the constitution of one Person God-man Whence it followeth that the Agent or Principle which acteth all the workes of Mediation is but one by reason of the Vnitie of the Person even Christ God-man according to that protrite Maxime Actiones sunt suppositorum all actions issue and proceed from the Subiect or person Howbeit seeing the Person alwaies worketh by his Natures and they as wee haue said in Christ are two it followeth by reason of this Dualitie that there are two distinct Principles by which Christ worketh or mediateth according to that other rule in nature Natura est principium motus quietis nature is the principle both of rest and motion This for further illustration may be exemplified in Humane actions For as it is Man or the Person of Man consisting of Soule and Body that vnderstandeth reasoneth moueth speaketh yet it is the Soule by which he vnderstandeth and reasoneth the Body by which he moueth and speaketh so in the actions of Mediation it is Christ God-man that worketh them all yet some by his Godhead and some by his Manhood Here therefore are wee to distinguish The workes of Mediation are either of Soueraignty and Authority or of Subiection and Ministrie Of Soveraignty and Authrity as to send the Holy Ghost to illuminate the Mind to raise from death of Subiection and Ministrie as to suffer to dy to be raised from death All these things did Christ as he was God-man both doe and suffer but yet the former by the Principle of his deity the latter by the Principle of his humanity It is further to be observed that although both the Natures in Christ remaine distinct and consequently their severall operations also yet as Leo truly saith Agit vâ—raque forma cum communione alterius quod cuiusque proprium est both Natures doe that which is proper vnto them but with Communion of each with other This Communion is the concurrence of both Natures in the same Person by their severall proper actions to the producing of one Apotelesma or outward effect pertaining to our Salvation In which concurrence the Deity is ever the principall and the Humanitie is the Organ or Instrument of the Deity so that it never moueth to any thing but as it is acted and moved by the Deity and from it receiues all its value dignity and efficacy as in Man the Body doth from the Soule These things being thus demonstrated let vs in a word applie them to our particular This Prayer of Christ is an act of his Priesthood Heâ— therefore prayes that is the Priest The Priest as we haue shewed is Christ God-man Christ therefore prayeth as God-man But the act is Ministeriall not Soveraigne He prayeth therefore not by the Principle of his Deity but in his Humanitie Howbeit with Communion of the Deity the Instrument partaking with the Principall Agent and deriuing all its vertue and efficacy from the concurrence thereof Which being so the more either ignorant or malitious are our adversaries of the Church of Rome who slander vs as if we held Christ prayed in his Divine nature Nay we know Prayer is a worke of Ministry and implies inferiority whereas the Word is coequall to his Father If may be the dreame of Iewes in their Talmud that God prayes certaine houres every day or of Turkes in their Alcoran that he prayeth for Mahomet But we know that God hath no superiour to whom he should pray and that his will is omnipotent and the effectuall cause of all things so that he needs not pray But it pleased the sonne of God to assume our nature and in the same to make himselfe lesse then his Father and to become obedient vnto him in all things So that although it bee God-man that prayes yet praying non qua Deus sed qua homo not in the forme of the Word but of a Servant it can be no impeachment to his Deity Now if it be God-man that prayes is it possible hee should misse of his suit Surely he himselfe saith I knowe thou hearest me alwaies And the Apostle affirmes that in his Prayers and Supplications he was still heard If hee bee the only Sonne in whom the Father is well pleased will he thinke you deny him any thing Nay if wee that are so vnworthy are yet heard for his sake how can hee that is of such infinite worth but bee heard when as himselfe praies He is therefore alwais heard What is it then he here sues for To himselfe Glorification to his Apostles to know and teach all sauing truth to vs that beleeue through their word Sanctification Vnion with him Perseverance in grace and the blessed-making vision of his Clory Doubtlesse therefore hee himselfe sitteth at the right hand of his Father and swayeth all things both in Heaven and earth to his Churches good His Apostles both knew and taught all the counsells of God and wee may safely build vpon the Foundation they haue laid As for vs all those things shall surely bee made good vnto vs. And though Sathan desire to winnow vs yet Hell gates shall never prevaile against vs. For he that never faileth to be heard hath prayed for our Faith that it faile not then which what surer ground of peace and ioy to the conscience can there be As it is the ground of comfort so is it
only vpon misprision as some worthy divines haue obserued not well distinguishing betweene Essence and Subsistence whereof that is finite this infinite For Christs humanity though according to its essence or Naturall being it bee not every where but determined vnto one place yet in respect of his Subsistence or Personall being it is every where and circumscribed in no place For proper Subsistence of its owne and in it selfe it hath none only the Subsistence of the Sonne of God is communicated vnto it which is infinite vnlimited Secondly if this Power of Christ though finite yet be incommunicable and cannot passe from him to any other what presumption what arrogance is it in him who not being Christ yet dares say with Christ Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo in terrâ all power is given me both in heaven and in earth Who therevpon takes vpon him to forge new Articles of Faith and to obtrude them vpon the Church vnder paine of damnation who also takes authority vnto him to make lawes equally binding the conscience with Gods lawes that without any relation vnto divine law at all Who finally for to reckon vp all the blasphemies of this sort would bee infinite pretends a power to dispence with the law of God to grant indulgences for sin to free men from the punishment inflicted by God vpon them for sinne Certainly whosoever challengeth these things to himselfe can be no lesse then Christi aemulus even Antichrist himselfe whose proud vsurpations vpon the power of Christ shall one day bee recompenced with equall shame and confusion The rather because thirdly whereas the power of Christ is not secular but spirituall hee claymeth both and so assumeth to himselfe more then euer Christ did Ecce in potestate nostrâ imperium vt demus illud cui volumus Lo saith Pope Adrian the empire is in our power to bestow it where we please And hence I suppose it is that insteed of the old style Vicarius Christi the Vicar of Christ they now begin to stile him Vicedeum the Vicar of God for that by this they may perhaps wrench in his temporall power which by the other they could not inasmuch as Christ neuer had it Lastly therefore seeing Christ contented himselfe with his spirituall power only reiecting that which is secular let not vs looke after outward pomp or state in his kingdome nor iudge of the Church by such deceitfull notes Rather let vs iudge of it by the lawes thereof and by the rule of Faith professed therein As the power of Christ is Spirituall so is his kingdome also and therefore by spirituall markes and notes to be discerned But to proceed The second point is in quos ouer whom or how farre his authority extendeth It is saith my text Over all flesh This word Flesh is diuersly vsed in Scripture Among other significations vsually it is put for Mankinde As where it is said that God saw all flesh had corrupted his way vpon earth that is all men And againe All flesh is grasse and all the goodlinesse thereof is as the flower in the field And yet againe Except those daies should bee shortned no flesh that is no man should be saued And so is it to bee vnderstood in this place Christ hath power ouer all flesh that is ouer all mankinde Now he that saith all excepts none All men therefore of what age sexe degree condition or qualitie soeuer are vnder the power and iurisdiction of Christ. And as touching the Saints and those that are members of his mysticall body it is questionlesse For to them he is Caput a head to rule and governe them a Husband to order and direct them a Shepheard to feed and ouersee them Hee hath bought them with his most pretious blood he hath conquered them out of the hands of Satan and all that hated them hee rules by the scepter of his word and guides them by the manuduction of his blessed spirit And as he hath many waies made himselfe Lord ouer them and testified his authority and power by his mighty operations in them so haue they freely and voluntarily submitted and resigned themselues vnto him Power therefore hath he over these as over his obedient and louing subiects But question may be made touching reprobate and wicked men whether hee haue any authority and power over them yea or no. For as the Psalmist saith They band themselues and take counsell together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let vs breake their bands asunder and cast their cords from vs. And our Saviour in the parable Nolumus hunc regnare super nos we will not haue this man raigne ouer vs. But notwithstanding all this reluctation and resistance yet power and authority hath he ouer them still Rebellious subiects they may be yet subiects they are Will they nil they Dominabitur in medio hostium hee shall raigne in the midst of his enimies If they will not submit vnto the gentle scepter of his word he hath an yron rod in his hand wherewith to breake and dash them in peeces like a potters vessell And those his enimies that would not hee should raigne ouer them bring them hither will he say and slay them here before me Authority then he hath though they acknowledge it not and ouerrule them he will resist they neuer so much Overrule them I say either to their salvation by converting them or to their confusion by delivering them vp vnto their owne lusts In a word whether they be good or evill how high or low soeuer they be he is Lord of them all Rex regum dominus dominantium King of Kings and Lord of Lords yea Dominus tum mortuorum tum vivorum Lord both of quicke and dead But what Hath he power only of men and not of other things Yes questionlesse For saith David Omnia subiecisti pedibus eius thou hast put all things vnder his feet And the Apostle applying it vnto Christ addeth In that he put all in subiection vnder him hee left nothing that is not put vnder him Our Saviour Christ also himselfe affirmeth that all things are deliuered him of his Father yea that al power is giuen him both in heauen earth Particularly in heauen ouer the blessed Angels For saith S. Peter he is gone into heauen and is on the right hand of God Angels and authorities and powers being made subiect vnto him Hee is vnto them a Head and Mediator though not of Redemption as vnto man yet of Confirmation in the state of grace and though not to deliuer out of misery yet to preuent their falling into misery Hence it is that they are reckoned in the number of those that pertaine vnto the Church that they minister both to the Head thereof and it also reioycing at the conversion of a sinner and desiring throughly to
Iesus whom yee haue crucified both Lord and Christ. Howbeit this power the Father giues not as the former Donatione naturali by naturall donation sed gratuitâ by free voluntary gift And therefore as notwithstanding the former he was co-equall with the Father so in regard of this hee is subiect to the Father Wherefore in this respect hee saith Pater major me est my Father is greater then I and though he be Lord of all yet the Father calleth him his Servant And the Schoole in regard of his humane nature saith that he is Subiectus sibi ipsi subiect to his owne selfe But it will be obiected that Christ obtained his kingdome by conquest how then could he receaue it from his Father by gift Wherevnto I answere first that the right title he had was from the gift of the Father before he went about to conquer it secondly that the power also whereby he conquered it hee receaued from the gift of his Father In regard whereof the Father sticketh not to challenge the conquest vnto himselfe Sit thou saith he vnto the Sonne on my right hand vntill I make thine enimies thy footstoole Which yet is thus to bee vnderstood that the Father by the Sonne and the Sonne vnder his Father by power receaued from him hath subdued and mastered all his enimies But when receaued he this power from him and how long was he to hold it He receaued it then when hee receaued his vnction His Vnction he receaued in the instant of his Incarnation For assoone as the Personall vnion began so soone was he annointed with the oyle of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes that is with the fulnesse of all such graces as were fit for the menaging of so great power as wisdome counsell zeale of iustice strength and the like And no sooner was he annointed but presently hee was a King Melchizedeck a king of righteousnesse wise to doe iudgement iustice It is true he suppressed this power for a time For the Word emptied himselfe of his glory and his humane nature was to suffer many things Wherevpon it is said He could doe no miracle in his owne country nor might not send his Disciples into the way of the Gentiles It was as a sword in the sheath or as Dauids authority before Sauls death At times indeed he shewed some tokens thereof as in stilling the Sea commanding spirits raising the dead and the like yet the execution thereof could not be plenarie till after his resurrection and when he was set at the right hand of his Father Licet Christus quantum ad divinitatem c. saith Lira Although Christ according to his divinity had from all eternity this power in heauen and earth and authoritativè by way of authority had it he also as man from the first instant of his conception yet executivè by way of execution hee had it not before his resurrection but would be subiect to possibility for our redemption But how long was this power to continue with him Forever For as he was a priest so also was he to be a King for ever after the order of Melchizedecke Thy throne ô God saith David is for ever and ever a text which Saint Paul to the Hebrewes applyeth vnto Christ. And Daniel His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not passe a way and his kingdome that which shall not be destroyed And the Angell Gabriell Hee shall raigne over the house of Iacob forever and of his kingdome there shall be no end Yea but doth not the Apostle say that when he shall haue put downe all rule and all authority and power then the kingdome shall be delivered vp by him to God even the Father and that then the sonne himselfe shall also be subiect vnto him It is true hee saith so But we are further to know that the kingdome of Christ containeth in it two things the mediatory function of his Kingly office and his Kingly glory That he shall lay aside for then there will be no further necessity nor vse thereof He shall not need to fight any more with the prince of darknesse nor to governe his Church as formerly by the word and sacrament For God as he is now something in vs so then shall he be all in all vnto vs. But this hee shall hold for ever as being by the acts of his mediation iustly acquired and according to covenant bestowed vpon him by his Father As therefore the Father even now raignes although he haue delivered the kingdome to the Sonne even so then shall the Sonne also raigne although he deliver vp his kingdome vnto the Father And thus hath Christ omnem potestatem in omnia in omnia secula all power over all things and vnto all eternity The vse of this point briefly may be this First seeing Christ vsurped not this power but receiued it by lawfull donation from his Father therefore neither should wee presume vpon any office or place vntill wee be lawfully called therevnto Should we runne without sending wee should but incurre the displeasure of God be authors of much confusion and mischiefe in the Church Secondly seeing he receiued this power together with his Vnction it may lesson vs not to affect any calling till wee be annointed with sufficient gifts for the discharge thereof Go teach baptize all nations saith our Saviour to his Apostles but withall he furnisheth them with cloven tongues and filleth them with the Holy Ghost To adventure on a businesse without due abilities as it proceedeth from abundance of boldnesse so will it be recompenced with equall measure of shame Lastly seeing his power continueth for ever and of his kingdome shall be no end wee may take knowledge that it will bee in vaine for any to oppose themselues vnto it Hell gates shall never be able to prevaile against it how much lesse the policies of mortall men or their strongest attempts For that which is eternall is invincible and can never be destroyed And thus much of the third point A quo from whom The fourth and last is Quorsum to what so great power was given him For wee may not thinke that God doth vse magno conatu nihil agere with much a doe to effect nothing And if nature which is but the creature of God doe nothing in vaine and wise men ever propound some end vnto their actions much more ought we to iudge so of him who is both the author of nature and wisdome it selfe An end therefore was intended and that doubtlesse of highest consequence For otherwise what need so great power and glory to atchieue it If in the creation dixit factum est the word was no sooner said but the thing was done yet here not words no nor so great power without his glorification will not serue the turne this it seemes is of a higher straine then that What then may it be This that to as many as are
expresly thus saith he we iudge that if one died for all thē were all dead that he died for all that they which liue should not henceforth liue vnto themselues but vnto him which died for them and rose againe You will say how are we to liue vnto Christ I answere as the body liueth vnto the Soule The Body liueth vnto the Soule when it is serviceable and obedient therevnto especially when it followeth not the sway of inordinate passion but the direction of right reason In like manner we liue vnto Christ when we serue and obey him not living after the flesh but after the spirit For not they that walke after the flesh are in Christ but they only who are lead by the spirit of Christ. S. Peter expresseth it by liuing not to the lusts of men but to the will of God And by and by setteth down the Iusts of men to be the will of the Gentiles namely lasciviousnesse lusts excesse of wine revellings banquetings abominable idolatries and the like Vnto all which he opposeth liuing according to God in the spirit Fourthly and lastly hence we may learne humility to ascribe nothing to our owne selues For what are wee in nature but stinking carkasses If we liue it is by the meere grace of Christ. Come vnto him of our selues to be quickned by him we could not It was his Father that drew vs vnto him Not vnto vs therefore not vnto vs but vnto the Father through Iesus Christ bee ascribed the whole praise and glory thereof for evermore And thus much of the second point Vnde whence this life is The third point is Quibus vpon whom it is conferred and bestowed Vpon those saith my Text and all those whom his Father hath giuen him Who are they For of them Christ very often speaketh All saith he that my father giueth me shall come vnto me And againe This is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which hee hath giuen me I should loose nothing And yet againe My Father which gaue them me is greater then all And so also sundry times in the sequele of this present Chapter For clearer vnderstanding hereof therefore we are to knowe that there is a double donation by which men are said to be giuen vnto Christ the one Common the other Singular The Common is that whereby the Father hauing given vnto the Sonne all power both in heauen and earth deliuereth all things also into his hand giuing as it were liverie and seizing of them that from thenceforth hee may dispose of them at his pleasure And thus all men whatsoeuer both elect and reprobate are giuen vnto him But this is not here meant as by and by shall appeare Another donation therefore there is more speciall and singular whereby the Father deliuereth vnto the Sonne some of the creatures as vnto a head to be his members or to persist in our present similitude giueth them as a body to the soule to be acted and quickned by him that is to be ruled and ordered not only by the Scepter of his Power but of his Grace and sanctifying Spirit Now who are these Surely not all flesh for all are not vnited to him and so liue not by him Who then They that are elected and chosen vnto life of whom it is said Multi vocati pauci verò electi many are called but few are chosen And that these are here meant plainely appeareth by and by where he saith I haue manifested thy name vnto the men which thou gauest me out of the world that is not to all but some only selected and culled from the rest And againe Thine they were and thou gauest them mee How thine By free election and now mine by speciall donation And yet againe I pray not for the world but for them that thou hast giuen me for they are thine Where you see the world distinguished from them that are given him and excluded from being the Fathers together with them Whence it followeth necessarily that the donation here meant is not of all but those only who in speciall sort are the Fathers namely his chosen and peculiar ones For the better vnderstanding hereof and that you may knowe how and in what order the Father is pleased to proceed in this gracious worke thus I take it you are to conceaue thereof First the Father seeing all mankind by the fall of Adam to bee corrupted and in the state of damnation out of his meere mercy and loue decreed not to loose the whole race of man but to renew and repaire againe his image in some of them to the praise of the glory of his grace prouided yet alwaies that his iustice for sinne be fully satisfied Secondly for the satisfaction of his iustice he further decreed to send his sonne into the world that taking our nature vpon him he might therein suffer whatsoeuer was due to sinne and so mediate a peace betweene God and vs. Then thirdly out of the corrupt Masse of mankinde he selecteth and chuseth some particulars even such as he pleaseth with a purpose infallibly to bring them to everlasting life And in regard of this act it is that our Saviour saith tui erant they were from al eternity thine and againe tui sunt by the constant continuation of the same purpose they are still thine In the fourth place those that are thus elected the Father giueth vnto the Sonne to accomplish his purpose vpon them and by vertue of the power and life giuen him to quicken them vnto eternall life Being thus giuen wee are now Christs Wherevpon also the Church is bold and saith My welbeloued is mine and I am his and S. Paul directly affirmeth that we are Christs And being Christs fiftly lastly he actually enliues quickens them raising them vp from the death of sinne and convaying into them the spirit of life in such sort as wee haue formerly declared But doth Christ bestow life vpon all them that are so given him yea verily my text expressely affirmeth it that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him This was the very end wherefore the Father gaue them to him And shall we thinke that the Father tooke not order sufficient for the attaining of his end God forbid For because he would not faile of his end therefore did he giue so great power vnto his Sonne Such power that nothing except he would could plucke them out of his hands and so much life that if hee would hee might giue it in abundance Shall we say that the Sonne though he hath power yet wants will Farre be such blasphemy from vs. For he testifieth of himselfe that hee came downe from heauen with this resolution not to doe his owne will but the will of him that sent him and now that he is come that he seeketh not his owne will but the will of the Father
and yet life continues As touching Power that is Gracious habits imprinted vpon the soule and enabling to operate I distinguish againe For some of them either in themselues or vs argue defect and imperfection and pertaine only to the condition of this present life such as are Faith Hope and Repentance and the like Others import perfection pertaine also to the next life among which excells Charity The former in the end of this life cease For we beleeue because we see not and hope because we possesse not and repent because we sinne But when wee see possesse and are free from sinne then Faith Hope and Repentance vanish away As for the latter they never cease but continue with vs evermore Yet here againe are we once more to distinguish For these habits may be considered either in regard of Substance or Degree In regard of degree we confesse they may suffer abatement For Faith may fall from its Plerophorie oâ— fulnesse to an Oligopistie or lower degree thereof and Charity also may remit much of its fervor So that in this respect a man may be said to bee moribundus declining as it were vnto death But in regard of Substance or Being we confidently affirme in such sort as is aboue said that they never perish and the spirituall man neuer dieth To winde vp all in a word actus intermitti potest gradus remitti sed habitus ipse nunquam potest amitti the act may suffer intermission for a time the degree abatement or remission but the habit or life it selfe never loosing or amission The question being thus clearely stated let vs now proceed to proofe That the life of Grace in all them that are giuen vnto Christ by the Father is eternall might be proued by many arguments All what I haue to say shall be reduced to one If the life of grace at any time fayle and the elect of God spiritually dye either it is through the deficiencie of the Procreant and Conservant causes of life or the efficiencie power of the contrary corrupting causes But it is neither through the one or the other Ergo neither doth the life of Grace at any time fayle nor the elect of God die The Major proposition needs no proofe For a third cause cannot be named and therefore of necessitie it must bee one of the two if there be any The Minor therefore I am by all meanes to fortifie and to maintaine that neither the Procreant and Conservant causes fayle nor the contrary corrupting causes prevaile The efficient and preseruing causes of spirituall life is as wee haue shewed the holy and blessed Trinitie the Father through his Sonne by the powerfull operation and working of the holy Ghost These if they fayle either it is because they cannot or because they will not continue this life To say they cannot is no lesse then blasphemie and contrary both to Scripture and reason For Omnipotence is an essentiall attribute of the Deitie so that he can no more cease to bee almightie then cease to be himselfe and loose his being In the Creed is this title ascribed vnto the Father how-be it not exclusiuely For the Sonne and the holy Ghost being coessentiall with him they are coequall also in might and power The sonne by the word of his power created all things together with his Father and by the same word vpholdeth all things And to the holy Ghost power also is attributed even the same power whereby things were created and wonders aboue the reach of nature are wrought If it bee said that the Sonne by taking our nature vpon him made himselfe inferiour to his Father I confesse it and withall that his mediatorie power is lesse then his Fathers Neverthelesse all power is giuen him both in heauen and earth such a power as no creature besides is capable of and which was giuen to this very ende that he might both giue life continue it vnto eternity Vnto which had it not beene sufficient without question greater had beene giuen for the Father may not fayle of his end Of the power of God therefore there can bee no doubt but that he is mighty to saue able to make vs stand able to keepe vs so that none vnlesse he will can take vs out of his hands What say we then to his will For as in him that is by vertue of the first life wee liue so if either hee withdraw himselfe from vs or suffer others to withdraw vs from him we cannot subsist Surely as he is able so if we may beleeue Scripture hee doth stablish vs in Christ we are kept by the power of God to saluation and our life is hid with God in Christ. But enquire we a little deeper into this mystery And first the will of the Father appeareth many waies By Election vnto life which being absolute not conditionall is immutable For the foundation of God standeth sure hauing this seale the Lord knoweth who are his And the names of all the elect are written in the booke of life out of which they can neuer be blotted For they are ordained vnto life and appointed by God to obtaine salvation through Christ. By his loue also which is the cause of Election I haue loued thee saith he with an eternall loue a loue which as it is without beginning so shall it likewise be without ending Nay if the loue of a mother is more to her child when she beareth it in her armes then while it was in her womb we may not think but the loue of the Father continueth at least as great towards vs when we are new borne of him as it was when we were yet but conceaued as it were by election Thirdly by donation of Christ to the elect For what greater testimonie either of his loue or of his will to saue then this So God loued the world saith Christ that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life Fourthly by donation of vs vnto Christ. For it is the will of the Father that of those he hath giuen him he should loose none And here it is said that he hath giuen vnto the Sonne power over all flesh that to as many as he hath giuen him hee should giue vnto them everlasting life And lastly by the couenant made with vs. It is a couenant oâ— salt an euerlasting couenant And I will betroth thee vnto me foreuer saith God And againe This is my couenant with them saith the Lord my spirit that is vpon thee my words which I haue put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed saith the Lord from hence forth and foreuer And thus you see the Father is willing what the Sonne His willingnesse also appeares many
evills that befall them vnto the godly as in old time the gentiles did to the Christians and nowadaies Papists doe to Protestants ingratitude in requiting the much good they enioy by them with nothing else but hatred and persecution Well doth Solomon confound Fooles and Wicked for were not wicked men meere fooles they would neuer thus malice their best friends nor seeke to destroy them by whom themselues are preserved from destruction For certainly will they nill they sapiens est stulti redemptio the wise man is the fooles ransome as saith Philo and iust men are the pillers of the house the brazen walls of a country the charets and horsemen of a nation without whom the world is but a stage of vanity a cage of vncleane birds cannot long subsist Wherefore although to our griefe we see wicked men too thicke sowne among vs yet because so many good men are mingled with them let vs reioyce and be glad giue God hearty thankes for them hoping that while they continue with vs Gods blessing shall continue vpon vs also And when it shall please him to translate any of them from hence let vs solicite him with our devoutest prayers vt vno avulso suppullulet alter Aureus simili frondescat virga metallo the one branch being pluckt off another golden one may grow vp in the place thereof for the perpetuation of his favours towards vs. Secondly doth God in executing iudgement distinguish betweene good and bad sparing the one and punishing the other here is a right precedent for you my Lords and other iudges and rulers of the land to imitate Yee are in scripture stiled Gods and in this principally are yee to resemble God Ye are carefully to separate betwixt the pretious and the vile not so as to iustifie the wicked and to condemne the innocent for both are an abomination to the Lord saith Solomon but to punish the evill doers and to praise them that doe well for to this end are ye sent as St Peter saith There is no greater cause either of apostasie in the Church or of sedition in the commonwealth then when they that deserue well of both are vilipended or neglected and lewd vnworthy men are honoured with the reward due vnto vertue Oh therefore let vertuous worthy men find grace in your eyes let them in the name of God be cherished and countenanced by you ever remēbring that they are the meanes of much good vnto the place where they liue As for wicked men bend your browes vpon them and as they deserue it let them feele the edge of your sword Pinguior victima mactari Deo non potest quam homo sceleratus a fatter sacrifice can yee not kill vnto God then a wicked man If yee spare him yee spare not your owne selues judex ipse damnatur cum nocens absolvitur the iudge himselfe is condemned when the guilty person is absolved And seeing so many Amorites yet remaining in the land they now begin to pricke sorer in our sides then heretofore hoping for a linsey wolsey Church at least ere long it is high time for you to looke carefully herevnto Tranquillitas est vbi solus Petrus navigat tempestas vbi Iudas adiungitur saith Ambrose if Peter saile alone all is calme if Iudas saile with him nought but storme and tempest If we cannot vtterly be rid of them let them be hewers of wood drawers of water with the Gibeonits God forbid they should steere at the helme and be proud commanders Thirdly and lastly doth God sometimes enwrap both good and bad in the same punishment This my Lords is a mysterie vnimitable and farre aboue your reach and to follow God in such actions were to make your selues as ridiculous as little children who will needs put vpon them their fathers coats though they be no way proportionable vnto them Theodosius the Emperour for the fault of one man at Thessalonica involved many innocents into the same punishment but hee was faine to doe penance for it before he could be receiued into the Church by Saint Ambrose If Polititians thinke they see reason of state in it yet policy must yeeld to religion the rule whereof is Fiat iustitia ruant coeli evill may not bee done that good may come of it For the least evill of fault is greater then the greatest evill of punishment that being evill in nature this only to sence otherwise an act of iustice it selfe Neverthelesse albeit this act of God be not to be imitated by vs yet seeing the wicked by reason of their mixture with the Godly draw downe common plagues vpon them both it ought to be our wisdome first to labour for their conversion and if it may be to worke them into Gods favour then if this cannot bee effected either to separate them from vs by the hand of iustice or to separate our selues from them at least wise in dislike affection For as Solomon saith He that walketh with the wise shall be wise but a companion of fooles shall be afflicted And thus much of the first part which is Gods action now of the second which is Abrahams affection How Abraham stands affected in this particular case of Sodom is cleare and evident by his words Be it farre saith he from thee to doe this thing to stay the righteous with the wicked and that the righteous should be even as the wicked be it farre from thee He vtterly mislikes that the righteous should perish together with the wicked and desires rather that God would be pleased either to spare the wicked Sodomites for those righteous ones which happily were among them or else to deliver the righteous from the destruction of the wicked In a word he seemes to be solicitous for them all both for the Sodomites whether good or evill in generall and in particular for his brother Lot who dwelt among them But here it will happily be said what doth Abraham prescribe vnto God impose a law vpon him Is God to be ruled by man and divine actions to be directed by humane affections Farre be such temerity farre be such presumption from the Father of the faithfull No he knowes and confesses himselfe to be but dust and ashes and that God is not only Liberrimus agens one that freely doth whatsoever hee will both in heauen and earth but also Sapientissimus needing no counsellor to advise him but knowing best himselfe what is to be done He doth not therefore presume to order the actions of God but only proposeth his humble sute vnto God neither doth he take vpon him to direct him but to deprecate for others It will peradventure yet farther be said that God had already signified his purpose vnto Abraham and what he meant to doe Which being so it had beene his dutie to laid his hand vpon his mouth and to haue rested in his will without farther contradiction or opposition And here caeca
Body And wee are stedfastly to beleeue that the Humane nature was so assumpted by the Deity that although they both constitute but one Person yet they still remaine two distinct Natures and each of them retaineth its Essentiall Properties If then as the Apostle saith Christ be made like vnto vs in all things sinne only excepted and our Bodies cannot bee without Dimension of length breadth and depth together with circumscription proportion and Distinction of parts one from the other and the like then neither can the Manhood of Christ be without them Neverthelesse you fancy vnto Christ in the Eucharist such a Body as is vtterly deprived of them all For thus saith your Angelicall Doctor and what he saith is the generall Tenent of the Church of Rome In the Body of Christ in the Sacrament there is no distance of one part from another as of the eye from the eye or the head from the feete as it is in other organicall bodies For such distance of parts is in the true Body of Christ but not as it is in the Sacrament for so it hath not dimensiue quantity O miserable Christ that art driven into such narrow straits that the whole bulke of thy Body should be emprisond and as it were frapt together in every little crum and point of the hoste And more true and seasonable may the complaint now be then it was of old that the Sonne of man hath not so much as a place wherein to rest his head But seeing as Thomas saith The true body of Christ hath distance of parts and the Body of Christ in the Sacrament hath not distance of parts I marvaile what should let but that I may boldly inferre the conclusion Ergo the Body of Christ in the Sacrament is not his true body Againe it is an Article of the Faith that Christ being ascended into Heauen hath quitted the earth and now sitteth at the right hand of his Father This the Scriptures testifie The poore saith Christ yee shall haue alwaies with you but mee yee shall not alwaies haue And I leuae the world and goe vnto the Father And againe Now am I no more in the world but these are in the world and I come vnto thee Hence saith St Peter The heauens must containe him vntill the time that all things bee restored And then as the Angell said This Iesus that is taken vp from you into Heauen shall so come againe as you haue seene him goe into Heauen The Fathers saith the same Origen According to his divine nature he is not absent from vs but he is absent according to the dispensation of the Body which he tooke As man shall he be absent from vs who is every where in his divine nature For it is not the manhood of Christ that is there wheresoeuer two or three be gathered together in his name neither is it his manhood that is with vs at all times to the end of the world nor is his manhood present in every congregation of the faithfull but the Divine vertue that was in Iesus Tertullian In the very pallace of Heaven to this day sitteth Iesus at the right hand of his Father Man though also God flesh and bloud though purer then ours neverthelesse the same in substance and forme wherein he ascended Ambrose Neither on the earth nor in the earth nor after the flesh are wee to seeke thee if wee will find thee Augustine Mee shall you not alwaies haue He spake this of the presence of his Body For touching his Maiesty providence vnspeakable and invisible grace it is true that he said I am alwaies with you to the end of the world But as for the flesh which the word tooke which was borne of the virgin fastned to the crosse laid in the graue you shall not alwaies haue mee with you And why Because hee is ascended into heauen and is not here there hee sitteth at the right hand of the father Cyril of Alexandria He could not be conversant with his Apostles in the Flesh after hee was once ascended to his Father And Notwitstanding he be absent in the flesh yet by that only meanes the power of his Godhead he is able to saue his Finally Gregory the Great The word incarnate both remaineth and departeth he departeh in Body and remaineth in his divinity Thus the Fathers And hence is it that so often in their writings they exhort vs not to settle our thoughts here on earth but to send vp our Faith into heauen and thither to follow him in heart whither wee beleeue him to be ascenâ—â—d in body Now what you The cleane contrary that the Body of Christ is still present with vs here on earth and as ordinarily as he is aboue in heauen Nay more then so For there he is confined circumscribed to one place as also he was here in the daies of his Flesh when he liued among the Iewes but now by your Doctrine he may be and is in more then a thousand places at once even when and where you will For you haue power to reproduce him as often as you list then to keepe him with you as long as you please at least vntill the mouse devoure him or he begin to corrupt and putrifie But is it impossible will you say for the Manhood of Christ to be present in many places at once Impossible if we may beleeue the Fathers neither can you produce any one of them that saith the contrarie If the argument of the Fathers aboue quoted be good Hee is in heauen Ergo he is not in earth then can hee not at one time bee both here and there too And doth not St Cyril expresly say he could not be coÌ„versant with his disciples in the Flesh after he was once ascended to his Father St Augustine likewise Christ according to his bodily presence could not be at once in the Sunne and in the Moone and on the crosse And againe The Body of Christ in which he rose againe can bee but in one place but his truth is every where diffused Vigilius a blessed Martyr and Bishop of Trent The flesh of Christ when it was in the earth was not in Heaven and now because it is in hauen certainly it is not in earth And by and by Forsomuch as the word is every where and the flesh of Christ is not every where it is cleare that one and the same Christ is of both natures that is every where according to the nature of his divinity and contained in a place according to the nature of his humanity Finally Fulgentius One and the same sonne of God having in â—â—m the truth of the divine and humane nature lost not the properties of the true Godhead and tooke also the properties of the true Manhood one and the selfe same locall by that he tooke of Man aâ—d infinite by that he had of his Father
betweene themselues This spirituall punishment is the greatest of all iudgements in this life and is vsually attended with eternall shame and confusion of face in the next And reason it is that they who sleight that which God holdeth so deare should themselues be sleighted of him and seeing they disdaine to glorifie him that he by iust vengeance should glorifie himselfe vpon them So dealt he with Pharaoh Nabuchadnetzar Antiochus Herod and other proud tyrants and so will hee one day deale with all those that set so light of his Glory Is then the glory of the Father so deare and pretious vnto him Is he so iealous and charie of it that he will not haue it in any case touched or blemished Then surely that which maketh for his Glory and without which the Sonne cannot glorifie him may not bee denied him And so much for the Maior The Minor Proposition is But by my glorification I shall glorifie thee and without it I shall not be able to glorifie thee This though it be as true as the former yet the truth thereof is not so evident as of that For it may bee obiected that our Saviour now praying for his Glorification implies therein that he was not as yet glorified For wee vse not to sue for what we are already possessed of but only giue thankes for it Yet by and by he saith Ego glorificauite I haue already glorified thee on earth As he was God he had from all eternity glorified him in heauen As he was Man he had here on earth glorified him by his doctrine life obedience miracles And if wee as yet vnglorified doe glorifie him how should not the Sonne much more be able to doe it Vnto all which I thus answer breifly that glorifying is double either Inchoate or Compleate As touching the Inchoate it is true that as the Father had in part already glorified him as in particular by the raising vp of Lazarus so had the Sonne also in part glorified the Father But as touching that which is Compleate neither had the Father as yet so glorified the Sonne nor the Sonne the Father Wherefore as our Saviour is to be vnderstood here to pray for his perfect Glorification so are we to conceiue it also of the Fathers as if hee had said more fully vnlesse the Father perfectly glorifie the Sonne neither can the Sonne perfectly glorifie the Father For as God declared the glory of his power in deliuering Israel out of Egypt by a mighty hand with many signes and wonders yet had his mercy and truth yea his power also beene much impeached had hee not proceeded according to promise to settle them safely in the land of Canaan so the Father although he had begun to shew his glory in the incarnation of his Sonne and all other his noble acts yet if he did not goe on to cōsummate and perfect his Sonnes glory by supporting him in his last combate raising him from death taking him vp into heaven and setting him at his right hand with all power and authority the glory of his goodnesse wisdome mercy iustice and omnipotence would bee exceedingly blemished But when once the Sonne shall be so glorified then shall he by vertue of the power giuen him powre forth of his spirit vpon the sonnes of men subdue the world vnto his obedience trample all his enimies vnder his feet and recover the kingdome vnto his Father Whereby it will manifestly appeare that hee is the eternall Father very God the author of life and saluation sweet in his goodnesse true in his promise iust in retribution wise in all his actions and most powerfull also in his executions And so much likewise of the Minor The vse whereof may serue first for confutation For it answeres a vaine quarrell of the Arrians against the coequalitie of the Sonne with the Father The Father say they must needs be greater then the Sonne because the Sonne saith Pater clarifica filium father glorifie thy sonne and he is greater who giues then he who receaues glory Wherevnto I answer in the words of S. Augustin Quòd si ille qui glorificat c. If he that glorifieth be greater then he whom he doth glorifie let them grant that they are equall who glorifie one the other For it is written that the Sonne also glorifieth the Father I saith hee haue glorified thee on earth So also elsewhere saith our Saviour the spirit shall glorifie me And there being in the holy and blessed Trinitie such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Circuminsession as whereby each Person dwelleth in other it cānot be but each of them should knowe and knowing mutually and eternally glorifie one another Secondly it serues for information that as Christ our head referred his owne Glorification vnto the glory of his Father so we that are his members should doe the like and in all things seeke to glorifie our Father Nay if Christ to the praise of the glory of his Fathers grace was content to become sinne and a curse for vs how much more are wee bound in euery thing to intend his glory of whom hee exacteth no such thing It is the rule of the Apostle S. Paul Whether yee eat or drinke or doe any thing else doe all to the praise and glory of God All whatsoeuer either we are or haue we haue receiued of him and it is he who by Christ hath redeemed vs both bodies and soules let vs therefore glorifie him both in bodies and soules for they are his Thirdly and lastly seeing our Saviour vrgeth his desire to glorifie his Father as a speciall argument to perswade him to grant his request it may serue for singular comfort vnto vs that as long as our actions respect Gods glory and are ioined therewith they cannot but be accepted He will surely blesse them and giue them good successe sith his glory cannot be divided from them A holy life glorifying God is a vitall prayer Though wee heare no speech from it yet it cryeth aloud in the eares of God and saith Father thou maist not deny to glorifie me for through the whole course of my life I study nothing more then to glorifie thee And thus much of our Saviours second motiue drawne from the highest and most soueraigne end of all the Glory of his Father Vers. 2. As thou hast giuen him power ouer all flesh that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him His third reason is drawne from the Power bestowed vpon him by his Father thus Thou hast giuen him power over all flesh to the end he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him Ergo thou oughtest to glorifie thy sonne The Antecedent of this Enthymeme is deliuered in the Text in expresse tearmes The Consequence is only insinuated implied For clearing whereof it may please you to obserue with mee first that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated as is not a
prepared for you from the foundation of the world vnto the which kingdome the Lord bring vs all for his Christs sake Amen FINIS AN AMVLET OR PRESERVATIVE against the contempt of the MINISTERY OXFORD Printed by I.L. for E. F. 1633. TIT. 2 15. See that no man despise thee BEing in regard of the present oportunity to addresse my speech at this time vnto you principally reuerend Fathers and beloued brethren of the Clergie I haue by the direction I trust of Gods blessed spirit made speciall choice of this Text as affording matter both of great importance and euery way concerning you That the office and calling of the Ministery is of all other the most honourable worthy euery one of vs presumeth That of all other it is generally most obnoxious and subject to contempt wee all by lamentable experience feele How it may be freed from this contempt and againe recouer its ancient dignitie is a point of high nature and well worth the hearing And this is the very purpose intent of this Apostolicall charge For as St Pauls care that Titus be not despised implies the honour of his calling and his feare least he be despised argues it is subject therevnto so his charge vnto Titus to looke vnto it that hee be not despised evidently shewes both where the cause of this contempt mostly lies and how our selues if wee list may preuent it So that this Text may not vnfitly be called An Amulet or Preservatiue against the contempt of thâ— Ministery And it offereth as you see vnto our mediâ—ation these three particulars first the dignity of the Ministry secondly the contempt of the Ministry thirdly the redresse of this contempt Of which while I discourse vnto you plainely according to my poore abilitie breefly in regard of the businesses to succeed lend mee I beseech you blessed brethren both the assistance of your prayers and the encouragement of your fauorable attention And first as touching the Dignitie of the Ministrie cui non dictus his Hylas What tongue or penne almost hath not travailed in this argument Or what can herein bee said which hath not beene already said And to say all that may be said in this short scantling of time is impossible I omit therefore that Scripture expresly calleth Priesthood an Honour and affirmeth Elders to be worthie of double honour charging all to haue them not onely in honour but also in singular reputation Neither will I stand to reckon vp all those titles wherewith Ministers are honoured as Stewards Fathers Rulers Men of God Gods Embassadors the light of the world the salt of the earth Saviours Starres Angells Nor lastly will I spend time in mustering vp all those honourable personages who haue borne this office as the First borne of euery family before the Law vnder the Law the house of Aaron in both mighty Kings as Melchizedeck and Solomon and finally vnder the Gospel Christ himselfe the King of Kings and Lord of Lords These things I say and sundrie other of like nature although demonstratiuely prouing the Dignity of the Ministry yet of purpose I passe by as obvious and vulgarly vrged Onely at this time these three points as the choicest among the rest would I command vnto your serious consideration First the excellency of the science we professe secondly the efficacy and powerfull operation of our Ministry thirdly the authority and iurisdiction annexed therevnto For if the Science we professe be architectonicall if the execution of our Ministry bee most energeticall if our authority and iurisdiction bee the amplest and greatest then is our Calling of all other the most noble and worthy Let vs therefore enquire if these things be so and first the excellencie of the science we professe As the wise man saith of a vertuous woman Many daughters haue done worthily but thou surmountest them all so say I all Arts and Disciplines in their kinde are good as issuing from God the fountaine of all goodnesse but Divinity is transcendent and as Gregory calleth it ars artium the science of sciences For whereas the preeminence of one science before another standeth in two things either that it is more worthie in it selfe in regard of the matter it teacheth or more certaine and infallible in regard of the manner of knowing this Divine science farre excelleth in both For as touching the matter the very gleaning of Ephraim is better then the vintage of Abiezer the meanest part of this heauenly knowledge is greater and nobler then all whatsoeuer is comprehended within the whole circle of humane Sciences For these taken at the highest aspire not aboue Nature contemplating only such Verities and directing vnto such goods as are connaturall vnto vs and being naturall are also finite and so cannot satisfie the vast and infinite desire either of the mind or will But the obiect of this Diuine science is meerely supernaturall the speculatiue part whereof contemplateth the first and highest verity even God himselfe â—â—e infinite beautie and glory of his nature the incomprehensible Trinitie of Persons his wonderfull workes and operations creating all things of nothing sustaining all he created by his mighty word ordering and gouerning all by his most wise prouidence but specially redeeming mankinde from Sinne death and hell into the glorious liberty of sonnes by the incarnation and passion of the Sonne of God A mystery so profound that not only the naturall man knowes it not but euen the blessed Angells longed to be acquainted therewith and knowing stand amazed and rauished with admiration thereof Neither is the Practicall part any way inferior vnto the speculatiue for that also directeth vnto the first and highest Good euen Good in vision and fruition of whom standeth our eternall blessednesse shewing also what the way is which leadeth vnto this soueraigne End namely Repentance from dead works Iustification by Faith in Christ Regeneration by water and the Holy Ghost vnfaigned study and practise of new obedience in Pietie towards God Iustice towards all men and temperance towards our owne selues Thus the subiect matter of our science so farre surpasseth that of other Disciplines as supernaturall excelleth naturall heauen earth eternitie time the boundlesse wisdome of God the narrow compasse of mans reason and they are vnto it but as Hagar vnto Sarah hand-maides vnto their Lady and Mistresse As is the matter so is the manner of knowing also that of highest price and value this most certaine and infallible Vnto the truths of other sciences wee yeeld assent either induced by authority of humane testimonie or inclined by probability and likelihood of reason or convinced by the light and evidence of demonstration The two former breed but a morall or coniecturall certitude both obscure nor excluding all doubt nor securing vs of the truth The third though it haue greater evidence clearnes yet hath it no more theÌ„
body that shall bee giuen for you My flesh is truly meat and my blood is truly drinke the bread that I shall giue you is my flesh for the life of the world and other like sentences of our Savioâ—r I. D. Your second Argument is drawne from the opinion of the ancient Fathers grounded vpon the Scriptures An invincible and irrefragable Argument if you bee able to make it good For who is hee that dares withstand so great Authority as is that of the Fathers backt with Scripture But bragge is a good dogge as they say and it behooueth you to cracke and boast of much least otherwise you be thought to be destitute of all For I will be bold to affirme that neither you nor your author shall ever be able to proue any one of the ancient Fathers whether with Scripture or without to bee of your side in this present point Those that you pretend to make for you wee shall examine as they offer themselues in order And as for grounding their opinion vpon Scripture neither could they doe so seeing they never dreamed of your Reall presence neither doe the particular places by you vouched import any such thing The first place This is my body shall hereafter at large be vnfolded the rest as is already demonstrated speake not a word of the Sacrament but only of Spirituall eating If the Fathers either in their Homilies or Commentaries alledge these words discoursing of the Eucharist it maketh nothing against vs. For seeing Christ is Spiritually eaten not only out of the Sacrament but in it also and Spirituall eating cannot well be expressed but by tearmes borrowed from Bodily eating no marvell if the ancient Fathers speaking of the Sacrament accomodate these words and the rest in the sixt of Iohn thereunto N. N. The Fathers doe not only vrge all the circumstances here specified or signified to proue it to be the true naturall Body of Christ as that it was to be giuen for vs the next day after Christs words were spoken that it was to bee given for the life of the whole world and that it was truly meat and truly Christs flesh but doe adde also divers other circumstances of much efficacy to confirme the same affirming the same more in particular that it is the very Body which was borne of the blessed Virgin the very same Body that suffered on the Crosse. The selfe-same body saith St Chrysostome that was nailed beaten crucified blouded wounded with a speare is receiued by vs in a Sacrament Whereunto St Augustine addeth this particularity that it is the selfe-same that walked here among vs vpon earth As he walked here in earth saith he among vs so the very selfe-same flesh doth he giue to bee eaten and therefore no man eateth that flesh but first adoreth it And Hesychius addeth that hee gaue the selfe-same Body whereof the Angell Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary that it should be conceiued of the Holy Ghost And yet farther It is the same body saith St Chrysostom that the Major or learned men did adore in the manger but thou doest see him saith he not in the manger but on the Altar not in the armes of a woman but in the hands of a Priest The very selfe-same flesh saith St Augustine againe that â—ate at the table in the last supper washed his Disciples feete the very same I say did Christ giue with his owne hands to his Disciples when he said Take eate this is my body c. and so did he beare himselfe in his owne hands which was prophecied of David but fulfilled only by Christ in that supper These are the particularities vsed by the Fathers to declare what Body they meane and can there be any more effectuall Speeches then these I. D. Pliny in one of his Epistles adviseth him that would be a Writer oftentimes to looke backe vnto the title of his Booke and to consider what his drift and purpose is least ere he be aware he step aside and fall vpon things impertinent Which wise and prudent counsell of his had you duly regarded I perswade my selfe you would not haue spoken so little to the purpose as in this section you haue done For out of all these sayings of the Fathers you conclude no more but this that the true naturall flesh of Christ which was borne of the blessed virgin conversed among vs here on earth and suffered on the crosse c. is present in the Sacrament which who denies Certainly none of our side for wee all freely confesse the same together with you So that the difference betwixt you and vs lies not in the thing it selfe but in the Manner nor whether Christ be present but how and in what sort hee is present Two waies say wee he is present Sacramentally Spiritually as is aboue already declared And this Presence wee affirme to be so strait and neere that wee are thereby bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh But the Presence that you maintaine is a Corporalland Locall Presence of the Flesh of Christ vnder the Accidents of Bread and Wine and that by way of Transubstantiation And this is the point which you haue vndertaken to proue out of the Fathers and to which you ought to speake but in this place you performe it not For how doth this follow The Fathers say that true Christ is present Ergo they say he is present Corporally Locally and by way of Transubstantiation Certainly not at all for hee may otherwise be Present namely Sacramentally as wee hold and Spiritually Neither shall your Author with all his wit and skill ever bee able to make good this or the like consequence from the thing to the manner And thus much for answere in generall Particularly St Chrysostome saith the selfe-same Body which was crucified c. is receaued by vs. But how In a Sacrament that is Sacramentally and by Faith Even as in Baptisme we are made partakers of the Blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Ghost not by a Reall presence or Transubstantiation of Water into them but only as St Chrysostome here speaketh in a Sacrament The which comparison I vse the rather because it is the Fathers own who elsewhere saith that it is in the Lords supper as it is in Baptisme wherein by the sensible element of water the gift is bestowed and that which is intelligible to wit regeneration and renovation is performed The Reddition whereof must needs be this that in like manner by the sensible creatures of Bread and Wine the gift is giuen we are made partakers of the Body and Blood of Christ to the Spirituall nourishment of our soules By which proportion it seemeth that as the one is effected without Transubstantiation so is the other also Your next Author is Saint Augustine who saith that the same Flesh which walked here among vs doth he giue to be eaten True but to bee eaten by Faith not by the mouth For
one and the very same according to his humane substance absent from heauen when he was in earth and forsaking the earth when he ascended to heauen And a little after how could he ascend but as a locall and true man evidently employing that he cannot be a true man who is not Locall and circumscribed in one place And indeed if the Body of Christ be aboue in Heauen and in many places here on earth at one time as at London Paris Rome else-where and not in the severall spaces betweene either it will follow that there are as many distinct bodies of Christ as there are places wherein it is or that his Body is many hundred miles off and separated from it selfe either of which is most vnreasonable and absurd For as Saint Paul saith there is but one Lord and heauen and earth are many miles asunder Besides it would follow that the Body of Christ is out of that which containeth it consequently that that which containeth it containeth it not which is a meere contradiction Nay if that Mathematicall principle be true as vndoubtedly it is that those bodies which touch the same point doe also touch one the other it will necessarily follow that the Priests fingers which touch the Body of Christ in London must needs at the same time touch his fingers who holdeth the same in Rome And so shall not only the Body of Christ be in divers places at once but by vertue thereof those things also that are many hundred leagues a sunder shall actually touch one the other Vnto these and the like absurdities for the saluing of them you haue nothing to oppose saue only the Omnipotence of God to whom nothing is impossible But withall you forget that this hath beene the ordinary refuge of the heretiks who as Tertullian saith faine what they list of God as if he had done it because hee could doe it whereas we should not because hee can doe all things therefore beleeue he hath done it but rather search whether he haue done it or no. True it is God is omnipotent but by doing what he will as Augustine saith not by suffering what he will not Whence also some things he therefore cannot doe because he is omnipotent He cannot deny himselfe saith Saint Paul and it is impossible that he should lye And This impossibility saith Ambrose is not of infirmity but of maiesty because his truth admitteth not a lye nor his power the note of inconstancie So that whatsoever is repugnant to the Nature and Truth of God because he is Almighty he cannot doe And such are all contradictions both the parts whereof cannot possibly be true at once but if the one be true the other must needs be false Hence it is held for an vndoubted Maxime in Schooles that God cannot doe those things that imply contradiction the reason because so he should be false himselfe Now this Doctrine of yours implies in it innumerable contradictions as by and by shall be demonstrated among the rest this that the same Body at the same time shall in heauen haue shape quantity distinction of parts circumscription and all other essentiall properties of a Body and yet in the Sacrament shall be destitute of them all Both of which if vpon presumption of Gods Omnipotence you will needs still beleeue I must plainely tell you that to build on his Power with impeachment of his Truth is not Faith but Infidelity Thirdly it destroyeth the Nature of a Sacrament For proofe whereof I will vse no other grounds then those which your owne men and Bellarmine in particular haue laid for me To the constitution of a Sacrament of the new Testament three things among sundry other saith he are necessarily required First there must be a Signe that is as Saint Augustine defineth it a thing which besides that shape or kinde that it offereth unto our sences of it selfe causeth some other thing to come into our minde Whence it followeth both that the Signe is something knowne and that it is a thing differing from that which it signifieth or whereof it is a signe Secondly that this signe must be sensible or visible For a Sacrament is intrinsecally and essentially a ceremony of Religion and a Ceremony is an externall act Wherefore the Fathers every-where teach that Sacraments are certaine Footsteps or Manuductions vnto things spirituall Invisible Thirdly that the signe must hold due analogie and proportion with the thing signified according to that of S. Augustin If Sacraments had not a certaine similitude of those things whereof they are Sacraments they were altogether no Sacraments And hence is it that the Fathers call them Anti-types that is things of like Forme and liuely expressing that which they present These things being thus granted out of them I frame this argument That which destroyeth the signe in the sacrament by confounding it with the thing signified making it invisible and insensible and holding no analogie or proportion with that whereof it is a signe destroyeth the nature of a Sacrament But your doctrine of the Reall Presence by Transubstantiation doth all this Ergo it also destroyeth the nature of the Sacrament The Major or first Proposition is by you as wee haue now shewed yeelded vnto vs and cannot bee denied The Minor or second Proposition I thus proue in every particular And first that it destroyeth the signe For if any remaine either it is bread or the Accidents of bread or the body of Christ for there is not a fourth But bread it cannot bee for the Element is not a signe vntill it be consecrated and bread is no sooner consecrated but forthwith it ceaseth to be And if it be not then neither is it a signe for of that which is not nothing can be affirmed Againe the Accidents of bread as Colour Savours measure and the like are not it For besides that it is impossible that Accidents should haue any subsistence without their subiect the Being of an Accident being to be in its subiect it is very strange and vnconceauable if they could how the meere Accidents of bread should represent and signifie the body of Christ. The rather because the signe was ordained by Christ to bee a helpe vnto our Faith and to lead vs as it were by the hand vnto the thing signified Whereas the Accidents of bread without the substance thereof are rather lets and hinderances vnto vs and with no more reason can bee called signes of Christs body then a darke cloud that keepeth off the light of the Sunne from our eyes may bee called a signe or Representation of the Sunne Adde herevnto that such a signe is required as is materiall and elementall according to that of S. Augustin The word being added to the element it is made a Sacrament So Hugh so Bellarmin so the rest Now to call Accidents by name of Elements is a new straine of Philologie vncouth