Justice expected satisfaction by repelling them from thence and yet for that sin many thousands have and shall be damned and for the sins of the world we know Gods Justice was so urgent for satisfaction that he drowned the whole world except those in the Ark he satisfied his Justice also many times in the punishing of the Israelites in the desert and for the sins of Corah Dathan and Abiram we all know what satisfaction God gave to his Justice Num. 16. v. 31.32 when he caused the earth to open and swallow them up alive Now is it not strange to think how little reason we have to flatter our selves as we do and think we shall get to heaven in a dream without any satisfaction on our part at all If we did but truly consider our own state we should not have so good an opinion of our selves as to think God should punish so many to satisfie his Justice and we should scape scot-free Nay those whom he dearly loved as Moses in depriving him of entrance into the land of Promise 2 Sam. 12. ver 10. But more to our purpose is that of holy David where for his sin with Bathsaba God told him the Sword should never depart from his house Now here Davids sin was pardoned as to the eternal punishment but yet Gods justice requiring from him this temporal satisfaction as the sword cleaving to his house and the death of of his Childe Ver. 14. A plainer place cannot be to prove what is here treated of and I hope it is good Scripture But to let you see further that you may be totally undeceived conform to this place is another concerning the same man where for his sin in numbring the people 2 Sam. 24. ver 14.15 16 c. though God told him by the Prophet Gad he had pardoned him his sin yet he to satisfie his Justice caused his Angel to destroy seventy thousand of them which to Davids heart was a hot Purgatory or temporal punishment Thus you see many times God hath been pleased to be so favourable to some of his dearest friends to purge them here by the fire of tribulations as Adam Moses and David with many others which might be shown but this to reasonable men will suffice since it is so plain by the holy word of God And now it will concern me to shew you by the fame word that there is a temporal punishment or Purgatory after death I will onely give you this reason for it before I quote my Text which is that since there be many servants of God which dye unpunished here in this life for their sins committed and so have not satisfied Gods Justice must of necessity do it by being purified before they can go to heaven for the Scripture saith plainly that no unclean thing can enter in there and if so we may easily judge how unclean thousands are which dye Christians and in communion with Gods Church but yet not jump just to heaven but are purged by fire And to satisfie you in this you must observe what Saint Paul saith in his Epistle to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 3. v. 12.13 where first he tells us the different sorts of works by the similitudes of Gold Silver precious Stones Wood Hay Stubble and then how this fire shall try them for saith he Every mans works shall be made manifest and the day of our Lord shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is Again saith he Ver. 15. If any mans work shall be burnt he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire by which it is plain that we must pass through this fiery tryal before we get to heaven either by great crosses here in this life or else in the purging place of the life to come It would be worth our time did we but seriously consider how that many persons which have been the dearly beloved friends of Christ have had in this life the greatest share of temporal punishment as his ever Blessed Mother though I will not say for her sins the twelve Apostles and many thousands of Martyrs which have satisfied Gods Justice with the loss of their blood and yet we now adayes hug our selves in a sottish security and think we shall be conveyed to heaven in Beds of Roses as if God were so partial to mankinde to punish those that were good and holy and spare us that have much more deserved it But now again to the Scripture to let you see what our Saviour saith concerning paying our debts to God and remission of sins in the next life as in Saint Matthew he saith Mat. 5. v. 27. We should be at agreement with our adversary lest he deliver us over to the Judge and the Judge throw us into prison from whence we shall not get out till we have paid the utmost farthing Now in respect of our sins God is our adversary and if we agree not with him here that is to satisfie his justice by Alms-deeds tears and suffering in this life he will throw us into the prison of Purgatory till we have satisfied the debt there Again saith our Saviour Mat. 12. v. 32. Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost shall never be pardoned in this life nor in the world to come by which it is plain that as Gods justice is satisfied here by the pardon of sins so there is sins to be pardoned in the life to come which must be in Purgatory for out of Hell is no redemption nor no expectation of pardon of sins Did there not want a right understanding in the hearts of men concerning Scripture there could not be so much errour and blindeness in the reading of it as there is for all those places which plainly show Christian Religion and the Catholique Faith are past by and no more minded then if they had no relation to Gods word at all If most Protestants that happens to read this book should but examine their own consciences they could not but confess that most places here cited to prove our faith was so little taken notice of that they knew not whether they were in the Bible or no And now after all these Texts here mentioned out of holy Writ to prove this point if any Protestant will or can shew me but one place in all the Bible that any one went or was conveyed to Heaven as soon as they dyed I do assure them I will as once I was be of their Faith but if they cannot then are they obliged in conscience to believe what is said or be guilty of Infidelity to God and his Holy Word and to the intent that I may plainly discover the errour of those that believe there is nor before Christs coming was any other places then Heaven and Hell after death it is my purpose therefore in the next Chapter to prove that there is a
third place wherein the Fathers of the New Testament were which could not obtain Heaven till Christ had shed his Blood for them according to that of Saint Paul speaking of the Faith of those holy men yet he saith Heb. 11. v. 39.40 All these having obtained a good report by faith received not the promise which was Heaven God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect But the common objection and deceit against this which takes so much is that Christ hath satisfied Gods Justice for our sins what need we do any thing at all and this is the usuall juggle of those that teach against this point of satisfaction but we are to consider how far Christs satisfaction extends to us that is he dyed for the pardon of our original sins and not for our actual transgressions though they be the easier pardoned by the merits of his Death too for if all our actual sins were pardoned and satisfied for by the Death of Christ why then all Heathens and Turks and Whoremongers and Murderers and Blasphemers should be saved which Saint Paul saith Shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven so that this is but a trick of our Adversaries making the people believe that they attribute all to Christ when indeed if justly considered they load his shoulders with their actual sins that hath suffered enough already for our original ones and so they would fain free themselves from all kinde of sufferings here and hereafter when our Saviour saith We cannot enter into life eternal without much tribulation but as I said God is merciful to save so he is just to punish and it is not good for us to presume too much upon hhis mercy lest we fall into a provocation of his Justice and so perish everlastingly And since it is so plain both by holy Scripture and Reason that there is a purging place or temporal punishments in the life to come proportionable to every ones sins let every man consider what obligation he hath first to believe it to be so secondly to live so holily in this life that God may be pleased to spare us by extenuating our sufferings in those purifying flames agreeable to that of B. St. Bernard Serm. 6. tribulat in fine Oh would to God some man would now before-hand provide for my head abundance of water and to mine eyes a fountain of tears for so haply the burning fire should take no hold where running tears had cleansed before Chap. 4. Proving that none of the Holy Fathers of the Old Law enjoyed Heaven till Christ came and that there was a distinct place where they waited for their Redemption by his coming REason doth tell us and experience will justifie the same that all the glorious and splendid things of this world are obtained with much difficulty and travel so that scarce the tythepart of men have the fruition of them and is it not to be lamented that we have so poor and beggerly apprehensions of heavenly glory as to think it requires no difficulty no patience nor no suffering to obtain that Kingdom the contrary will plainly appear when I shall prove by Scripture that no soul from Adam till Christ dyed enjoyed heavenly Glory but suffered with long patience and expectation till they were redeemed by the precious Blood of our Saviour and so freed from their long captivity conformable to Saint Paul who writing of our Saviour Christ Ephes 4. v. 8.9 saith When he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men And again Now that he ascended what is it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth Now I would from these words have every Protestant consider these two things First to what place Christ descended after his Death and secondly who they were that he led with him captive at his ascension from that place It is clear to all Christians that Christ did not descend to the Hell of the damned to release them from any captivity for as I said before there is no redemption for them what other thing can be concluded but that he went to release them which could not be saved till then for is it not madness to think that any people went to Heaven before Christ had redeemed them with his precious blood next you shall see what St. Peter saith concerning this point 1 Pet. 3. Ver. 18. Ver. 19. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit by which also he went and preacht unto the spirits in prison Now what can be desired more plain then this showing so plainly that when Christs flesh lay dead his spirit preacht to those that were long in expecting of him in a prison to them that sighed so long for his coming the same did the Prophet Zachariah foretel where speaking to Sion Behold Zach. 9. ver 9. saith he thy King cometh he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an Ass and upon a Colt the foal of an Ass here he speaks of Christs coming and in the other verse Ver. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy Covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein was no water Now what pit can this be imagined to be but this place where these holy men were in which he prophesies that Christ at his coming to Sion would deliver them out and if we consider this point as we ought to do we shall finde it to be an Article of our Creed Article 4. of our Creed which saith He descended into Hell the third day he rose again Now some object by this Hell is meant the grave but how absurdly let every one judge that considers how ridiculous it is to think Christs soul should remain in the Grave his Body we grant did so but his glorious Spirit went to perform what before had been said of him according to his own most blessed words when he said That as Jonas was three dayes and three nights in the belly of the whale so shall the Son of man be three dayes and three nights in the heart of the earth so his body as I said was in the Grave and his Soul in the other place which is commonly called Hell because it is believed to be under the earth as the Hell of the damned is Now this place may suffice to any reasonable Christian yet I shall propose one or two things more to your considerations as first concerning Lazarus John 11. v. 42 43. who was dead and buried four dayes and was raised to life by our Saviour I hope none will say he was in Hell with the damned and had he been in Heaven you may be sure his Sisters had a better sense of that Glory then to wish him upon earth again and if he had been
great Sacrament and no more question the works of God but conclude with that holy man Thomas de Kempes That if the wonderful works of God were to be understood by our reason they could not be said to be wonderful and unspeakable Thus have I shewed the truth of this Sacrament by the Protestants own Bible which though it work not my desired effects in the belief of it yet I hope it will reduce them to a more charitable opinion of us who think our selves bound to believe it because it is inserted in Holy Scripture according to that of our Saviour Search the Scriptures for therein you shall finde eternal life Chap. 2. Proving Sacramental Confession both by Holy Scripture and Reason against the Opinion of Protestants HAd we the prudence of our Predecessors in submitting our Judgements to Gods Church both as concerning this verity and all others we should not have so much peevish wrangling continually as we have in points of Faith but contrariwise we should joyn hand in hand in one uniform Doctrine of Christian Religion but being far from that happiness in this age we are possest with quite contrary for every one will be his own Judge and pass sentence though it be against Scripture and Reasont too and this will plainly appear when we consider that Confession hath been the practice of all Ages since Christ to this day I shall not need to produce the Authority of every Age which might easily be done it being out of my design because it is so plainly commanded in Holy Writ which ought not by any that professeth himself a Christian to be denied and if not so of necessity to be put in practice The first place I shall prove it from is out of the Gospel of Saint Matthew who speaking of Saint Johns Baptism Mat. 3. v. 5.6 saith They came from Jerusalem and Judea and were Baptized of him confessing their Sins Now to evade this Text the Protestants say That the people confessed themselves in general to be sinners But how poor this shift is let every one judge that hath a minde to know the truth for St. John knew and we all know that every man in general is a sinner without their saying so but the Text saith They confessed their sins which plainly argueth every ones particular sins Again you shall see what another Evangelist saith to the same purpose Mark 1. v. 5. And there went out to him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan confessing their sins It may justly bring an asTonishment on the souls of true Christians to consider that those people which say they will believe nothing but the Bible yet when they come to the touchstone of it will believe never a word more then what their own fancies please But now as I have shown you how this was practised amongst the Jews in our Saviours time so now you shall be shown how Christs Apostle from him doth command the same Saint James saith James 5. v. 16. Confess your sins one to another and in all reason and duty since it is thus commanded we are bound under the penalty of damnation to do all the commands of the New Testament at least to believe them to be lawful Many examples of this practice have we in the Old Testament commanded by God himself as in Numbers he saith Numb 5. v. 6.7 That if any man or woman had committed any sins that then they shall confess their sin and he shall recompence his trespass committed So David used Confession to Nathan the Prophet 2 Sam. 12. v. 13. and if there were no Scripture at all Reason might tell us that it is a Divine Institution First in regard of the goodness that is in it self for we finde nothing more repugnant to our corrupt natures then to confess our sins to a Priest from which we may gather that the more it is against our frail natures the more it hath conformity to Gods will in regard by sad experience we all finde how difficult it is for us to comply with Gods will in those things that concerns our salvation Secondly The thought of confessing our sins to a Priest oftentimes hinders our design in committing sins Thirdly by confessing our sins to a Priest to whom God hath given our souls in charge Heb. 13. v. 17. and must give an account for them he knows what sins we are infected with and knows the better what Doctrine to preach to us for the remedy of our spiritual distempers And can any reasonable man think that if it were not a Divine Law that so many Emperours and Kings and Princes as are and have been would stoop on their knees to a poor Priest in a gray course Gown to make their Confession No we may well imagine they would not being men that commonly follow the dictates of their own will did not their consciences tell them it was from God and not of mans invention Now by this you may plainly see what reason the Catholick Church hath to propose Confession to her Children and likewise what madness 't is for Protestants and others to impugne so naked a Truth and so good a principle of Faith as Confession is My advice therefore is to all that enjoy not this benefit That they would beseech the giver of all goodness to unite them in communion with his holy Catholick Church and make them obedient Members thereof if they expect salvation from his hands according to that of Saint Augustine That he that will not acknowledge the Church for his Mother cannot lawfully call God his Father and that out of the Catholic Church there is no salvation Chap. 3. Proving Purgatory or a temporal satisfaction to Gods Justice for our sins committed here against the Belief of Protestants DId we not by the irregular passions of our mindes throw down Reason the Queen of our souls and set up an Idol in her place called Opinion we should with much facility imbrace this verity so long practised by Gods Church though it were for no other reason but because it is practised there but since nothing but Scripture will serve the turns of many in the world I shall plainly set it forth by that rule that they may have no excuse to deceive themselves But first it is necessary to let you know that as God hath these two Attributes to wit Mercy and Justice so he is to have them both satisfied As to the first he satisfies himself in pouring down his Spiritual and Temporal Blessings into our Souls and Bodies for the good of both And the second must be satisfied either in our doing or suffering according as our sins deserve Agreeable to this truth is that satisfaction which God hath required in Scripture so often for example Gen. 3. that of our first Parents for so soon as they had abused the mercy of God which placed them there presently his
Now God having done his part in inspiring of us he leaves us then to our free-wills to do it or not to do it as Saint Paul saith concerning his chastity I could wish that all men were as I am but if men had not free-wills to be so it were in vain for him to wish any such thing Of all the evil opinions that are held by men there is none so sensless and unreasonable as this for I would demand of them that deny it wherefore they go to hear Sermons if they have not a free-will to do what is there urged to them by the Preacher and wherefore they read the Bible if they have not a will to do what is there commanded for it is not the bare reading of it will save their souls why do they chide and beat their Children and Servants for not going to Church and serving God if they have not a free-will to do it why have they persecuted Catholicks for not coming to their Churches if they had not a free-will to do so and to what purpose should God give us his Laws to keep and threaten us with damnation if we keep them not if we had no free-will to keep them and no man would think it otherwise then unreasonable if a King should command him to do a thing and threaten him with death if he did it not and he had no will nor power to do it But I would have those men know that God is too merciful in his nature then everlastingly to punish us for that which lyes not in our power to do and that at this rate they would make God a Tyrant over us that is so infinitely good to our souls and bodies And lastly why are men punished and hanged and quartered by the Law of Justice for their evil deeds if they had not had a free-will to have done otherwise all these punishments would be unreasonably inflicted and no man deserves any punishment for the worst of crimes if he had no free-will to do that which is good and the greatest sinner in the world might at the Day of Judgement demand of God what reason he hath to damn him for doing ill if he never had enjoyed a free will to have done good And now having as I think fully proved this verity I shall proceed to another subject as plainly declared in Scripture as this and so conclude with this truth that certainly God would never have commanded us to walk in conformity to his will if we have not free-will to perform it Chap. 10. Proving that good Works done in the state of Grace are Meritorious contrary to Protestants Opinion WEre the mindes of men to be searched into and known one by the other it would plainly appear that the tongues of many speak far contrary then what nature hath imprinted upon their hearts and that for some interest or other they give their consciences the lye rather then they will yield from their obstinate opinions for to contradict the merit or desert of good works plainly showes they speak against that which they would not be deprived of themselves so plainly is it agreeable to our natures to expect it and in Scripture often promised to us as shall be made appear And first from our Saviour himself in Saint Matthews Gospel where showing to us how we should deal our almes in secret Matth 6. v. 4. And thy Father saith he which seeth thee in secret himself shall reward thee openly so here is a promise of our Saviour that almes done in secret shall be rewarded if we dare to take his word for it by which it is plain that they merit that reward from God yet not as they barely proceed from us neither for it is Gods godness to inspire the doing of them in us and his gift too in making them meritorious and in the want of this distinction lies the subtilty of Satan and our adverries who make poor souls believe that Papists as they call them trust to their merits so far as not having any need of Christs Merits think to be saved barely by their own but when such untruths as these are be-preachâ— to the people from pulpits as my own knowledge can verifie and many thousands more it is no wonder the common people have prejudicate Opinions against Catholicks But to undeceive them again I will set down the general Decree of Gods Church concerning this point Coun. Trent God forbid that any Christian should hope in trust in his own Merits but in the Merits of Jesus Christ whose goodness is so great to mankinde that those things that are his Benefits he will have to be our Merits by which it is apparent that we do not nor ought not to attribute any merit as they proceed from us barely but as being the gifts of God which is pleased to accept of good works from us and out of his goodness reward them as he hath promised he will But now to Scripture and see what we can gather more from thence where in Saint Matthew our Saviour showing how hard it was for a rich man to enter into heaven because he could not leave the things of this world Matth. 19. v. 27.28 Saint Peter cryes out Behold we have forsaken all and when shall we have so that it is evident he expected a reward from our Saviour and in the next verse he tells them what their reward should be That when the Son of man comes to sit in his glory they should sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel and as this shows the bounty of Christ in rewarding them so highly so it shows likewise that their good works in following of Christ and suffering for him had served it so far as was possible in men to do Again we read of St. Mary Magdalen pouring a box of Oyntment on our Blessed Saviours head which being murmured at by his Disciples he said unto them Matth. 26 v. 7 10. Why trouble ye the woman she hath wrought a good work upon me and then he declares her reward which was that so far as the Gospel was to be preached Ver. 13. should her fame be spread conformable to this our Saviour in Saint Marks Gospel saith to his Disciples Mark 9. v. 41. that whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name because ye belong to Christ Verily I say unto you he shall not lose his reward Now what can be more true then this when our Saviour himself so often doth promise rewards for good works done in his name and for his sake and let every Christian consider whether they are not bound to believe him before those that tell them the contrary who plainly contradict Christ and his holy Gospel and yet forsooth these men make you believe their zeal is so hot to Christ that they will give all to him to make you believe they deny themselves but these are such who as our Saviour saith are