answerable vnto the soule is Christ the Mediator who therefore in six hundred places of Scripture is said to be our life And himselfe saith of himselfe I am the resurrection and the life and againe I am the way the truth and the life Secondly as the Soule so hath Christ also life in himselfe As the Father saith he hath life in himselfe so hath he giuen vnto the Sonne also to haue life in himselfe and S. Paul saith that the Spirit of life is in the Sonne And S. Iohn This life is in his Sonne And againe This life was in him and the life was the light of men Thirdly as the soule hath not only life in it but also a quickning power so hath Christ also So S. Iohn As the Father so the Sonne quickneth whomsoeuer he will And S. Paul The first Adam was made a living soule and the second Adam was made a quickning spirit Fourthly as the soule vntill it be personally vnited quickneth not so neither doth Christ vntill he be mystically vnited Of this Vnion I cannot now speake I shall hereafter when I come to those words That they may be one as we are one I in them and thou in me In the meane season thus S. Paul I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in me that is I liue by Christ vnited vnto me And S. Iohn He that hath the Son that is he that is vnited vnto him hath life but he that hath not the Sonne that is is not vnited vnto him hath not life Fiftly as the Vnion of soule and body makes and constitutes Man so vpon our Vnion with Christ are we made new men Christian men spirituall men yea as is aboue proued very Christ. So speaketh S. Paul in the place alleadged and elsewhere yee are of God in Christ Iesus that is by being in Christ yee haue receiued of God a new essence or being Sixtly as from the naturall being of man comes naturall life so from the spirituall issues spirituall life Because I liue saith our Saviour yee to wit who receiue of my spirit and so are spirituall men yee I say shall liue Seventhly and lastly as from humane life proceed humane operations so from the spirituall proceed spirituall actions This hath beene already shewed wherevnto I now only adde that of S. Paul If Christ be in you the body indeed is dead vnto sinne but the spirit is life vnto righteousnesse And thus you see how and after what manner spirituall life is conveyed vnto vs from Christ. It is further added that this life is not only from Christ but that he is the donour and giuer thereof It is from him but by way of gift For so it is said that he may giâ—e So also elsewhere The bread of God is he which commeth downe from heauen and giueth life vnto the world And S. Paul the wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Wherevpon S. Peter calleth it the grace of life And the scripture every where imputeth the whole worke of our salvation from the beginning vnto the end thereof vnto meere grace Now as he saith Gratia non est gratia nisisit omnimodo gratuita grace is not grace vnlesse it be every way of free gift And certainly if it be not of free gift it is of merit and due preparation in our selues But I beseech you what merit what preparation of himselfe was there in Adam vnto life while as yet he lay like a dead lump of clay before his maker What in Lazarus when he had beene quatriduanus foure dayes in the graue and began to putrifie and corrupt Surely none at all No more can there be in vs who before we receiue this life are vtterly dead in trespasses and sins If the creature disposed not himselfe vnto his creation nor man vnto his generation nor the science vnto its incition how can we prepare our selues either to our renovation or regeneration or ingrafting into the mysticall body of Christ In a word can sinne be a disposition or preparation vnto Grace I trow no. Yet whatsoeuer we doe before we are new creatures and liue the spirituall life is at the best but splendidum peccatum a gay and glittering sinne For the agent is altogether sinfull and carnall and whatsoeuer is of flesh is flesh Doe we gather grapes of thornes or figgs of thistles or good fruite of an evill tree No verily For such as the tree is such fruit it yeeldeth Good it cannot yeeld till it be made good Made good we are not till wee beleeue Till we beleeue therefore can wee doe no good If so then what is not of Faith is sinne and pleaseth not God And what pleaseth not him cannot dispose vnto grace Being then without merit and disposition vnto grace it must needs follow that as spirituall life is by Vnion so it is also by way of gift from Christ. The vse of all may be first to teach vs that all they who are not vnto Christ mystically vnited are spiritually dead and what actions soeuer proceed from them notwithstanding all the specious and goodly shew they make are not living actions For being not acted by the spirit of Christ they are not like vnto bodies animated by a humane soule but vnto such dead bodies rather as are raised vp by magicians and are stirred and moved only by the spirit of Satan These may seeme to liue but indeed liue not And if spirituall life bee the only blessed life then must these needs bee in a most ruefull and miserable case Secondly it teacheth vs that if we desire to liue this wee must indeavour by all meanes to be vnited vnto Christ. He is come vnto vs that we might haue life yea and that we might haue it in abundance If we come not to him it is our fault if we liue not And iust cause shall we giue him to complaine of vs as he did of the Iewes yee will not come to me that yee might haue life Our comming is by Faith By it Christ dwelleth in our harts and by it is the iust man said to liue This purgeth and purifieth our soules and produceth in vs the works of charity which are the right operations of Spirituall life Thirdly seeing we liue by Christ it is reason we should also liue vnto him For as S. Augustin saith every thing should liue to that by which it liueth as the body because it liveth by the Soule ought to liue vnto the Soule Hence therefore is it that S. Paul would haue all that are dead vnto sinne to reckon themselues aliue but aliue vnto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Hence also he affirmeth that none of vs liveth to himselfe but that we liue vnto the Lord and that himselfe through the law is dead to the law that he might liue vnto God But most
note of similitude but importeth a reason or cause In regard whereof Euthimius expoundeth it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if he had said forasmuch or because Secondly that the word Power is in the originall not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betwixt which two there is great difference For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth power of right or authority and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Power of might or ability Which although they may and oftentimes doe concurre in the same person yet many times they are divided For some there are who haue right and authority but want might and ability and others there are who haue might and ability but want right and authority These for want of right doe not iustly what they can doe and they for want of might cannot doe that which otherwise they might justly doe These things duly considered the reason of the Consequence will easily appeare For if God haue given him authority as indeed hee had hee ought withall to giue him ability For that without this is fectlesse and to no purpose and it sits not with the wisdome of God to doe things in vaine This were with Herod and the Iewes to set a crowne on his head to put a reed in his hand to clap a purple robe on his backe to make a mock king of him As therefore he hath giuen him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 right and authority so must hee also giue him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strength and ability But Ability hee can haue none nor giue life to them that are giuen him which is the end propounded vnto him except his Father glorifie him This appeares thus The glorification which the Sonne desires stands especially in his Resurrection Ascention Session at the right hand of his Father and Returne to iudgement If then he rise not againe we are yet in our sins as St Paul saith and haue no right either in the first or second resurrection Death hath still power vpon vs yea vpon Christ himselfe and vtterly bars vs from eternall life Againe if he ascend not neither can wee The way vnto heauen is not opened neither are there any mansions there prepared for vs. And what life can there be if we be excluded from those ioyes aboue Thirdly if hee sit not at his Fathers right hand then can he not gloriously interceed for vs with his Father nor send his spirit vnto vs nor governe vs by his spirit nor subdue our enimies vnto vs without which wee cannot be partakers of that life Lastly if hee returne not againe to iudge both the quicke and the dead then can hee not according to promise returne any more to take vs home vnto himselfe that where he is there we also may be to behold that his glory and by beholding to bee made like vnto him wherein standeth our eternall life And thus you see the necessity of this Consequence Thou hast given mee power Therefore must thou glorify mee Come wee now to the Antecedent In which for the fuller handling thereof we may obserue these foure particulars Quid In quos A quo Quorsum Quid what is given him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Power In quos over whom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over all flesh A quo from whom from his Father thou hast giuen Quorsum to what end that he may giue eternall life to all that his Father gaue him Of these in order First Quid what hath the Father given him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 power that is as we haue aboue shewed Right and Authority over all flesh This is double for it is either Essentiall or Oeconomicall Essentiall is that which he hath qua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he is the Word In regard whereof being God coequall with his Father looke what Power the Father hath he hath the same also inhering in him namely an infinite vnlimited independent and soveraigne power And this because it is of his very essence so that hee can no more be without it then not be God therefore doe I call it Essentiall And yet as I take it this is not heere meant For the end of the Power heere spoken of is to giue eternall life Now to purpose an end implies Election Deliberation and so an indifference before choice so that it is arbitrary not necessary But this Essentiall power of Christ is not arbitrarie but necessary as proceeding not of choice but of the necessity of his nature and therefore cannot be here meant The Oeconomicall Power then is that which he hath quà Emanuell as he is God-man and hath taken vpon him the forme of a servant For the Man Christ Iesus is our Mediatour therefore our King it being one office of his Mediation to be a King And hence it is that our Saviour affirmeth that authority is giuen him to execute iudgement because he is the sonne of man or as some expound it quatenus as he is the sonne of man In this nature also it is said that the government is vpon his shoulders that he is made a Governor to rule his people Israell This Power because he hath not as the former of the necessity of his nature but only of voluntary dispensatiō therefore I call it Oeconomicall And because it is Oeconomicall therefore is it not infinite vnlimited as is the Essentiall but Subordinate vnto it True it is the humane nature subsisting in the Word the very Word together with all the divine attributes are cōmunicated vnto it so that it may be said the man Christ is Omnipotent hath infinite power But this must cautelously be vnderstood not that the Manhood hath in it formally subiectiuely such infinite power but only personally and by grace of Vnion Otherwise the humane nature being finite is no more capable of infinite power then it is to be God which is impossible The Power then which the Manhood of Christ hath residing in it is finite and created but yet such as is farre greater then of any creature besides For to which of the creatures besides is the Subsistence of the sonne of God communicated If to none then can they not haue such power as hee that subsisteth in the Deity Whence the holy Apostle affirmeth of him that he is advanced farre aboue all Principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come againe that God hath highly exalted him and giuen him a name which is aboue every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heauen and things in earth things vnder the earth and that every tongue should confesse that Iesus is the Lord. And yet againe that hee is made farre greater then the Angells inasmuch as hee hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name then they Read the rest of that Chapter for all makes to this purpose
given him of his Father he may giue eternall life This I say properly and directly for accidentally he may be vnto some a rocke of offence and the savour of death vnto death namely to all those that shall presume to rise vp against that authority and power which his Father hath giuen him For the further vnfolding of this point foure things are here to bee observed Quid Vnde Quibus Quamdiu Quid what the gift is it is Life Vnde whence it is from the Sonne that hee may giue Quibus to whom it is giuen to as many as thou hast giuen him Quamdiu how long the gift lasteth it is eternall life And of these in order though not according to their worth and desert for who is sufficient for these things yet as it shall please God to enable and assist First Quid what is the gift It is Life Life is double Naturall and Spirituall Naturall is that which things liue by power of nature But this is not heare meant For the Father bestowes this generally on all men whereas the life here intended is to be conferred only on those whom the Father hath given vnto the sonne The Spirituall is likewise double Sinfull or Holy Sinfull is that whereby men liue vnto sinne But because they that so liue are dead vnto righteousnesse the wages thereof is nothing but death neither can this be here meant For this is to be counted rather a Death then a Life whereas the Life here-spoken of is the end wherefore so great power was giuen vnto Christ and so cannot bee but a happy and blessed life The Holy life is therfore here vnderstood a life which none can liue vntill he be dead vnto sinne and elevated by grace aboue nature even that life which in Scripture is called the new life and includeth in it both the life of grace and the life of glory Now because this Spirituall life is denominated Life from the proportion it holds with Naturall life especially that of man vnlesse we first know what this is distinct knowledge of that we cannot well haue any This we cannot know but by the direction of Naturall Philosophy For Naturall life is a terme properly belonging vnto it and the rule of Logicke teacheth that looke to what art the termes doe belong from thence are wee to fetch our demonstrations I must craue pardon therefore if I search a little into it Howbeit I resolue to be very briefe and to trouble you with no more then is necessary for clearing of what is intended Life is of some defined by motion and operation And so seemeth Aristotle to define it where he saith Vivere est intelligere sentire to liue is to vnderstand heare see touch and the like But this definition is more popular then proper For life is one thing the operations of life another and they differ as the cause and the effect Yet because it is best discerned by the operations thereof therefore haue they thought good so to describe it For those things are said to liue which any way moue themselues Moue I say for those things which moue not liue not And moue themselues by an internall principle of their owne For neither doe those things liue which are acted only by an extrinsecall and forreine principle such as was that statue or engine of which the Poet Duceris vt nervis alienis mobile signum and such as are also clocks and watches and the like devices The same Philosopher therefore elsewhere speaking more accurately of this matter defineth life by Being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith hee to liue is to be Which is not yet Simply to be vnderstood as if whatsoeuer had being had also life but respectiuely vnto things that liue for their life is their being And so much doth the Philosopher himselfe insinuate saying more fully 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 life to things that liue is being But such a Being as naturally moueth it selfe Whēce it is not vnfitly defined by one to bee essentia parturiens actiones such a being as is in trauell with action This naturall life is threefold Vegetatiue Sensitiue and Intellectual The Vegetatiue is in Plants that Being whereby they grow and receaue nourishment The Sensitiue is of Beasts Fowles and Fishes that Being whereby they see heare touch tast smell and moue from place to place The Intellectuall is of Angels and Spirits that Being whereby they vnderstand and will These all of them are iointly and together in man For with plants hee hath growth and nourishment with beasts fowles and fishes sense and lation with Angels and Spirits vnderstanding and will Wherevpon it is that the Philosopher maketh the life of man a rule to all the rest And therefore is to be defined Such a Being as is able to produce all these operations but specially those that are Rationall because they are most properly Humane To come then to an issue by all that hath beene said it appeares that to the constitution of the natural life of man and generally of all natural life three things are required Esse Posse Operari being ability and operation Being that there may bee ability and ability that there may be operation For no life where no operation no operation where no ability no ability where no being And such is the naturall life of man Proportionably wherevnto as to me it seemes Spirituall life may thus be defined Such a new or spirituall being as enableth to produce spirituall or supernaturall actions In which definition all those three things necessarily required vnto life are as you see comprehended And first Being not naturall but spirituall superadded vnto nature Superadded then when we are first ingrafted and incorporated into Christ. For no sooner doe we subsist in him but forthwith old things passe away and all things are made new From thence forth become we new creatures new men renewed in the inner man and in the spirit of the minde hauing new hearts new affections new senses all new In a word then are we made Spirituall men not only conformed vnto but also transformed into the image of Christ himselfe Secondly abilitie For together with our new being we receaue also the Spirit of power whereby as while we were out of Christ wee were able to doe nothing so now being in him we are able to all things For then the holy Ghost is pleased to infuse and imprint on our soules the gratious habits of Faith Hope and Charity and the rest and all to facilitate the performance of spirituall duties Lastly Operation without which abilitie is but vaine For to what end is power if it be never brought forth into act Operate therefore it doth and bringeth forth the fruits of spirit loue ioy peace long suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse temperance and the rest All which S. Paul reduceth vnto three Pietie Sobrietie Righteousnesse
expresly thus saith he we iudge that if one died for all thē were all dead that he died for all that they which liue should not henceforth liue vnto themselues but vnto him which died for them and rose againe You will say how are we to liue vnto Christ I answere as the body liueth vnto the Soule The Body liueth vnto the Soule when it is serviceable and obedient therevnto especially when it followeth not the sway of inordinate passion but the direction of right reason In like manner we liue vnto Christ when we serue and obey him not living after the flesh but after the spirit For not they that walke after the flesh are in Christ but they only who are lead by the spirit of Christ. S. Peter expresseth it by liuing not to the lusts of men but to the will of God And by and by setteth down the Iusts of men to be the will of the Gentiles namely lasciviousnesse lusts excesse of wine revellings banquetings abominable idolatries and the like Vnto all which he opposeth liuing according to God in the spirit Fourthly and lastly hence we may learne humility to ascribe nothing to our owne selues For what are wee in nature but stinking carkasses If we liue it is by the meere grace of Christ. Come vnto him of our selues to be quickned by him we could not It was his Father that drew vs vnto him Not vnto vs therefore not vnto vs but vnto the Father through Iesus Christ bee ascribed the whole praise and glory thereof for evermore And thus much of the second point Vnde whence this life is The third point is Quibus vpon whom it is conferred and bestowed Vpon those saith my Text and all those whom his Father hath giuen him Who are they For of them Christ very often speaketh All saith he that my father giueth me shall come vnto me And againe This is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which hee hath giuen me I should loose nothing And yet againe My Father which gaue them me is greater then all And so also sundry times in the sequele of this present Chapter For clearer vnderstanding hereof therefore we are to knowe that there is a double donation by which men are said to be giuen vnto Christ the one Common the other Singular The Common is that whereby the Father hauing given vnto the Sonne all power both in heauen and earth deliuereth all things also into his hand giuing as it were liverie and seizing of them that from thenceforth hee may dispose of them at his pleasure And thus all men whatsoeuer both elect and reprobate are giuen vnto him But this is not here meant as by and by shall appeare Another donation therefore there is more speciall and singular whereby the Father deliuereth vnto the Sonne some of the creatures as vnto a head to be his members or to persist in our present similitude giueth them as a body to the soule to be acted and quickned by him that is to be ruled and ordered not only by the Scepter of his Power but of his Grace and sanctifying Spirit Now who are these Surely not all flesh for all are not vnited to him and so liue not by him Who then They that are elected and chosen vnto life of whom it is said Multi vocati pauci verò electi many are called but few are chosen And that these are here meant plainely appeareth by and by where he saith I haue manifested thy name vnto the men which thou gauest me out of the world that is not to all but some only selected and culled from the rest And againe Thine they were and thou gauest them mee How thine By free election and now mine by speciall donation And yet againe I pray not for the world but for them that thou hast giuen me for they are thine Where you see the world distinguished from them that are given him and excluded from being the Fathers together with them Whence it followeth necessarily that the donation here meant is not of all but those only who in speciall sort are the Fathers namely his chosen and peculiar ones For the better vnderstanding hereof and that you may knowe how and in what order the Father is pleased to proceed in this gracious worke thus I take it you are to conceaue thereof First the Father seeing all mankind by the fall of Adam to bee corrupted and in the state of damnation out of his meere mercy and loue decreed not to loose the whole race of man but to renew and repaire againe his image in some of them to the praise of the glory of his grace prouided yet alwaies that his iustice for sinne be fully satisfied Secondly for the satisfaction of his iustice he further decreed to send his sonne into the world that taking our nature vpon him he might therein suffer whatsoeuer was due to sinne and so mediate a peace betweene God and vs. Then thirdly out of the corrupt Masse of mankinde he selecteth and chuseth some particulars even such as he pleaseth with a purpose infallibly to bring them to everlasting life And in regard of this act it is that our Saviour saith tui erant they were from al eternity thine and againe tui sunt by the constant continuation of the same purpose they are still thine In the fourth place those that are thus elected the Father giueth vnto the Sonne to accomplish his purpose vpon them and by vertue of the power and life giuen him to quicken them vnto eternall life Being thus giuen wee are now Christs Wherevpon also the Church is bold and saith My welbeloued is mine and I am his and S. Paul directly affirmeth that we are Christs And being Christs fiftly lastly he actually enliues quickens them raising them vp from the death of sinne and convaying into them the spirit of life in such sort as wee haue formerly declared But doth Christ bestow life vpon all them that are so given him yea verily my text expressely affirmeth it that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him This was the very end wherefore the Father gaue them to him And shall we thinke that the Father tooke not order sufficient for the attaining of his end God forbid For because he would not faile of his end therefore did he giue so great power vnto his Sonne Such power that nothing except he would could plucke them out of his hands and so much life that if hee would hee might giue it in abundance Shall we say that the Sonne though he hath power yet wants will Farre be such blasphemy from vs. For he testifieth of himselfe that hee came downe from heauen with this resolution not to doe his owne will but the will of him that sent him and now that he is come that he seeketh not his owne will but the will of the Father
that sent him yea that it is meat vnto him to doe the will of him that sent him and to finish his worke Now this is the Fathers will that of all which he gaue him hee should loose nothing but as my text saith giue vnto them eternall life It is therefore the will of the Sonne also And because according to the old rule Qui potest vult facit hee that both can and will doth vndoubtedly Christ being both able and willing giueth vnto all the elect everlasting life Hence of his Sheepe that is of the elect he saith I giue vnto them eternall life and they shall never perish And againe All that the Father giueth me shall come vnto mee that is shall beleeue in me and liue and him that commeth vnto mee I will in no wise cast out If Christ giue not eternall life to as many as are giuen of his Father then hee looseth some of them For they that liue not eternally perish eternally But the Sonne plainely affirmeth that all that are giuen him he keepeth in his Fathers name and looseth none of thē so that in the last day he may truly say Loe here I am and the children which thou hast given mee And thus to them and to all them whom the Father hath given him hee giueth life But did the Father intend it or doth the Sonne bestow it only on them excluding all others To this question because my text directly answereth nothing I shall haue iust occasion hereafter fully to handle it where our Saviour denieth that he praies for the World I forbeare the resolution of it for the present and reserue it till then as the fitter place In the meane season This vse may we briefly make hereof First it may serue as a cristall mirror wherein to behold the infinite vnspeakable goodnesse loue of the Father towards vs. When we were in the same masse of corruption together with all mankinde it pleased him by free election to single vs from the rest and to bestow vs vpon his Son that hee might bring vs vnto life Vpon what merit None at all For wee were as deepe in the same condemnation as the rest But such was his good will and pleasure and this is the glory of his grace Miserebo◠cuius misertus fuero I will haue mercy on whom I will haue mercy Seeing secondly by the gift of the Father wee are Christs let vs know that he is a good depositary of such care and faithfulnesse that he will not neglect his Fathers pledge of such strength and ability that nothing is able to wrest it out of his hands Were wee our owne or were wee our owne keepers we should surely perish But now Christ is charged with vs who is the safest keeper and who is resolued to preserue vs safe vntill the time that he is to redeliuer vs backe againe vnto his Father who thenceforth shall be all in all vnto vs. Wherefore thirdly the best course we can take is wholly absolutely to resigne our selues into his hands To trust to our selues or to any other is to rely on a broken reed But he is a sure rocke vpon whom we may securely build The Father is wiser then wee and he knew well enough what he did when he commended vs to his Sonne And the Sonne loueth vs farre better then we can loue our selues When wee were his enemies he was content to dye for vs now wee are his friends doth he abate of his loue towards vs Not a whit Let vs therefore with all confidence entrest our selues both soules and bodies vnto him to dispose of vs at pleasure So shall wee rest safe from all dangers and in the end be prouided of everlasting salvation In the meane season let vs in the last place loue yea and long for his second comming that being his there where hee is wee may be also For here though wee be safe yet are we not without assaults those assaults many times shake our Faith and fill vs full of doubts and fears This indeed is our weaknesse For otherwise in regard of the Fathers purpose and the Sonnes protection wee are safe But when he shall returne againe to take vs home to himselfe then shall all doubts and feares cleane be banished For we shall no more beleeue but see our selues free from all dangers and in perfect safety Wherfore come Lord Iesus come quickly And of the third point Quibus to whom thus much The fourth and last in Quamdiu how long this life continues It continues not for a time only as doth the naturall life which after a short while suffereth interruption and is broken off by death but it is an eternall life as my text saith and continueth for ever more vnto the proofe whereof before I descend I must craue leaue to remoue certaine rubs out of our way which otherwise may let and hinder vs in our course For Spirituall life in regard of the degrees thereof being double of grace and of glory there are who restraine eternity vnto this only excluding that as if the life of grace sometime attained not the degree of glory but the life of glory once attained continued eternally Howbeit that the life of Grace is also here meant plainely appeareth by the words immediatly following where our saviour saith This is life everlasting to know thee c. For to know God in Christ is an operation of Spirituall life So also elsewhere He that beleeueth hath eternall life And againe Hee that hath the sonne hath life life I say eternall for so it is forthwith expounded that yee may know that yee haue eternall life Where you see that the words are not of the future tense shall haue but of the present hath life which what other can it be but the life of Grace And of this it is affirmed that it is eternall and so cannot faile of glory But further when it is said to be eternall we are to know that there is a double eternity the one Simple and absolute the other only Respectiue Simple eternity is that which is so both a parte ante a parte post hauing neither beginning nor ending And so is God only eternall The Respectiue is that which is so only a parte post hauing indeed a beginning but afterward never ending And so Angells the Soules of men are said to be eternall and in the same sense doe we vnderstand it of Spirituall life that in regard of the future it is eternall Yet here againe we are to distinguish To the constitution of life three things as wee haue said are required Being Power and Operation As touching the Operations of life we confesse they may suffer intermission For as in an Epilepsie or fit of the falling sicknes no worke of life appeares and yet the partie liues so in the acting of sinne from which the best men are not alwaies free spirituall operations during the while cease
he mortify the deeds of the body In a word to this end hath the grace of God appeared vnto all men and instructed vs that we denying all vngodlinesse and worldly lusts might liue soberly iustly godly in this preseÌ„t world By all which it is cleare that all our corrupt lusts affections must be denied if we will be disciples in the schoole of Grace yet is it further to be observed that wheÌ„ the Apost saith we must deny all worldly lusts he meaneth fleshly lusts as they haue reference vnto the world to the profits pleasures of this present life So that in comparison of Christ when they let and hinder vs from comming after him whatsoeuer in the world is most deare pretious vnto vs must be despised and trodâ—n vnder foot We must with the holy Apostles be content to forsake all and to follow him If wee loue father or mother or sonne or daughter more then him we are vnworthy of him Nay if any come vnto him and hate not his father and mother and wife and Children and brethren and sisters yea his owne life also or as some thinke it may not vnfitly be translated his owne soule he cannot be my Disciple Wherefore as Hierom saith if Father or Mother shall lye in the way to hinder thee from comming after Christ bee not afraid to tread vpon the gray beard of thy Father and to trample vpon the belly of her that bare thee rather then to be barred from coÌ„ming vnto him As therefore to conclude this point a young man in the iudgement of Aristotle is an vnfit auditor of Morall Philosophy even so the meere Animall man by the verdict of Iesus Christ is vtterly vnmeet to be scholler in Christian Philosophy If hee will make himselfe meet for Christs schoole hee must of necessity deny himselfe which is the first Counsell The second is let him take vp his crosse daily The Crosse properly is a tree or engine of wood framed into such a forme where vpon malefactors were wont to bee executed and put to death The manner was either with cords to bind them or which was more vsuall with nailes to fasten them hand and foot vnto it and there to suffer them to languish and pine away vnto death in regard whereof they were wont aunciently to call it vltimum supplicium the extremest and greatest punishment because the basest sort of people only and such as were servants or slaues were in this manner executed therefore was it also termed servile supplicium a servile punishment This cruell and slavish death did our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ suffer to free vs from eternall death and to procure vnto vs everlasting life Wherevpon those pressures tribulations afflictions persecutions that doe befall a man not for his wickednesse but for righteousnesse sake for the profession of the Gospell of Christ are in the language of Canaan called the Crosse because they are the remainders of the afflictions of Christ which he in his body that is the Church doth yet still suffer And this is the Crosse which is here meant But it is further said His crosse Not that Crosse which a man frameth vnto his owne selfe or rashly pulleth vpon himselfe as sundry Martyrs in the primitiue Church seemed to doe whom yet I dare not censure because I know not with what spirit they did it For we may not like Coecias draw stormes and clouds vpon our owne heads and our Saviour himselfe advizeth vs when they persecute vs in one Citty to fly into another Then only are we bound to beare the crosse when without denying the truth we cannot avoid it Our Crosse then is that which is imposed vpon vs by God whether it be poverty or ignominy or imprisonment or banishment or whipping or racking or torment or death of what kind soeuer For God layeth not the same crosse on all but one Crosse on one and another on another as hee in his wisdome thinketh best But whatsoever the crosse is which God appointeth vnto a man that is his crosse And this crosse saith Christ must be taken vp It was the manner that he that was cruciarius to bee crucified was to beare his crosse or some part thereof vnto the place of execution So did Christ vntill meeting with Simon of Cyrene they compelled him to beare his crosse But malefactors beare it against their wills our Saviour willingly which was the very forme of his suffering and he requireth all those that will come after him to doe so too For to take vp the crosse imports not only a patient bearing of it when it is laid vpon vs but also a ready and voluntary vndergoing of it And this also saith our Saviour must bee done daily that is at all times and continually Not but that the Church hath sometimes her lucida intervalla her good daies for the rod of the wicked resteth not alwaies vpon the lot of the righteous and after stormes and tempests God sendeth calme Halcionian times How then Thus. Whensoever God sendeth the crosse vnto any he must actually take it vp in the time of peace and when there is no crosse though actually he cannot yet must he take it vp in the preparation and disposition of the mind And this is the substance of the second Counsell Let him take vp his crosse daily The Necessity of it if wee will come after Christ is easie to be demonstrated What more manifest in the Scripture then this that the Crosse is an vnseparable companion of the Church The Church is Lilium inter spinas a lilie among thornes Christ without his crosse is but a Chimoera so is the Church also without afflictions Many are the troubles of the righteous saith David In the world yee shall haue tribulations saith our Saviour Christ. Through much tribulation must we enter into the kingdome of God saith Saint Paul and againe All that will liue Godly in Iesus Christ shall suffer persecution Search the records of all times from the beginning of the world downe to this present and you shall find that Persecution hath ever attended vpon the Church Not to speake of particular persons the bondage of Egypt the captivity of Babylon the tyranny of Antiochus the ten bloudy persecutions of heathen Emperours the barbarous cruelties of Antichrist finally the fire the sword the massacres of this last age wherein our Fathers lived and we our selues yet liue doe make it more then manifest And indeed as long as Satan continueth to be malitious against vs how can it be otherwise Knowing himselfe to be eternally reiected and without redemption he beareth an eternall hatred against God And because he cannot wreake his teene vpon him being out of his reach he turneth his malice against mankind and among them those principally who by Christ are conquered out of his hands For as the Panther raging vpon the picture of a man bewrayes the
our charge and withall in a provident and honest care for those who belong vnto vs and depend vpon vs The fourth and last and chiefest in the knowledge of the true God and in the serving of him in a true manner with a perfect heart and a willing minde which is the summe of Davids Catechisme composed for the vse of his sonne Solomon For intellectuall wisedome S. Paul himselfe was brought vp at the feet of Gamaliel a famous Lawyer that he had well studied the Greeke Poets appeares by his quotations of them vpon severall occasions and had he beene altogether ignorant of Philosophy he could not at Athens at that time the most renowned Vniversity of the world haue incountred the Philosophers both of the Epicureans and the Stoicks being sects of contrary opinions but bending and banding there forces both together against him The first fruits of the Gentiles who by the conduct of a starre came from Persia to adore our Sauiour excelled no doubt in this kinde of wisedome Moses was learned in all the wisedome of the Aegyptians and so we may presume was Daniel in that of the Caldaeans once we are sure that Solomon even in this kinde of wisedome out-stripped all the Children of the East hee was perfectly skil'd in all the properties of vegetables of foules of fishes of beasts and creeping things whereas then the Apostle giues the Colossians a caveat and vs in them that no man spoile vs through Philosophy his meaning is not to checke true Philosophy whereof singular vse may no doubt be made in Divinitie but the errors of Philosophers or their erroneous application of acknowledged truths true Philosophie it selfe being indeed nothing else but a beame of the divine wisedome the dictate of right reason subordinate to supernaturall revelation which I am confident he neuer intended to gaine say or disswade Of Morall wisedome the same Apostle speakes Ephes. 5.15 Walke circumspectly not as fooles but as wise and againe walke in wisedome toward them which are without Col. 4.5 Of Ciuill our Saviour Be wise as Serpents but innocent as Doues wise as Serpents for the iust defence of your selues but innocent as Doues that you doe not iustly offend others Of spirituall the Prophet Dauid the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome as good vnderstāding haue all they that doe thereafter And as wisdome excelleth among all other vertues so doth this kinde of wisedome among all the other kinds Velut inter ignes Luna minores As doth the Moone to vs when in a cleare night shee fills her circle among the lesser starres the rest if they serue as dutifull hand-maids to her may be very vsefull but in case they should rebell against her they may proue dangerous hurts rather then helps as a knife in the hand of a child or a sword of a mad-man As then those other kinds of wisedome if rightly applyed are not to be excluded out of my text so this kinde is it which without all doubt is chiefly vnderstood and which we are chiefly to labour for and that we may so labour for it as we come to the end of our desires the meanes to attaine are these Frequent and fervent prayer to which S. Iames directeth vs If any lacke wisedome let him aske it of God without wavering and it shall be given him A diligent and serious study of the holy scriptures whereby David professeth himselfe to haue beene made wiser then his enemies his teachers his ancients A conversation comfortable to our knowledge To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the saluation of the Lord A good vse of afflictions schola crucis schola lucis the schoole of affliction is the schoole of wisedome And lastly a daily meditation of our mortality of the shortnesse of our liues and the certaine vncertainty of our deaths Teach vs O Lord to number our dayes that so we may apply our hearts vnto wisedome And as these are the meanes to attaine it so the fruits of it are good workes which our Saviour calleth oile in our lampes and therevpon those Virgins who provided oile in their vessells for the supply of their lampes are by him termed wise and S. Iames more particularly specifies those fruits The wisedome saith he which is from aboue is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be intreated full of mercy good fruits without partiality without hypocrisie It is so pure as it is likewise peaceable without partiality and without hypocrisie And as these be the pretious fruits so the end of this wisedome is saluation from a Child thou hast knowne the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise to saluation In reference both to the fruits aud the end thereof the wise Solomon hath given vs in the third of the Proverbs a singular description of this kinde of wisedome yet not single but accompanied and attended on with the other kinds Happie is the man that findeth wisedome and the man that getteth vnderstanding For the merchandise of it is better then the merchandise of silver and the gaine thereof then the fine gold Shee is more precious then rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared vnto her Length of daies is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Her wayes are wayes of pleasantnesse and all her paths are peace Shee is a tree of life to them that lay hold vpon her and happie is every one that retaineth her Happie is the man that findeth her so he beginns and happie is the man that retaineth her so he ends yea thrice happie shall he be in his life in his death after death in the course of his life shee shall bring him true contentment in the houre of death true comfort and after death true happinesse The first act issueing from wisedome is teaching which though it be not expressed in the English text yet is it necessarily implyed if not primarily intended in the originall word and in some translations we haue it expressed in the very body of the text it selfe as namely in that of Iunius and Tremellius Erudientes teaching or teachers Some there are who desire wisedome for their owne private contentment only this is vaine curiositie some that they may be knowne to be wise this is vaine glory some that they may rise to honour by it this is vaine ambition some that by it they may grow rich this is vaine covetousnesse some that they may profit themselues in the way of godlinesse this is Christian providence and lastly some that they may doe good not only to themselues but to others by teaching and this is Christian Charitie This the Angell foretells in the Chapter here goeing before They that vnderstand among the people shall instruct many and againe in the latter part of the verse immediately following my text many shall runne too and froe and knowledge shall be increased This the Apostle exhorts
in these westerne parts of the kingdome he hath not left his equall neither doe I speake any thing to amplifie by way of Rhetorick I speake lesse then the truth His morall wisdome appeared in the checking of his appetite by temperance and sobrietie free he was in the lawfull vse of Gods creatures but neuer excessiue nor euer could be drawne to it either by example or perswasion which in a constitution so crazie was no doubt vnder God a speciall meanes for the drawing out the thread of his life in his carriage he was graue yet sociable enough courteous yet without affectation or vaine complement a sure friend to the vtmost of his power where he professed it yet without flatterie His ciuill wisdome appeared in the gouernment of his parrish and his family in the education of his Children and the Children of his freinds vpon speciall request committed to his charge in his owne matches and the matches of his daughters and lastly in the preseruing managing and disposing of that estate which God lent him in an orderly manner His spirituall or diuine wisdome appeared in his great knowledge in the sacred scripture in which with Timothy he was trained vp from a Child and as another Apollos grew mighty in them whereunto he added the helpe of the best Interpreters both ancient and moderne the serious study of the Fathers the schoole-diuines the Ecclesiasticall story and the controuersies of the present times aswell with the Romanists as among our selues that in matters not only of Doctrine but discipline in all which he was so well studied and vpon all fitting occasions so willing and ready either by writing or speech to expresse himselfe as many and those not vnlearned Divines were content nay glad to draw water from his well and to light their candles at his torch nay some of his aduersaries in his life time haue in open pulpit since his death to Gods glory their owne comfort and his honour confessed as much But the highest point of his spirituall wisdome appeared in the practise of piety in a due conformitie of his actions to his speculation drawing out as it were a faire coppy in the course of his life of those wholesome lessons which he found in his bookes formed in his braine and taught to others And herein indeede doe I take the very marrow and pith of spirituall wisdome to consist in the possession and fruition of supernaturall truths according to that of the great Earle of Mirandula Veritatem Philosophia quaerit Theologia inuenit religio possidet Philosophy seekes the truth Diuinity finds it but religion possesseth it Religion I say which bindes vs to the performance of our duties to God and man One maine branch of this duty and effect of this wisdome was his Teaching He taught euery where euery way by his example by his pen but specially by his tongue by his tongue both priuately and publiquely publiquely by expounding by catechizing by preaching in which he was so diligent that since his entring into the Ministery which he often professed to be his greatest honour and comfort in this world he waded through the whole body of the Bible from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the reuelation And as he was thus diligent in teaching so was he constant in his course as long as his health and strength would giue him leaue and I may truly say beyond his strength resoluing with that vncle of his no lesse good then great that a General should die in the feild a Preacher in the pulpit The manner of his teaching was not by loud vociferation or ridiculous gesticulation or ostentation of wit or affectation of words but in the euident demonstration of the spirit and power it was demonstratiue masculine and mighty through God to the pulling downe of strong holds deepe it was and yet cleare rationall and yet diuine perspicuous yet punctuall artificial yet profitable calme yet peircing pōderous yet familiar so as the ablest of his hearers might alwayes learne somewhat yet the simplest vnderstand all which was a rare mixture and in this mixture hee ran a middle moderate course most agreeable to the Canons constitutiōs of that Church in which hee was borne and bred betwixt the apish superstition of some and the peevish singularity of others betwixt blind deuotion and ouer-bold presumption betwixt vnreasonable obedience and vnwarrantable disconformitie betwixt popish tyranny grounded vpon carnall policie and popular confusion guided by meere fancie the one labouring for an vsurped Monarchy and to turne all the body into head the other for a lawlesse anarchy and to haue a body without a head Now though in his teaching he ranne this middle course yet did it alwayes aime not only at the information of the iudgment but the reformation of the will the beating downe of impiety and the convincing of the conscience to the drawing of his hearers as from ignorance to knowledge and from errour to truth so likewise thereby from rebellion to obedience from prophanenesse to religion And truely I little doubt but many a good soule now a Saint in heauen did they vnderstand our actions and desires and withall could make knowne their conceits to vs would soone giue vs to vnderstand that vnder God he was the instrument for the turning of them to righteousnesse and so for the directing and conducting of them to that place of their blisse and as little doubt I but many a good soule who heares me this day in secret and in silence blesseth God and the memory of this good man for that spirituall knowledge and comfort which they haue receaued by his Ministery once I am sure that a vertuous Gentlewoman of good note and ranke hath since his death by her letters written with her owne hand to some of his neerest freinds testified her turning to righteousnesse to haue beene first wrought by his meanes and noe question but many others might as iustly and truly doe the like were they so disposed or occasion required it This was the course of his life here now for the manner of his departure hence when his last sicknesse first seazed on him he accounted himselfe noe man of this world when he was in his best health though as a pilgrime he walked in it yet as a souldier he neuer warred after it but now being thus arested and imprisoned he professed to his friends who came to visite him holding vp his hands to heauen that though his body was here yet his heart was aboue and consequently his treasure for where a mans treasure is there will his heart be also He likewise assured vs that though he saw death approaching yet he feared it not death being now but a droane the sting thereof taken out during his sicknes he made his household his congregation his chamber his chappell and his bed his pulpit from whence he cast forth many hloy and heauenly eiaculations and made a most diuine confession
even of that which is only by Reading which is the first office of the Ministery method and order would that in the next place I speake of Prayer which is the second And herevnto am I also invited by this Text. For to forbeare further prefacing this seuenteenth Chapter containeth in it a most heauenly and divine Prayer which our blessed Saviour and Mediator addresseth vnto his Father in behalfe of Christ mysticall as the Fathers tearme it that is the whole Church consisting both of Head and Members The Parts thereof are two a short Preface prefixed by S. Iohn and the Corps or body of the Prayer The Preface is my Text wherein relation is made of an Act invested with certaine circumstances The Act is Prayer The Circumstances are three Quis Quando Quomodo Quis the Orator who prayes Iesus These things spake Iesus and lift vp his eyes Quando when he prayes after he had spoken these things These things spake Iesus and then lift vp his eyes Quomodo after what manner he prayed The Manner is externall and standeth in two things in gestu oculorum and in Sermone oris In the Gesture of the Eyes He lifted vp his eyes vnto heaven in the Speech of his Mouth He said Of these things breefely plainely as it shall please God to assist Of all duties vniversally required of all men Prayer seemes to mee the most noble So noble that by it all the whole worship and service of God is in Scripture vsually denominated And although the Houses of God be consecrated to other vses as well as it yet are they not called Houses of Preaching or Houses of Sacraments but Oratories or Houses of Praier Prayer as Damascen expresseth it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mounting or flying vp of the soule vnto the throne of Grace It is the Sweet incense that sweet smelling sacrifice that savoureth so pleasingly in in the nostrills of our God It is that strong cord that draweth downe all blessings and graces from Heauen vpon vs. The importunity whereof of Iacobs makes vs Israels wrestlers prevailers with God that if wee will hee cannot goe from vs vntill he hath granted vs his blessing For it hath annexed vnto it the gratious promise of impetration Aske and yee shall haue seeke and yee shall finde knocke and it shall be opened vnto you Neither is there any thing so difficult or impossible with man but by Prayer it may be obtained By Prayer Abraham when hee was farre stricken in yeares and the wombe of his wife Sarah was now dead obtained a sonne of God even Isaackâ— By Prayer Iacob escaped the fury and danger of his brother Esau. By Prayer the children of Israell were delivered from their cruell servitude and bondage in Egypt By Prayer Moses stood in the gap pacified the wrath of God that he destroyed not his people By Prayer and the lifting vp of his hands the same Moses overthrew the host of the Amalekites By Prayer Iosua stopped the course of the Sunne and God was obedient vnto the voice of a man By Prayer Sampson revenged himselfe vpon his enimies and ruined the house of Dagon vpon the Philistines By Prayer Solomon obtained an incomparable measure of Wisdome from God By Prayer Hezekiah being at the point of death had fifteene yeares more added to his life By Prayer Daniell stopped the mouths of Lions the three children quenched the fiery fornace that not a haire of their head perished Ionas was discharged out of the whales bellie and the prison gates opened of their owne accord to enlarge St Peter It is a Panchreston available for all things It cureth diseases dispossesseth divils it sanctifieth the Creatures vnto vs vnlocketh the gates of heauen and procureth the coming of the Holy Ghost It is seasonable for all times fit for all places necessary to all persons without it no businesse whatsoeuer we vndertake can thriue or prosper It extendeth it selfe farre and wide to the benefit of all and in that regard excelleth Faith For the iust man shall liue not by anothers but by his owne faith and therefore we say I beleeue But Prayer is an act of Charity which seeketh not her owne but the good of others also and therefore wee pray Our Father Had not St Stephen prayed for his persecutors haply St Paul might still haue continued in his Pharisaisme And had it not beene for the continuall teares of holy Monica perhaps her sonne Augustine had perished in his Manicheisme Infinite are the brands that prayer hath pulled out of the fire vnspeakable the benefits it hath procured vnto others But what speake I of men It makeeth wondrously to the â—â—â—â—ing forth of Gods glory Could wee of our selues command all good wee would neuer become sutors for any thing but according to the counsell of Seneca fac te ipse faelicem wee would make our selues happy But by making our addresses vnto him we acknowledge our selues to bee Mendicos Dei Gods beggars every way insufficient in our selues and that we depend for all whatsoever either we are or haue vpon his alsufficiency alone which maketh so much to the advancement of Gods bounty and inexhaustible goodnesse as nothing can doe more you see beloued brethren how large a field I haue to expatiate in and how easie it is to overflow the bankes in the commendation of this holy exercise but that I remember how my Text limiteth me vnto the aboue named circumstances And therefore leauing this generality I come vnto them in particular The first circumstance is Quis the Orator who prayes Iesus These things spake Iesus and lifted vp his eyes That Iesus was very frequent in Prayer all the Evangelists with one consent testify Sometimes he went vp into a mountaine to pray sometimes he retires himselfe into a solitary place to pray sometimes he prayeth by himselfe alone at other times he takes some of his Disciples with him some times he spendeth whole nights together in Prayer when he was baptized he prayed and now that the time of his Passiâ—n is at hand he is carefull to prepare himselfe by making this heavenly Intercession to his Father In a word the whole course of his life seemeth to haue beene no other then a continuall practice of this duty This Duty I say for indeed so it was hee being a Priest and it being the office of a Priest to pray Wherefore hee that bestowed that Honor vpon him even then when hee annointed and consecrated him chargâ—â— him therewith Thou art my sonne saith he this day haue I begotten thee Aske of mee According to which Charge now being made a Priest after the order of Melchizedek In the dayes of his flesh he offered vp prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death And although he be now set at the right hand of his father crowned with glory and maiestie yet being a Priest for ever he never ceaseth in such sort as becometh
Yea to two Righteousnesse and true holinesse And if we will proportion them vnto the operations of the naturall life then first answerable vnto the Intellectuall life there is in the Vnderstanding a spiritual apprehension and knowledge of the things of God at least so farre forth as is necessary and in the Will a holy pursuit of that which is good and eschewing of that which is evill Secondly vnto the Sensitiue a wise direction of all the affections vpon the right obiect and a due moderation of them together with a sanctified vse of the senses as seeing hearing tasting and the rest and a right employment of all the members of the body no more to be the instruments of iniquitie vnto sinne but the weapons of righteousnesse vnto God Lastly vnto the Vegetatiue an earnest desire of nourishment by the Word and Sacraments and a continuall growing from grace to grace vntill we come to our full 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and consistence in Christ Iesus Wherevnto when we are once aspired then beginnes the life of Glory consisting in a glorious being glorious abilities and glorious operations Not that it is another life differing in substance from the life of grace but the same in an higher degree of perfection For Glory is no other then consummate and perfect Grace The excellencie whereof as yet we knowe not but this we knowe that when Christ shall appeare we shall be like vnto him for wee shall see him as hee is And of spirituall life what it is so much For the donation of this life power over all flesh perfect glorification were as my text insinuateth necessary vnto Christ. It is therefore of great consequence and imports vs farre more then our naturall life For that is but our Being this is our Wel being that is nothing but life this is a happy aud blessed life Some sonne of Belial perhaps will deny this esteeming it a sullen sad and miserable life What pleasures say they what delight therein And as for sorrowes besides those the spirituall man as man is subiect vnto as he is spirituall hee hath his proper and peculiar crosses For he is in continuall combate not with flesh and bloud but with Principalities and powers and the rulers of the darknesse of this world and spirituall wickednesses in heauenly places A traiterous Doeg also hee carries about within him ever plotting how to betray him As the two twins in Rebeccas wombe so in him the flesh and the spirit are continually warring one against another that oftentimes as she Why am I thus so he with much anguish cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death In a word the feares and horrors and inward perplexities of conscience which times he feeles are intolerable and outwardly he is scorned despised persecuted and troden vnder foot of all So that if it be a life it is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a liuelesse life or as it is said of the bow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it may â—eare the name of life but in effect it is no other then death But all this notwithstanding I affirme that this spiritual life is of all other the most comfortable blessed For true blessednesse standeth in two things a freedome from the true evill and a possession of the true good The true evill is sinne because it is opposite vnto the nature will of God who is the cheefest good and therefore is iustly attended with another evill which is Gods wrath and eternall damnation Now the naturall maÌ„ that liueth not this spirituall life lieth still in sinne and is liable vnto the wofull consequences thereof and therefore in the mids of all their pleasures must needs be most miserable But the spirituall man no sooner receaues his new being and with it his new life but he receaues also pardon of all sinnes past peccata semel dimissa nunquam redeunt sins once pardoned never returne againe to iudgement It is true if afterward he sinne againe as who sinneth not hee incurreth the wrath of God and deserueth condemnation Yet vpon a new act of faith and repentance wherein God out of his meere grace never fayleth him he receaveth actuall pardon for them also So that to them that are in Christ Iesus and liue not after the flesh but after the spirit there is no condemnation at all Yea blessed are they saith David because their iniquitie is forgiuen and their sinne couered Now sinne being remoued which onely seperateth betweene God and man the spirituall man is restored againe into the grace and fauour of God wherein standeth the true good This David saw and therefore said Many say vnto me who will shew vs any good But Lord lift thou vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs. And because vnto the complement of true blessednesse knowledge thereof is necessary for according to the old Senarie Non est beatus esse se qui nesciat hee is not happy who knowes not himselfe to be happy therefore hath it pleased God to giue him the earnest of the spirit by which they may and doe knowe what things God hath vouchsafed to giue them Whence issueth and proceedeth first a contentment with our present state bee it neuer so meane For being possessed of the true good the want of these temporall goods cannot much affect vs. Secondly Christian courage both actiue and passiue to adventure vpon and vndergoe any thing rather then to forgoe the good we are possessed of Thirdly tranquillity and peace of minde even in life and death For knowing that being iustified from our sinnes by Faith wee haue peace with God through Iesus Christ our Lord how can wee bee without that peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding Lastly hope that maketh not ashamed For out of the experience of the present favours of God we gather assurance that we shall not fayle of those eternall ioyes promised vs in heauen The expectation whereof sweetens vnto vs even the bitterest sorrowes of this present life replenisheth our soules with vnspeakable comforts So that howsoeuer carnall and worldly men deeme of it the spirituall life is the most cheerefull and blessed life and a very heaven vpon earth Out of this definition of spirituall life wee may learne first that as by the operations of naturall life wee easily discerne who liues it so may wee as easily by spirituall actions iudge who liues the spirituall life By their fruits saith our Saviour yee shall know them Doth any man heare see talke walke argue and the like hee liues Lies he senslesse without breath or motion he is dead In like manner he whose workes are only carnall and sinfull or at the best but ciuill and morall is though aliue vnto sin yet spiritually dead Were he spiritually aliue hee would proceed further to the acting of holy and spirituall operations Which wheresoeuer they be truly and sincerely acted
yea St Steven generally vpbraids them yee stiffe-necked and vncircumcised in heart and eares yee doe alwaies resist the holy Ghost as your Fathers did so doe yee All these Scriptures evidently demonstrate that the cause of not coÌ„ming after Christ is not for that Christ forceth man from him but because man himselfe refuseth to come Let the blame thereforely where it ought on man and not on God let God be true but every man a lyar as it is written that thou maist be iustified in thy sayings and overcome when thou art iudged As Christ forceth no man from him so neither doth he force any to come after him If any will let him God offereth violence to no mans will for though he hate evill loue good yet neither doth he violently draw the will from the one nor constraine it vnto the other Good is not good if it be done of compulsion and not willingly Hee that doth good by constraint would not doe it and â—o doth ill and God shall shew great mercy vpon him if he doe not punish him For the sacrifices which God accepteth are free will offerings it is the cheerefull giuer whom he approueth Hence is it that God requireth our election and choice and election importeth liberty I call heauen earth to record this day against you saith Moses that I haue set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore chuse life And Ioshua chuse you this day whom you will serue whether the Gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood or the Gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell In a word all the exhortations commandements promises and threatnings vsed in Scripture plainely argue that it is Gods will that what we doe wee should doe willingly Here happily some will say what are you fled into the enimies campe are you also become a Proctor for free will God forbid Our comming after Christ I ascribe not with Papists vnto the freedome of our owne will but vnto the free grace of God for I confesse that if he prevent vs not with grace we cannot will and being prevented if he pursue vs not with his grace wee shall will in vaine according to that of Saint Paul It is God which worketh in you to will and to doe of his good pleasure If it be so will you yet say why doth our Saviour Christ vse this forme of words if any will let him and doe you not overthrow all what hitherto you haue said affirming that we can neither will nor doe vnlesse by grace we be elevated aboue nature Herevnto to expresse my selfe more fully I answere foure things First if wee were such as we ought to be we might of our selues by the meanes offered vnto vs come vnto Christ. That now wee cannot is through our owne default who haue disabled our selues And yet the obligation still lieth vpon vs and wee are bound to bring with vs power abilility and fit dispositions If wee neither doe nor can yet may God iustly exact them of vs as the Creditor may his debt of the vnthrift that cannot pay him neither is he bound againe to enable him by grace no more then a Creditor is to supply the wants of his wastfull and prodigall debter Secondly although in things supernaturall and spirituall the act of Willing be not in our power yet are there many prerequisites going before which are in our power as to goe to Church to heare Gods word preached to meditate vpon it to seeke further information c. without which ordinarily God saueth none God blesseth not our idlenesse but our labour he that will not labour shall not eate he shall eat that seeketh his bread in the sweat of his browes He that will not plow nor sow shall not reap the crop and he that will not striue and endeauour himselfe shall not obtaine grace Thirdly if a man hauing the meanes of grace offered him shall therevnto adde his owne endeavour and doe whatsoeuer lieth in his owne power who knoweth but that God will bee gracious to that man Or rather to declare my mind freely I doubt not but that God will be gracious vnto him And although others wrench and stretch the place too farre for their owne advantage yet will I not bee afraid with as graue Divines as this land affordeth any to apply it vnto this purpose Habenti dabitur to him that hath shall be giuen God forsaketh not man vntill man forsaketh him neither fayles any vntill hee bee defectiue vnto himselfe Then indeed the talent which he would not imploy shal be taken from him but he that imploies it carefully shall receaue more yea shall haue abundance Being thus called and affected God will never cease to further our conversion vnlesse wee our selues stop his course either by carelesse neglect or wilfull rejection of grace Lastly when we haue done whatsoeuer we can doe yet is conversion out of our power it is the work of Gods free grace which grace of vnwilling maketh vs willing not by forcing and constraining the will but sweetly inclining and bending it For albeit God in converting vs bee said to draw vs yet may we not conceaue this Drawing to be constraint or violent coaction Hee drawes vs indeed what as stocks and stones No but as men I will draw them saith God with the cords of a man with the bands of loue Grace so prevaileth vpon the will as it preserueth the libertie thereof It cannot will before Grace grace maketh it willing When we are first converted by grace we convert willingly and whensoeuer we will wee will freely For will is not will vnlesse it be free Grace indeed setteth free the will yet except wee will our conversion freely we can neither be converted nor saued according that of Bernard Nisi sit liberum arbitrium non est quod saluetur nisi sit gratia non est vnde saluetur vnlesse there be free will there is nothing to be saued vnlesse there be grace there is no meanes whereby to bee saued And thus much haue I thought good to speake touching the forme of words or the liberty of them that are counselled partly to cleare God from being the cause why wee follow not this counsell and partly to set an edge vpon our endeauour to follow it The Counsell it selfe is threefold first abnegation of our selues secondly bearing of the crosse thirdly following of Christ. And of every of them there is a conditionall necessity if we will come after Christ. For howsoeuer simply we may chuse whether we will deny our selues or not deny our selues take vp the crosse or not take vp the crosse follow Christ or not follow him yet conditionally if wee will come after Christ we must of necessity deny our selues take vp our crosse daily and follow him So that in euery of these Counsels we are to consider first the Substance and then the Necessity
Ierusalem behold now and knowe and inquire in the open places thereof if yee can finde a man or if there bee any that executeth judgement and seeketh the truth and I will spare it According wherevnto as it is recorded by S. Luke all those that sailed with S. Paul being in number two hundred seaventy and six soules were giuen vnto him that not one of them in that exceeding dangerous tempest lost so much as a haire from his head When Augustus the Emperour had conquered Mark Antonie and taken the Citie of Alexandria and the Citizens looked for nothing but extremitie the Emperour in the hearing of them all freely pardoned them for Arius sake a Philosopher of that Citie one whom he honoured much for his learning and loved for his vertue If the heathen who knowe not God can for one friends sake remit the offences of many shall not God doe much more for their sakes whom he calleth and counteth his friends Certainely hee will Egypt shall fare the better for Ioseph and the very remembrance of Abraham Isaac and Iacob shall moue God to persist in doing good to their rebellious posterity The charity of the Saints towards the wicked is very great and the praiers they make vnto God for them are many and so available are they that by them oftentimes the arme of God is held from striking them oftentimes his hand is opened to blesse them And thus sometimes God prospereth evill men for a few good mens sakes that liue among them Sometimes againe hee dealeth otherwise with these mixt companies and when he punisheth a wicked nation nor will be perswaded to spare them hee preserueth the godly that they tast not of the common calamitie For sometime he preventeth them by death and taketh them into his rest before the misery come Thus all the Fathers died before the floud came vpon the world and good Iosiah according to the prediction of Huldah the prophetesse was gathered to his fathers and laid in his graue in peace that his eyes might not behold all the evill which God resolued to bring vpon his kingdome For as it is in the booke of Wisdome Because the Lord loueth the soule of the righteous therefore he hastneth to take them away from the wicked and the righteous that is dead condemneth the vniust man that is liuing for God will shake his foundations and lay him vtterly wast they shall be in sorrow and their memoriall perish So that as it is a great signe that God intends to continue his mercies to a nation while as good men remaine among them according to that of old Althes in the Poet Non tamen omnino Teucros delâ—re paratis Cum tales animos iuvenum tam certa tulistis Pectora I see God hath not determined vtterly to destroy the Troians seeing such valiant hearts and braue spirits still rise vp among them so is it as great a token of imminent destruction when the good are taken away and as the Psalmist speaketh their signes are no longer to be seene among them Now as sometimes hee preventeth the righteous by death that they partake not in the punishment of the wicked so sometimes hee prolongeth their life to see it but withall sendeth them strange and miraculous deliverance that they feele it not Thus was Noah delivered by an Arke when all the rest of the world were drowned Lot and his family by a gard of Angells when Sodom and the neighbour Citties were consumed Israel by a speciall protection when the Egyptians were many waies plagued Rahab by a cord of red thred when all the rest of the soule in Ierico were put to the sword the Christians by oracle at Pella in the generall vastity and desolation of Iudea So that God knoweth well how to separate betweene the pretious and the vile and in the greatest perplexities if he please can find an issue and enlargement for all such as he loueth Howbeit almighty God doth not alwaies thus deliuer his Saints but sometimes involueth both good and bad in the same calamity And even as the evill because they are mingled with the good partake with them of temporall benefits as the shining of the Sun the showres of raine so the good also because they are mingled with the evill partake with them in temporall afflictions Aliquid mali propter vicinum malum the neighbourhood of evill cannot but worke them some evill Both good and bad are one common flesh common flesh as Cyprian saith is subiect to the same common inconveniences and ever will be vntill corruption be swallowed vp of incorruption Hence is it that in the time of famine or pestilence there is a common mortality in hostile impressions and conquests a common captivity in shipwracke at sea a common drowning If then the Sodomites loose the day and bee made prisoners vnto Chedor-laomer so is Lot also if Nebuchadnezzar King of Babilon lead away the Iewes into captivity Daniel and Ezechiell and the three children are lead away also If Totilas overflow Europe with his barbarous troopes Christians are not freer then Gentiles Behold saith the Lord by the prophet Ezechiell I come against thee and will draw my sword out of his sheath and cut off from thee both the righteous and the wicked Also by Saint Iohn he straitly chargeth his people to depart out of Babylon least they be partakers in her plagues Nay if one Achan only trespasse in the execrable thing hee alone perisheth not but wrath falleth on the whole congregation which the heathen poet also obseruing said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many times a whole citty smarts for the offence of one But this specially if any publike man commit some notorious wickednesse for as when the head akes or is distempered the arme vaine many times is opened so for the offence of Kings and Princes the people oftentimes are punished as appeares in Davids case for whose sinne in numbering the people seaventy thousand of his subiects perished That all these were wicked men and that none of them feared God it is both vnreasonable and vncharitable to imagine and therefore not doubting but that good and bad pell mell were cut off in that pestilence I conclude this point with that aphorisme of the Rabbins When once the sentence of punishment is pronounced and resolued by God and power is given to the destroyer to execute the same he from thence respecteth the person of no man nor putteth difference betweene the iust and the vniust And thus yee see how diversly God dealeth with these mixt societies let vs before we proceed vnto the next point make some vse of what hath beene deliuered First then doe the wicked fare the better for the godly that liue among them and are their prosperities and deliverances to bee imputed vnto them Oh then the extreame folly Oh the monstrous ingratitude of wicked men folly in imputing all the crosses and
Christian ingenuity to acknowledge your errour herein that God may bee justified in all his sayings and cleare when he is judged N. N. Againe its possible we wish it were not common that malice ignorance or bribes corrupt the Swearers sometimes so that we see it directly many times that in an Oth or by the Oth of an vngodly person great sinne and great wrong is committed But now in the Lot mans wit will are so curbed the whole disposition of it being of God it being Gods only pure act without any commixtion of any power will skill or motion of any creature I say man is so curb'd that the most wicked and the most ignorant must needs say that it is of God The very heathen that did vilifie Gods Providence and erected Fortune insteed of it they made a Goddesse of Fortune being forced of their owne Conscience to confesse that there was a Divine thing in every Chance they met withall DEFENCE By an Oth say you great sin and great wrong is committed but never by a Lot Ergo a Lot excells an Oth. I deny the consequence and affirme that the contrary Conclusion would follow much better Ergo an Oth excels a Lot For it is certaine that the higher degree of perfection a thing naturally holdeth the more dangerous is the corruption thereof when it degenerateth as for example Wine the more generous it is when it waxeth eager it turneth into the sharper vineger Were not Angels in their primitiue state more noble and excellent then man and Man againe then the brute creature Yet Man when hee sinned grew thereby more detestable and mischeevous then the brute creature and Angels againe then man Is not Divinitie Architectonicall and soueraigne mistresse of all other Sciences Yet being perverted and abused no other can doe the like mischiefe In like manner the Oth of an vngodly person may worke more villanie and wickednesse then a Lot can yet is it not therefore inferiour to it in the right vse thereof but rather superiour But what is a Lot so priuiledged that there is no place for corruption therein Whence commeth it then that the Dutch by way of Proverb vse to say In Lotterie is Boverie that is to say couznage and knauerie And that all Historians report of so much jugling and false play vsed in them Those Lycian Delian Praenestine Antiatine Lots and those of â—ura in Achaia and of Elis and sundry others were they not all Magicall and of Satans invention And being so doe you thinke that the Divell neuer plaid the Divell by them If every Lot bee as you say Gods pure act without any commixtion of any power will skill or motion of any Creature why are not these esteemed the Oracles of God And why doe all Divines both ancient and moderne ever in their writings call them the Oracles of the Divell But how proue you that Lottery is Gods pure act Forsooth it is enough for you to say it and then what man so wicked or ignorant that dare gainsay it Marry sir many a one neither wicked nor ignorant but farre more learned religious then your selfe Neither will they be of other minde vntill you convince theÌ„ with stronger arguments then confident asseveration For I assure you you haue not yet gotten such authority among wise and vnderstanding men that all your words should passe for Oracles How often haue you now affirmed that God worketh immediatly in every Lot yet hetherto haue you never gone about to proue it as you ought to doe it being the maine foundation of all your building That the Gentiles in deifying of Fortune acknowledged a Divine thing in every Chance is but your own private Mythologie You might as well say they found I knowe not what divine thing in the hinges of a dore in the every in lechery and bawdery and the like when they canonized for Gods and Goddesses Carna and Laverna and Cotytto and Priapus and others of that stampe more then a good many Assuredly whosoeuer seekes or hopes to finde divine things in all the Idolatry of the Heathen either knowes not or remembers not how much God in his iust iudgement infatuated them that when they thought themselues most wise they proued the starkest fooles doing things cleane contrary not only to the rules of Divinity but of right reason also For when they abused the very light of reason to the dishonour of God hee blew out the candle as it were and cast vpon their vnderstanding such a palpable darknesse as they neither knewe or whether they went or what they did Had they beene wise and acknowledge a Providence they would never haue consecrated Fortune for a Goddesse Even the heathen Poet witnesseth as much where he saith Nullum numen abest si sitprudentia sed te nos facimus Fortuna Deam as if he should say It is our ignorance and folly that maketh Fortune a Goddesse for were wee as wise and vertuous as wee ought to be wee would never acknowledge any Deity or divine power at all to bee in her N. N. Againe it excels an Oath in this particular God would not haue one oath or one mans oath to put any man to death there must be two swear But the Lot once cast must determine it There never was an order from God nor a practise amongst Gods people to cast the Lot twice for the determination of the most weightiest matters that ever were either of life or of lands or of office DEFENCE The life of man indeed is in all law Divine Naturall Civill of so pretious account that it will by no meanes hazard it vpon the bare testimony of one man Hence the proverbe vnus testis nullus testis one witnesse is as good as none For one man may easily be mistaken not so many and therefore in ore duorum aut trium testium in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word bee established But what Can a Lot once cast determine it and suffice to put a man to death It cannot if you meane an Ordinary lot no not though it were cast ten thousand times And where is the state I pray you in wich capitall questions are divided by Lot No where I thinke vnlesse happily in Vtopia For seeing God hath not promised it neither doe men beleeue that such a Lot can discover the truth If you vnderstand an Extraordinary Lot I confesse it is sufficient but you dispute not to the purpose for they are now out of vse and to argue from Extraordinary vnto Ordinary is very ridiculous You adde there never was an order from God nor practice amongst Gods people to cast the lot twice What of that Ergo the lot may not be cast twice about one thing It is no difficult matter to alleadge many examples wherein the first fall of the Lot hath beene controled not by a second casting only but by suffrages also But you will say you finde them not in Scripture I
enough to be numbred among the ancient Fathers In regard whereof as also because of those many shamefull errors and fabulous narrations every where appearing in his writings hee is one of little or no authority in the Church of God He was the first that removed the bounds of the ancient Doctors in this matter bringing in sundry new strange terms never heard of in former times the misvnderstanding of which by little and little prepared a way to that deformed monster of Transubstantiation Neverthelesse it is certaine that howsoever many of his speeches may seeme harsh and inconvenient and great advantage hath beene taken of them that way yet himselfe was cleane of another mind Let vs therefore heare what hee saith It is made saith hee by the Holy Ghost even as our Lord made for himselfe a body out of the Virgin mother If so then is it not made by Transubstantiation for Christ assuming a body turned not his Deity into it Yet was the worke of the Holy Ghost necessary for he alone is able to sanctify the Naturall element and to invest them with Supernaturall graces The same saith he of Baptisme He hath ioyned the Grace of the Holy Ghost to oile and water and hath made it the washing of Regeneration And Leo yet more fully vsing the selfe-same comparison Christ gave vnto water that which he gaue vnto his mother for the power of the most high and over shaddowing of the holy Ghost which made that Mary brought forth the Saviour hath made water to regenerate the beleeuer Whereby you see that the same power of Gods Spirit by which the blessed Virgin conceived may be emploied in a Sacrament without that change and conversion that you imagine of And that Damascen though hee aknowledged a change of the Bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ yet was not acquainted with your change may appeare by these words Because it is the manner of men to eat bread and to drinke wine with water he hath conioyned his divinity with them and made them his body and blood that by vsuall things and which are according to nature we might be setled in these things that are aboue nature Here you see hee conioyneth the Divinity with bread and wine Now coniunction is only of those things that are and haue a being Bread and Wine therefore still are If they be then are they not abolished And if they be not abolished then is Transubstantiation gone Adde herevnto that Accidents without Substance are not Vsuall things nor according to Nature and therefore not they but true bread and true Wine are the things which in Damascens judgement raise vs vp to those things that are aboue Nature But of him enough N. N. The perishing meat and pleasures of this world please me not I long for Gods Bread the heauenly Bread the bread of life which thing is the flesh of Christ the Sonne of God I. D. That Ignatius wrote an Epistle to the Romans both Eusebius and Hierom testify and that this which now passeth vnder that title may be the right Epistle I deny not Howbeit it is confessed of all that those Epistles which are granted to be his are not come vnto our hands perfect For some passages are cited out of them by some of the ancients as Hierom Theodoret and others which now are not found in them and some are manifestly corrupted and depraved as appeareth So that if Baronius and Bellarmine might challenge them of corruption in those places which make for Saint Pauls marriage and against halfe Communions I hope I haue as much liberty to challenge the place by you alleaged if it made any thing against vs. But it needs not for Ignatius speaketh not there of the Sacrament and therefore it maketh nothing to the purpose Neither doth it follow The bread is flesh Ergo by Transubstantiation N. N. We ought so to communicate with our Lords table that wee doubt nothing of the verity of his Body and Bloud seeing he said Except yee eat the Flesh of the Son of man c. I. D. Leo disputeth in this place against the Eutychians who denied the truth of Christs body and thus he argueth The Eucharist is a symboll of the body of Christ Ergo Christ hath a true body and whosoever will rightly communicate must nothing doubt thereof So reasoneth also Theodoret. For Orthodoxus demanding whether Bread and Wine were Symbols of the true body blood of Christ or no and being answered yea he thus concludes If the divine mysteries be samplars of the true body then the body of the Lord is now also true and not changed into the nature of the Divinity Hence may you see the weaknesse of your Argument Communicants may not doubt that Christ hath a true body or if you will that the true body of Christ is in the Eucharist Ergo bread is transubstantiated into body Ridiculous N. N. As therefore our Baptisme is made by reall washing with water and reall renewing of the Holy Ghost so now in the Supper of Christ it behooueth wee bee really fed with the fruit of the tree of life which is none other thing besides the flesh of Christ. I. D. If we yeelded Euthymius vnto you the matter were not great For he liued vpward of eleven hundred yeares after Christ and your owne Chronologers place him after Gratian and Peter Lombard Yet what saith hee It behooueth that in the supper wee be really fed with the flesh of Christ. Really fed Who doubteth of it But you are to know that Reall doth not necessarily import your Carnall manner For Spirituall is also Reall vnlesse you will say a spirit is no thing N. N. It is a remembrance of Christs death by the presence of the body which died It is the Body and Bloud of Christ covered from our eyes revealed to our Faith feeding presently our body and soule to everlasting life I. D. This Nicephorus also liued eleauen hundred yeares after Christ and therefore is none of the Fathers nor of any great authority Neither doth that which hee saith conclude your purpose For Christs Body may bee and is present Sacramentally and to our faith and presently feed both soules and bodies to everlasting life and yet Bread and Wine remaine still in the Sacrament Else where hee calleth the outward Elements symbolls and signes of the Passion of Christ. If symbolls and signes then not the Body it selfe N. N. They receiue not the fruit of Saluation in the eating of the healthfull sacrifice They eat the healthfull Sacrifice which surely is nothing else but the naturall body of Christ but the frute they receiue not As many men take an healthfull medicine but because their bodies bee evill affected it proueth not healthfull to them I. D. Thus you reason The healthfull Sacrifice is the naturall body of Christ Ergo Bread by Transubstantiation is made the body of Christ. How