Selected quad for the lemma: fire_n
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A17306
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A plea to an appeale trauersed dialogue wise. By H.B.
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Burton, Henry, 1578-1648.
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1626
(1626)
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STC 4153; ESTC S106969
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84,171
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122
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vnderstanding onely or to any one faculty of the soule though hee place it principally in the will in regard of those natiue and inseporable qualities of true sauing saith namely confidence and affiance in Gods promises So that I wonder how this Doctrine of that good Cardinall hath escaped the flames of their Purgatory Index But his owne life paid for it when he with his fellow Cardinall Fregosus being suspected too much to fauour the Doctrine of Luther were both quickly taken out of the way non sine veneni suspicione not without suspicion of poyson But those Diuines that liued in more ancient ages contented themselues with the most simple but most eâ—phaticall tearmes of the Scripture not troubling their heads with quirks and questions of this nature whether faith were in the vnderstanding or in the will c but with the Scripture they include altogether in the heart the seate and confluence of all the powers of the soule Bernard saith that first the sâ—â—ncere roote of holy faith is planted in the ground of mans heart and when faith is fully growne vp it becomes as a great tree hauing in it sundry sorts of apples wherewith the soule being full of God is refreshed St. August takes no more care but to place faith in the soule Vnder whence comes death in the soule because faith is not there whence in the body because the soule is not there therefore the soule of the soule is faith Againe Fides quae credit in Deum vita anima existit per hanc iustus viuit Faith which beleeueth in God is the life of the soule and by it the iust man liueth And speaking of the vnderstanding hee saith Intellectus merces est sides c. The vnderstanding is the reward of faith doe not then seeke to vnderstand that thou maist beleeue but beleeue that thou maist vnderstand And againe Intellectui fides viam aperit infidelitas claudit faith opens the way to the vnderstanding but infidelity shuts it And speaking of the will he saith Fides excitat ad exercitium voluntatem Faith stirreth vp the will to excercise And in a word Fides sic est in anima vt radix bona quae pluuiam in fructum ducit Faith is so in the 〈◊〉 as a good roote which peoduceth the raine into fruit I might adde many others but this may suffice Babylonius But Sir whereas you seeme to oppugne the Councell of Trent doth it not also acknowledge faith to be the roote of all other graces Doe the Church of Rome right I 〈◊〉 you Orthodoxus God forbid else The prouerbe is Giue the Diuel his due Indeede the Trent Councell confesseth that faith is the beginning of mans saluation the foundation and roote of all iustification But vnder this painted Sepulcher she buries the bones of true sauing faith which she hath slaine there to ly rotting as the Iewes did with Gods Prophets whom their Fathers had slaine and vpon the foundation they erect the Monument and Trophe of their Pageantfaith For vndertaking to glâ—sse vpon the Apostles wordes A man is iustified by faith and gratis freely she saith These wordes are to be vnderstood in that sense which the perpetuall consent of the Catholicke Church hath holden and expressed to wit that we are said therefore to be iustified by faith because it is the beginning of mans saluation the foundation and root of all iustification So that they attribute iustification to faith not simply for it selfe but relatiuely as it hath reference to the fruits whereof they say faith is the roote namely their inherent righteousnesse But the truth is this restrained yea constrained sense of theirs is most absurd and senslesse as hauing neither foundation nor roote of reason to support and maintaine it All is but wordes They neither meane nor will nor can maintaine it For how is faith a beginning of grace if grace be no necessary consequent of their faith For they confesse they may haue faith and want grace which is the Diuels case Or how is faith the roote of grace and iustification sith it is impossible for this roote to produce any fruite at all For how can a dead roote bring forth any liue-fruite And they confesse their faith to be a dead and dry roote of it selfe vntill the sap of charity be powred into it to actuate and quicken this otherwise dead roote So that by Babylons Doctrine the fruite must giue life to the roote not the roote to the fruite And yet forsooth faith must be the roote of iustification the foundation of mans saluation Surely the Prouerbe may here well be verified Dignum patella operculum like roote like iustification both dead like foundation like building both sandy yea meere aery and imaginary Babylonius But is not faith dead and vnformed vntill it be inliued and formed by charity Doth not St. Iames say that as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without workes is dead also Therefore the good workes of charity giue life vnto faith as the soule to the body Orthodoxus Doth charity giue life to faith How is then faith the roote your owne reason may teach you the contrary as wee haue showed But to that place of Saint Iames it is too commonly abused For marke first hee saith not As the body without the soule is dead but as the body without the spirit is dead The spirit is the breath by which the body is knowne to liue So that the body receiueth life from the soule but sheweth it by the spirit which it breatheth The spirit then is an effect and signe not a cause of the life of the body So charity and the workes therof are a fruite and effect breathing from sauing faith testifying that it is a liuing faith not causing it so to be for that were to turne the tree vpside downe as if the roote which is faith should receiue life sap and groweth from the branches And it is plaine by the whole analogy and tenure of the chapter that the Apostle speakes of good workes as they are demonstratiue signes and fruits of a liuing faith not as causes of it Againe he putteth a distinct difference betweene the true sauing faith which alwaies shewes it selfe to liue by the fruits of it for it is that faith euer working by loue and betweene a false counterfeit faith such as is dead and knowne to bee so by the not breathing out of good workes So that the true sauing iustifying faith is that which worketh by loue So the Apostle saith But how by loue as by the efficient mouing cause of the working of it or rather as the instrumentall cause moued by the hand of faith Loue is faiths instrument whereby it worketh Yea it is an inseparable quality of sauing faith whereby faith workes as the heat is the inseperable quality of the fire whereby the fire worketh This is the Doctrine also of the ancient Fathers They so make faith the roote as
this cloud is ouer it sends forth new rayes of grace It is the soule of the soule which euen in the middest of extream fainting of the soule yet remaines intire without diminution by the aqua caelestis of Gods neuer failing mercy actuates euery faculty of the soule afresh to the atchieuing of greater workes It is the ship of good hope which when couered with waues sets prayers to awaken Christ asleepe in it who by and by stilleth the storme or sends his Angel as to Paul to assure him that none in this little barke of ours shall perish but safely arriue vpon the hony hauen of Melita euen that true hony-flowing land of Canaan It is a fire which while raked vp vnder the dead ashes of deepe contrition though it seeme dead yeelding neither light nor warmth to our weake senses yet it is but fostered for a new fire that though heauinesse for sinne may indure for a night yet ioy of faith commeth in the morning feeding it selfe with the fewell of new works of obedience flaming forth in a holy conuersation The faithfull man as Dauid as Peter may be ouertaken with a dead sleepe of faith but awakened by grace his soule is inlightned that hee sleepes not in death but as the Sunne arising reioyceth as a gyant to runne his course with greater alacritie and vigor Thus wee see the fruite of sauing faith may be for a time suppressed yet the roote not supplanted the act of it may be suspended yet the habit not lost it may be ecclipsed to our sense yet his light not lessened or his course stayed it may bee in a dead sleepe yet liue faint yet not faile sicke yet not to death weather beaton yet not wracked languish yet not perish Babylonins But the famous Schollar Doctor Ouerall alledged by the Authour late Deane of Pauls and Bishop of Norwich held that a man might fall from grace into the very state of damnation and so remaine vnder Gods wrath till hee did recouer Yea that he auouched this to his late Maiestie and what concertations hee had with other Doctors in the Vniuersitie about it Orthodoxus If we take vp all the Appealer faith vpon trust without further examination wee shall recken before our host for hee playes the shuffler egregiously Nor will he I perceiue to saue his owne stake sticke to pawne the best credit of the most famous of our Church for the security of his most shamelesse slaunders of the truth And if we had not all the better euidence to conuince him he would carry it away hand smooth with downe right daring Pardon my zeale hearein I cannot but be moued when not only Godscause and glory then which nothing ought to be more precious vnto vs but also the credit of our learned and reuerend Fathers is so traduced But the summe of the Conference before the Kings Maiestie at Hampton Court now newly published in print will tell vs the plaine truth of the matter And that we may not with the Appealer falsifie the truth in dealing by halfes I will giue you the intire words of that worthy Deane and reuerend Bishop as they are set downe in the 42 page of that booke Namely that whosoeuer although before iustified did commit any greeuous sin as adultery murther treason or the like did become ipso facto subiect to Gods wrath and guiltie of damnation or were in state of damnation quoad praesentem statum vntill they repented adding hereunto that those which were called iustified according to the purpose of Gods election howsoeuer they might and did sometime fall into greiuous sinnes and thereby into the present state of wrath and damnation yet did neuer fall either totally from all the graces of God to be vtterly destitute of all the parts and sccde thereof nor finally from iustification but were in time renued by Gods Spirit vnto a liuely faith and repentance and so iustified from those sinnes and the wrath curse and guilt annexed thereunto whereinto they are fallen and wherein they lay so long as they were without true repentance for the same Doe we not see plainely here how hee distinguisheth betweene a common iustification in regard of the externall and ordinary meanes of the Word and Sacraments and the true and reall iustification according to Gods purpose yet in the first he maketh no mention of a totall falling away Or if the Appealer will contend that so much is implyed we will not contend for that for such as are not truely and really iustified according to Gods purpose but onely according to the externall vocation no maruaile if they both totally and finally fall away But for those that are iustified according to Gods purpose to wit the elect and praedestenate vnto life he saith expresly that though they may and doe fall into greiuous sinnes yet they neuer fall either totally or much lesse finally from the grace of God but are in time renewed by Gods Sririt vnto a liuely faith and repentance A golden speech which all the Apealers chimicall counterfeit Philosophers stone cannot so easily transmute into his base copper alcumy coyne how brauely and boldly soeuer he braze it on according to his rule Caluâ—niare audacter aliquid barâ—bit To conolude this point of perseuerance in true grace it stands firmely built vpon sure grounds and euident reasons set downe in the Scriptures such as no wit of man or deuill can ouerthrow For the purpose one reason of the elects perseuerance in grace vnto glory is taken from the nature of that holy feare which God puts in the hearts of all his faithfull ones as Ier. 32. 39 40. where the Lord saith I will giue them one heart and one way that they may feare me for euer c. And I will make an euerlasting couenant with them that I will not turne away from them to doe them good but I will put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from me So here is a double reason of the Saints perseuerance first on Gods part He will not turne away from them to doe them good and that by an eternall couenant And secondly they shall not depart from him Vpon which words Saint Augustine saith Quod quid est aliud quam talis actantus erit timor meus quem dabo in cor coruÌ„ vt mihi perseueranter adhareant which what is it else but that my feare which I will put in their hearts shall bee such and so great that they shall perseueringly cleaue vnto me A second reason is alledged Ioh. 13. 1. drawne from the immutabilitie and eternity of Christs loue to his elect saying Hauing loued his owne which were in the world he loued them vnto the end * And as the Apostle saith The gifts and calling of God are without repentance A third reason of the Saints perseuerance is taken from the power of Christ and of the Father Ioh. 10. 28. where Christ saith I giue vnto