next chapter he makes his prayer to God for it This prayer is also set down in the book of the kings and which is more the text saith that the speech 〈◊〉 the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing When we have attained to knowledge we must as is required in Deut. 1. bring it into our heart that is past the brain 2. we must whet or Catechize our children for Catechizing in the principles must be diligently observed 3. We must talk of Gods statutes that is use conference 4. We must write them which includes also reading both fruitful 5. We must binde them before our eyes which implyes meditation 6. We must bind it about our hands a thing unusual in these dayes but yet as in physick it is a rule per brachiam fit judicium de corde The pulse comes from the heart to the hands so in Divinity by the arm practise and excercise is meant and this is to binde it on our armes It is a good way to make a conscience to practise what we know Saint Bernard saith Quod datur 〈◊〉 quod aperitur 〈◊〉 id exerce practise what we have attained by prayer and industry for the contrary not practising what we know brings coecitates poenales for illicitas cupiditates The heathen man saith that he that hath an habit of Justice shall be able to say more of it then he that hath a perfect speculation of all the Ethicks So the meanest man that hath practised his knowledge shall be able to say more of God and Religion then the most learned that hath not practised It is in divinity as in other things Exercitium signum est 〈◊〉 and so signum scientiae practise is the signe of power and so of knowledge It is a true saying that the best rule to judge of the Consequence is by the Antecedent as if fear be wanting there can be no Love if love be away there can be no obedience but especially if humility be wanting there can be no saving knowledge Saint Augustines prayer was Domine noverim te noverim me and adds that no man knows God that knoweth not himself And vera scientia non facit 〈◊〉 exultantem sed lamentantem True knowledge puffs not up but dejects a man and the Heathen man could say Inter sapientes sapientior qui 〈◊〉 he is the wisest among the wise that is humblest and he that hath a conceit of himself can never come to kowledge Aristotle in his Metaphysiks saith Scientis est ordinare he is wise that can order his doings prefer every thing according to order as in divinity knowledge of God which brings life eternal should be prefered before other knowledge which brings onely temporal profit But we do contrary for it is a common order with us as to prefer private profit before publick so to place temporal things before eternal and the knowledge of the one before the knowledge of the other which is a signe that our knowledge is not rightly ordered The Apostle saith we must not be children in knowledge that is carried away with every false winde of doctrine but must be rooted and grounded that we may be stedfast in the truth not clouds without water carried away with every winde as Saint Jude hath it and like waves of the sea that is carried with the tide here with the ebbe and there with the flood as it is in our times The last rule is we must not hinder knowledge in others either by authority commandment permission or counsel but provoke others to it and increase it in them as much can be Our knowledge must be to help others and that three wayes 1. In teaching them that are ignorant 2. In satisfying them that doubt and strengthning them that waver 3. In comforting the distressed and afflicted conscience And thus much for knowledge the first duty of the minde CHAP. VII The second Inward vertue Commanded in the first precept is faith Reasons for the necessity of faith Addition 8. Concerning the evidence of faith and Freedome of assent The certainty of faith Of unbeleif Addition 9. Concerning the nature of faith means of beleeving Of Trust in God for things temporal The trial of our trust six signes of faith THe next inward vertue of the minde is faith This supposes a knowledge of the object or things to be beleeved which being propounded sufficiently as credible our assent thereto is called faith which rests upon divine authority though it see not the proper reasons to enforce assent for seeing we cannot by meer natural reason attain sufficient knowledge of supernatural truthes but that divine revelation is needfull therefore besides natural knowledge faith is necessary which reecives them for this authority of the speaker To explain this There is in every proposition an affirmation or a denial 1. Sometimes a man holdeth neither part because he sees that equall reasons may be brought on both sides and that is called doubting 2. If we encline to one part yet so as we feare the reasons of the other part may be true then it is called Opinion As Agrippa was almost perswaded to be a Christian 3. If we consent to one part that is called kowledge which goes beyond both the other and arises from evidence and assurance of the truth Knowledge is threesold 1. By sense 2. By discourse of reason 3. By relation of other men and this is properly faith 1. Knowledge by sense is such as was that of Josephs brethren that had seen him before they sold him into Egypt and therefore knew him 2. Knowledge by discourse Such as Jacobs was when he saw the chariots come out of Egypt he conceived straightway that his son was alive 3. That by relation of others as Jacob knew that his son yet lived when his sons told him so 1. For the first when a thing cannot be present to the sense then must we rely upon the third Relation The Queen of Sheba did first heare of Solomons wisdome in her own land before she came and heard him her self 2. For point of reason ther 's nothing absent from that but that which is supernatural and above our understanding when a thing exceedeth the capacity of meer natural reason without divine illumination as we see in Nicodemus a great Rabbi in Israel For concerning mysteries in religion the Apostle saith out of the prophet eye hath not seen or eare heard nor hath it entered into the heart of man that is they exceed both the capacity of the sense and reason and therefore we must come to the third way which is by faith for as Job speaks God is great and we know him not neither 〈◊〉 the number of his years be 〈◊〉 therefore it must necessarily follow Nisi credider it is non stabiliemini as the Prophet assures us if ye will not beleeve ye shall not be established And yet this restrains us not so far but
both must concur S. Pauls three rules of pie juste sobrie S. Augustine his three rules contrary to three rules of corrupt nature 2. The manner of doing riquires 1. totos 2. totum 3. toto tempore 3. The reward 4. The punishment CHAP. XVI Page 83 That the moral Law of God written by Moses was known to the Heathen 1. The act or work was known to them as it is proved in every precept of the Decalogue yet their light more dim in the 1. 2. 4. 10. S. Pauls three rules of pie sobrie juste known to them 2. They knew the manner of performance toti totum semper 3. They knew the rewards and punishments CHAP. XVII Page 68 Questions about the Law 1. Why it was written by Moses seeing it was written before in mens hearts How the light of Nature became dim three causes of it it was deserved in three respects Why the Law was given at this time Why onely to the 〈◊〉 All the four parts of a Law are in the Law written 1. The Act. 2. The Manner 3. The rewards 4. The punishments 2. Whether any can keep the Law How God is just in requiring that which we cannot perform An Addition about power of keeping the Law evangelical Adam lost his ability not efficienter but meritorie God alwayes gives or is ready to give power to do what he requires if we be not wanting to our selves How Christ hath fulfilled the Law how we keep it by faith 3. Why God promises life to the keeping of the Law if we cannot keep it CHAP. XVIII Page 73 Of the preparation before the giving of the Law 1. To make them willing by consideration of 1. his benefits 2. Gods right as Lord 3. Their relation as Creatures c. 4. That they are his people His Benefits past and promised Three motives to love 1 Beauty 2. Neernesse 3. Benefits all in God 2. To make them able by sanctifying and cleansing themselves that ceremonial washing signified our spiritual cleansing how we came to be polluted how we must be cleansed Why they were not to come at their wives Of the danger and abuse of things lawful 3. That they might not run too far bounds were set Of curiosity about things unnecessary CHAP. XIX Page 79 The manner of delivering the Law 1. With thick clouds 2. With thunder and lightning 3. With sound of a trumpet The terrible delivering of the Law compared with the terrour of the last judgement when we must give account for the keeping of it the comparison in all the particulars The use of this CHAP. XX. Page 80 The end of the Law as given by Moses 1. It brings none to perfection and that by reason of mans corruption as appears 1. by the place a barren wildernesse a mountain which none might touch 2. by the mediatour Moses by the breaking of the Tables c. 2. It brings us to Christ because given by Angels in the hand of a Mediatour It Was to be put into the Ark Given fifty dayes after the Passeover Moses had a Veyl the fiery Serpent our use of the Law to know our debts as by a book of accounts then to drive us to seek a Surety to pay the debt viz. Christ amd to be thankful and take heed of running further into debt The Exposition of the first Commandment CHAP. I. Page 83 Of the Preface to the Decalogue Two things required in a Lawgiver 1. Wisdom 2. Authority both appear here Gods Authority declared 1. By his Name Jehovah which implyes 1. that being himself and that all other things come from him 2. his absolute dominion over all the Creatures from which flow two attributes 1. His Eternity 2. His Veracity or truth 2. By his Jurisdiction thy God by Creation and by Covenant 3. By a late benefit their deliverance out of Egypt How all this belongs to us CHAP. II. Page 87 The division of the Decalogue how divided by the Jews how by Christians Addition 6. That the four fundamental Articles of all Religion are implyed in the four first Precepts Of rules for expounding the Decalogue Six rules of extent 1. The affirmative implyes the negative and e contra 2. When any thing is commanded or forbidden all of the same nature are included 3. The inward act of the soul is forbidden or commanded by the outward 4. The means conducing are included in every precept 5. The consequents and signes 6. We must not onely observe the precept our selves but cause it to be kept by others left we partake of other mens sins which is 1. Jubendo by commanding 2. Permittendo by tolleration 3. Provocando by provocation 4. Suadendo by perswasion 5. Consentiendo by consenting 6. Defendendo by maintaining 7. Scandalum praebendo by giving scandal CHAP. III. Page 94 Rules of restraint in expounding the Law False rules made by the Pharisees Of Custom Addition 7. Of the force of Church Customs 3. Three rules of restraint 1. By dispensation 2. By the nature of the Precept 3. By conflict of Precepts Antinomia wherein these rules are to be observed 1. Ceremonial Precepts are to give place to moral 2. The second table is to give place to the first 3. In the second table the following Precepts are to give place to those before Rules to expound in case of 1. Obscurity 2. Ambiguity 3. Controversie CHAP. IIII. Page 98 Three general observations in the Decalogue 1. That the precepts are all in the second person 2. All but two are Negative All but two are in the future tense Observations general from the first precept 1. Impediments are to be removed before true worship can be performed 2. The worship of God is the foundation of all obedience to the rest 3. That spiritual worship is chiefly commanded in the first precept Addition 8. About the distinction of inward and outward worship CHAP. V. Page 100 In the first Commandment three things are contained 1. We must have a God 2. We must have the Lord for our God 3. We must have him alone for our God The sinne opposite to the first is 〈◊〉 to the second is false Religion to the third mixt Religion How our nanture is inclinable to those sins Reasons against them CHAP. VI. Page 102. In the first proposition of having a God is included 1. Knowledge of God wherein 1. The excellency 2. the necessity 3. how it is attained The contrary forbidden is 1. Ignorance 2. light knowledge What we are to know of God Impediments of knowledge to be removed Rules of direction to be followed CHAP. VII Page 110. The second inward vertue commanded in the first precept is faith Reasons for the necessity of faith Addition 9. Concerning the evidence of faith and freedom of assent The certainty of faith Of unbelief Addition 10. Concerning the nature of faith Means of believing Of trust in God for things temporal The tryal of our trust Six signes of Faith CHAP. VIII Page 120. The third inward vertue is fear of
19. 18. Deut. 23. and hate thine enemies viz. Those seven nations whom they were to destroy and to make no league with them nor to shew them mercy Exod. 34. 21. Deut. 7. 1. to whom the Amalekite is added with whom they were to have perpetuall war Exod. 17. 19. Deut. 25. 14. We see then that Christ is so far from taking any thing away from the Morall Law that he rather addes more to it and therfore the matter of the Decalogue is still in force and belongs to Christians as much as to any Nay faith it self which some of late have transformed into a meere Platonicall Idaea abstracted from good works I mean that Faith to which Justification and Salvation is ascribed in Scripture includes obedience as to all the commandments of Christ so to the morall law as the very life and form of it without which as S. Jam. 〈◊〉 it is as a body without a Soul for what is Faith but a relying or trusting upon Christ for salvation according to the promises of the Gospell now seeing that those promises are not absolute but always require the conditions of repentance and new obedience it can be nothing but a shadow of faith when these conditions are not It s true that to beleeve in the proper and formal notion is nothing else but to assent to the truth of a proposition upon the authority of the speaker And to beleeve in one signifies properly to trust rely upon him doth not in its formal conception considered barely and abstractly by it self include the condition of obedience or any other And therefore we may be said to beleeve or trust in one that requires no condition of us but when the words are referred to one that commands or requires something of us to be done and promises nothing But upon such condition of obedience as nothing is more certain then that Christ never promises remission of sins or life eternall but upon condition of Repentance and new obedience In this case to beleeve in Christ must of necessity include obedience to the commandments of Christ as the very life of faith without which it is a meere fansie and hence some have observed that in the New Testament faith and obedience and unbelief and disobedience are often promiscuously used for one and the same First because that to trust or believe in one that promises nothing but to those that obey him and to obey him in hope of what he hath promised are all one and therefore that absolute affiance or unconditionate belief of Gods mercy in Christ which some make to be faith in Christ is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one of those first and primitive errours from which those doctrines of Antinomians and other Sectaries that would dissolve the law do follow with ease When Christ upbrayded the Jewes for not beleeving John the Baptist though the Harlots and Publicanes believed who doubts but that his meaning is that the one repented upon Johus preaching which the other did not although to beleeve in the proper formall notion signifies nothing else but to assent to the trueth of what he said Hence S. Aug. saith Non solum bonam vitam inseparabilem esse a fide sed ipsam esse bonam vitam that a good life is not onely inseparable from faith but that faith is good life it self and S. Cyprian Quomodo se in Christú credere dicit qui non facit quae Christus facere praecipit How can he say that he believes in Christ who doth not the things which Christ hath commanded And before them Irenaeus tells us that Credere in Christum est voluntatem ejus facere to believe in Christ is to do his will As for that generall faith of the latter School-men and the Romanists which they make to be nothing but an assent to revealed trueths for the authority of God the speaker I say the latter School-men for some of the Elder where they speak of fides charitate formata which they make to be true faith mean nothing else but that which S. Paul calls faith working by love and Saint James faith consummated by works As also that faith of some amongst our selves who would have it to be nothing but a perswasion that their sins are pardoned in Christ c. Neither of these have any necessary connexion with a good life and therefore neither of them is that faith to which the promises of pardon and Salvation are annexed in the Gospel Not the first as themselves acknowledge and appeares by Bellar. who labours to prove by many reasons that true faith may be in a wicked man Nor the second for how doth it necessarily follow that if a man believe all his sins past present and to come to be forgiven that therefore he must needes live according to the Rules of Christ whereas the contrary may rather be inferred That he needes not to trouble himself about obedience to the commandments in order to remission of his sins or salvation who is perswaded that all hissins are pardoned already and that nothing is required of him for the obtaining of so great a benefit but onely to believe that it is so And if they say that the sence of such a mercy cannot but stir men up to obedience too much experience of mens unthankfulness to God confutes this The remembrance of a mercy or benefit doth not necessarily enforce men to their duty for then none could be unthankfull to God or man Besides it is a pure contradiction which all the Sophistry in the world can never salve to say that a mans sins are pardoned by believing they are pardoned for they must be pardoned before he believes they are pardoned because the object must be before the act and otherwise he beleeves a lye and yet by faith he is justified and pardoned as all affirm and the Scripture is evident for it and so his pardon follows upon his belief and thus the pardon is both before and after the act of faith it is before as the object or thing to be beleeved and yet it comes after as the effect or consequent of his belief which is a direct contradiction True faith then is a practicall vertue and establishes the Law and as this is the proper work of true faith so to direct and quicken our obedience thereto is the whole scope of the Bible There is nothing revealed in the whole Scripture meerly for speculation but all is referd some way or other to practise It is not the knowledge of Gods Nature Essence but of his will which is required of us or at least so much of his Nature as is needfull to ground our faith and obedience upon That observation of some is most true That in the Scripture verba scientiae Connotant affectus words of knowledge do imply affections and actions answerable To know God is not so much to know his Nature and essence as to Honor and obey him which
its own nature and quality So if we hear the word of God it must be leaven unto us and turn the whole lump into the tast of it self If it be not so with us but that we hear continually without preparation or practise there is a bitter place against us we shall be like roots bearing gall and wormwood bitternesse it self And thus much for the general notion of preparation Now for the particular how we ought to prepare our selves The Rabbins prescribe fourty eight rules to this purpose which may be reduced to two 1. Praeparate in timore prepare your hearts in fear Take heed to thy feet saith the Preacher when thou entrest into the house of God That is come not to Gods house to hear his holy Word carelesly or unreverently but with reverence and fear We are not to come thither as to an ordinary place but with an awful preparation as in Gods presence How fearful is this place saith Jacob this is none other but the house of God And it is fearful in respect of the majesty of God more fully here then in other places as being the presence-chamber of God where he will be waited upon with all due preparation and respect Serve the Lord with fear was king Davids counsel and it was his practise too I will come into thy house saith he and in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy Temple 2. Another reason that we should be qualified with fear when we come is That because as Solomon speaks fear is the beginning or head and chief point of wisdom it must needs be the ground-work and foundation of our preparation The fear of the Lord as he also leadeth unto life It is the high way to all other Christian duties His salvation saith the Psalmist is nigh to them that fear him It stands us 〈◊〉 upon to be thus prepared else the Wise man would have spared this 〈◊〉 Be thou in the fear of the Lord continually In 〈◊〉 Preparation by prayer is the other main point 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our selves before we come and indeed it is the salt that seasons all holy duties King 〈◊〉 as you heard before practized it and began his very prayers with prayer Let my prayer saith he be set forth in thy sight c. And 〈◊〉 made way by prayer to the dedication of his Temple Daniel set his face unto God by prayer and while he was in this act of preparation the Angel was sent to him to let him know that his petition was granted Solomon prayed to the Lord for wisdom you may read that God yeelded to his request Cornelius was initiated into the Church by this means and Saul by it of a persecuter became Paul an Apostle for Behold saith God to Ananias he prayeth Saint Augustine calls it gratum Deo obsequium an acceptable service to God And 〈◊〉 Nihil potentius homine 〈◊〉 Nothing more powerful then a man that prayeth Nemo nostrum saith Saint Bernard parvi pendat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enim 〈◊〉 quod ipse ad quem or amus non parvipendit 〈◊〉 let none of us make light accompt of prayyer for I tell you that he to whom we pray doth not lightly esteeme of it For indeed as Saint Peter 〈◊〉 us Gods ears are open to prayers And 〈◊〉 we see that King David often prepared himselfe by those kinde of prayers which the fathers call ejaculations or short prayrs of which the hundred and ninteen 〈◊〉 is full As open thou mine eyes that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law and when he 〈◊〉 any extravagant thoughts to seiz on him Averte oculos Turne away mine eyes from beholding vanity And when he grew dull in spirit Quicken thou me With these and the like we must prepare our selves Now as these are the two rules for preparation so are there four other for our coming 1 Venite 〈◊〉 in fervore spiritus with fervency of spirit Our coming must not be cold not Luke-warm like the Church of Laodicea lest we be spued out but fervent and zealous Be fervent in spirit saith the Apostle And in another place It is good to be zealously affected in a good thing If we come to hear we must come with a longing desire Zeal is compared to oyle which keeps the lamp ever burning It was one of King Davids 〈◊〉 I have 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 commandements The zeal of the Gentiles saith Saint Ambrose 〈◊〉 them life everlasting wheras the coldnes of the Jews caused their losse of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nullum est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tale sacrificium quale est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no sacrifice so acceptable to God as the zeal of the spirit And as it is well 〈◊〉 to him so he he rewardeth it He satisfieth the longing soul saith the psalmist He that comes 〈◊〉 qualified never returns empty 2. Venite in puritate cordis Our coming must be also in purity of 〈◊〉 K. David asketh the question who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord or who shall rise up in his holy place and answereth 〈◊〉 in the next verse even he that hath clean hands and a pure heart Our thoughts and actions must be pure and undefiled else there 's no coming to Gods house no bettering our selves by coming 〈◊〉 For the word of God being pure will not enter into them that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Belial cannot accord But Cor purum 〈◊〉 est Dei gaudium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritus sancti A pure heart is Gods court the delight of Angels and the 〈◊〉 of the holy spirit This is the second 3 Venite in fide Come with the garment of faith too If thou 〈◊〉 beleeve all things are possible to him that beleeveth A beleever though in the estimation of men he be of small understanding yet shall he be able to conceive and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufficient to work out his salvation We see it in the Apostles who though they 〈◊〉 poor ignorant and simple fisher-men diverse of them yet coming to Christ by faith were able to confound the wisest and most learned men in the world But without faith it is impossible to please God and if to please him certainly come 〈◊〉 as often as we will to reape any good from him For he that 〈◊〉 to God as it is in the same verse must beleeve that God is The 〈◊〉 shall live by his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prophet and according to our faith shall we receive benefit by our coming for it is by faith that we have accesse to grace And the Apostle 〈◊〉 that the Jews were excluded from the promise because that which they sought for was not by faith This is the third rule 4 Venite frequenter Being fortified with faith 〈◊〉 frequently and often then you cannot come too oft Not upon the solemne fast only once a moneth perhaps will serve the turne but as
are many things that cannot be demonstrated by reason yet of necessity must be believed as a father to be a father A man that would travail to a place which he knows not must believe those that have been there And if a man returning from travail report that he hath seen such aman or such a place it were hard he should not be believed except he bring proof or witnesse it being impossible to make demonstration by reason of that 〈◊〉 the like So much for the necessity of belief In the way of Faith we are to observe four Rules 1. It was the Rule of the Heathen that into what art soever a Scholar was initiated Oportet discentem credere the Scholar must beleeve his Master for whatsoever good we receive at the first we receive it from our Teachers And this ground hath this principle Actio perfecti in imperfecto recipitur we are imperfect before we can come to any perfection first imperfect then perfect Wood receives heat from fire before it can burn and be fire So learners receive knowledge by faith from others before they come to be perfect themselves This is confirmed by the Prophet Nist credideritis non stabiliemini if you will not beleeve surely you shall not be established 2. When we have received by beleef then we may seek for demonstrations either a prieri or a posteriori to confirm our belief because ut virtutum 〈◊〉 ita religionis principia quaedam in nobis innata sunt some principles of religion as of other vertues are inbred and natural to us though much defaced and depraved by humane corruption and principia religionis non sunt inter se contraria the principles of religion are not contrary one to another for then we should never come to any certainty of true knowledge But reason and religion agree and the true worship of God is proved by the principles of natural reason True reason is 〈◊〉 help to faith and faith an help to reason but faith is the Lady reason her dutiful Handmaid Eaith and right reason are not contrary but as a greater and a lesser light yea faith is samma ratio 3. Having thus submitted our selves to belief and strengthened it with reason we must look for an higher teacher For though faith be a perfect way yet we being unperfect walk unperfectly in it and therefore in those things which transcend nature and reason we must beleeve God onely and pray to him that by the inspiration of his holy spirit we may be directed and kept in this way 4. Because this inspiration cometh not totally at the first all at once we must grow to perfection pedetentim by little and little and come up by degrees till it please him to send in full measure to us Festinandum lente we must hasten yet slowly and take heed of and avoid praepropera consilia rash attempts according to the Prophets rule Qui crediderit non festinabit he that 〈◊〉 shall not make haste but go on according to the Apostles gradation Adde vertue to faith and knowledge to vertue c. and so by degrees And thus much for this point of via ad Dominum the way to come to God 1. By beleeving 2. By strengthening that belief 3. By expecting the Spirit for our Directer 4. And lastly by proceeding by degrees in a right path CHAP. V. 3 That we must beleeve there is a God Misbelief in four things 1. Autotheisme 2. Polytheisme 3. Atheisme 4. Diabolisme The reasons of Atheists answered Religion upholds all states The original of Atheisme from 1. Discontent 2. Sensuality THe third point is that we must believe there is a God This is our third station or journey for our better preparation and strengthening wherein we are to note four obstacles or errors which the Devil layes in our way Misbelief seen in four points The first is Autotheisme When Adam was in the state of perfection it was impossible to perswade him either 1. That he was a God or 2. To worship any Creature as God or 3. To believe that there was no God 4. Or to worship the Devil as a God And therefore he used all his art to deceive him and perswaded him that by eating the Apple his eyes should be opened and that he should plainly perceive that he should be like to God And by his perswasion he departed from God by unbelief and presumption to whom he must come again by belief and humiliation but in the same day wherein he transgressed Gods command and followed the Devils counsel he confuted that opinion assoon as he had tasted the forbidden fruit by hiding himself behinde the bush So Alexander by his flatterers perswasions was drawn to believe himself to be a god but being wounded at a siege he cryed hic sanguis hominem denotat his blood shewed plainly to be a man And the Emperour Claudius that was in the same humour being scared with a clap of thunder fled into his tent and hiding himself could cry out Hic Deus Claudius non est Deus this is God Claudius is none The second is Polytheisme Because God was a help to Man after his fall in making him garments directs him how to dresse the earth to yield him food and gave him the use of the creatures and this was a help and stay to man the Devil by a false inversion struck into the mindes of his posterity that whatsoever was beneficial to man was his god and so saith the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which feedeth us is a god and so deriving that good to the instrument which was proper to the 〈◊〉 many gods were brought into the opinions of men as Men and Celestial Bodies and at last they came unto such an extremity of absurdity as that Cats Crocodiles and many other unreasonable creatures became to be worshipped as gods The third is Atheisme When this multitude of Gods grew so great as that the Poet said of them Quorum nascuntur in hortis numina they had gods growing in their Gardens it soon became a question and a doubt was made whether there were a God or no. And this was the cause as some conceive why Diagoras first broached this doubt Lastly Diabolisme After that the Devil had brought the World thus far it was impossible it should stay long there therefore to shew his Master-piece he brought himself by his lyes false and doubtful Oracles and the like first into admiration and then even to adoration causing the people to worship him as a god And he wanted not worshippers even of the most learned and greatest persons As Appollonius Tyaneus Jamblicus and Julian the Apostata who being of no religion fell to worship the Devil and proved Necromancers Sorcerers and Conjurers The like successe he had in the East Indies where the Gospel was preached by S. Thomas the Apostle The people in after ages falling into contention about religion they grew at length
And Saint Chrysostome Manifesta sunt que sunt ad mores fidem necessaria c. those things are apparent which are necessary to faith and manners and Mclchior Canus saith that there are diverse places of which none can give any other then the literal sense or can wrest them except he have a minde to wrangle And Ireneus saith that the plain places make the principles by which all other of dubious understanding must be judged Now the means to finde out the true sense of the Scriptures are many but may be reduced to six 1. Some means there are wherein all agree as namely there is pietas diligentia adhibenda goodnesse and diligence must be used And in the first place Prayer S. Augustine saith Oratio postulet lectio inquirat meditatio inveniat contemplatio degustet digerat let us ask by prayer seek by reading finde out by meditation tast and digest it by contemplation 2. The second means is by conference of places Saint Augustine saith that the lesse plain place in Scriptures is to be referred to that which is more plain and the lesse in number to the more in number 3. The third seemeth to be according to the counsel of the holy Ghost Inspectu fontium the better to discern the signification of the words to consult with the Original tongue with the Hebrew for the Old Testament and with the Greek for the New 4. To be acquainted with the phrase of the holy Ghost and this is to be gotten by the knowledge of the Dialect Idiome or Stile of the holy Spirit as the Apostle speaks by use to discerne it as the crucifying of the flesh mortifying the concupiscence c. for sometimes the holy Ghost in Greek sends us to the holy Ghost in Hebrew And these three last are for understanding of words the two next are for understanding of sentences and chapters 5. The first is that which the fathers call Oculus ad scopum to have an eye to the intent as what was the intent of giving the law in setting down such a prophecy doing such a miracle and the like as Saint Paul to Timothie reasoneth from the end of the law against those that made evil use of the law So saith Hilary Ex causis dicendi habemus intelligentiam Doctorum we finde out the meaning of the learned by finding out the cause why a thing was spoken 6. The last is that which the wise men among the Jewes say we must look round about us behinde and before us that is we must well weigh the Antecedents and Consequents and every Circumstance to understand any sentence and chapters whereof we doubt To these may be added those of Ireneus and Augustine That every one of these rules serve not for every thing but to diverse things diverse wayes and means may be applyed for the true understanding of words and sentences in the Scripture And therefore Stapleton committed an errour 1. Because he perceiving that some of these rules were not necessary to all concluded that it was not necessary at all 2. Because we attribute not the interpretation of the true sense of every place to each one of these but to all together he therefore concludeth that they were not sufficient at all Now besides these means and those of prayer and diligent study wherein they agree with us they propound these four following as is before said and hold them infallible 1. The interpretation of Scriptures by the fathers 2. The exposition of them by Councils 3. The practise of the Church 4. The definitive sentence of the Pope Concerning the first and second of these in general we say that as there may arise some doubt or scruple in some places of Scripture so may there also in their expositions And for the two last a question may be made whether the Chuch they mean be a true Church and whether the Pope may not erre in his sentence Again as we unfeignedly hold and acknowledge that some of their means are commendable yet we say that they are not allowable where they are evidently contrary to our rules or without them And if ever they took the right course it was by using our means and if they erred it was by relying wholly on theirs and excluding ours But take their means without or against ours and they may erre As the word of God is the rule and ground of faith so it cannot be denied but that the expounding and applying hereof is in ordinary course left by Christ to the Church to whom he hath committed the feeding and government of his Flock for Christ commands all to hear the Church and the Prophet tells us the Priests lips are to preserve knowledge and they shall seek the law at his mouth Mal. 2. and if the duty of the Church be to teach and instruct her children no question but it is their duty to learn of her and to submit their judgements to hers yet this makes her not infallible in her determination but gives her this priviledge that she ought to be heard and beleeved unlesse it appear evidently that for some corrupt and sinister end she prevaricates from the truth It is not possibility of erring but actual erring which makes our faith uncertain for otherwise one that beholds the sun could not be certain that he sees it for there is a possibility of error in the sense in judging an object It is sufficient therefore to make our faith certain if the rule be infallible and that it be applied with moral evidence so that the propounder do not then actually erre though he be subject to a possibility of errour and that after the use of moral diligence fit in so great a matter there appears no probable cause why we should not assent nor any reason why in prudence we should doubt so Suarez himself Dsp. de fide 5 sect 1 num 5. non requiritur infallibilitas permanens in proponente sed sufficit quod actu non erret licet errare potest Obedience to the Churches decrees doth not necessarily infer her infallibility for then the civil magistrate natural parents and all superiours must be infallible because obedience is due to them by divine law and yet we know they ought to be obeyed unlesse the thing commanded be evidently unlawful And therefore none ought upon probable reasons to reject the determination of the Church or of a lawful Councel for besides that the command from God of hearing the Church is cleer and evident and therefore we ought not upon reasons that are doubtful or not evident to reject her doctrine but follow that rule tenere certum dimittere in certum besides this I say the Church and her governours have more and more certain means of finding out the truth then any private persons have as the prayers of the pastors their fastings disputations their skill in divine things wherein their senses are exercised
and which follows thereupon a greater assistance of the spirit and the best means as where many learned and pious men meet from diverse parts of the world to know what the judgement of all the Churches is in the matter in question and what hath been the received sense which from time to time hath been delivered to the Churches now it is a received rule among the Casuists that in things doubtful after diligence used one may safely and ought to acquiesce in the judgement of the major part of pious and learned men Reginald prax lib. 12. n. 90 91. l. 11. n. 25 26. Besides this the Church is in possession of her authority and therefore ought in things doubtful to be heard for in dubiis melior cst conditio possidentis but if the contrary be evident then the case is not doubtful So Thom. cajet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 q. 104 105. and after him all the Casuists Those that would be satisfyed in these points may read them learnedly and acutely handled by Baron late Professor at Aberdene in his Book de objecto fidei formali Tract 5. In Bishop Bedels letters Chillingworths safe way c. cap. 2 c. and others The fundamentals of Religion which are absolutely necessary for all to know and practise are plainly set down in Scripture and of them there is no controversy in matters doubtful the safest way is to submit to the judgement of the Church yet not neglecting other means as prayer reading meditation conference c. especially practising what we know fol. 7. 17. and so we are sure to be kept from all damnable errours In all other professions common reason teaches if any doubt arise to submit to the judgement of the skilful in those professions as in Law Physick c. although they have no such special promises as the Church hath from Christ of being lead into all truth and if this be not observed in the Church it must needs prove destructive to all order and overthrow the being of a Church taking away that distinction which Christ hath set between pastor and people when all shall presume to interpret and to be as wise as their teachers as we see now by woful experience We submit to the judges in point of law yet no man thinks them therefore infallible and so may and ought we to submit to our Bishops and Pastors in point of Religion so as not to oppose their determinations but reverently to receive what they deliver when the contrary shall not evidently appear I say evidently for in doubtful things if their judgement may not turn the scale when it hangs in aequilibrio either there is some fault in the beam or their authority is very light And therefore external obedience is required at least so as not to oppose publikely in things we assent nor to This agrees with what our learned Authour hath left in his other works composed in his riper years when his judgement was fully setled by which this and what else he delivered in his younger time ought to be expounded and corrected In his sermon on Matthew 6. 17. p. 223. he tells us that no man hath God to be his Father that hath not the Church to be his Mother and that once and twice order is taken in the Proverbs as to keep to the precepts of our father so not to set light by the laws of our mother Proverbs 1. 8. 17. 25. Ira patris dolor matris are together in one verse he that grieves her angers him and he cannot but grieve her that little sets by her wholsom orders but now she erres or at least is said to erre at every bodies pleasure c. Now come to the particulars 1. For the fathers It is a vain speculation to beleeve that the fathers concurre all in one exposition of all places of Scripture And if we must take them where they all agree we shal finde many places which they do not expound alike yet where they all agree as in articles of faith and matters fundamental wherein we finde a joynt harmony their exposition ought to be received for therein they deliver the sence of the whole Catholick Church derived from the Apostles which in such points is by Christs promise free from errour otherwise Christ might have no Church 2. In their expositions they did not usually keep the literal sense except in point of controversies which fell in their times for in their Homilies they followed the tropological or figurative sense drawing from thence diverse necessary doctrins and applications necessary and tending to good life and manners So saith S. August contra Julian that in controversies which fell not in their times they spake more carelessely 3. Again Basile saith of Dionysius a Father that he spake many things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 disputationis gratia by way of disputation not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 definitive positively against against the Heretiques of his time and therefore in many things the fathers must be taken to have spoken per modum contradicendi non docendi by way of contradiction and not positively 4. Cardinal Cajetan affirmed in the Councel of Trent that if he knew a true and sound exposition upon any place of Scripture not vsed by the fathers he would hold and maintain it contra torrentem omnium Doctorum Episcoporum against the current of all Doctors and bishops And Andrad saith as much and all of them vse to deny the fathers in their schools And now in regard that the fathers often dissent they lean to that which the greatest part of the fathers say 5. There was a controversy between Saint Augustine and Saint Jerome whether Saint Pauls reproof of Saint Peter were real or not Jerome maintaining that Saint Paul did it onely pro forma formally and Augustine that he did it simply and from his heart And though Jerome quoted the opinions of divers fathers to strengthen his yet Augustine would not alter holding this among other rules that we are not to regard quis but quid not who but what any man speaketh And Jerome himself in his own exposition of the Psalms saith that he had delivered diverse thing contrary to the tenet of those times that is in matters praeterfundamental wherein liberty of dissenting may be indulged 6. Lastly the Papists themselves reject the exposition of many of the Fathers upon this text Tu es Petrus c. Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church many of the Fathers holding that it was meant of Saint Peters faith not his person As also they leave all the rest of the Fathers and adhere to Saint Aug. onely in the division of the commandments for the current of the Fathers divide them as we do but they following Saint Augustine make but one Commandment of the first two and divide the last into two but these were not matters of faith But S. Augustine was carried away in this by a conceit
of having but three commandments in the first Table in reference to the Trinity as may be seen in his division of the Decalogue For the Councils which are divided into Action or Agitation of a point and Canon 1. In the Action commonly is such errour that they are forced to lay all upon the Canon and say that it matters not much what the premises be so the Conclusion be good 2. And for the Canon we may finde in some Councils that the Canons of one are flat and direct against another as in the case of marriages of Priests some for them some against them We see the two Councils of Constance and Basile both 〈◊〉 and both confirmed one by Pope Martin the fifth and the other by Eugenius the fourth The Bulls of which though the Canons agree be opposite to each other The one holding Concilium posse errare non Papam that the Council may but the Pope cannot erre the other Papam errare posse non Concilium that the Pope may erre but the Council cannot And the Canon of the Council of Ferrara holding against that of the Council of Florence one that the Pope is above the Council and the other that the Council is above the Pope All this shewes that Councils are not simply infallible but may erre now where it is evident that they erre being drawn into parties and factions by corrupt interests none is bound to beleeve their determinations but where there is no such evidence they ought to be obeyed as those authorised by Christ to direct and guide us in matters of salvation and even when we are not bound to believe their decisions yet for the peace of the Church their decrees tye us to external obedience that is not to oppose them if there be no fundamental errour For the Church and the practise thereof This is as uncertain as the other For the Churches of the East and West agree not in diverse points and among other in the case of the Popes supremcay the Eastern Church totally opposing it And if we urge the practise of the Church it will be found that at some time most of the Bishops were Arrians So that in this there 's both ambiguity and peril And Basile saith that in the case of Baptism the Children at the first were dipped but once and afterwards thrice and we know at this day they are but once dipped It is true these shew that the Church is not simply infallible especially in such points as these which touch not any fundamental article and that particular Churches may differ in some lesser points and yet maintain the same faith and keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace but all this hinders not but that the Church is the ordinary interpreter of Scripture to her children and that they ought to submit to her because she is accountable to God for them Heb. 13. 17. and that none ought to reject her doctrine upon probable or doubtful reasons but upon such as are evident that is such as not onely seem evident to them for every contradicting spirit will affirm the most doubtful things to be evident to him but such as to other pious and learned men not interested seem evident Reginald l. 17. c. ult n. 234. This seems to have been the judgement of this learned Prelate in his latter thoughts As serm on Act. 2. 42. p. 27. where he hath these words fit to be written in letters of gold The ancient fathers thought it meet that they that took upon them to interpret the Apostles doctrine should put in sureties that their senses they gave were no other then the Church in former time hath acknowledged It is true the Apost spake from the spirit and every exposition of theirs was an oracle but that was their peculiar priviledge but all others after them are not to utter their own fancies and to desire to be beleeved upon their bare word but onely on condition that the sense they now give be not a feigned sense but such an one as hath been before given by our Fathers and fore-runners in the Christian faith Say I this of my self Saith the Apostle saith not the Law so too give I this sense of mine own head hath not Christs Church heretofore given the like which one course if it were strictly held would rid our Church of many fond imaginations which now are stamped daily because every man upon his own single bond is trusted to deliver the meaning of any Scripture which is many times nought else but his own imagination This is the disease of our age Thus he The last way they prescribe is that of the Popes And that they may erre in their interpretation may appear in that many of them were not sound in the faith Saint Jerome saith that Damasus Pope did consent ad subscriptionem hereseos to the subscription of heresy and Ambrose reporteth that Liberius the Pope though for a while he was orthodox and for not subscribing to the condemnation of Athanasius he was banished into Thrace but shortly after he became an Arrian and at one of their Councels subscribed to heresy Honorius the first after his death was accursed and condemned in the thirteenth Action of the sixth general Council of Constantinople held anno 680. under Constantinus Pogonatus the Emperour quia impia dogmata confirmavit for confirming wicked opinions which were those of the Monothelites But to shift off these things they have nothing to say but that the Councils were corrupt and not onely they but the writings of Beda shall be corrupt So that we see that none of these rules severally are infallible Let us see them a little together In the administration of the Sacrament of the Lords supper to infants we may see they fail for S. Paul saith Let a man examine himself and so eat c. which a Childe cannot do And in this and other things wherein they fail they are forced to say We beleeve not the Fathers because they say it but because they say it according to rules And if they beleeve it in respect of the person that speaketh not the quid the reality of the thing they erre much though Stapleton say that the interpretation of a Bishop though unlearned is to be prefer'd before that of a learned Divine because of his office and authority Andradius yet saith The Fathers are to be beleeved not in whatsoever they say but in whatsoever they say according to their rules and so say we And thus much for the Preface CHAP. XIIII Christian Religion divided into the Law and the Gospel Additions about the use of the Law That the Law of Christ is part of the second Covenant c. The judgement of the Authour out of his other Books That the Gospel is Lex Christi The Law handled first Reasons for this order What the Law teacheth and what the Gospel Summa Religionis IN the next place we are to
all the nations of the world be blessed with diverse other of the like nature He also fulfilled the ceremonialls of the Law while he being Priest offered himself as a sacrifice Besides he spiritually circumciseth beleevers by substituting Baptisme instead of Circumcision He is our Passeover and appointed the Eucharist instead of the Paschal Lambe and indeed he is the full complement and perfection of the Law and the Prophets 2. Christ fulfilled the Law by satisfying in most absolute manner the will of God being the holy of holies without spot or sin at all for in him is the love of God most perfect and righteousnesse most absolute And this in regard of the merit and satisfaction thereof he communicates gratis freely to us most imperfect to us I say if we beleeve God was in Christ saith Saint Paul reconciling the world to him not imputing their trespasses to them for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him So Abraham beleeved and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse For by faith we rely upon Christ whom we beleeve to have made satisfaction most fully to God for us and that God is so pleased with us in Christ that he accepts us as now become the Sons of God 3. But this faith by which we beleeve in Christ is not by our nature or merits but is wrought in us by Gods grace through the Spirit given into our hearts And this abiding there enflames them with love of Gods Law and desire to expresse the same by good works which though we do not perform as we ought by reason of the infirmity of our flesh yet God allowes our endeavours in Christ. Nor did ever any of the Saints though he strove and resolved to keep the Law as far as he could trust or rely upon his own merits but upon Christ. Saint Paul did not for he complained Who shall deliver me out of this body of death and presently addeth I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord that is I thank him that he hath redeemed me from death by Jesus Christ. And it follows There 's now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus c. So that a faithful man moved by Gods Spirit to do that which is good as far as he is able and as the second covenant requires and that out of love of God and not onely for fear of the Curies threatned in the Law may be said to fulfill the Law in such manner that God in Christ accepts of him So much in answer to the first question To the second why God would promise life to them that should keep the Law seeing no man can keep it in a legal and exact manner we answer 1. First besides that it may be doubted whether God doth offer or promise life now otherwise then upon the conditions of the Gospel which may be kept some do further answer that God sheweth hereby that he abides the same and the Law still the same though we be changed from what he made us 2. Secondly Hereby man seeth his own weaknesse and is driven out of himself to seek Christ. For as the Apostle saith if there had been a Law given which could have given life verily righteousnesse should have been by the Law But the Scripture hath concluded all men under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that beleeve 3. Because Christ took on him our nature and dying for us hath purchased the promised inheritance to be communicated to us by faith and new obedience or sanctification 4. Lastly Though man cannot keep the Law exactly yet upon his faith in Christ and his resolution and indeavour to keep the Law and actual keeping of it by the assistance of Gods grace so as is above declared God accepteth of him in Christ and takes the will for the deed in some things and accounts him righteous and makes good the promise unto him CHAP. XVIII Of the preparation before the giving of the Law 1. To make them willing by consideration of 1. his benefits 2. Gods right as Lord 3. Their relation as Creatures 〈◊〉 4. that they are his people His benefits past and promised Three 〈◊〉 to love 1. Beauty 2. Neernesse 3. Benefits all in God 2 To make them able by sanctifying and cleansing themselves That ceremonial washing signifyed our spiritual cleansing How we came to be polluted How we must be cleansed Why they were not to come at their wives Of the danger and abuse of things lawful 3. That they might not run too far bounds were set Of curiosity about things unnecessary Now concerning the Preparation to the hearing of the Law THough in the Preface something hath been said concerning the preparation of the Catechumeni upon the words venite auscultate yet before we come to the particular explication of the Law we shall further adde some thing in this place about our preparation to the hearing of it For we can receive no benefit at Gods hands if we be not prepared for it God himself commanded the people to prepare themselves before the hearing of the Law and so of the Gospel also Prepare ye the way of the Lord saith the Baptist And to these adde that the primitive Church appointed Vesperas diei Dominici Vespers of the Lords day and so they had for other holy dayes and solemn feasts and to the solemnest Sunday Easter day they prepared fourty dayes before And forasmuch as the Sacrament is an appendix of the word and the seal of it surely we cannot be excused if we prepare our selves for the one and not for the other The Preacher gives this advise Keep thy foot look to thy self when thou goest into the house of the Lord. And again we ought to know that preparation is as necessarily required of the Hearer as of the Speaker Now this preparation consists of three things or means The first means to preparation is to make the people willing to hear the Law and that is grounded upon the speech of God to the Israelites in Exodus Ye have seen saith he what I have done unto the Egyptians and how I bare you on Eagles wings And a little after Go to the people and sanctifie them to day and to morrow and let them wash their cloathes And let them be ready against the third day And Thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about the Mount saying Take heed unto your selves c. In which words there are three things prescribed and the fourth is implyed by circumstance 1. The will in every action is to precede the people were to be made willing to hear and receive the message that was to be delivered And therefore to make them willing God in the first place gives them a catalogue of his Benefits and goodnesse So that one way to stir us and our will
that after we have beleeved we may search after a reason that we may be able and ready as the Apostle bids us alwayes to give an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in us For grace doth not annihilate and make nature voyd faith is aboue and not contrary to right reason it is as a greater light to the lesse yea religio est summa ratio it is the quintessence of reason or reason exalted or elevated But we are to use reason as the hand-maid to faith for faith must bring the understanding of man into captivity to the obedience of Christ as Saint Paul saith and we must expect from the holy Ghost the teaching of these things which our nature neither can nor is able to conceive Now faith differs from science thus In science there is first an enquiry after the reasons and causes and then the assent follows But in faith there is first the assent and then the understanding of that to which we have assented Auditu 〈◊〉 by the hearing follows Assoon as they heare of me they shall obey me saith God It is conceptus cum assensu because the object of our faith is not propounded with such evidence to the understanding as to constrain us to beleeve but the will holdeth the understanding prisoner and keepeth it captive Thus faith becoms a free act an act of obedience whereas if things were propounded with that evidence that we could not distrust there could be 〈◊〉 place for freedom of obedience in beleeving God hath so ordered it that matters of faith are propounded as summe credibilia highly credible such that in prudence we may safely assent unto yet not with that evidence which necessitates assent for then there could be no trial of obedience in beleeving nor any pretence left for reward to beleevers or punishment to unbeleevers See the Schoolmen generally and master Hookers 〈◊〉 Of the certainty of saith added to his Eccles-politic With the heart man beleeveth faith the Apostle belief being an act of the understanding it should come first a mente but he saith there we must corde 〈◊〉 for the will hath an especial act in it Now the reason why it pleased God thus to order the matter in production of faith is because if reason of it self could have attained to the things pertaining to God little or no glory at all had come to God by it Again seeing matters of faith cannot be attained by reason this shews the vanity of the wisdom of the flesh and we may see how God doth confound and abase it For in Religion the ground is contrary to that in Philosophy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to beleeve is the way of Philosophy and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to beleeve of divinity at which Lucian scoffed For the warrant of beleeving or assenting before we know something hath been said before we will adde a little more in this place Saint Cyrill in his fift 〈◊〉 Cyprian Chrysostome and other of the ancient fathers prove against Philosophers that Quic quid fit fide fit whatsoever is done is done by faith This appeares in all civill affaires wherein men go upon a civill faith without certain knowledge of the things and therefore much more in matters of religion which are supernatural may we live by faith Thus we see the husbandman who though he sees the weather unkindly c. yet fits himself to till and sow his ground and bestows his cost though he have no demonstrative knowledge whether he shall reape any profit or no. And so the Merchants though their goods and ships are subject to storms pyrats c. yet they run the hazard and adventure upon this Civill faith So in marriage though some may be barren yet they marry in hope to have children and so in warfare though the victory be uncertain yet the souldier goes one to battel c. The Schoolmen after the fathers goe a subtiller way to work and hold that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fide scitur that we beleeve even those things we know for by our senses and understanding we know many things and herein they are our witnesses which we beleeve yet all confesse that these witnesses are very doubtfull in many things For the eye which is the most certain and chiefe of all the outward senses because it apprehendeth more differences and apprehends its object after a more special and spiritual manner yet they which are skilful in the Optiques reckon up 20 wayes how it may be deceived and what greatimperfections are in it And for our reason or understanding we see how uncertain it is in our younger yeers and how we correct former errours as we grow in years when we are children we speak as children reason as children and conceive as they do but when we are men we put away childish things Ploughmen cannot reason of the formall causes of things because they cannot see them but tell them of labour that they can conceive and so in respect of a more sublime understanding they come far short And therfore we also may be deceived in things that are above us and therefore the third way of knowledge that is by relation is necessary The certainty of faith is grounded upon the condition and qualitie of the relaters and hath onely two exceptions 1. Either against the authors that they want skill and are ignorant of the things they relate 2. Or else that they are such upon whose fidelity we cannot rely Now in either of these cases if the party relating want skill and cannot relate the truth or is not honest and will not his testimony is not to be taken So then there is no more certaine way then this that whereas the knowledge of faith and grounds of Religion are to be built upon such witnesses as want neither skill nor fidelity but for their skill can and for their faithfulnesse will deliver the truth we are to embrace what they deliver as certain truths The Apostle saith not I beleeve whom I know but scio cuicredo I know whom I beleeve We know that whom we beleeve is Amen just and true That cannot lie a faithful witnes it is a thing impossible for him so to do And for the manner of giving his testimony The termes in Scripture are 1. Dictum Jehovaeh and Dixit 〈◊〉 the word of the Lord and thus saith the Lord. And because mans stipulation and promise is more certain then his bare affirmation therefore God hath made promises to us and his promises are precious as the Apostle saith 3. And for our greater comfort and assurance hath confirmed his promise with an oath 4. Again because if we have a mans handwriting we give greater credit to that then toan oath we have his own handwriting written with his own finger 5. And for confirmation of that he hath put to his feal 6. And lastly beyond which no
man goeth nor any man desireth more to strengthen a promise he hath given an carnest penny a true Gods penny as we call it 1. Now that which may be objected against this is that the immediate voice of God is not now amongst us and that which we heare is from Moses Esay Saint Matthew Saint Paul c. Yet this we must know that though we heare it from them being but men yet did they not speake of themselves not of their own braines but as they were inspired by the holy Ghost And this Saint Peter tells us the Prophecy saith he came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost For a Prince usually speaketh not to the people immediatly from his own mouth but by Edicts and proclamations published by others in his name And as the Scepter or mace which is delivered to them that publish those Edicts is a signe and token that they come from and for the Prince so the Scepter of Gods extraordinary power was committed to his Prophets Apostles c. The Jews required no more then a signe of our Saviour which with them was the Scepter And our Savionr desired no more of them then that if they would not beleeve him for his words yet they should for his works And that if he had not done among them the works which no other man did those were his miracles they mighe have been excused for their unbeleefe Upon which Saint Augustine saith that either we must grant that they were done or else that without miracles all the world was converted and became Christians which is a greater miracle then all the rest which he did and so we must grant miracles whether we will or no. And this is our warrant that these men the Prophets and Apostles came from God and that God hath spoken to us by them 2. The next quere is whether he is able to performe those things which he hath promised by them To that we say with the Angell that with God nothing shall be unpossible The Prophet saith His hands are not shortned it is able to reach all things When Moses mistrusted Gods providence to feed 600000 men saying shall all the flocks and the herds be slain or all the fish of the sea be gathered together to suffice them God answered is the Lords hand waxed short Thou shalt see whether my word shall come to passe or not 3. Lastly for his Will take a place of a Father for all Scio pcsse scio scire cupere velle for The Lord is good to them that trust in him to the soul that seeketh him That faith is necessary may be thus proved it is called the substance of things hoped for and the evidence ground or demonstration of things not seen both which argue the necessity of it for in totis ordinatis as Religion hath its order the first part is substantia reliquorum as the substance of a house is in the foundation of a ship in the Stern of a tree in the root The Apostle compareth it to a foundation and to a root and he saith there is naufragium fidei a shipwrack of faith and so consequently it is compared to the sterne of a ship If faith then be necessary as the root and foundation of all religion then without it nothing can be done by a Christian which is accepted of God ad salutem to salvation If we stand it is by faith If we walk we walk by faith whatsoever we do if we do it not by faith it is not pleasing to God ad salutem And it is in this respect that faith is called Mater obedientiae the mother of obedience because all duties arise out of it Luther hath a saying which is true if it be taken in a good sense that in faith all the Law is fulfilled before we have fulfilled any part of it in act because it is the root from whence all Christian obedience arises and wherin it is vertually contained and therefore in regard of the necessity of it it pleased God to reject all the high titles of the learned wise men of the world as Philosophers c. and to entitle his flock onely by the name of believers And Euseb. Emisenus gives a good reason for it for the first word of a Christian is credo and that which maketh him a Christian if we be not faithful then are we no Christians God giveth Christians no other name then he gives to himself Fidelis est Deus God is faithful And his Son is called the author and finisher of our faith and his word is called sermo fidelis the word of faith and his family the houshold of saith and prayer is called by Saint James the prayer of faith And Saint Paul calls the Sacraments the seals of faith So we see that faith leadeth us through all duties and not onely this but that which hath bin said of knowledge may be said of faith that it is the beginning of our blessednesse Our Saviour saith to S. Thomas Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have beleeved There is an apt similitude in the Prophet to express this I will betroth thee to me in faithfulnesse and thou shalt know the Lord. The inchoation of marriage is in sponsalibus when hands are given so are our sponsalia in fide in this life the marriage is consummate in heaven It is said Qui non crediderit condemnabitur he that beleeveth not shall be damned nay further as S. John hath it his sentence is not deferred but it is gone already upon him he is condemned already Therefore for the necessity of it we may conclude with the Apostle Without faith it is impossible to please God And the reason is because there is no man but thinks it a disparagement not to be credited and the greater the person the more desirous he is to be beleeved A private man would be beleeved upon his honesty and a man of greater state upon his honour the Prince upon his own word he writes teste meipso to argue the sufficiency of his word and a disgrace he accounteth it to break it and if any of these persons should not be credited on these terms they would think that a great discourtesy were offered to them If then there be a God he must needs expect more then a Prince and consequently he may of greater right say teste meipso because he is above all Princes Job saith Is it fit to say to a King Thou art wicked or to Princes Ye are ungodly though they be so much lesse to a good Prince and least of all to God Now he that beleeveth hath set to his seal that God is true And on the contrary He that beleeveth not maketh God a Lyar and there can be no
greater disgrace to God then to say he is a Lyar. therefore S. Bernard upon that place Impossibile est sine fide placere Deo it is impossible to please God without faith saith Quomodo potest placere Deo cui non placet Deus how can that man please God who is not pleased with God and such is every one that believes him not And thus much for the necessity of faith Now we come to our Rules 1. As we have seen the affirmative and what is commanded so we must see the negative and what is forbidden that is unbelief It is a note of the reprobate to be children of unbelief whether it be by the lifting up of a mans soul as the Prophet calleth it by a proud imagination and conceit of our own reason or by contempt or any other kinde of wretchednesse or carelessenesse when we come to hold Machiavels position Non curandum quid boni credat sed quid faciat And in this case they must be punished with that the Apostle tells us God shall send them strong delusions that they should beleeve a lie for rejecting the truth Quia Christum non crediderunt in nomine Patris venientem veniet alius nomine suo praevalebit eique credent because they beleeved not Christ coming in the Fathers Name there shall another come in his own name and prevail him they shall beleeve so shall it happen to those that will not cleave to the truth they shall be given over to the untruths of this world and in the world to come that punishment shall befall them as it did to the Lord on whose hand the King leaned that would not believe Elisba that prophesied plenty Videbis non gustabis thou shalt see it with thine eyes but shalt not eat thereof for when he had seen that come to passe which the Prophet foretold he was troden to death before he could eat or taste of that plenty So shall they that are incredulous see the glory of others but not communicate of it in the life to come S. Ambrose compareth such men to a coal covered with ashes Infidelitas non potest claram narrationem habere nam sicut carbo cinere suo coopertus obcaecatur It a hi erroris tenebris circundati luce carebunt unbelief cannot have a glorious narration for as a coal covered with ashes is obscure so the unbelievers shall want light being covered with the darknesse of their errour 2. And as unbelief is forbidden so is also resting in a small measure of faith The Apostle mentioneth a full measure of faith and if we want that or labour not to attain it at least we are not of the number of the faithful which our Saviour speaks of I have not sound such faith no not in Israel and in another place O woman great is thy faith There is a great faith And that of S. Peters was a little faith when for want of it he began to sink a faith mingled with many doubts Therefore we are to pray with him in the Gospel Domine credo adjuva 〈◊〉 meam Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief and secondly when it is setled that it may be brought to a good measure we are to pray with the Apostles Lord increase our faith Our faith must be in a full measure we must endeavour for full assurance Interpreters think that it is a metaphor taken from a ship under full sails The holy Ghost resembles man in this life to a Champion and therefore for his better defence advising him what weapons to furnish himself withall puts faith instead of all weapons As Scutum fidei the shield of faith a special safegard against the Devil and his fiery darts And against the world he saith This is the victory that overcometh the world even your faith Lastly against the flesh he willeth us to be sober and put on the breastplate of faith And no marvel for the Author to the Hebrews attributeth all the great atchievements of the Saints to faith Besides we see that S. Peters faith made his body so light that he walked on the sea and sunk not and on the other side our Saviours hands were restrained so that he could work no more miracles among the Jews because of their unbelief So that it appears by this that by Gods own ordinance he will have helps of our faith or else he will do nothing among us not but that he can work miracles without it but that he hath so ordered and disposed it And this proveth the necessity of the concurrence of our faith with the mercy of God If thou 〈◊〉 beleeve all things are possible to him that believeth The want of faith hindred the working of the Apostles for whereas Christ had given them power to cast out Devils yet they could not dispossesse the mans son and asking the reason of our Saviour he tells them it was because of their unbelief And this is more strange seeing that in the case of the woman with the issue of blood we do not finde that Christ spake a word but her faith cured her as if it had been against his will she conceiving that if she could but touch the hem of his garment she should presently be cured and Christ not aware of it her faith as Origen saith Vim 〈◊〉 Christo got her cure by force from him And the same Father compares faith to the Loadstone that by a hidden quality and vertue attracteth iron to it Neither is this to be marvelled at for it prevaileth also even with God himself for the Angel when he perceived that Jacobs faith was so prevalent that he would not let him go nor he could prevail against him told him that his name should be no more Jacob but Israel because he had power with God and men Now if we be Jacobs and prevail with God thus we shall also prevail with men We see that the woman of Syrophoen gave our Saviour the foyl and he was forced to say O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt for indeed faith is so wonderfull a thing that it became wonderful to him to whom nothing else is wonderful Christ himself wondred at the Centurions faith To avoid errour we are to know that Divines make three kindes or degrees rather of faith 1. General 2. Legal 3. Evangelical And all these are necessary in their place and order 1. The general stands in beleeving that God is c. He that cometh to God must 1. beleeve that God is and 2. that he is a rewarder of them that seek him and that he will finde means to bring them to felicity And this was the faith of Adam in paradise and is supposed in the other two as the foundation of all Religion 2. The Legal stands upon the Law and the belief of the promises and
〈◊〉 contained in it with the punishments and the rewards thereof Christ tells the Jews of a faith in the Law If ye had beleeved Moses ye would have believed me This was peculiar to the Jews before Christ came and is not proper for us 3. The Evangelical is the third which is the belief of the Gospel whereby we trust and relie upon Christ for 〈◊〉 of sins and eternal life in the way by him prescribed in the Gospel which is by repentance and new obedience which way they that walk in are said to believe in Christ or to believe the Gospel whereas to apply the promises absolutely not performing the conditions is a meer fancy and not faith in Christ or the Gospel because Christ hath no where promised pardon or life but to such as repent and lead a new life and therefore those that resolve not seriously so to do and as occasion is offered do not put their purposes in execution do nothing lesse then believe in Christ but turn the gospel into a doctrine of liberty Therefore saith S. Cyprian Quomodo se credere in Christum dicit qui non facit quae Christus facere praecipit how can any say he beleeves in Christ who doth not what Christ commands him And S. Augustine de 〈◊〉 operib c. 23. saith not onely that a good life is inseparable from faith but also ipsam esse bonam vitam that faith and good life are all one And Irenaeus before them both Credere in Christo est voluntatem ejus facere to believe in Christ is to do his will The object of all faith is the word of God which as it is said profited not the Jews because it was not mingled with faith when it is was preached to them So that there must be a mixture of faith with the word for the word and faith continue the Spirit of God in us Our Saviour tells his Disciples that his coming upon earth was fovere ignem to cherish and keep fresh the Spirit which is there compared to a fire S. John the Baptist calls him the Baptizer with fire and the Holy Ghost and therefore it is that S. Paul adviseth not to quench the Spirit and that which nourisheth it is in the next verse Despise not prophecy which is lampas fidei the oyl of faith The word is the matter of this fire If it come into a man it is but as a lamp without oil which flameth for a time it is but a blaze in the Hearers when it is not mingled with faith it bideth but a while if this nutriment be wanting And it is wanting in the wicked Non quia dicitur sed quia creditur sicut credis ita sit tibi Non est semen immortale nisi credas esse a Deo qui est solus immortalis And this is the necessary use of faith Thus much for the first Rule The second and third rules are of little use in this Commandment The fourth rule is concerning the means to believe about which we need not much to labour because it is certain that the first way whereby we come to believe is the relation of others The Q. of Sheba believed Solomons wisdom upon report And the reports of Saints who reposed their whole confidence in God may be able to perswade us else which cannot be we must think that all the Patriarchs and Prophets were either unwise or dishonest and their faith in vain but they according to their own experience left that which they found to posterity Thus the testimony of the Church is the first motive and inducement to belief though not the sole or the the principal for this is divine authority viz. the word of God derived and conveighed unto us by the Church of God into which our faith must be finally resolved and ultimately terminated upon which when our faith is grounded we may say as the Samaritans to the woman that had related to them the passages between her and Christ at Jacobs well Now we beleeve not because of thy saying for we have heard him our selves and know that this is indeed the Christ the Saviour of the world And so we may say we finde by experience the truth of what we have heard therefore the proper and especial ground of faith is the word of God Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God as the Apostle saith And after it is preached we must take the same course that we held in knowledge or meditation and conference c to acquaint our selves with it after we hear or read it as it is in Deuteronomy 6. But because he cannot be faithful in much that is not so in a little and as Christ saith If we beleeve him not in earthly things we shall come far short in the belief of heavenly therefore the learned have distinguished faith into fidem Coelestium Terrestrium by faith of heavenly and earthly And the latter of these is a means or way to the former Therefore it being a way or preparation to faith somewhat is to be said of it as a special and most effectual part of faith and is rather to be called fiducia or confidentia then fides confidence or trust then faith It pleased God to prepare and make way to faith by the last of the two that a man may repose himself and rely wholly upon God and he that can be brought to this etiam vacuo penu when there is no hope of good being unfurnished of all earthly means and help will be able also to put his confidence in him for heavenly things But when the storehouse of faith in earthly things is empty we cannot be furnished with faith in heavenly 1. Now this faith or rather confidence in God is considered two wayes 1. Either he that hath it hath the means also 2. or he that hath it is utterly without the means Both here are enjoyned If we have them we are to use them because it hath pleased God to ordain them as ordinary means to work with as Jacobs care was to provide for his family And Isaac said to his father here is wood and fire but where is the sacrifice Abrahams answer was Deus providebit God will provide the rest If we do our parts God will do the rest We must not do as the Tempter would have Christ do cast himself from the pinacle when there was an ordinary way to come down from it for this were to neglect the ordinary and seek out for extraordinary means which is not warrantable 2. And as we are commanded to use them and not presume without them so on the other side we are forbidden to trust in them and rest upon them whether it be in the private art we practise to sacrifice to our own nets that is to ascribe all to our own skill or in our wealth which Job accounted as a
because he sought to the Physicians before he sought to God for help his physick was accursed and he pined away Achitophel the Oracle of wisdome and policy gave wise counsel but because he looked not up to God God did not determine to blesse it but as the text saith defeated it and made the Counsel of Hushai to be taken and his rejected and we see what became of him afterward he seeing his counsel was not followed sadled his asse went and set his house in order and hanged himself And so the wisdome of the Egyptian Counsellors became foolish infatuavit cos God besotted them the Lord made them give foolish counsel Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God they have stumbled and fallen but we are risen and stand upright Now as these ordinary means of clothing food Physick and wisdom are many times accursed so God to shew how little he dependeth on secondary means doth effect his purpose somtimes without means and somtimes contrary to means As in the fall of the walls of Jericho upon the blast of Rammes horns So Gideon encouraged by the exposition of a dreame of a barly loofe with three-hundred men with trumpets and empty pitchers in their hands and lamps within them put all the Midianits to flight and to run upon themselves As also the great host of the Syrians were put to flight none pursuing them but a panick terrour came suddenly uppon them and a certain imagination that they heard the noise of Chariots horses and a great army of the Hittites and Egyptians that came to aid the Isralites 1. Seeing then that God gives the means when he will and blesseth them when he will it is our parts to trust in him whether we have the meanes or no and to be affected as King David was though he were in the midst of ten thousand men armed and compassed round with them on every side yet he would not be afraid but as it is in the end of the next Psalm would lay him down and sleep trusting in Gods protection and as Moses counselled the children of Israel when the Egyptians pursued them with their chariots though their enemies were behinde them and the red sea before them and no way seen whereby to escape yet to stand still and put their trust in the Lord and they should see the power of the Lord which they accordingly found So the Apostle describing a true pattern of faith sets before us that of Abraham who had neither means in himself or his wife whereby to beleeve Gods promise of a Son she being barren by nature and having a dead womb and he a hundred years old past child getting by course of nature yet he staggered not but was strong in faith being fully perswaded that he which had promised was able to performe and therefore received the blessing in the birth of Isaac 2. And as we are thus to trust in God though we see no means so must we be far from the course of the wicked who if God once fail them do not onely despair of his help but cast him off and betake themselves to his enemy and to unlawful means and such are they that despairing of Gods assistance in their health leave him and the lawful means and flee to Sorcerers a thing utterly condemned by the Prophet We see that Saul lost both the favour of God and his kingdom for conversing with a familiar spirit 3. Besides there is a woe denounced against another sort of people that as the prophet speakes seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord that thinke by their policy and deep wisdom they can deceive God as they do men 4. There are others that take advantage of other mens weaknes and think that that which they get by over reaching others in bargains is their own but the Apostle tells such that God is an avenger of them 5. Another unlawful means is when we see other means failus and that a good man stands in our way then we do as those against Ieremy let us have devises against him and percutiamus cum lingua nostra let us smite him with our tongue that is let us raise slanders against him that none may credit his words In this case God will give eare to the prayer that Ieremy in the subsequent verses made against such men 6. There is yet another sort of people that are not in the right way and that is of those which are married In respect of themselves these men are confident but when 〈◊〉 comes to semen nosturm our seed there their confidence falls off and it is to be feared that many that might have been saved in the estate of single life have fallen from God and hazarded their own salvation by mistrusting that God will not provide for their children wheras God saith Ero deus tuns et seminis tui I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee In this point Saint Ambrose saith Plausibilis excusatio est liberis sed dic mihi 〈◊〉 homo an unquam a Deo 〈◊〉 ut pater fieres an etiam id petiisti da liberos ut deum amittam da liberos ut peccem propterliberos it is a fair excuse for children but tell me o man didst thou ever pray to God thou mightest be a father or didst thou make thy petition thus give me children that I may lose God give children that I may sinne for them I am sure saith he that you never said so and yet this is the common practise Gehazi said not to Naaman that his 〈◊〉 needed the Talent and two changes of rayment but that there were two children of the Prophets c. and they needed them And Abraham himself hath his blemish in this kinde in that he was so careful for Ismael Oh that Ismael might live in thy sight Therefore as we are to trust in God and his means for our selves so are we to rely upon his providence for our children also 5. The fift rule of our exposition directs to speak of the signes of faith it is not enough that a man can say Credo in deum I beleeve in God we must have more particular signes of it For as the Apostle saith all men have not faith therefore that of Saint Peter must be added the trial of faith is much more precious then gold 1. The first signe therefore of faith is according to Saint Chrysostome when a man is not ingeniosus ad causas ready to pick quarrels and to make excuses for not beleeving How many causes might Abraham have found out not to beleeve and that it was impossible for him to have had a son yet we see that true faith overcame all difficulties so that he neither excepted against the promise in respect of Saras barrennesse or his own weaknesse but
Credidit he beleeved But among all the rest there was one exception which might have tried one that had been very faithful and that was the long time he had been without a childe before and in his younger dayes and therefore there was little hope for him in his old age And therefore he might have concluded with them in the Prophet It is in vain to serve God what profit is it to trust in him I will beleeve no longer But this is against that rule of Esay Qui crediderit ne festinet hast and impatiency are no fit companions of faith he that will see the event in hast his faith is in vain Therefore our faith must not waver if we see not the fruit of it speedily but we must wrestle as Jacob did with the Angel and not let God go till we get a blessing from him as was said before We see that the woman af Canaan weake by sex and an alien from the promise though she received three repulses from our Saviour yet by not making hast she confirmed her faith to be true and received the reward of a true faith by obtaining what she desired 2. The second signe is our freedom from worldly cares and thoughts the ground of this is taken out of the great Scripture of faith when we run not a madding after worldly preferment the scraping together of wealth and seeking to have a portion in this life is an argument that we are born citizens of this world not as the Saints and Godly men that shewed themselves pilgrims in this world and that they sought another country a heavenly country and so God was not ashamed to be called their God But a more particular and special example is that there of Moses who being in great possibility to be a Prince for he should have been the onely son to Pharaohs daughter yet we see his coldnes to the world and to the preferment thereof was such that he waved it and chose rather to suffer affliction with his brethren the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sinne for a time for so he accounted the preferment of the world 3. The third signe is taken out of the 11. to the Hebrews from the definition of faith which is there called Hypostasis or a substance and thereupon the faithfull are called Hypostatici now we know that a thing which hath substance is able to receive a great waight without shrinking or crushing And such are the Saints of God David was hypostaticus he would not fear though the earth be moved and the hills caried into the midst of the sea though the waters thereof rage and swell and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same yet the Lord of hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our refuge as he concludeth that psalm And in another psalm he sheweth the true 〈◊〉 of a true beleever he shall never be moved he will not be afraid and his heart is stablished But the condition of him that wanteth faith is otherwise If there come but a gale of wind Saint Peter sinks when holy Job on the other side in the fullnesse of this substance of faith can say Etiamsi occiderit tamen sperabo in illum Though he kill me yet I will put my trust in him Though God should punish him in his wrath yet he would not leave his hold 4. The fourth signe of a true faith is to establish the Law as the Apostle speaks and it is a plain signe and demonstration of an ill faith to make void the Law it must be a working faith if not it is but like putridum 〈◊〉 a body without the spirit dead for as Saint Paul saith with the heart a man beleeveth unto righteousnesse The heart must kindle it from the heart saith the wiseman come the issues and springs of life and all the actions and operations of a man and if no action there can be no true faith If the heart be once possessed with this belief then as the Apostle speaketh I beleeved therefore have I spoken then it will come into the tongue and not onely so but as the Psalmist All our bones will speak every member will make profession of it for as it is said before according to the Physicians rule Judicium a corde fit per brachium the heart makes the pulse beat and that not by little and little or in a long time but presently and so is faith when it is in the heart it hath its effects presently eadem hora sanatus he that beleeved was healed the same hour The prophet saith who hath heard such a thing who hath seen such things shall the earth be made to bring forth in a day or shall a nation be born at once for assoon as Zion travelled she brought forth her children The Prophet wonders at it yet it is a signe of true faith Therefore what is their faith that is not seen till they die 〈◊〉 then they must trust in God whether they will or no all their life they will not at their death ther 's no remedy But it is not said that the just shall die but live by his faith And I shall not pray with Balaam let my soul die the death of the righteous but let my soule live the life of the righteous 6. The sixth rule for exposition teaches us that we 〈◊〉 seek to strengthen the faith of others Saint Paul though strong in faith yet desires to be strengthened and 〈◊〉 by the faith of the Romans And the contrary which is seducing others is not onely forbidden but a punishment is also laid upon seducers As we may see in Deut. where we are commanded not to consent to such and not onely so but to be the first actors in his punishment And thus if we labour to grow in faith our selves and to confirm others then as Saint Peter saith we shall receive the end of our faith even the salvation of our souls and have this answer Vade secundum fidem tibi erit as thou hast beleeved so be it done unto thee This will be Gods answer to us and merces fidei est visio dei the reward of faith is the vision of God for in in rebus supra naturam idem est habere videre in supernatural things its all one to have and to see We shall enjoy it Credendo quod non vidimus videbimus quod credimus by beleeving that we have not seen we shall see that we have beleeved And thus much for the duties of the minde Now for the duties of the heart CHAP. VIII The third inward vertue is fear of God Addition 11. of the seat of faith Reasons why God should be feared Of 〈◊〉 and seruile feare how fear and love may stand ' together The sinns 〈◊〉 1. want of fear 2. worldly fear
motives to fear taken from Gods judgements The signes of feare VVE have seen out of the Apostle that saith must be in the heart and the heart must beleeve else there can be no righteousnesse there must be a mutual affection of the minde and heart for if the heart love not the minde will not long beleeve and if the minde beleeve not the heart will not love long Faith in regard of the actus elicitus assent is an act of the minde but in respect of the actus imperati as the Schools speak which flow from assent and belief as love fear obedience c. So it is in the heart and whole man so that the duty of a Christian may be called the work of faith because it is commanded and produced by faith though belief be the formal and onely proper immediate act of it Now the heart is the seat of the affections and the affections are about such objects as are partly agreable to our nature and such as we wish for and imbrace and partly such as we desire not but turn from Of the former sort are love hope joy and of the other are fear grief hate And God hath 〈◊〉 both of them to a double use as those of the second sort to restrain us from evil or after we have committed evil to torment and punish us So of the former either they are provocations to good or after we have done well to cherish and comfort us for so doing It is the work and office of faith to stir up these 〈◊〉 in us the first of which is fear towards God and the reason is because the word of God being the object of faith whether we take it in whole or in grosse the five books of Moses or the four Gospels in all we finde punishments 〈◊〉 to such as should transgresse which threatnings being 〈◊〉 by faith must needs work fear to 〈◊〉 and so they restrain from sin or fear of the punishment in those that have offended and so they stir up to repentance for in the very beginning we see faith had a word of threatning to apprehend In what day soever Adam should eat of the fruit of the tree he should die and this was before the promise that The seed of the woman should bruise the serpent head Now faith apprehended Gods justice which with his other attributes made it seem more fearful and the conscience telling that an offence was committed by eating fear must needs arise out of the consideration of it And this is it which was remembred before in our Saviours speach to the Jews If ye had believed Moses ye would also have believed me First Moses was to be believed then Christ first the Law then the Gospel The first is a faith in Gods justice There is a manifest example of this in the Ninevites Crediderunt Deo timuerunt they believed God and feared which is Moses fear a faith in Gods justice Among many motives to fear given by writers the chief is 〈◊〉 legis the knowledge of the Law and this works contritionem a grinding to powder by fear of that which the Law brings into their hearts And of this the Psalmist speaks telling us what is the true object of fear My flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy judgements This is the effect of faith upon the knowledge of Gods Justice The reason why it pleased God to set justice and fear in the first place is because before any thing can be effected the impediment and that which hindereth must be taken away We cannot possesse God and the reason is because as the Prophet tells us there is a separation between him and us our sins do separate between God and us a partition wall as the Apostle calls it Now seeing there is a necessity to have God and that this partition wall keeps us asunder in the first place we must not build this wall higher but we must cease to build sin upon sin and look for Christ to beat down that which is already built That which causeth us to cease from sin is the fear of God Expulsor peccati timor Domini saith the Wise man we must not say shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid saith the Apostle And this is the reason why God commandeth fear because it maketh us to leave sin Besides fear there are two other affections which cause men to live well though it pleased God here to make choice of fear as 1. Shame 2. Pain and grief Make their faces ashamed O Lord saith the Psalmist that they may seek thy Name and for the other Vexatio dat intellectum affliction brings understanding If a man smart for any thing experience will give him understanding But we see that in the multitude of offenders there is no place for shame and for pain we have terrenas consolatiunculas poor worldly comforts at least if not to drive it away yet to season it and therefore God foresaw that neither of these would strike so deep as fear But fear which it pleaseth God to set before us and to require at our hands is that affection which toucheth us neerest and when other fail fails not Examples we have of it in offenders Adam being naked and clothed onely with fig-leaves might have been ashamed yet he walked up and down Paradise confidently and his humbling came not till he heard the voice of the Lord and then he was afraid Felix was a corrupt governour and made no conscience of it yet hearing Saint Paul discourse of Justice and Temperance and especially of Gods Judgements he fell into a trembling And this affection is not onely in men but predominant in beasts also and in those beasts which are most stupid and brutish 〈◊〉 asse fearing the angel of the Lord notwithstanding all his Masters beating fell down flat and would not stir a foot to run into danger Nay further the Devils which fear nothing else yet in respect of God S. James tells us Demones credunt contremiscunt the Devils believe and tremble And therefore this must needs be a prevalent means and that man is far gone and in a fearful case that feareth not But it may be objected That since God speaketh so much of love why should we not be brought to obedience by love rather then by fear It cannot be denied but that were a more acceptable way but our case is so that love will not prevail with us for he that loveth a good thing must have knowledge of it and that comes by a taste of it Now if his 〈◊〉 be corrupt as theirs is that are feavorish nothing can please him but that wich pleaseth the corrupt taste wholsome things are distasteful to him yet though they love not those things that are good for their disease this reason will prevail against their liking that if they take it not their fit
his own sinne and his own transgressions are ever before him and not busie himself with other mens faults whereas the proud mans thoughts are bona sua mala aliena the evil in others and the good that is in himself 3. Another signe is when a man is able to suffer the slander backbiting and reproches of ill tongues and not regard them as King David did As for me saith he I was like a deaf man and heard not and as one that is dumb and openeth not his mouth and in the next verse I became even as a man that heareth not and in whose mouth is no reproof Thus he shewed his humil ty when he bare patiently the railing of Shimei Christ being reviled reviled not 4. The fourth not to do any thing that may be against Gods glory though it be to a mans own reproach and suffering in this world when he is willing to suffer any thing himself rather then any dishonour should red ound to God or his Church by opening the mouths of the wicked Psal. 69. 6. Let not them that trust in thee be ashamed O Lord God of hosts for my cause let not those that seek thee be confounded through me c. 5. The last is not to rob God of his glory or to give it to another How can yee beleeve saith Christ that seek glory one of another The humble man as the Psalmist saith setteth not by himself but is lowly in his own eyes Psal. 15. 4. this is evidentissimum signum appropinguantis gloriae for before honour goes humility as a proud looke before a fall Pro. 33. CHAP. X. Of the fift inward vertue Hope Hope and fear come both from faith The several vses of hope The nature and exercise of hope Of presumption and despair Reasons against both Means to strengthen hope Signes of true hope Spes Hope AS the knowledge and belief of Gods justice worketh in us fear and humility of which we have spoken so from the knowledge and apprehension of his mercy ariseth hope and love After humility we come to the valley of Achor for a doore of hope as the Prophet speaks When we have been brought to the valley of mourning and have bin in fear and despaire then will God open to us a door of hope so that in stead of the first spirit the spirit of bondage unto fear we shall receive the spirit of adoption unto hope Now by conferring our strength and performances with the strict rule of Gods justice we finde it impossible that we should hope for salvation but by faith apprehending Gods mercy it may be possible it may be considered as attainable two wayes 1. either by our selves 2. or by some other 1. Now concerning the former if we look upon our selves the effect of faith is fear inasmuch as the object of it is Gods justce and so we can have little comfort in our selves for this shews that it is impossible to us as of our selves but as it is in the Apostle every mouth must be stopped and all the world must become guilty before God ther 's little hope that way 2. But we are not left alltogether to despair for though it be impossible to us of our selves yet if it be possible by another if another way may be found ther 's some hope Faith reasoneth as the Psalmist doth Hath God made all men for nought or in vain If he hath then why falleth not his wrath at once And searching further for the cause why we are not consumed we finde that his mercy is the cause It is of the Lords mercy saith the Prophet that we are not consumed for his compassions fail not and that the work of his creation is not in vain Then consequently a remnant there shall be and God will have a tenth alwayes preserved to himself and the holy seed shall be the substance thereof and as it is in the Gospell there shall be a little flock and we may hope that of that little flock we are If the Lord were sparing of his mercy that might be a great impediment to our hope but when we read that the Lord waiteth to be gracious to us it setteth our hope in a better forwardnesse Now because that out of the gate of mercy all our hope cometh we are to consider upon whom God vouchsafeth to bestow this mercy how they must be qualified The prophet saith he will thrust his face into the dust that is he will humble himself if peradventure he may have hope And hope is given to them that fear and are of a contrite spirit and that tremble at Gods word Spes timentibus Deum hope is a reward to them that fear God And as fear is requisite so faith much more God shews this kindnesse to them that put their trust in him and all they that put their trust in him shall not be destitute or forsaken And when we hear God himself say liberabo eum qui sperat in me when the act of hope shall have such a reward ther is good encouragement and we may surely expect it Now to hope is to trust in Gods mercy and so the psalmist saith My trust is in thy mercy for that is Porta spei the gate of hope there 's no entrance unto God but by this gate and no issue of good to us but by it for faith apprehending mercy hopeth and the rather because there is such plenty of mercy promised to them that hope in God that it will compasse them round Who so putteth his trust in the Lord mercy imbraceth him on every side But it may be demanded how faith can beget both fear and hope two contraries or how two contraries can stand in one subject To this may be answered first we should not question it in respect that the holy Ghost hath put them together so often The Psalmist saith The Lords delight is in them that fear him and put their trust in his mercy Again faith breedeth fear in us in respect of our weaknesse and it breeds hope in respect of the mercies of God so that they being contraries non secundum idem they may well stand together in the soule of a just man For distinction sake Fides credit promissis faith beleeveth the promise and spes expectat credita hope looketh for the things we beleeve Again a thing may be believed and yet not hoped for as no true Christian though he hopes not for hell yet he believes there is such a place So the general truth of God being the object of our faith and containing many threatnings bringeth forth fear and the mercy of God in his promises being likewise an object of our faith produceth hope And so we see they are distinguished ab objecto the one having Gods justice and the other his goodnesse for its object S. Bernard distinguisheth the three vertues of Faith Hope and Charity by presenting to
who was his Master and whom he followed before they parted The sixth rule for procuring obedience in others is done per edificationem as the Apostle speaks by edifying one another and by avoyding that which they call scandalum let no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brothers way CHAP. XIIII Of patience How it arises from Love of God The necessity and excellency of patience Afflictions are either corrections or tryals Reasons of patience in both Of counterfeit patience in Hereticks and others Stupidity no true patience Cause thereof Of fainting under the crosse Means of patience Signes of patience Of working patience in others THe second principal signe or property of Love is Patience and it might be comprehended under obedience for they use to call it obedientiam crucis It is a fruit of Love charitas patiens est saith the Apostle for if it be active it produces obedience if passive patience The Heathen man hath a strange speech to this purpose Non amo quenquam nisi offendat I love no man but he that offends me the reason is because bearing and sorbearing is an argument of love he that loveth will bear much if not he loveth not Qui desinit sustinere desinit amare saith S. Augustine leave of to forbear and leave of to love and S. Gregory Patientia vera ipsum amat quem portat true patience loves him who is a burden to him In respect of our selves being natural nothing can be trulier said then durum pati It goeth against flesh and blood to suffer and the object of patience is evil But the spiritual man glories in tribulation knowing that tribulation worketh patience and why because patience worketh experience and that hope So that patience never bears evil propter se sed propter mag is bonum for it self but for a greater good The evil we suffer by it will be recompensed with the greater good Labour is durum a hard thing and ease good but if a better thing as learning may be attained by the privation of that good we will take pains and endure labour So the suffering of want trouble and the like conducing to a greater good puts a will into us to endure them Ardor desideriorum saith S. Gregory facit tolerantiam laborum the earnestnesse of our desires causeth us to endure labor This greater good is the glory of God and that as we said of obedience both directly by our selves when we glorifie him by our sufferings and also by others who take occasion by our patience in suffering to glorify God Though the Devil afflicted Job with sundry crosses yet he continued firm and endured them patiently and by his servants patience was God glorified even over the Devil God triumphs over the Devil by the patience of Job 〈◊〉 thou not saith God my servant Job that there is none like him in the earth c. Beatus Job quot voces patientiae in laudem Dei percussus reddidit quasi tot in adversarii pectore jacula intorsit et acriora multa quam sustinuit inflixit blessed Job by his often expressions of patience to the honour of God in his afflictions castas it were so many darts into the bosome of his adversary and inflicted much more upon him then he endured himself The Author to the Hebrews tells us that we need this vertue and our Saviour gives us the reason We cannot possesse our souls without it How Thus if any crosse befall us either it is too great for us to bear and so we fall into exceeding great worldly sorrow which worketh death as it hapned with Achitophel a wise man or else without this gift of patience we set our selves against that partie in passion that we conceive did offer us the injury and so fall to hatred and then to injurious dealing or if it be from Gods hand to murmuring and impatient reoining and so loose your souls But if with patience we bear the afflictions of this life and thereby overcome the last enemy which is death 1 Corinthians 15. 26. then we are sure to save our souls In consideration whereof as we said that in the Christian structure faith was fundamentum the foundation of all vertues so patience is tectum the roof or covering of all vertues to keep and defend them from the storms of afflictions without which storms would beat and rain would descend into the building and rot it And this may well be warranted by that of our Saviour in the Gospel where he saith describing the spirituall harvest that they brought forth fruit with patience The fruit is after the bud and blossome the fruit must come through both But more plainly in the Apostle that therefore patience must have her perfect work that we may be perfect and want nothing and the building be consummate And S. Paul joyns faith the foundation and patience the roof together To you it is given not onely to believe but also to suffer and in another place in side patientia by faith and patience we inherit the promise the first and last the beginning and the ending So that when we have this vertue and the roof be covered we may have good cause to rejoyce as S. Paul did He rejoyced in patience in suffering infirmities reproaches necessities persecutions distresses for Christs sake And patience working experience he then had spem solidiorem more solid hope and thence grew so valiant as to throw down gantlet and chalenge any thing that could separate him from the love of God and beginneth with the least first as tribulations ascending to the most potent as death Angels principalities c. Patience is distinguished according to the object which is affliction and that is of two sorts for it is either for punishment called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or for tryal called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there must be patience in both and the reason is for that in every Law there is a directive and a corrective force if one misse the other will take hold Aut faciendum quod oportet aut patiendum quod oportet either we must do or suffer what we should we must be either active or passive 1. We submit our selves to the corrective force in respect of our deserts knowing the Law to be just for two reasons both which are mentioned by S. Peter It is the will of God of his secret will we cannot enquire the cause but when he hath revealed the reasons we may be bold to take notice of them for confirmation of our faith 1. The first is He will have all the world know that sin shall not be unpunished This is plain The waters of Meribah cost Moses his life his wavering because the waters came not at the first was his forfeiture of entring into the land of promise Numbers 20. 12. Many more instances might be brought but they are all obscured by
alone can search the heart therefore he delights in it and requires our obedience to be coram facie mea as in his sight Therefore it is that the Wise man counselleth a man to keep his heart with all diligence He gives a double reason for it is the principal member and therefore gives God the chief glory and further it is the fountain of all our actions by none of which is God honoured if they come from a corrupt fountain nay they are so far from being accepted that they are abominable and therefore according to the disposition of the heart life or death proceeds if we worship God with a right heart then we shall reap life if that be unsound death eternall follows And therefore necessitas incumbit we had need to keep that member right For all those glorious duties before spoken of if they want integrity or a good heart they are so far from Gods acceptation that they become abomination For if we believe our faith must come from the heart if we love it must be not in word but in truth which comes from the heart Our obedience also must proceed from the heart To conclude this whatsoever we do we must do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men That which is here commanded is called virtus integritatis by the Fathers inward soundnesse against hollownesse and sincerity against mixture And they ground it upon Gods charge to Abraham when he made the covenant of Circumcision Ambula coram me what that is God explained in the next words esto integer walk before me and be upright or perfect without hypocrisie It is commonly joyned in Scripture with another word Job was an upright and just man the words signifie properly straight and sound upright and pure in another place and an honest and good heart in another The nature of the word integer is taken from timber it must be straight without and sound within straight that it be not crooked coram facie humana and sound that it be not hollow coram facie divina before God Therefore the Ark was overlaid with gold without and within and in this respect it was that the Psalmist distinguished the Church the Kings daughter from other Kings daughters her outward beauty might be parraleld but she was all glorious within It is the inward beauty which is required chiefly That which is forbidden is hypocrisie Our Saviour taxed it in the Pharisees by telling them they had a care to make clean the outside of the cup and platter but had no regard to that which was intus within This is the sin of seven woes more then we read that any other sin had Of which S. Chrysostome saith Pharisaeorum justitia erat in ostentatione operis non in rectitudine intentionis the righteousnesse of the Pharisees consisted in ostentation of their works not in the uprightnesse of their intents The other extream is that the Prophet taxes in Ephraim whom he calld a silly dove without heart this is simplicity without wisdom when there is as our Saviour intimates Columba sine serpente the dove without the serpent Of such speaks Solomon when he saith that a fool uttereth all his minde he poures out his spirit without any manner of wisdom and discretion before every man our integrity therefore must be preserved with wisdom 1. The way to keep our selves in this integrity First Seneca's councel to Lucillus who desired this vertue was when he took any thing in hand to imagine that Cato Scipio or some other of the ancient Romans renowned for vertue stood before him But it is a better way for us to do as the Psalmist did to set God alwayes before our eyes conceiving and that truely that whatsoever we do is in his presence If that will not work with us then to set God not absolutely but as he will sit when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed at the day of judgment The day as the Apostle speaks when God shall judge the secrets of all men for as the Preacher saith God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing 2. Another motive and that a forceable one to perswade us will be that God requires an exact and sincere service of us to himself because he commandeth singlenesse of heart from servants to their Masters even with fear and trembling If this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eye-service will not be allowed by God as current towards men much lesse will he allow it to himself 3. Lastly if we consider the integrity of Christs heart to us of whom we read that it was pierced and that he spent his very heart blood for us if we consider that it will stir us up to have a reciprocal heart to him and say with S. Bernard juste cor nostrum vindicat qui cor suum pro nostro dedit he may justly challenge our hearts that gave his for ours When he had offered his hands feet and other members for us yet thought it not sufficient but gave his heart for us also It is not our tongue hands or feet that can requite it our hearts will be too little if we give them also up to him 1. And we shall know whether our hearts be upright or no first by the Heathen mans rule Nil conscire sibi nulla pallescere culpa hic murns 〈◊〉 us 〈◊〉 A sound heart is like a wall of brasse and is so full of courage that it can say with the Apostle 〈◊〉 perminimum est ut a vobis judicer it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you It is the soundnesse of the heart that will make it bold if we be not 〈◊〉 mali to our selves that we know no evil in our selves This made John Baptists heart to be above King Herodes power the want of it made Peter afraid at a silly Damsels speech charging him to be of Christs company 2. Another mark like to this is if we be firm and upright under the crosse If afflictions alter us not for troubles and crosses will dishonour the integrity of our hearts Look how we stand affected in them if firm then no doubt but we are right If we can say with King Hezekiah Remember O Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart this upheld him when he was sick even unto death but e contra if the heart be not sound then in any crosse it melts within us like wax as the Psalmist speaks Psalm 22. 14. 3. If we derest sin in our selves and punish it no lesse in our selves then others Judah at the first in the case of Thamar cried Bring her away let her be burnt but upon further consideration when it came to be his own case there was a sudden alteration she was more righteous then I. This is much like that the Heathen man
and four footed beasts and creeping things of birds as the Ibis among the Egyptians the golden calf among the Israelites the Owl among the wise Graecians and the Eagle with the Romans and Belus in the shape of a Dragon with the Babylonians and worms with the Trogloditi 4. Plants as the Dodonean Grove to Jupiter Nay they descended even to garlike 5. They worshipped also things made by art as a Piece of Red cloth as Strabo relates of Nations in the North East 3. In the waters They worshipped Syrens and Dagon as it is in the first of Samuel who was resembled by a water snake and dragons and Crocodiles fishes as the Dolphin as also 〈◊〉 whom they adored as God of Physick in the shape of a water Serpent So that God seeing what had bin done to his dishonour and foreseeing what would be done and that men had and would abuse all his creatures in this kinde interdicebat 〈◊〉 gave a straight injunction against them all allowing neither similitude nor pattern God would be resembled by none of them And therefore 〈◊〉 making as it were a comment upon this Commandment and letting them know that they must not account of Gods worship as a ceremonial thing puts them in minde that when God spake to them out of the midst of the fire they heard a voice but saw no similitude but onely a voice and therefore a voice say the Rabbins because a voice cannot be drawn into any shape and so was not likely to deprive God of any part of his honour and he bids them therefore take heed that they attempted not to make any likenesse of any thing as you may read there at large for if God had bin willing they should have made any certailny he would have represented himself to them in some forme or shape when he came unto the mount Let us take heed therefore that we take not upon us to frame to our selves any representation of God and to make Images to his dishonour It is the nature of faith to beleeve things not visible and therefore to make invisible things become visible in religion is the next way to dishonour God and to overthrow faith and consequently religion it self Our Saviour tells the woman of Samaria that the time was coming when the true worshippers should worship God in spirit and truth and in Images there is no truth but 〈◊〉 veritatis a resemblance of truth the very Temple of Jerusalem as a type should not be accepted It is objected if all similitudes be condemned how came it to passe that God himself prescribed the making of Cherubins and they were resemblances There was no such resemblance in them as their definition of an Image imports which is as they say quod habet exemplar in rerum natura that is like some natural thing but Cherubins were not so for they were made like boyes without armes instead thereof were two great wings which we cannot paralel in nature But it is plain that God caused them not to be made to the entent to be worshipped for then he would not have put them into the darkest places in the sanctum sanctorum whither 〈◊〉 came but the high priest and he but once a year And indeed God sheweth wherfore he made them that the Priest might know from whence to receive his answer and to signify the readinesse of the angels to execute the will of God And Tertullian answereth this fully God saith not that an Image should not be made but non facies tibi thou shalt not make it to thy self God commanded these to be made by Moses God might dispense with his own precept so far as it was positive as the prohibition of making any Image is but to worship or give any divine honour to it which is malum inse simply evil though it were not forbidden this God never allowed or dispen'ed with the other is onely malum quia prohibitum this is prohibitum quia malum It is said also why then did God command the image of the fiery serpent to be made This was not ut coleretur sed ut mederetur not that it should be worshipped but that it should be as a means to heal the people that had bin plagued for their murmuring And indeed Tertullian hath the same objection and answereth it thus Quod idemDeus vetuit lege similitudinem fieri 〈◊〉 prescripto aeneum serpentem 〈◊〉 fecit si tu eandem legem 〈◊〉 legem habes eam observa si 〈◊〉 preceptum factum 〈◊〉 feceris tu imitare Mosen idest ne sacias tibi simulachrum nisi Deus te 〈◊〉 that the same God did both forbid by his law the making of images and yet by an extraordinary command caused the brasen serpent to be made if thou observe the same law thou hast a law keep it if thou be afterward commanded to make an image imitate Moses that is make none except God command thee Concerning this point we have shewed what moved God to make this restraint on his own part Now it followeth to shew why he did it on our part in regard of our corruption 1. Tertullian saith in the booke before quoted that before the flood even in the dayes of Seth the worship of God was corrupted with images and that Enochs instauration was nothing but the restoring of pure religion again and that therefore he is said to have walked with God Again we see that after the flood Jacob by being in 〈◊〉 house had learnt to take Teraphim Images of gods and to mingle them in Gods worship Now the reason of this God himselfe gives Man is but flesh Though he consists of two parts flesh and spirit yet the grossnesse of the flesh overgrows the purenesse of the spirit and corrupt it turning that other part of man the spirit into flesh insomuch as the Apostles many times in their writings call the soul and minde by the name of flesh and Saint Paul gives us warning to take heed of the flesh of the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And hence it is that we have an affection in us which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 desire to feel or see This was the disease of Saint Thomas that would not beleeve except he might feel Christs wounds and see him himself 〈◊〉 of Mary Magdalen and Martha about their dead brother both told Christ. Lord if thou hadst bin here my brother had not died and not theirs alone but of all the Apostles they were desirous that Christ might stay and be with them alwayes to erect an earthly kingdom insomuch that he was fain to tell them that if he went not away the Comforter would not come unto them And such a thing there is in religion Moses had bin in the mount but three dayes and the Israelites cry out to Aaron fac nobis Deos visibiles make us gods which shall go before us Upon
Lastly we have a set form of prayer composed by our Saviour upon the petition of the disciples 2. The other Thanksgiving We see it vsed also before the flood by Abrahams servant when he had finished his busines successefully And we finde this duty commanded by God himself afterwards Moses had a set form of thanksgiving after the deliverance of the people from the Egyptians And King David in many places commends this part of prayer highly and penned a set form of it in a psalm which he entituleth a 〈◊〉 or song for the sabbath day Solomon his son in the time of the first Temple practized it and so did the people vsing one of King Davids psalms the burden whereof as we may so speak was for his mercy endureth for ever Ezra also vsed it after the building of the second Temple together with the priests and people So did our Saviour I thank thee o father c. In the time of the Gospel they sung a psalm Lastly it was not onely practized by the Apostle as you may see in many places I thank God through Jesus Christ and thanks be to God c. but commended by him to others speak to your selves in psalms and Hymns c. as unto the Philippians where he joyns both 〈◊〉 of this duty in one verse in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God And to omit many others in the Epistle to the Hebrews giving thanks i called the sacrifice of praise 3. As the word is Gods speech to us and Invocation ours to him so the sacraments are the Covenants between God and us Such are the type of circumcision instead whereof Baptism succeded and the type of the Passeover instead whereof we have the Lords supper And these two only we receive as sacraments generally necessarily for all But for our justification in thispoint S. Augustine saith upon the words of Saint John cited out of the institution of the Passeover A bone of him shall not be broken vnus emilitibus c. A souldier with a speare pierced his side and forthwith came out of it water and blood which are the two Sacraments of the church our mother And in another place Quedam pauca pro multis c. The Lord and Apostilical doctrine hath left to us a few in stead of many and those easy to be kept most excellent to the understanding and most pious to be observed the Sacrament of Baptisme and the celebration of the body and blood of the Lord. 1. The first Baptisme is so necessary a Badg for a Christian that he cannot be without it Saint Augustine saith sic accipiendum est c. That which the Apostle saith is thus to be understood that by the lavacre of 〈◊〉 and the word of sanctificational former sinns of the regenerate are cleansed and healed and not onely all sinns are remitted in Baptisme but those also which are afterward contracted by humane ignorance and infirmity and in another place Dimittitur eis regeneratione spirituli quod traxerunt ut 〈◊〉 dixi ex adami generatione carnali By this spiritual regeneration as I have often said whatsoever they have drawn from Adams carnal generation is forgiven them And this Sacrament is a service of faith For though children baptized cannot be properly said to beleeve of themselves by reason of their minority yet are they beleevers by their fidejussores or Godfathers and Godmothers and parents who present them and desire to have them baptized in the faith of Christ and received into the Church as were the Jews children by circumcision Inter credentes saith Saint Augustine 〈◊〉 populos baptizatos 〈◊〉 nec judicare aliter ullo modo audebis si nonvis esse apertus haereticus Thou art to repute little children that are Christened among beleevers nor must thou dare to judge otherwise if thou wilt not be an open heretick And in the same place Absit ut dicam non credentes infantes c. God forbid that I should call Infants unbeleevers I have disputed it before They beleeved by another and offended by another It is said They beleeve and it is enough to make them of the number of the faithful that are baptized This hath the authority of the Church and the Canon founded upon the truth obtained 2. The other the Lords supper is a substantial part of our servicetoo For in it is a whole Oblation of our selves souls and bodies to be a reasonable holy and lively sacrifice to God as we acknowledge in our liturgy In it we acknowledge confesse bewaile and repent us of our sinnes which cost our Saviour his most precious blood to make attonement for them And in it we professe that we are in love with God and our Neighbours which is the fulfilling of the Law Herein is a commemoration of that sacrifice which Christ offered for us upon the Crosse in which respect it may be called a sacrifice for as our reverend author else where speaks The Eucharist ever was and by us is considered both as a sacrament and a sacrifice A sacrifice is onely proper and appliable to 〈◊〉 worship c. In a word we hold with Saint Augustine de Civit. lib. 17. Chap. 20. Hujus sacrificii caro et sanguis ante adventum Christi per victimas similitudine promittebatur in passione Christi per ipsam veritatem reddebatur post adventum Christi per sacramentum memoriae celebratur Answer to Card. Perron p. 6. 7. And lastly by it we offer a most acceptable sacrifice and service to God of thanksgiving this Sacrament being called Eucharistia which signifies so much for bestowing so great a blessing upon u whereby every faithful Communicant is strengthened in the faith of Christ. Therefore Accedens debet esse plenus sanctitate he that comes to it ought to be as holy as he may for all our services to God are to be done in purity which is true internal worship and with decency which is external and both these make that compleat holinesse which becometh Gods house 4. The last part of the substance in the external wórship of God is Discipline by which men are regulated in the fear and service of God This we finde commanded Mat. 18. 15. 16. c. John 20. 22. Executed extraordinarily Act. 5. 4. By Saint Peter ordnarily 1 Cor. 5. 3. By S. Paul and Rules set down for the ordering of it 1 Tim. 5. It is as Barnard saith the yoke to keep us within the bounds of Order and as Cyprian Custos spei et retinaculnm fidei a preserver of hope and stay of faith Saint Augustine affirmes that it brings delinquents to repentance whereby they recover that which they had lost by their 〈◊〉 For it is sure enough that the Church of God hath in it of all sorts
whatever is more is not from me but from the incredulity of him to whom I swear The third rule for exposition of the Law viz. that it is spiritual takes place in an oath The Psalmist saith of a good man non juratus est dolose proximo suo 〈◊〉 hath not sworn deceitfully to his neighbour We must not say with him Juravi lingua mentem injuratam gero I swear with my tongue but my heart never meant it Gods name must not be used in guile but we must speak the truth from the heart the Heathen saw that this law was spiritual and that the heart must go along with the tongue for as Isidore saith truely God will take and understand the oath not according to the deceitful intentions of him that swears but according to his minde to whom he swears non ut ille qui juraverit sed ut is cui juratus est this will be Gods rule in expounding our oaths whatsoever other rules we follow The fourth rule is concerning the means to keep us from unlawful swearing 1. We must obstare principiis beware of the first degrees of this sin for ex facilitate nascitur consuetudo ex consuetudine perjurium ex perjurio blasphemia out of this facility and easinesse to swear a custom is bred out of custom perjury out of perjury blasphemy when men make no scruple of lying or speaking untruths they come by degrees to perjury by swearing untruths and after that to blasphemy a sin so horrible that in heaven it wants a name and therefore the Scripture expresses it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Berech blessing as in Job 2. where Jobs wife saith Blesse God and die that is blaspheme or as we render it Curse God and die And if any can go higher they come to that fearful sin the sin against the Holy Ghost therefore we must take heed to the first beginnings of this sin These are the chains and links of an oath and S. Chrysostome saith non est qui frequenter jurat quin aliquando non perjurat there is none that swears often but is perjur'd sometimes and with him agrees Philo ex frequenti jurejurando perjurium nascitur 2. Again as he there saith we must beware of such asseverations which though they be not perfect oaths yet are the way to oaths as to say per fidem meam per salutem meam by my faith or by my salvation or the like for he that swears by either of these bindes either to that he swears to and this amounts to an execration which is a part of an oath as was shewed before for as S. Augustine saith when a man saith per fidem meam by my faith obligat se per fidem suam Deo and cum dicit quisque per meam salutem salutem suam Deo obligat he that saith by my faith or salvation binds or pawns his faith or salvation unto God If that be not true he swears to he desires to be deprived of his faith or salvation and God if he please in the very article of time he makes this execration may confirm it Our Saviour taught us that in our ordinary converse we should use yea and nay and therefore we are to go no further 3. In the next place we must dispossesse our souls of impatience and anger as also of vain glory Anger is a principal passion which makes men subject and prone to swearing The same Father saith the first sin is anger and the second swearing if a man be of an angry spirit he is seldom free from vain swearing for in an angry mans mouth nothing is so ready as an oath Nay it is as one saith incentivum ad blasphemandum when a man is in fury as anger is a short madnesse he spares none not so much as God himself dum irascitur insanire creditur saith S. Jerome Therefore fo low the Apostles counsel Be angry but sin not that is watch over 〈◊〉 passion that it break not out into swearing And S. James Be 〈◊〉 to wrath for it will cause thee to offend this precept 4. Vain glory is another disordered passion of the minde as S. Jerome calls it By it a man is violently carried away with a vain desire to have every word he speaks beleeved as the word of God received as an Oracle to be as true as the Gospel and therefore to establish their credit they confirm their words by oaths for as one saith There is nothing that men desire so much as that they make so light of to wit their faith and credit for they make shipwrack of it at every blow by frequent oaths They swear that their credit may not be lightly accompted of when as by this means it comes to be lightly accompted of Ideo leviter aestimant ne leviter aestimentur leviter aestimando leviter aestimantur 5. And because an ill habit in any thing is hard to be left and Custom being a second nature and that as S. Augustine saith Peccata quamvis magna horrenda cum in consuetudinem venerint aut parva esse aut nulla creduntur sins though great and fearful as this sin of swearing is when they grow into custom are reputed little or none at all We must strive to nip them in the bud not onely in our selves but in our children for it is with them as with a vessel Quo semel est imbuta recens 〈◊〉 odorem testa diu as the Poet saith and as Cassidore Indigne transacta adolescentia 〈◊〉 efficit senectutem 6. We should have ever in our remembrance and set before our eyes the great punishments and judgements which are so many visible sermons from God himself none so many and remarkable for the breach of any other precept which have been inflicted in all ages for the breach of this one Commandment as Saul for attempting to kill David contrary to his oath was slain himself Zedekiah for breaking his oath of fealty to the King of Babel had his eyes puld out lost his kingdom and was made a captive The Prophet tells us that the flying roul twenty cubits long and ten cubits broad written full of curses shal enter into the house of the swearer c. and shall consume it c. The fifth rule is concerning the signes of keeping this Commandment And these may be taken from the consideration of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 massah here used to take up as a burden or heavy thing If the name of God be to us as a burden or a heavy thing and so taken up it is a signe we are careful to keep this Commander As 1. Every man will adde no more to a burden then he can bear he will make it no heavier then needs must nor take more burden upon him then necessity requires so if we take up the name of God as a burden we will use it no oftner then we
witnes of the truth Sain Paul attributeth sanctification of every thing to prayer premised and therefore it is termed the preparative to all the duties of a Christian more plainly Our Saviour very early before day went out into a solitary place and there prayed and afterward came and preached in the Synagogue which is very probable to have been on the sabbath day whereby we may observe that Christ himself took prayer to be the first means of sanctification 1. Now for the times of this exercise of prayer on the Lords day they are two 1. Before the other publick duties and 2 After 1. That before is either private as of a master and his family 2. Or else in the congregation which is publick Both which the psalmist comprehendeth in one verse I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart secretly among the faithful there 's the first And in the congregation there 's the last 1. Concerning the first we see in the place before quoted that our Saviour went out into a solitary place as also elsewhere As soon as he had sent the multitude away he departed into a mountain to pray 2. For the other we may gather out of that place in the Acts that amongst the very Heathen the religious Hellinists which were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were a kinde of proselytes that worshipped the God of Israel vsed to assemble themselves to pray by a rivers side But more plainly the Apostle saith that to the prayers of the congregation every one should joyn his own Amen Again prayer is to be vsed after For as we are not fit to receive any spiritual grace before without it so neither to keep it after the devil will take the word out of our hearts after we have heard it unlesse we desire of God that it may remain with us and seek his blessing that the seed may fructify And this was in the law to come from the Priests mouth The Lord blesse thee and keep thee By vertue whereof the devil wil lose his power in taking the word out of our hearts but it shall continue with us and fructifie in us 2. The second is the word which is magnified or sanctified by God for our sanctification for as the prophet saith God hath magnified the law that is his word and made it honorable and else where plainly the hearing of the word is made one end of publick assemblyes gather me the people together saith God and I will makethem hear my words Now the word upon the sabbath hath a double use 1. First as it is read and heard read onely 2. And secondly as it preached or heard preached 1. For the first the Church in great wisdome alwayes thought it most convenient and necessary that reading should precede preaching that when it should be preached it might not seem strange to them that heard it But as that is thought a thing fit by the Church so would it be no lesse expedient that before we come to church we would meditate on it yet such is our wretchlessenesse in matters spiritual that we think we have done enough if we can apprehend it when it is read whereas if we would meditate on it before hand we might make the better 〈◊〉 of it when it is read and be the better confirmed in what we hear preached The Jews had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the preparation to the sabbath and about the ninth houre of it which is our three of the clock in the after-noon they usually met and spent their time in reading of the scriptures that they might be the better fitted against the sabbath The publick reading of the word in the congregation on the sabbath day is warranted by diverse passages in holy writ as by that in the Acts of the Apostles where it is said that when Paul and his company came into the synagogue at Antioch on the sabbath day the rulers of the Synagogue after the 〈◊〉 of the Law and the Prophets sent to them saying ye men and brethren if ye have any word of exhortation say on And by another passage in the same Chapter where it is said that the Prophets were read every sabbath day And by another a little after which saith thus that Moses that is the law was read in the Synagogue every sabbath day And lastly Saint Paul gives a special charge by the Lord to the Thessalonians thathis Epistle to them be read unto all the holy brethren There is a vse also of private reading and that of great consequence for Christ saith plainly that his witnesses be the Scriptures and therefore will he have them searched because they testified and prophecied of him That this exercise is profitable the prophet maketh plain by a question Should not a people enquire at their God which he explains in the next verse by seeking To the law and to the Testimony And again Seek in the book of the Law and read And therefore we see that the Bereans were much commended and storied for wiser and nobler 〈◊〉 other people why because they searched the Scriptures daily to confirm their faith in the points preached to them There are other vses also in reading In the Revelation there is a blessing pronounced to those that read or heare the words of that prophecy because it might excite men to praise God when they see all fulfilled Man seeing the prophecies fulfilled may thereby give him praise And for this cause there were anciently Monuments kept in Churches which preserved and set forth the accomplishing of Gods promises or threatnings As the memorials of the warres of God on the behalf of the Israelites which was called liber bellorum Dei the book of the battels of the Lord and their verba 〈◊〉 or Chronicl es of Nathan Gad Shemaiah c. these they permitted in a holy use to be privately read that seeing his promises and his threatning denounced in them to have been fulfilled men might the better be stirred up to the praise and fear of God 2. Another use was the understanding of hard places in the Scripture It is recorded of Daniel that while hs was reading the book of 〈◊〉 about the accomplishment of the number of the 70 years captivity mentioned by the same prophet God sent an Angel to him to informe him in that great 〈◊〉 about the time of Christs sufferings So the Eunuch while he was reading in the book of Esay had the exposition of Christs sufferings from the Apostle Philip sent for that purpose by God and because God doth not now by such extraordinary means informe us in the true sence of Scriptures therefore we are to read such as have written 〈◊〉 upon such places and so no doubt but if Philip had written any thing at that time upon Esay that the Eunuch would have read it and made use of