counsell and acquaintance as men doo some speciall and approoued friends Thus wee reade that Enoch walked with GOD that Moses did ordinarely talke and conferre with him face to face as one friende doth with an other thus he did as it were in sporte familiarly wrastle with Iacob and continually both accompany and assist him thus he was to Dauid as a Counseller to direct him in all his affaires and thus hee tooke Paul vppe to heauen and shewed him things not to be vttered But of all other most notable in this respect was Abraham called often in Scripture by the name or rather by the most honourable and glorious title of Gods friend as 2 Chro. 20. 7. Es 41. 8. Iames 2. 23. And in trueth so might hee well bee called for God did both make and keepe with him very solemnely all the lawes of true friendship For first hee made a couenant of perpetualloue with him and with his seed for euer calling Abraham Gods friend and himselfe Abrahams God Secondly hee did bestowe vpon him all his blessings both temporall and spirituall yea the greatest honour that could bee namely to bee as it were the foundation of his Church and chosen people and the first of the progenitours of Christ And lastly hee did impart to him his purposes and counsels in all things that did any way concerne him or might make for his good Yea wee reade that God was so carefull in the performance of this dutie for so it pleaseth God to binde himselfe in duties to men of friendshippe that beeing about to destroy those wicked Citties of Sodome and Gomorra he thought it needfull to impart the matter to his friend Abraham yea to haue his assent for the doing of it Thus it pleaseth God of his mercie and goodnesse to exalt wretched men to this highest degree of honour which indeed is so high as that the Angels in heauen do seldome attaine vnto it So that in this respect and in many other heretofore mentioned wee may well burst forth with the Prophet Psal 8. 5. And say what is man that thou that art the great God of heauen and earth shuldest remember him or the sonne of man that thou shouldest thus visit him Sect. 5. Gent. I Am thinking with my selfe what facultie there is in the soule of man not yet mentioned for if there bee any I doubt not considering the great likenesse betwixt the soule of man the nature of God in those faculties common to them both which you haue already handled but that it is ether truly belonging to God or at the least will giue occasion to consider something in his nature You know that men conceiue things by imagination and retaine them by memory are these faculties in God likewise conscience in man is a distinct facultie or rather an act of the mind and there are in him diuers affections as ioy and greefe and diuers vertues not as yet mentioned what are we to thinke of these things Sch. I hope you do not looke to heare at this time whatsoeuer might be said of the nature of God you are not now so desirous but if that were taken in hand you would bee as wearie of hearing ere it were halfe done if the cheefe matters be declared they will giue sufficient light whereby the rest may be perceiued and so by those which haue beene handled you may easely vnderstand the nature of the rest of those good affections and vertuous dispositions which are in scripture attributed to God So for the essentiall faculties of the soule you say very truly that they are most like to the diuine nature and euen a plaine and expresse Image of it yet this difference must be noted that whatsoeuer thing is in them that argueth weakenesse or suture possibilitie that hath not truly place in the diuine nature which is a perfect and complete act As in these particulars which you haue named imagination is but a possibilitie or meanes of knowledge but the knowledge of God hath beene said to bee eternall and actuall It is hard I confesse and euen impossible for vs to see or imagine how all the particulars in the world should exist actually in any vnderstanding from all eternitie but wee must not measure the infinitnesse of Gods vnderstanding by our shallow braines But as touching the question which you mooue of imagination and the meanes and manner of knowledge in God how the ideae or notions of things enter into his mind or rather how they exist eternally in it without any entering in or beginning first it must bee helde that although they exist eternally in GOD yet they are not essentiall to him that is so naturall and necessary as that without them he could nor exist as is the knowledge of himselfe and the idea of his owne nature yea all the rest of Gods essentiall attributes of all which if wee should detract but one from God wee shuld quite destroy and ouerthrow his whole nature and essence But the knowledge of the creatures is not of that kinde for God beeing in himselfe absolute and all sufficient might haue if it hadde so seemed good vnto him existed without euer eyther making or knowing any creature and therefore the knowledge of them in God must be thought to arise not from the absolute necessitie of his nature but from the free libertie of his will moouing yet eternally his vnderstanding to this actuall knowledge of the creatures Yea that as the knowledge oridea of his own nature is according to y â— order of nature not any difference of time first in the essentiall vnderstanding of God and then in his will so the knowledge or idea of the creatures hath his beginning not in the vnderstanding but in the will of God This difference we haue and see more plainely in our selues for as we haue some general notions engrauen in our mindes by nature it selfe and so in a maner both bred and borne with vs without any helpe of our wils so the knowledge of other things hath the beginning in the will disposing and inclining the minde to this or that knowledge as it seemeth best vnto it Secondly as touching this in a manner accidentall knowledge of God it must bee held that God hath it of himselfe and not by the means or from the creatures as we haue that by sence and imagination get the resemblances of things into our mindes the which way of knowledge if it were admitted to bee in God it would follow that his knowledge of the creature doth not go before but followeth after it and so is not the cause but rather an effect of it and not eternall but temporall whereas wee holde that the will and eternall foreknowledge of God are the cause of all things Gent. I haue heard it said that the diuine nature is as it were a Glasse wherein al things that do at any time exist in the world may be seene and knowne and that by the Saints and Angels in
ground of our saluation which relyeth it selfe vpon the mere loue of God not procured by any desert or any occasion whatsoeuer on our owne behalfe Sch. If you thinke that our Sauiour Christ meaneth that wee should beare as great loue to strāgers to our enemies as to our friends you are farre deceiued for so he should destroy nature it selfe which hath with her owne fingerwritten in our hearts this description of loue which I haue brought to wit that our loue shuld be greater towards them at whose hands we haue receiued pleasure and comfort then to them who are strangers or enemies vnto vs. But his meaning is that to our enemies wee should not bee full of anger and reuenge but patient gentle yea louing and helpful labouring by good to ouercome their ill and that by doing good to straungers from whom or from any in their name we are neuer like to receiue any retribution we should shewe the faith and loue which we beare vnto God in obedience of whose commaundement we do that which of it selfe is hurtfull vnto vs. But that a man should loue a malitious enemie as earnestly as a louing and faithfull friend a strange and vnknowne woman as well as his owne wife other mens children as well as his owne it is not onely not commendable but euen monstrous and contrary both to the light of nature to the law of God For so we should be vniust and iniurious to our owne friends to whom our loue and the duties of it do belong in bestowing it vpon others and in suffering them to to reape the croppe where they did not sowe any seed yea then Christians should endeuour to procure to themselues the good will of their brethren not by duties of loue but by iniuries then the which what can bee said or supposed more absurd Now as touching the loue of God towards vs the which you affirme to come of the free motion of his will not proucked caused or occasioned by any good or pleasure which he getteth by vs I confesse that GOD electeth to saluation without any motiue of goodnesse foreseene in vs euen of hi◠mere will and good pleasure and that it were mere madnesse to imagine that there is any thing in vs or in any creature by the which we might eyther pleasure or profit God yet I answere you first that we are to distinguish betwixt the election and the loue of God for God chuseth and predestinanateth to loue of his owne mere will but hee loueth not but for some cause For as his loue is in the generall notion inclined to good not to euill so he loueth nothing but that which is good yea and hee loueth it because it is good and for the goodnesse sake If you say what is our goodnesse to God that he should loue vs for it what doth it profit or pleasure him indeed he standeth in no need of it yet he taketh pleasure in it the Lord delighteth in the righteousnesse of his Saints their sins are as eyesores vnpleasant sights vnto him For why God delighteth in himselfe and euery thing in that which is like it selfe he taketh pleasure to behold his own Image in vs euen as the greatest ioy pleasure that a mā can haue in any worldly thing is to behold his owne fauour and fashions his owne countenance and conditions in his son And therefore the more that a man in holinesse resembleth god the more he is beloued of him as being so much liker to him as it is said of Dauid that he was a man according to the heart of God Gent. This doctrine soundeth very harsh to me and so I think it wold do to others if they should heare it as that which giueth a great blowe to Gods free election I am sure you haue read that Christ loued vs being his enemies Rom. 5. and that you do not doubt but that God loued the Apostle Paule euen in his infidelitie and when he in great furie did persecute the Church Sch. It may bee that it would seeme strange to them that haue not considered of it but the doctrine is as I thinke good and sound that God neither hateth any but for sin neither loueth any but as they are holy Yet our foreseen holines is not the cause why God doth elect vs to saluation for first he electeth vs to loue to life then afterward by sanctifying vs he maketh vs capable of his loue and of eternal life The proper obiect of Gods loue is the holinesse of the reasonable creature vnto the which as being agreeable to his owne nature God doth encline himself by dooing good vnto it as hee receiueth a kind of contentation in it and from it As for the estate of the elect before they bee called and sanctified we know that whom God loueth once he loueth alwaies and Paul euen in the heate of his furie against Christ was beloued of God as one whom hee had chosen and predestinate to beare at the appointed time his owne Image of holinesse and so the foresight of holinesse in him may be said to be the the cause of Gods loue though not of his election For God may chuse to loue whom he list but hee cannot loue but according to his owne nature neither any thing but that which is in some sort agreeable to his nature for he cannot loue or like but must of necessitie hate and abhorre euill as well in concreto as in abstracto in parricular subiects as well as in generall notions that so hee may be alwaies like himselfe Sect. 3. Gent. I Will not contend with you about it at this time because I will not hinder you from other matters now that you haue laid the foundation of the description of Gods loue I pray you go on with the rest of the building Sch. We will and first we may out of that that hath bene said to this purpose define the loue of God to be the motion or rather the act of his will enclining it selfe by dooing good to good preuailing in the reasonable creature In this discription wee are to obserue these three things first that the loue of God belongeth onely to the reasonable creature secondly that the motiue or inducement stirring vp in God this loue is goodnesse preuailing in the creature and lastly that the manner or rather a proper and necessary effect of this loue or inclination of God to the creature is by dooing good vnto it The first point being plain inough of it selfe needeth no further explanation for although all the creatures in theyr seuerall kindes and degrees haue in them a speciall goodnesse in respect whereof God may bee said to loue and fauour them as we read Gen. 1. 31. that God hauing finished all the creatures looked vpon them and seeing them all to be good blessed them and still to extend his gracious prouidence ouer them al preseruing and vpholding them not onely by the ordinarie force of
and of maintaining his iust honour against al vniust vsurpers whatsoeuer Thus the scripture teacheth vs that God is not onely carefull but euen curious as wee may say and as it selfe saith iealous of his honour the which he cannot abide that it shuld bee any touched or impared as hee doth openly professe of himselfe Es 48. 11. My glory I will not giue to any other Neither indeed will he suffer any to take it or any portion of it but doth straightway confound them all with all their deuices whosoeuer do any way obscure it much more such as haue most impiously yet more foolishly sought to vsurpe or participate it Thus were the aspyring spiriâ—s throwne from heauen into the place and pit of darkenesse to the which man also treading in the same steps of sacrilegious pride was sent out of paradise to beare them coÌ„pany Thus were the vaineglorious builders of the Tower of Babel confounded in al their deuises and thus the Lord slewe 50000. of the presumptuous Bethsemites who by looking into the Aâ—ke brought the name and presence of God into contempt Thus he made proude Nabuchadnesar who thought that hee might with the maiestie of his person and Pallace outface the sunne in heauen yea God himself whose glory filleth both heauen earth to become as a silly and miserable beast and thus he confounded Herode by a filthy disease that tooke to himselfe the glorious tytle of God which the flattering people ascribed vnto him Neither need we maruell that God is so carefull in maintaining his honour and glory it being the last and chiefe end of the creation of all things all which tend to this one end and euen bend their whole forces to maintaine vphold the glory of God as of the highest and greatest good euen as we see loyall subiects to endeauor nothing so much as to maintaine the maiestie and honor of their Prince as we read Rom. 11. 36. Of him by him and for him are all things to him be praise for euer For if God should suffer any false or fained God any man or Angell to vsurpe any royall prerogatiue belonging to the godhead and so himselfe to be disgraced and his maiestie diminished the confusion of all things as of the streames the fountaine being troubled must of necessitie follow And yet god is not so desirous of aduancing his name and glory but that he can on the other side debase himselfe when hee thinketh meete as beeing endued with humilitie in as great or rather in greater measure Gent. me thinks that humilitie doth not well agree with the nature of God and that there is small vse of humiliation in his doings Sch. As God doth aduance others beeing humble so he doth by his humilitie not debase but honour and magnifie himselfe for as wee see it to come to passe in Princes and other great personages that nothing doth make them to bee loued honoured and extolled so much as doth their gentle and familiar behauiour with their subiects and inferiours so God is exalted in his humilitie and made most glorious in it Psal 113. The Lord is aboue all Nations and his glory aboue the heauens who is like vnto our God that hauing his habitation in the highest heauen doth debase himselfe to behold things on earth Yea not onely to behold them a farre off but also to haue a hand and a part in them Princes do not vse to conuerse much with their subiects but that any of them should so farre debase himselfe as to take vpon him the condition of a subiect and to suffer his owne subiects to rule and insult ouer him yea to vse him despightefully and contumeliously that is a thing neuer heard of neither supposed to be possible to be brought to passe but that they wold rather loose both their kingdomes and their liues then suffer such a disgrace especially at the hands of their subiects But God the King of Kings did leaue his Throne of maiestie in heauen and made one litle Caue or hole of the earth all which before was but his footestoole his chayre of estate yea he tooke to himselfe the forme of weake and fraile man not of a Lord or King but of a base seruant yea of a vile and loathsome sinner hee suffered himselfe to be taunted and reuiled yea which is the greatest disgrace in the world to bee spit on as a most vile and filthy thing who can imagine must lesse alleadge an example of so great humilitie yet herein God is most glorious This one instance of his extreame humiliation maketh it needlesse to alleadge his familiar conuersing with men heere one earth his familiar conferring with Moses face to face as one friend doth with another his answering them to all their demaunds as it were comming at their call whereof wee haue many examples in the scripture as namely in Abraham pleading so hard for Sodome and in the story of Dauid 1. Sam. 29. 8 who there asketh one question after an other of God about his worldly affaires as if he had bene aduising with some familiar friend but that one example of his vnspeakeable humilitie shewed in his incarnation and in suffering all the miseries of our life and in the ende that most shamefull death is so notable that it can neuer bee sufficiently admired Sect. 2. THese two onely which haue bene declared of all those vertues which concerne our selues are attributed to god but of those which tend and reach to others many may very fitly and truly be ascribed vnto him to shew the manner of his dealing with men as namely iustice in recompeÌ„cing indulgence in forbearing faithfulnesse in performing promises and goodnesse in dooing good to men For the first namely iustice it doth belong vnto God in respect of that soueraigne authoritie which he hath ouer al the creatures in the world as well Princes as subiects as well men as Angels hee beeing by vertue of the creation wherein hee made them all of nought their most naturall King and the onely absolute Monarch of the world all other Kings and Rulers whatsoeuer being but his substitutes and vicegerents holding their Crownes and Kingdomes of him as uassalles of their liege Lord and maister and ruling by him from him and in his name and steed yea and by his lawes For howsoeuer God haue permitted the ordering of their subiects in great part to their will and discretion yet he hath giuen and published to the whole world his owne supreme and vniuersall lawes to the obseruing whereof all without any exception are bound by his commaundement and the violating whereof he doth most seuerely punish But as no state or Common-wealth can stand by penal lawes onely which restraine vice by threatnings and punish offences committed by due paines because it is needefull that there should also be rewards appointed whereby the vertuous endeauours of good subiects may be recompenced and encouraged in the right disposing and distributing whereof iustice hath place as well