sins being thereto caried by the force of tēptation as in a great tempest by a mightie gale of winde before they could be thinke themselues what they were about to doe or what would be the issue of it Whereof it commeth that this decrease of holinesse staying it selfe in one or a few actions doth not necessarily argue any inward want of the contrarie grace or anie inward decrease of holinesse either going before or following after because a man may fall into it as of a sudden before he be aware and immediatly recouer his former station by true and vnfained repentance As we are not to iudg either Dauid voide of continencie for that adulterie committed with Berseba or Peter to haue wanted faith because he did at one time renounce the faith or Noah to haue beene an intemperate person because he was once drunke no more then we are to thinke him a weake man who stumbleth by chaunce at a blocke lying in his way and yet doth streight way saue himselfe from falling Yea sudden sinne may be with greater graces then they haue who are free from the aforesaide sinnes of Noah Lot Dauid Peter being farre inferior in holinesse to them Yet it is the dutie of all who professe themselues the seruāts of God to labour by all meanes to keepe themselues pure and free as from the least and most secret sin so especially from open grosse sins and that for these causes First because by them they dishonour God his religion worshippe and name opening the mouthes of Atheistes and infidels to blaspheme his holy name the which thing ought to be more grieuous and bitter vnto them then a thousand deathes and torments Secondly they prouoke God to lay some fearefull punishment vppon them who howsoeuer he suffereth the reprobate ones to goe on all their life time in sinne yet he neuer suffereth any notorious sinne of his seruantes to goe vnpunished Thirdly they wound their owne consciences by a feareful expectation of Gods heauie iudgmentes they grieue the holy spirite against whose will they commite that sinne they offend their brethren shewing themselues to be if not wholly destitute of that speciall grace wherewith they shoulde haue bene restrained from sinne yet but weake Christians in that respect as we may be bold to iudge that the faith of Peter the continency of Dauid the temperaunce of Noah were at the time of their falles but weake howsoeuer they were endued with a great measure of other graces Lastly one hainous sin is to be auoyded because vsually it draweth moe after it for when as a man hath once taken a tast of sinne and felt the sensuall sweetnes of it he is farre more easely drawen to it then he was before and so he goeth frō the first degree of the decrease of holynes to the second namely to an habit of some one sin or the want of some particular grace the which appeareth by the often committing and iterating of the same sinne yea after that the faithfull man hath often by repentaunce laboured to purge himselfe from that sinne and by prayer to obtaine the contrarie grace at the handes of God This decrease also hath somtimes place in a man truely regenerate especially in that kinde of sinne whereunto he is either by the naturall constitution of his body and minde or an euill custome gotten before his conuersion naturally enclined whether it be pride anger couetousnesse or any other sinne But as it is farre more grieuous then the first degree so it is with greater care to be avoyded for it doubleth and tripleth the wrath and heauy iudgementes of God the offence of the godly the reproach of the gospell the dishonour of God and the corsiue of a gnawing conscience and Lastly it maketh a ready way for higher degrees of decrease to wit the habites of diuers sinnes the want of many particular graces and so to the highest and most fearefull degree which is a generall decrease of holynesse which is nowe briefly to be declared Where first we are to put a difference betwixt a generall and a totall decrease A generall decrease is when all the partes of renewed holynesse and of spirituall graces receaued are diminished but a totall decrease is an vtter decay of holinesse as whereby nothing is left This can not happen to any one who is truely regenerate who in the greatest extremitie and depth of his fall retaineth some reliques of Gods spirite and of grace receaued yea somelife of faith whereby he liueth to God in christ howsoeuer he be to the eyes of all men and euen in his owne coscience a deade rotten stocke Euen as we know that the trees haue heate and life in their rootes in the middest of the coldest and sharpest winter yea as many beastes ly all the winter long in holes of the earth without eating drinking stirring or hauing any iotte of heate sense or life in any of their outwarde partes and yet there is a remnant of life and of heat lurking in the hearte which being in sommer stirred vppe doth reuine the beast so that it is able to go or runne vp and downe and to performe all naturall actions in the same manner as it did before This Christ doth plainely teache Ioh. 4. 14. saying Whosoeuer drinketh of the water which I shall giue him that is whosoeuer beleeueth in me as it is expounded Iohn 7. 38 shall neuer be more a thirst but the water that I will giue him shall be in him a well of water springing vp into euerlasting life and 1 Ioh. 3. 9. Whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not totally for the seed of God remaineth in him and therefore he can not fall cleane away from God because he is borne of God yet a man regenerate may decrease not onely in one in a fewe or in many graces but also generally in all spirituall graces This decrease of renewed holynesse is of two kindes for as of bodilie diseases some begin at the hart which is the roote and fountaine of life in the body and so spreade themselues ouer all the members of the body others haue their beginning in some outwarde and inferiour partes and pierce in till that they come to the hearte so of these generall decreases of holynesse which are as grieuous diseases of the soule some begin at faith which is the roote and fountaine of spirituall life and so hauing stopt the fountaine doe easily drie vp the streames issuing from it others begin at the meaner and baser partes of sanctification and so first kill the fruite then the braunches and the body of the tree til at length they take hold of the roote it selfe Both these waies doth sathan vse to destroy this wounderfull worke of regeneration wrought in the faithfull by the spirite of God The first way is the nearest and readiest for if faith once faile all holinesse falleth to the grounde whereas faith may stand in some sorte although most of the
preachers of the glorie of God and so being admitted into the presence of God are there to beholde his glorie yet with this differēce that the Angels doe behold it more clearely in heauen and man more obscurely in earth Heerein consisteth the good estate of these creatures in that they are thus made partakers of the glorious presence of God and so ioyned to God For heereof it commeth that they are both happy and holy it being impossible that any thing which is ioyned to God who is happinesse and holinesse it selfe shoulde eyther lacke any good and pleasant thing or be any way polluted so that this coniunction of the reasonable creature with God wherein the excellency of this first estate consisteth is of two sortes the first may be called externall personall or locall whereby Angels and men enioying the presence of God are in place and after an outwarde manner ioyned to God this kinde of coniunction is perfect happinesse the other kinde is inwarde and spirituall when as the inwarde faculties of the creature as his minde and will doe wholly cleaue to God alone This kinde of coniunction is perfect holinesse and it is the meanes or the condition of the former coniunction for as soone as the creature ceaseth to be holie in the same moment it ceaseth to be happy and is straight way cast out of the presence of God So that the goodnesse of this first state consisteth in two things happinesse and holinesse from both which it hath the denomination from the first it is called the state of life for the scripture speaking to man speaketh after the manner of men vnto whome nothing is so acceptable as life because in it all pleasures are enioyned From the second it is called the state of innocencie because in it man stoode righteous and free from all guilt of sinne before God Sect. 2. Of the state of sin and death IN the next place we are to consider the seconde state of man as farre different from the first as is death from life sinne from innocencie darkenesse from light wretchednesse from happinesse vsually and fitly called the fall of mankinde Forvnto the absolute perfection o◠the aforesaid felicity this onely was wanting that it was mutable First of the causes authors and workers of this lamentable ruine secondly of the manner of it The actors in this tragedie are three God Sathan and Man all which haue a stroke in this action yet after a farre diuerse manner euen as their natures are diuerse For the first as the holy glorious and happy state of man so this sinful vile and miserable condition commeth from God yet not after the same sort for the good estate is properly directly immediately and wholly wrought by God but he doth onely suffer the euill state to be brought to passe by euill instruments yet this his permission is not idle but effectuall and working for God is not an idle looker on as if he had cast off the care of the world and of his creatures and left all at sixe and seauen as we vse to speake but hee hath a parte in this worke in that he did in his eternall counsell make an immutable decree of this fal of man and the meanes therof and that for the setting forth of his glorie which is the ende of all his decrees and actions whatsoeuer For howsoeuer it may seeme to derogate from the glorie of God that the reasonable creature beeing the fairest floure in his garden and the most excellent parte of his workmanshippe shoulde so soone be troden vnder foote and brought to nought yet in trueth GOD is greatly glorified by this meanes for hereby it appeareth first that God onely is constant eternall and the same for euer in that his most excellent creatures are so variable Rom. 3. 4. Let God be true and euerie man a lyar as it is written that thou mightest bee iustified in thy sayings and ouercome when thou art iudged For the which purpose the consideration of the shortnesse of the first state maketh very much for although it cannot be certainly defined howe long it continued yet this is agreed vpon by all that neither the Angels themselues nor yet man continued many daies in their innocency but fell away from God soone after that they were created Secondly the fall of these creatures doth shewe that God is iust in punishing sinne Thirdly it maketh a way for the state of saluation and so doth illustrate the mercy of God whereby he is most of all glorified yea the power wisedome trueth patience and in briefe the whole glory of God is by this meanes set forth and enlarged Thus much of the first actor The other two are the instruments whereby God bringeth his eternall counsell to passe and yet to all reason of man considering the whole storie of mans fall and the particulars thereof they are the onely agents the first authors and chiefe workers of this woefull state God hauing no hande or dealing in this matter but onely barely permitting them to doe what they list For the further declaration whereof it is needfull that wee make a narration of the particulars of this action and that by supposing GOD to speake to his reasonable creatures to witte Angelles and men in this manner You see howe that I haue made you the most excellent of all my creatures indueing you onely with a reasonable mind and will whereby you may knowe loue obey and honour me and so consequently enioy my presence wherein happinesse doth consist As long as you continue holy by obeying my worde so long shall you continue happie by enioying my presence But if at any time you doe by disobeying my commaundement loose this your holinesse you can no longer haue anie place in my presence or any fellowship with mee no more then darknesse and light can be together but shall incontinently be cast out of my sight and so become most wretched and miserable And therefore looke vnto your selues and to your owne estate beleeue these my promises and threatnings to be true content your selues with that state and degree wherein I haue placed you obey all my commaundements for the perfourmance whereof you are endued with all graces and faculties needfull so shal you be happie otherwise you shall die for euer In this most louing and fatherly counsell which God in the beginning gaue to his children being created after his owne similitude the reasonable creature resteth for some shorte time but afterward maketh this reply although not in word yet in minde and heart yea in deed and in outward action Wee hauing considered your wordes and our present state do see and find that neither the one is wholly true nor the other so happy as you doe make it we confesse that we are in betrer state then other creatures yet we cannot heerein rest for we see a higher degree of honour glory pleasure and happinesse yea a greater measure of knowledge whereof we knowe that
downe with a nette to entangle him man flyeth from sathans nett as from a most hurtfull thing in that he resisteth his temptations for a while But he commeth willingly to Gods baite yea not only vncalled but also flatly forbidden eateth of it greedely for he being once caught and entangled changeth his minde and will thinkeing that to be good and holsome which before he knewe to be hurtfull by al meanes to be auoided So that the fall of man came as hath been declared of the freedome or rather of the preuersnesse of his owne will according to the eternall decree purpose of God by the malitious instigation of sathan who hauing before fallen himselfe did vehemently desire the fall of man that for these reasons First for that he had now coÌ„ceaued a vehemeÌ„t desperate hatred of God hauing iustly for his sin cast him out of his presence the which before his fall he enioyed in heauen And for so much as he did easely see that his malice could not reach to God himselfe therfore he thought that the next way was to despite dishonor him in his creatures by defacing maÌ„ who only of al the creaturs in this world was made according to Gods owne image yea further to depriue god of al that glory ship that man should performe vnto him Secondly Sathan desired to effect the fall of man that so he might haue the more company both in his sinne and in his punishment He being thus affected towards Gods glorie and mans saluation ceased not till that by his faire promises and plausible pretenses he brought man out of the true paradise into a fooles paradise making him beleeue that the â—ransgression of Gods commaundement was the onely way for him to become a God and so he perswaded Eua in the forme of a serpent and Adam in the forme of Eua to eate of the forbidden fruite It is doubted how Adam being in the state of innocency and knowledge could be so palpably deceiued as to beleeue such a notorious lie especially seeing the Apostle saith that Adam was not deceiued but Eua. But he meaneth that Eua was first yea more easely and grosly deceiued for as her knowledge was lesse so we must thinke that her infidelitie was greater then was Adams who although he was made to distrust in part the word of God yet he was not nor could be so blinded by Eua as she was by the delusion of the diuell and therefore he sinned more of wilfulnesse then of blindnesse choosing rather to disobey God then to displease Eua by reiecting her importunate request and refusing to take such part as she tooke who being his wife yea his onely companion was no doubt a great pleasure ioy and delight vnto him Thus much of the fall of Adam which is the fall of all mankind For Adam being the father of al men did sustaine the publike person of mankind both in his innocencie and also in his fall in his happinesse and in his misery If it be asked why all mankind fell seeing not all but some of the Angels did fal wee answere that all men were in the very moment of the fall in Adams loynes and therefore did both stande and fall with him but the Angels doe not be get one another being all created immediately by God himselfe and therefore the sin of one Angell doth not take holde of another vnlesse that one by consenting to the sinne deuised by another doe make himselfe sinful as it was in the fal of the Angels wherin one or some few were the chief authors of this conspiracy the rest approued it took part with them as may be gathered by that distinction which is made of them one being made chiefe or head the rest his inferiours Mat. 25. 41. Goe ye into eternall fire prepared for the Diuell and his Angels Sect. 3. Of the state of regeneration and saluation THE third state followeth which is the recouering of the first state of life wherein man was created in the beginning For God in suffering man to fall did not purpose the finall ouerthrow and destruction of so excellent a creature but rather the illustration of his owne vnspeakable mercy and goodnesse towards man in pardoning his sinne and in restoring him to life This state we call the state of saluation for that man in it is not onely indued with life as he was before but also saued and deliuered from eternall death whereunto he fell by his sinne Yet not all mankind is restored to life but onely a fewe that it might appeare both how vnapt man is to do any good how vncapable of saluation he is made by sinne in that he cannot attaine vnto it no not now when as God hath appointed the meanes and the way of it and as it were setting heauen gates wide open doth offer saluation to all men and lastly that the iustice of God might be declared in punishing the reprobate for their sinne And yet the state of mankind is happy in respect of the Angels which fell for none of them are or shal euer be restored to their former state and that for these causes First and chiefly because their fall was so great as that it is impossible that they shoulde recouer their first estate the greatnesse of their fall commeth of that greate measure of knowledge light and grace wherewith they were endued and the which they did tread vnder their feete and despise for if they had fallen onely from some small measure of grace a greater measure would haue recouered them but they hauing alreadie reiected and made of no force so much grace as any meere creature is capable of haue no remedy left for their saluation And as they fell from the highest degree of grace so they fell into the lowest sinke of sinne euen to the highest degree of sinne that can be imagined which is a most desperate deadly cruell fierce contumelious shamelesse open professed wilfull and spitefull hatred against God and all goodnesse yea against all his creatures both good and euill This came of the exceeding great strength of their nature which being once let loose to sinne coulde not stay or rest but in the highest degre of it Like vnto this remedilesse fall of the wicked Angels is that sinne which is in the scripture called the sin against the holy Ghost when as one being endued with a great measure of grace doth fall into this fearefull and desperate hatred of God and of all goodnesse for as hee who falleth from a steepe and high rocke into a deepe pit or gulfe can not possibly escape death whereas one whose fall is lesse may haue hope of life so it is with these wicked Angels whose sinne we may truely call that vnpardonable sinne committed against the holy Ghost Further the sin of the Angels deserued more seuere punishment in that they were better able to resist it seeing the glory of God in heauen therefore
goodnesse of God decreeing mans saluation by this meanes this naturall propertie or qualitie to appropriate to a man Christ with his righteousnesse Lastly the first kind is easie to be had and attained vnto by supposition of perfect inherent holynesse it being agreeable to naturall reason yea there being some reliques of it in the gentils themselues who know good euil and also that the punishmeÌ„t of death is due to the one the reâ—ward of happines appointed for the other Bâ— Euangelicall fayth is supernaturall yea it contrarie to our naturall disposition and câ—â— not be attained vnto without the mighty â—â—peration of the spirite of God whereof herâ—â—after This wholle doctrine may be gathered into one summe or definition in this manner Euangelicall fayth is affiaunce in Gods promises propounding eternall saluation to all those who rely themselues wholly on the mercy of God in Christ. Or more briefly thus It is affiaunce in Christ for happines Or thus It is trust or confidence in Christ whereby his death and the righteousnesse arising thereof are appropriated to the beleeuer Nowe we are out of the seuerall parts of these definitions to search out more particularly the true nature of faith to what kynd or head it is to be referred whether it be a part of regeneration and sanctification or something diuerse from both these Secondlie what is the place and subiect of it whether the minde the wil or the affections Thirdly by what meanes it may be wrought and attained Fourthly by what signes and markes it may be knowen Fiftly whether it may be lost or no. Lastly howe it hath this force that it is of it selfe able to iustifie and to saue a man For the first Regeneration and sanctification or the newe creature or recreated holynesse or thus The newe man and holynesse signifie all one thing to wit regenerate sanctitie or in plaine English renewed holynesse so that faith if it be a part of the newe man it is a part of regeneration and of holynesse and contrariwise if it be a part of mans holinesse it is a part of regeneration of the newe man and of the newe creature That it is a part of mans holynesse we cannot doubt seeing it is a holy affection euen the affiaunce and confidence of the heart relying it selfe on God the which affection was also in Adam and therefore it is a part of regeneration and of the newe man For although there be great difference betwixt legal and euangelical faith as touching the meanes of saluation the which is in the one the iustice of God in the other his mercy yet both of them are to be referred to the same heade of mans holynesse Legall faith being a part of the created holynesse of man as Euangelicall faith is a part of his regenerated or recreated holynesse The truth hereof may easely be gathered out of the section written of faith in generall for Legall and Euangelicall faith agree in a common definition and in all those points which are there mentioned The which doth also shew vs what to thinke of the subiect of faith to wit that it is in the will of man being nothing but a holy affection of confidence trust or affiaunce If it be obiected that faith is vsually in the scripture called beleefe as infidelity is vnbeleife the which is an action not of the will but of the minde giuing assent or dissent to the worde of God we answere that beleife is put for faith or affiaunce because it doth alwayes not onely accompany it but also after a sorte beget it and is the cause of it For when as a man doth without doubting beleeue Gods promises being fully perswaded of the trueth of them he cannot choose but rely himselfe vpon them so that beleife although it cannot be separated from faith yet it may and ought to be distinguished from it If it be obiected that Euangelicall fayth cannot be made a parte of mans holynesse seeing it is not commaunded in the morall law we answere that it is commaunded in the morall law as the other kind is in that it is all one in substance with naturall faith both kindes being affiaunce in God for happinesse to be attained by the meanes of perfect holynesse and therefore both kindes are commanded in the first coÌ„maundement Iehoua shall be thy God the which law doth enioyne that all the affections of man to wit his loue feare hope reuerence and with the rest his whole affiaunce or confidence be set whollie oâ— God as well after his fall to be saued by the mercy of God in Christ as in the state of innocencie to be saued by his owne righteousnesse Yea this first precept commaundeth al men to beleeue God in his word as wel in his Gospell as in his lawe and therefore whosoeuer doth not knowe beleeue and imbrace the Gospell he doth transgresse this first commandement In the third place we are to coÌ„sider that the meanes of attaining faith is to get the knowledge of the worde of God first of the lawe which shewing sinne death and damnation doth bruse and wound the harte and secondly of the gospell which teaching faith righteousnesse saluation healeth the aforesaide woundes and comforteth the sinner with pardon of his sinne and hope of eternall life This knowledge must of necessitie goe before faith for the minde of a man must be inlightned to see the trueth before the hart and affections can loue and embrace it The meanes which God doth ordinarilie vse in bringing men to knowe his wil is the publick ministery of the word performed by men indued with spirituall gifts fit for this purpose yet as hath bene said of regeneration so we are to thinke of faith all other spirituall graces that they come not by vertue of the meanes but by the power and worke of Gods spirit without the which it is impossible that any man shoulde vnderstand beleeue and imbrace the doctrine of the Gospell But howe commeth it to passe that man being a reasonable creature indued with an vnderstanding soule whereby he is able not onely to conceiue any thing that is taught but also him selfe to inuent new things not heard of before shoulde be so brutishe and blockish in learning the worde of God We answere that this commeth of the nature of the doctrine of the gospell the which being contrary to mans reason cannot be conceaued by it Yea as soone as it is hard it is straight way reiected as absurde ridiculous and foolishe so we reade 1. Cor. 2. 14. The naturall man perceiueth not the things of GOD for they seeme foolishnesse vnto him neither can he perceiue them because they are spiritually discerned Thus to make instance in one point of this doctrine to wit in the resurrection from death we see Act. 17. 32. that when the wise philosophers and men of Athens harde Paul mention it they mocked him And so we are to thinke of the cheife pointes of 〈◊〉 religion For
of God for if man were accounted righteous for his holinesse or loue he might impute his saluation to his owne desert for perfect loue deserueth loue and holinesse will chalenge life as of due debt But affiance implieth a humble loyall and duetifull subiection acknowledging the vnworthines basenesse insufficiency and weakenesse of man and together the mercy goodnesse loue fauour bounty trueth and power of God This reason is vsed for this purpose Ro. 3. 27. what law or meanes of saluation doth take away all boasting from man and so giueth all the glory of our saluation to God not the law of workes or inherent holinesse but the law of faith yea of all the graces which are in man faith onely hath in it this naturall property to make a man partaker of Christes death and righteousnes and so of saluation For euen as a tennant inioyeth his house and landes not for that he loueth or feareth his lord or for any vertue wherwith he is indued but only because he doth depeÌ„d on his Lord and so doth purchase vnto him worship and honour by relying himselfe wholly vpon his loue fauor liberality constancy ability riches so standeth the case with man in respect of his saluation For no grace saue onely this affiance on God and on his mercy in Christ can conuey vnto vs remission of sinnes and eternall life In the which respect it is commonly said in holy scripture that faith doth iustifie not as it is a parte of mans holinesse whereof no one part no not all the partes of it if any one be wanting will serue to make a man righteous before God but as it hath in it this proper vertue to make the death of Christ the death of the beleeuer so the righteousnes arising of the said death the righteousnes of the beleuer For he that hath suffered death is iustisied from sin Thus much of the obiect nature attributes of euangelical faith It remaineth that before we proceed to the rest of the partes of mans holines we should declare the relatioÌ„ which is betwixt faith them It hath bene said of faith in general that it is as it were the root froÌ„ the which other graces do spring in that it tieth vs to God the fountain of al graces as to the only giuer of all happines the which thing is true of this euangelicall faith after a special manner For in that it ioineth vs to Christ it maketh vs partakers of the spirit of Christ or rather causeth an increase of all spirituall graces For regeneratioÌ„ is although not in time yet in nature before faith Therefore this faith is made the subiect of the spirituall life of the new man euen as the hart is in the body the fountaine of heat Gal. 2. 20. I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in me in that I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the sonne of God who hath loued me and giuen his life for me And Act. 15. 9. Peter saith that God did purifie the hartes of the gentils that is as it is expounded verse 8. worke sanctification in them by faith In the which respect it is compared to the foundation of a house where vpon the whole buylding standeth and to the roote of a tree which giueth heate sappe and life to all the partes of it Coll. 1. 23. If ye continue founded and established in fayth and to a fountaine of liuing water Ioh. 7. 38. He that beleeueth in me out of his bellie shall flow riuers of the water of life And therfore it is put before all other graces 2. Pet. 1. 5. Ioyne to your fayth vertue and to your vertue knowledge temperance patience godlynes brotherly loue and kyndnes Hence it is that it is vsually distinguished from the rest of the partes of sanctification they being called by the name of loue or of the holy ghost 1 Tâ—ess 3. 6. Tymothie hath brought vs tydinges of your fayth and loue So it is saide Act. 6. 5. That Stephen was a man full of fayth and of the holy spirit not that faith it selfe is not a worke of the holy spirite and a parte of the spirituall holynesse of man but because it is the first worke of Gods spirite and the foundation of mans holinesse and saluation who must be by fayth freed from sinne and death before he can be endued with positiue holynesse and life Thus the Apostle doth often exhorte vs to fanctification and holynesse of life by an argument drawen from iustification which is the proper effect of faith as we may see Ro. 6. 14. sinne shall not haue dominion ouer you because you are not vnder the lawe but vnder grace But it may be asked how iustification doth bring foorth sanctification especially seing that to mans reason it is rather a motiue to a wicked and dissolute life that by the multitude and hainousnesse of our sinnes the mercy of God whereby they are pardoned might the more appeare Rom. 3. 7. and 6. 1. We answere that iustification doth of necessitie bring foorth sanctification and that diuers wayes For first the sense of the vnspeakeable loue of God whereby we are deliuered from eternall damnation doth inflame the hart of the beleeuers with a greate loue of God the which cannot be shewed any other way then by keepeing his commaundementes and by laboring to glorifie his holy name by a holy life Secondly God doth saue the faythfull not as stockes or stones without requiring anie worke action or duety at their handes but so as that he maketh them to be his fellow workers not that man can do any thing of him selfe without the grace of God but that man being endued and renewed by grace doth after a sort worke his owne saluation not by any naturall vertue but by the power of Gods spirite and therefore as Christ taketh away the guilte of sinne being committed so the faythful ought to endeuor that sin be not coÌ„mited Otherwise if they shoulde still of set purpose committe sin they should crosse Christ in the worke of their owne redemption defiling theÌ„ selues with sin whom he hath clensed with his bloud yea they should crucifie him againe treade vnder foote his bloude as a vile thing Thirdly the faithfull doe labour for sanctification as for the onely testimony of the soundnesse of their fayth and of the truthe of their iustification For fayth without the other partes of holynesse is but adeade and vnprofitable fayth Lastly the faythfull man knoweth that fayth is not of it selfe without the rest of sanctification sufficient for the attaining of saluation For although it alone dothfully iustify that is bring perfect remission of all manner of sinne whatsoeuer yet before that a man can enter into the kingdome of heauen he must be endued with perfect positiue holinesse the which cannot be made perfect in the worlde to come vnlesse it be begun and carefullie sought after
obey the voyce of God commanding a holy life but the vnlawfull motions of his sinfull flesh Rom. 6. 16. Know ye not that to whomesoeuer you giue your selues to obey his seruantes you are whether of sinne to death or of holinesse to life Yea a carnall man is a bondslaue solde into the iurisdiction of sinne Rom. 7. 14. that looke as a slaue whome they vsed in old times as they doe still in some countries to buy with money as horse sheepe and oxen was no more his owne man as we say then were the aforesaid brute beastes but was compelled to fulfill his masters will in all thinges whether good or euill so it fareth with man who of the seruant of God is become a most vile slaue of Sathan alwaies attending his will and pleasure and performing the same with all his might and strength yea with all the faculties of his minde and the members of his body The particular functions whereof are by the Apostle cited Rom. 3. 13. Out of the olde Testament His throte is an open sepulchre his tongue speaketh nothing but deceipt his lips whereby he pretēdeth frindship haue vnder thē the poyson of Aspes his mouth full of cursing his feet swift to shed blood so all the rest of the members of a mans body haue their taske allotted vnto them the which they do not grudgingly and vnwillingly as vsually bondslaues do but most readely greedely ioyfully delighting in nothing but in that which they know pleaseth the humour of their master So that all men naturally are in a greater bondage vnder sinne then any of them is vnder their temporall maisters or owners For there is no slaue of so base a minde the which cannot be found among the brute beastes but that tho his body be oppressed and kept vnder chaines yet he desireth freedome and so he being detained against his will keepeth a free minde and will but man being in this most filthy and wretched thraldome thinketh himselfe to be in the most happy state that may be and therefore neither doth nor can desire to be freed from it Lastly as touching the third duety of a seruāt man doth not bring any aduantage of glory to God but doth dishonour him by all meanes leading his life so as if there were no God or as if he neyther could punish sinners for their wickednes nor yet doe any good to the righteous mā yet wil he nil he he shal one day glorify God in being an open spectakle of his wrath and iustice when as he shal heare that sentence pronounced againe by Christ Take this slouthfull and vnprofitable seruant and cast him into vtter darkenesse where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Sect. 3. Of seruile subiection renewed THus we see the wretched estate of man beeing the vassall and slaue of sinne with whome it fareth as it did with Pharaohs seruantes which had sinned against their Lord Gen. 40. For some as they liue so they die in that slauery and therfore they die eternally others to wit the faithful are pardoned restored to their former dignity insomuch that being by Christ reconciled to God they doe boldly enter againe into his presence in the which they doe alwaies stande attending his pleasure obeying his commaundements performing whatsoeuer seruice is enioyned them and so procuring Gods aduantage as good and faithfull seruants do to their earthly maisters Yet not al after the same manner in like measure For as among earthly seruantes so also in the house of God which is his church there are diuers functions and degrees of ministrations and as some seruing immediately directly about the person of their maister are in higher estimation with him so some of the faithfull do serue God in publicke functions and do in greater measure glorifie him then others do In this order are to be accounted the faithfull patriarches preistes prophets Kings magistrates Apostles and ministers whose seruice commeth neare to God and doth directly and properly enlarge his glory and therefore in lue of their long and faithfull seruice God doth rewarde them with this most honorable title calling them his seruantes Thus God calleth Abraham Gen. 26. 24. I will blesse thee for Abraham my seruants sake And Moses Iosu. 1 7. On whome this epitaphe is written Deut. 34. 5. There died Moses the seruant of the Lord. Thus God calleth Dauid often sparing Ierusalem in the midest of his anger For his seruant Dauids sake and thus are Iosua Daniell and others called And all they whose godlinesse faith and loue was greate and notable as Iob others Iob. 1. 8. Yea of late daies the church imitating God herein hath most thankfully and worthily giuen this glorious title to those who haue bene zealous in beating downe superstition and in aduancing the gospell kingdome and glory of Christ. These are gods cheife seruants and as it were the golden vessels of his house besides the which he hath other vessels of honour wherewith he is serued euen all true beleeuers true harted christians who also are Gods faithfull seruants yea although they spende all the daies of their liues in such callings as may seeme to appertaine nothing to God neither any way to set forth his glory For example in the first ages of the gospell manie Christians were bond seruants to infidels whereby it came to passe that they were continually imployed in their maisters affaires the which had no more to do with the seruice of God then darknesse hath with light yet these Christians were accounted Gods faithfull seruants in that they performed faithfull seruice to those infidels Thus we read Col. 3. 22. Seruants obey your maisters in all things not with eye seruice but in simplicitie of heart as those that feare the Lord Yea he addeth and what soeuer ye do do it not as to men but as to God knowing that ye shall receiue a reward for it of the Lord so that a godly and vpright life in what kinde soeuer it be is the true seruice of God Rom. 6. 17. Thankes be vnto God that although ye were once the seruants of sinne yet now ye are made the seruants of righteousnesse and therefore as you did before present your bodies before vncleannesse and all manner of sin readie to commit sin so now present your bodies before righteousnesse as being readie to all holynesse of life This exhortation is carefully to be followed of all that desire to be accounted the seruants of God that as whilst they were in the seruice of sinne they did no manner of seruice to God so now being the seruants of God they labour to shake cleane from their neckes the yoke of sinne For as Christ saith Math. 6. 24. We cannot serue two maisters both God and Mammon but must of necessitie cleaue to the one and forsake the other The which we cannot but do if that we consider that this new seruice is
their holinesse is imperfect 1. Cor. 13. 14. While I am a child that is while the faithfull liue in this worlde I vnderstand like a childe I thinke and speake as a childe nowe I knowe in part but then I shall knowe euen as I am knowen CHAP. III Sect. 1. Of the conscience of man in his pure estate BEside the generall knowledge whereof we haue spoken in the former chapter there is in the mind of man a particular knowledge the which for the great vse which it hath in the spirituall state of man hath a proper name giuen vnto it being called Conscience as if it were a distinct facultie of the soule whereas if we speake properlie it is nothing els but an action of the minde and the knowledge of one partilar thing to witte of mans estate before God whether he be righteous or sinfull and so consequently whether he be in the state of life or of death as the worde doth plainly signifie For conscience is sui scientia or scientia cum vel coram deo that is conscience is a mans knowledge of himselfe or a knowledg with God before God or in the presence of God And therefore we may define it thus Conscience is the opinion or perswasion of a mans minde concerning his estate before God Or thus It is the testimony or iudgmēt that the mind giueth of innocency or guiltines of righteousnes or sinfulnes of life or death So it is de fined Rom. 2. 15. To be the accusing or excusing of a mans thoughts or of his minde So that we may call the conscience the witnesse which before the tribunall seate of God being in the iudgment hall of a mans minde doth either excuse and iustifie his seuerall actions and whole life and person and so pronounce the sentence of life vnto him or else doth accuse condemne him in regard of sin committed and so adiudge him to eternall death Thus much of conscience ingenerall now as touching the conscience of man in his pure estate we cannot doubt but that it did wholly iustifie him being as then without any spot of sinne from this true excusing conscience commeth confidence whereby man is imboldened to conuerse in the presence of God to heare him speake to see his glory and so to haue a kinde of familiaritie with him as man had in his innocencie where as an accusing conscience breedeth feare shame as we see plainlie in Adam who so soone as he had sinned was compelled by this accusing witnesse for there was no other to accuse him to runne into a hole and hide himselfe among the trees when he perceaued God to be present but hereof more in the next section Lastly if it be asked how conscience can be made a part of mans conformitie to God seing as it may seeme there is no such thing in God we anwere that conscience to wit this clearing conscience hath place in God who in him selfe and before himselfe doth see and knowe himselfe to be puritie and holinesse it selfe and so free from all shadow of sinne Sect. 2. Of a corrupt conscience AS touching mans conscience in his corrupt estate this must of necessitie be granted that where the whole is corrupted there euerie seuerall part is corrupted and therfore seing the whole knowledge of mans minde is darkned with blindnesse this particular knowledge must needs be in the same case so that nowe the conscience is a false witnes and doth iudge of right and wrong of life and death so as a blind man iudgeth colours saying that blacke is white and white is blacke that euill is good and good euill and yet as the minde is not so wholly blinded but that there remaine in it some reliques of knowledge trueth and light So the conscience hath his part as well of this light as of the aforesaide darknesse and by vertue thereof doth sometimes speake the trueth euen as the greatest liers vse to doe First of the false witnesse of the conscience because this is more common then of the true testimony of it The false testimonie of the minde or conscience is of two kindes the first and most vsual kinde is when as it doth falsly excuse the second is when it doth falsly accuse The first hath place in all those who thinke that to be no sinne which is a sinne in the sight of God And it is of two kindes for either it doth not accuse a man where it shoulde accuse him or else it doth iustifie and absolute him for that for the which it shoulde condemne him The first may be seene in all those in whose opinon and iudgment that is no sinne which is accounted sinne in the sight of God as namely in them who being therefore called libertines but as it is saide of them are too shamefully licentious thinke that there is no sinne and that they may doe what they list And so are not checked by their consciences no not when they commit most hainous sinnes This kinde of a false excusing conscience is in those also who thinke originall sinne to be no sinne or not to deserue eternal death or who doe any way extenuate the hainousnesse of sinne thinking some sins to be veniall in their owne nature And also in them who thinke wicked thoughtes or vaine wordes to be no sinnes Lastly this conscience is in a manner in all vnregenerate men especially in those who liuing a ciuill and honest life free from grosse sinnes as adulterie murther theft periurie and such other thinke themselues iust before the iudgment seate of god This presumptuous opinion was in the pharisies who had a great conceite and made no smal bragges of their owne righteousnesse as we may see Luc. 18. 20. And also Mar. 10. 20. in one of their schollers who was not ashamed to affirme and that before the face and visible presence of God that he had kept all the commaundements of the morall lawe and that not onely in some part of his life but continually euen from his youth vp Yea this is the fond opinion of most men who thinke themselues to be no sinners because they are not notorious malefactors to fulfill the law of God because they doe keepe the lawes of men to be innocent and iust before God because they liue irreproouably as very fewe doe in the eyes of men But this is a very fearefull and dangerous estate and that which is the cause of most mens destruction for they neuer seeke to know the gospel and to haue remission of their sinnes in Christ because this their flattering and lying conscience doth beare them in hande that they are righteous enough of themselues and therefore neede not to be clothed with the righteousnesse of Christ as we read Reuel 3. 17. They say with themselues euery one in his owne minde I am rich want nothing where as indeed they are wretched poore blind naked altogether sinfull and in the state of eternall
say the hauen is founde then farewell all daunger and hap-hazard being although not in full possession of happinesse in heauen yet past al peraduenture of perishing here on earth yet it commeth often to passe that such fearefull tempestes are raised by the malice of sathan the vnrulinesse of the flesh and the entismentes of the worlde that both the faithfull themselues and also others beholding them doe not without cause feare shipwracke of faith and of good conscience and so the losse of eternall saluation the which pretious iewell they cary in these weake vessels For as sometime they are by the grace of God and the powerfull workeing of his spirite euen lifted vp to heauen in the aboundaunce of spirituall graces and the great measure of santification wherewith they are endued so at other times they are by the frailtie of the fleshe plunged into grieuous sinnes and so in a manner cast downe into hel as men void of all goodnesse This commeth to passe first and cheifely by the will and pleasure of God withdrawing the assistaunce of his spirit from the faithfull man and so leauing him to the temptations of sathan and his owne flesh suffereth him to fall not to his destruction but for the encreasing of his holinesse For euen as a man by his intemperance or any other kinde of misgouerning his body falling into some daungerous sickenes hath after his recouery more perfect helth greater strength then he had before his sicknesse because he is now schooled taught by wofull experience to know his owne strength which he seeth now to be but weaknesse whereof he did presume so much be fore and whatsoeuer thing is of force either to preserue or to impaire his health and so to be carefull and diligent in vsing the one wary in auoiding the other so fareth it with a christian in regard of the spirituall health of his soule for he being now by the mercie of God raised vp from some grieuous fall receiueth a greate encrease of holines and of spirituall graces He seeth his own weaknes how vnable he is of himselfe to resist temptation or the corrupt motions of his owne flesh and so he is humbled both in respect of God and of his brethren which is a grace much esteemed in the eyes of God Further he becommeth more carefull in auoiding all occasions and prouocations of sinne and in vsing all holie exercises of hearing the word of praying and all other means whereby he may be strengthned and encrease in holinesse Hence is is that this decrease of holinesse is in a manner cōmon to all the faithful although not in the same measure For so it pleaseth God to leaue thē at one time or other to themselues and to the temptations of sathan that so he may both see what is in them as he did to Ezechias 2. Chro. 32. 31. and also shewe to them their greate weaknesse The means of this decrease is the crafty malitiousnes of that old serpēt who goeth about continually seeking which of the faithfull he may most hurt vsing al that liberty which God graunteth vnto him imploying his whol time about no other busines but in putting euill motions into the mindes and willes of men and in casting baites before their eyes and other senses wherewith to catch them Secondly this decrease commeth by reason of the reliques of sin which remaine in the faithfull as long as they remaine in the flesh and which doe continually send forth som sinne or other euen as the roote of a tree being left in the ground will sproute forth although the bodie of the tree be cut downe Hither we are to referre the manifould occasions of all manner of sinnes which doe offer them selues in the course of manslife and therefore it is no maruaile that there happen to a Christian manifould chaunges and decreases of godlinesse no more then it is that a man is wounded being in the midst of many malicious enimies that he is scorched who is forced to cary fier in his bosome or lastly that he is defiled who is alwayes among vessels ful of pitch But to declare this doctrine more particularly as the greate vse and necessitie of it doth require in that we speake of the decrease of renewed holinesse we suppose a certaine state and ripenesse which ought to be in all Christians and is to be seene in most of those men who are truely regenerate which is a holy and vnblamable life proceeding from a sanctified soule being endued in some good measure with all and euerie one of those partes of holynesse which haue beene described in the thirde sections of the first and second partes of this treatise This state may be called the ripe age of a Christian who as he doth from his infancie and childhoode whereof hereafter grow vp till he come to a ripe man in Christ so when he is come to this state he doth not there stand at a stay for there is not any setled estate in this life either of holinesse or of sin but somtimes groweth on to a greater measure of perfectiō wherof in the next chapter or else he decreaseth in holinesse and so groweth backward euen as we see it to come to passe in the bodies of men which being come to their ripnes do daily decrease in strength and vigour till at the length they become as weake impotent as they were in their first infancie This decrease is now to be considered in the diuerse kindes of it which are two Particular and Generall Particular decrease is when as some one part of holinesse is lost the other remaining for although no one part of holinesse can be wanting but the whole soule of man is the worse in that respect as we knowe that if any one member of the bodie be brused or maimed all the rest doe suffer with it yet one part either of bodie or soule may be out of order the whole being in the naturall disposition This particular decrease hath many degrees The first is when as the holinesse of a man regenerate doth faile in some outward action by giuing place vnto some euident and palpable sin For as for light small offences commited in thought inword and in some kindes of deeds these are not to be accounted any decrease of holines because they cannot be auoided but will alwaies be found euen in thē who are endued with the greatest measure of sanctification but great sins such as are murther adultery theft periurie or any other of that sort are seldome found in men truly regenerate and being founde they doe impaire the outward holinesse of their liues For no man doth account that life so holy wherein grosse sinnes are somtimes found as that which is without spot of grieuous sin This decrease doth often happen to the faithfull as we know Peter sinned by denying Christ Dauid by committing adulterie and murther Noah in drunkennes Lot in incestand many others in other kinds of
hauing greater means of knowing beleeuing and obeying God then man had on earth yea their sinne came from themselues by the suggestion of their owne mindes and the inclination of their wils but man sinned by their prouocation temptation and delusion who as if they had committed a small offence in sinning themselues did adde to their owne sinne the sinne of mankind Moreouer it was not needfull that God should restore these rebels to their former state for the illustration of his loue towardes this creature forsomuch as there are yet in heauen in the state of happinesse many thousands of holy Angels which are so many witnesses and preachers of the endlesse loue of God towards them Againe it was needfull for the working of the saluation of the elect that there shoulde be some aduersarye power opposing it selfe and labouring by all meanes to hinder it that so both the graces bestowed on men might be stirred vp and exercised and the power of God preseruing them from so great danger made manifest Lastly by this vncurable state of these Angels it appeareth that there neither is nor yet can be in any creature any such absolute perfection as that it might be able of it selfe by any proper inherent and naturall vertue and strength beeing not supported by the grace of God eyther to keep for euer or to recouer any good happy estate If it be obiected that the Angels may repente and so obtaine saluation wee answere first that it is vnpossible by reason of the nature of their sinne beeing the sinne against the holie Ghost that they shoulde euer truely repent and secondly that if they coulde after some sorte repente yet they are altogether vncapable of saluation because God hath not taken vnto himselfe the nature of Angels as he hath done the nature of man and so by ioyning it to himselfe who is life it selfe made it a liuing and holy nature the which is needfull for saluation as will appeare more at large in the treatise of iustifying faith Chap. 4. Sect. 3. But to leaue these foule spirits in the bottomlesse pit of hell let vs returne to the consideration of this third state of man the which although in substance it be nothing but the first estate restored yet it is to be preferred before it in these respectes First because it is certaine immutable and eternall it being impossible that any who is once brought from death to this state of saluation should returne backe againe but the first state of man was not onely variable but very short and momentanie as hath beene declared This ariseth not of any naturall and inherent strength of man but of the meere grace and loue of God supporting all his elect seruants in this state and watching ouer them least at any time they should fall away Secondly both the partes of the goodnesse of this estate which are the outward and inward coniunction of man with God or more plainely his happinesse and holinesse are greater then they were before The increase of happinesse the next section doth declare and for the other we cannot doubt but that the loue of man yea all the other partes of his holinesse are increased and doubled towardes God who nowe is not onely his Lorde and creator but also his sauiour and redeemer As he must needes loue more to whome manie sinnes are forgiuen then he who is saued by his owne holinesse for life is not of it selfe so acceptable at any time as it is after death Whereof more at large in the laste Chapter of the third parte of this treatise CHAP. II. Sect. 1. Of the happinesse wherein man was created HAppinesse is the enioying of the greatest highest and chiefest good to wit that which is fully perfectly primarely eternally essentially and onely good as is God onely Math 19. 17. There is none good but God onely Thus doe the Angels in heauen enioy God whose face or more plainely whose glory shining as clerely as the grace of a man doth in his face they doe continually behold Likewise man before his fall liued thus happily in the presence of God with whome he had daily and as wee may say familiar conuersation yea God did many waies reueale himselfe and his glory to him especially in the garden wherein he placed him This is perfect felicitie for hee who hath God who is the fountaine of all blessings ioy and pleasures hath all thinges belonging to happinesse Psal. 16 11. Thou shalt make me knowe the path of life for there is fulnesse of ioy in thy face or presence and in thy right hande there are pleasures for euermore From this fountaine of happinesse there flowed many streames euen all blessings whatsoeuer the preseruation or dignitie of the body soule or of the whole person of man did any way require first for his body it was in respect of the outwarde forme and proportion maiesticall beautifull gracious purchasing feare and reuerence of the other baser creatures and fauour euen in the sight of God for whose glory maketh whatsoeuer is any way commendable in the creature this remaneth in parte euen in the corrupt estate 1. Chro. 12. 8. Dauids men of warre had faces like Lyons Act. 7. 20. Moses being new borne was gratious in the sight of God Secondly the body of man was immortall whereof there is no question to be made seing that the scripture doth euery where teach vs that death came in by sinne 1. Cor. 25. 56. the sting whereby death killeth is sinne Rom. 5. 12. by Adam sinne came into the worlde and by sin death If we shoulde examine this doctrine by naturall reason it woulde be found very doubtfull for it may seeme that the body of man being made of earth shoulde of necessitie at length be resolued into earth againe as well as the bodies of all other cretures yea that it consisting of contraries continually fighting and consuming one another coulde not possibly but be at length destroyed For nothing that is deuided in it selfe can continue for euer Yea besides this naturall death mans body may seeme to haue bene subiect to outward violence as if it shoulde haue bene pierced with a sword or throwen downe from a high rocke no reason can shewe howe the immortality of it shoulde be preserued Whereunto we answere first that we are not to doubt of the word of God howsoeuer our shallow heads are not able to sound the depth of it Secondly that we may as wel suppose man to be immortall as to liue almost a thousand yeares as we read Gen. 5. 27. that Methuselā did for we may well thinke that those long liues of the fathers before the flood were euen the reliques of that immortalitie wherewith Adam was endued at the first neither are we to think it impossible to God to endue mans body with such an exact equall temperature as should continue for euer As for violent deaths although we cannot deny but man was
subiect to them if violence had bene offred yet there could none happen in this pure state For then there were no wilde beasts to deuoure teare in peeces no euill constitutiō of the aier to distemper or infect no inordinate affections in a mans minde whereby he himselfe might be the cause of sickenes hurt or death to himselfe but all the creatures were so disposed as that they should euery way further and by no meanes impaire the good estate of man Lastly if it be granted that Adams body had no such strange temperature which coulde continue for euer no one qualitie getting the vpper hand ouer-any other neither any such immunity against violent deaths but that he might by ouersight forgetfulnesse or some humane infirmitie be ouertaken with hurt sicknesse age and death the which opinion is rather to be receaued yet he had this supernaturall priuiledge of immortalitie granted vnto him by the worde of God and confirmed by the tree of life the fruite whereof being taken and eaten had this vertue in it not by nature but by the miraculous and extraordinary worke of God to make man liue for euer by freeing him from all daungers hurts woundes sicknesse and age Likewise this happines was in regard of the soule of Adam exceeding greate he hauing not onely a mind illuminated with the true knowledge of God of all other thinges which did any way belong vnto him but also his wil affections free from al immoderate desires or greiuous passiōs which might any way molest or trouble him The which state of the soule as it is a part of mans holines in that it is agreeable to the will worde and image of God so in regarde of the incomparable pleasure and ioy arising of the true contemplation of God of a quiet conscience and orderly affections it containeth in it a great parte of mans felicity Likewise the whole person of man was adorned with this crowne of glory that he was a monarch here on earth hauing the Lordshippe and dominion of these inferior creaturs giuen vnto him So that to conclude this point the happinesse of man was very wonderfull in that he enioyed all good things whatsoeuer euen God himselfe with all the creatures This was the happinesse of mans first estate whereof this question may be asked whether it was appointed by God to continue for euer or else to be but an entrance to a greater happinesse in heauen whither some doe thinke that man should at length haue bene translated although without death yet not without some change of his earthly body But hereof we cannot say any thing haueing learned nothing in the worde of any other happinesse of this first estate then this which hath in some sort bene described and which although it may seeme to come much short of true happinesse and to be rather a terrestrial then a celestial yet in trueth it was perfect happines although not absolute because it was mutable for wheresoeuer God vouchsafeth to the creature the fruition of his presence there is full perfect happinesse whether it be in heauen or on the earth Sect. 2. Of the miserable state of man since the fall of Adam MAn by his sinne did separate himselfe from God lost the coniunction which he had with him both spiritual which is perfect holinesse and personall or local which is happinesse and was cast out of the presence of God and out of paradise in the which place being a terrestriall garden God did reueale himselfe and his glory to man after a speciall manner and so he loosing the fountaine of happinesse he did withall loose all the streames which flowed from thence belonging either to his body or soule his body which was before beautifull and maiesticall became deformed and contemptible being as the experience of all ages doth teach vs often many waies crooked ridiculous foul yea somtimes horribly monstrous and vgly For continuall health he hath infinite diseases infirmities sickenesses sores For his former felicitie he is subiect to as many daungers as there are thinges in the worlde there being almost nothing which may not become mortall vnto him by some meanes or other his immortalitie he hath chaunged with death often dying before he be borne to liue sometimes in the flower of his age if he liue many years yet al his life is nothing but misery yea euen death it selfe it being the beginning of eternall death Likewise in regard of his soule he is most miserable his vnderstanding which before was as cleare as is the sun at noone day is now ouershadowed and filled with palpable darkenesse grosse errours blockishe ignoraunce and an accusing conscience His will is become peruerse abhorring whatsoeuer is good cleauing to that which is euill His affections are raging in ordinate lusts and in briefe there is nothing in the whole nature of man but horrible confusion For the outward dignity of his person he is now cast out from the company of God of his holy angels who before were his familiar friends but nowe are armed with a sword against him Again he is not now Lord of the creatures for they do oftener tyrannise ouer him deuouring him tearing him in peeces thē perform any seruice vnto him vnlesse they be constrained Yea he is that by his own iudgment more base thē the earth therefore is often sold to perpetual slauery for a little gold siluer brasse or any baser mettall yea he setteth his whole mind bestoweth al his labour vpon them he prostrateth himselfe before the wedge of gold as before his God he loueth it as his life accounteth al his happines to consist in it Besides many miseries do happen in this life which might becounted a kind of happines if that they might haue an end with death but how can we look that that should be the end of it which is but the beginning of that vnspeakable misery which hath no end but shal cōtinue for euer For al the miseries of this life whatsoeuer death it selfe are but an entrāce to that eternal misery which is prepared for sinners The greatnes wherof cōsisteth in ◠things first in that intolerable griefe which is cōceiued by the lack of the cōtrary happines prepared for the faithfull in which respect it is called vtter darknes the lowest pit Secondly in the sustaining of those paines where with the wicked shal be tormēted in body soule the which are vsually compared to a burning fier or Furnace because there is no thing so fearefull to man as is fire which consumeth all thinges where of it can gette holde but in trueth there is no fire yea although it be augmented by infinite riuers of brimstone that burneth so hote is so vnquenchable as is the anger of God which in the day of wrath shall be powred foorth vpon the wicked Sect. 3. Of the renewed happinesse of man THe renewed happines of man is partly in
which he did enioy whilst he liued in alleagance to his lorde so the case standeth with man when as by infidelitie he falleth from God For then he looseth all manner of blessings belonging either to his happinesse or to his holynesse yea it is impossible that a man shoulde either loue feare honor or obey God from whome he looketh for neither good nor euil and therefore infidelitie is to be accounted the roote of all euill Heb. 3. 12. Take heed brethren least that there be in any of you an euill heart of vnbeleefe to depart away from the liuing God Thus much in generall of infidelity the which as hath bene said of faith is of two sorts Legall and Euangelicall legall infidelitie is to distrust Gods promises propounding happinesse to the inherent holinesse of the creature as did the wicked Angels who were perswaded that they coulde not become happy by continuing in holynesse Likewise Euangelicall infidelitie is to distrust Gods promises propounding happinesse to man relying himselfe on the mercie of God in Christ as most of all the men in the worlde haue alwaies done do at this day and will do as long as the world endureth Sect. 3. Of the faith of the gospell vsually called iustifying fayth IT hath been declared that the renewed holynesse of a man regenerate hath two parts Subiection and Conformity The first kinde of renewed Subiection being opposed to infidelity is called as in the first state by the name of faith The nature and force whereof is to repaire that breach which infidelity hath made betwixt God and man and to ioyne man to God in due subiection as he was in his first creatioÌ„ so that it is as it were the haÌ„d whereby man being before separated from God doth lay holde on him by beleeuing his promises and by putting all his trust and affiaunce therein But what bond can be imagined so strong as to be able to knitte God and man being nowe polluted with originall and actuall sinne together in any manner of coniunction being far more conâ—â—ary repugnant the one to the other then 〈◊〉 fire to water or light to darknesse or any oâ—her thing in the world All which doe only in qualitie fight one against another but sinne is contrary to the very nature and essence of God and therefore although that affiance in God which was in Adam were renued in vs yet it woulde not serue to ioyne vs to God because we want that perfect holynesse without the which no faith can ioyne any creature to him So that before that faith can either ioyne vs to God or be any thing auailable for our saluation it is needefull that we shoulde haue perfect holynesse the which whosoeuer goeth about to effect in himselfe will finde it a thing altogether impossible and that in these respects First because man in the very moment of sinning doth make himselfe guilty of eternall death and so he being once deade cannot raise himselfe vp againe or make himselfe capable of holynesse muchlesse worke it fully and perfectly in himselfe Secondly if that this be attributed to the patience and longe suffering of God that man is not straight way as soone as he sinneth vtterly destroyed and so consumed to nought by the anger of God but that he doth still exist in nature and so consequently is not altogether vncapable oâ— holynesse Yet it is impossible for him either to shake off that originall sinne which cleaueth inseperably to his nature or yet to fulfill the lawe of God by actuall obedience both which are needfull for perfect holynesse Lastly if man coulde not onely doe away his sinne already committed but also restore himselfe to his first integritie yet this woulde not serue for his eternall saluation because he were as like to fall away againe from GOD as he was before So that before man can be ioyned againe to God in hapinesse he must do foure things whereof euery one is altogether impossible to be performed either by man himselfe or by any other creature First he must by sustayning eternall death satisfie the iustice of God for his sinne already committed the which if he doe as he must doe if God be iust that is if he be God howe can he euer liue who must dy for euer Secondly he must wholly change his own nature create in himselfe a newe minde harte will and euen a new man the which thing belongeth to God onely Thirdly he must performe absolute and perfect obedience to the lawe of God And lastly he must continew in the saide obedience for euer Howe then is there no meanes of saluation left for man can there no way of performing these impossibilities be inuented Let all the men in the worlde lay their heades together and consult of this weightie matter let them haue the wisdome of Salomon the counsell of Achitophel the naturall wit of Aristotle the learning of the greatest Philosophers the diuining spirits of the southsayres what can they all say to the first question howe will they make man to liue who must dy for euer they will confesse that death and life cannot be together and therefore they must come to this last refuge that man shall not die in his owne person but get some other to dy for him and so satisfie Gods iustice Well this is good paiment if he who dyeth for man be in nature and dignitie equiualent to him but where shall this mediatour be founde As touching man euerie one desireth to liue and abhorreth death yea no man will dy for a iust man much lesse for a sinner But yet perhaps some one wil find such a friend as will not refuse to dy eternally for him Will this serue the turne no truely except he haue moe liues then one because he must first dy for his owne sinne and what then is left to discharge other mens debts But we may fly to some saint or holyman to S. Peter S. Paule S. Mary whose righteousnesse is so great as that it wilbe a ransom both to doe a way their owne sinne and the sinne of others also But there is no merite or righteousnesse which can proceede from any of the sons of Adam no more then sweet water can flowe from a corrupt fountaine yea no righteousnesse of any saint whosoeuer will serue for himselfe or satisfie Gods iustice for his owne sinne but when he hath done all that he can he is an vnprofitable seruant and for any helpe he can haue by his own holynesse in the same state of eternall death wherein others are his greatest righteousnes comming in the name of merite being in the sight of God no better then a filthy and defiled clout So then there is no meanes of mans saluation in man Neither can the oblation of brute beastes serue the turn or stand in the place of a reasonable creature for sinne is not purged by the bloud of bulles and gotes Heb. 10. 4. neither will God accept a thousand
who seeing or hearing of Iesus the sonne of Mary liuing in so miserable a condition and dying so shamefull a death as he did would either beleeue him to be the eternall and omnipotent God of heauen and earth or to be able to saue others who did not saue himselfe from death or what man especially if he were indued with naturall witte and humane wisdom would forsake all the commodities profites pleasures and ioyes of this present world and indure the sorrowes reproches troubles losses dangers and manyfolde crosses whereunto the godly are subiect in this life in hope of an other life which is to all reason not onely vncertaine but also incredible Hence it is that the number of beleeuers is as nothing in respect of the infinite multitudes of vnbeleeuers who are almost as many as there are men in the world and that the more a naturall man doth excell in wit and wisdome the more vncapable of faith he is 1. Cor. 1. 27. Brethren saith the Apostle beholde your calling that not many wise men after the fleshe not many noble mightie or riche are called to fayth but God hath chosen foolish and weake things to confounde the wise Yea this difficultie of beleeuing is greater in these last dayes then euer it was before as Christ himselfe teacheth vs Luc. 18. 8. saying Thinke ye that the sonne of man when he commeth shall finde fayth on the earth And to the same effect Mat. 24. 12. 22. Because iniquitie shall abound the loue of many shall wax colde insomuch that vnlesse those dayes were shortned no fleshe should be saued The cause of this defect of fayth is first the aboundance of sinne before mentioned in that the sinnes of all ages doe euen flow together into the last as into a common sinke Secondly the state of the Church vnto the which God doth not reueale himselfe so manifestly and sensibly as he did in the first ages of the world in apparitions of Angels in visions and dreames invisible formes and sensible voyces speaking familiarly with his seruants as one man doth with another in holy oracles giuing answere to euery question propounded in temporall blessings bestowed on the faithfull and in corporall punishments laid on the wicked in the extraordinary giftes of prophecy and immediate reuelation of speaking straunge languages and working miraculous things By these and diuerse other meanes God did so plainely reueale himselfe to the old world that they who did not beleeue his word may be said to haue bene such as would giue no credence to their own senses But in these last ages God hauing once reuealed himselfe in his sonne in the gospell sufficiently for the saluation of the elect yea in trueth farre more clearely then euer he did before doth not any longer reueale himself by any of the aforesaid meanes but as it were hideth himselfe in secrete insomuch that he seemeth to most men eyther not to exist at all or else to haue wholly cast off the care and gouernment of the world and therefore men cast off all faith beleife and feare of God In regard of the which difficulties it standeth euery one in hand who tendereth his owne saluation to be both watchfull in preseruing faith and also diligent and carefull in seeking for it For howsoeuer no carefulnesse can without the blessing of God work faith in the hartes of men yet it is in the power of man to vse the outward meanes of attaining it the which whosoeuer doth as he ought to doe he neede not doubt of successe for so much as God is neere at hand to al those who seeke him Yea further whenas we suppose that we are indued with a true sauing faith we are to take heede least we be deceaued with that common errour of men who when they are ignorant of God and of his word and haue in their harts scarse any shadowe of true faith yet they are not ashamed to professe that they doe and alwaies did trust in Christ whereof if anie man doe doubt and beginne to examine their faith whether it be true or counterfait then they are grieuously offended thinke they haue great iniury offred But we are to thinke farre otherwise and knowing that true faith is a very rare thing not easelie to flatter our selues in a false opinion of it but rather to take a straite examination of our faith the which that we may the better doe we will now come to the fourth point namely to the signes whereby true faith may be discerned The signes are 〈◊〉 euen so many as there are in a regenerate man spiritual graces and seuerall partes of holinesse all which come from faith as from a fountaine or roote and therefore will certainely declare the sincerity of it as good fruite and sweete water shewe the goodnesse of the tree and fountaine and therefore he that would know â—ow vnfained his faith is must looke at the sincerity of his knowledge loue feare reâ—erence and obedience which he oweth to God if these graces be plentifull in his life his heart is truely replenished with faith but if this fruit doe not appeare his faith is not a liuing tree planted by the riuers of Gods blessings but a dead stocke hauing nothing but the outward forme of a tree But we shall haue better occasion to entreate of the signes of true faith when we compare it with that temporary faith which often hath place in the reprobate The fift question is whether this faith may be lost or no whereunto we answere as hath beene said before of regeneration in generall that where it is once truely imprinted in the heart by the finger of God there it remaineth for euer and although it be subiect to many alteratioÌ„s in regard of the greatnesse or meannesse of it yea although it seem somtimes to be cleane dead at the root bringing foorth little or no fruit yet there remaineth life hidden in the heart as there doth life and sap in trees in the middest of winter when they seeme to be dead and withered For the conuersion of a maÌ„ from infidelity to faith worketh such a total strange change in him that it is impossible that one should become of a faithfull man an vnbeleeuer The last question is how it commeth to passe that of all the spirituall graces which are in the mind will and affections of man and of all the partes of mans holinesse this onely should haue in it this wonderful vertue and force to apprehend Christ and to make a man perfectly iust before the iudgement seat of Christ and why not the true knowledge of God vnfained loue the feare of God or a generall holinesse of life and conuersation should not as well iustify a man as this one affection of confidence or affiance Whereunto we answere that this meanes of iustifying men by faith onely doth most of all make for the glory of God the which is the last end of al the decrees actions
in this lyfe CHAP. V. Sect. 1. Of the hope of mans first state THe second head of mans holinesse and subiection which he is to performe to God as to his king is called hope the which floweth from fayth after a speciall manner yea in truth it is nothing else but a particular fayth or an affiaunce on God for some particular good For when as the happines whereof faith taketh hold is not present but to come either in part or in whole there commeth out hope which is an expectatiō of the accomplishmēt of Gods promises already apprehended by fayth So that hope can haue no place there where ful perfect happines is present Rom. 8. 24. Hope that is seene is no hope For howe can a man hope for that which he seeth That is if the thing hoped or which we desire be present then the nature of hope is cleane taken away and ouerthrowen for it is impossible that a man shoulde hope for that as being to come hereafter which he presently enioyeth Whereby it appeareth that man in his first estate of happinesse had either none or little vse of this grace because his happinesse was present For howsoeuer the happinesse of Adam in his innocency were not so great and excellent as that whereof the faithfull shalbe made partakers in the world to come yet he then enioyed both perfect and present happinesse Neither doth it appeare in the scripture that God did promise any other happinesse vnto him then that which he presently enioyed and therefore it had not bene holynesse but presumption and sinne for him to haue hoped or looked for any other Howe then can we make hope a part of that holynesse wherein man was created We answere that although Adam in his innocency looked for no other happinesse then that which he did presentlie enioy yet he did hope that God would both continue that happinesse and also reueale himselfe and his glory to him after some other manner then he did at the first and so encrease his present happinesse Sect. 2. Of desperation or the want of Hope MAn falling from faith to infidelitie fell from hope to desperation for so we call that want of the hope of saluation which is in all carnall men neither could he otherwise doe For as he who taketh away the roote and the foundation taketh away the tree and the house yea all that groweth on the one and is built on the other So when fayth falleth the whole holynesse of man falleth to the ground but especially hope the which hath a nearer coniunction with faith then other graces haue and is more naturallie grounded vpon it as it is saide Heb. 11. 1. Faith is the groundeworke or foundation and subsistence of things hoped for For happinesse must first be beleeued in the minde and apprehended by the will before it can be hoped for So that seeing man since the fall doth not by faith depend on God he can not hope to receiue any good thing at his handes neither doth he once thinke of any other happines then is the enioying of the carnall sensuall pleasures of this present worlde The which being ended by death all the ioy pleasure and happynesse of one vnregenerate seemeth to him to be at an end as it is indeed For either he thinketh as most carnall men do that he shall die like a beast and that neither he himselfe nor any other shalbe raised vp againe to life to receaue either good or euill or if he haue some knowledge and beliefe of the word of God wherby he thinketh that there shalbe another worlde wherein some shall haue happines others miserie and sorrow yet he being destitute of fayth whereby his sinnes shoulde be remitted and his person indued with perfect holynesse and righteousnesse can looke for nothing but the eternall anger of God Thus the Apostle describeth an infidell that he is one without hope Ephe. 2. 12. 1. Thess. 4. 13. The signes whereby this desperation may be knowen are these First the generall signe of the want of any one grace to wit the want of other graces which are in a man truly regenerate For such is the nature of this renewed holynesse that where one parte is present there is no parte wholly wanting therfore we may know ourselues to be without hope if that we feele that we are destitute of the true knowledge of God of a liuely faith which is the mother of hope Secondly a proper signe of this desperation is when as a man is not affected with an vnspeakable ioy in regard of the life to come but heareth it mentioned as an ordinarie common and light matter whereas if he had any true hope of eternall glorie he would be replenished and euen rauished with ioy and that in the middest of all troubles and miseries by the consideration of it But because a man may more surely iudge by that which he feeleth to be in himselfe then by that which is wanting therefore men are to gather this desperation by these notes to wit By an immoderate care for the preseruing and prolonging of this present life together with an excessiue feare of death in our selues or sorrow for the death of others 1 Thess. 4. 13. I would not haue you sorrow for the dead as other doe which haue no hope And such other notes plentifully mentioned in the scripture Sect. 3. Of renued hope THe vse of this hope is not so little in the state of innocency but it is as great in the state of regeneration in the which although man be restored to his former happinesse yea to more excellent happinesse then he had before yet it is not present in this world as Adams was but for the greater part to come in the world to come and therefore it can not be here enioyed but onely hoped for If it be asked why God doth not grant to his elect children the present fruition of that happinesse especially seing that the deferring of so great a good cannot but be very grieuous vnto them for as the desire when it commeth is a tree of life so the deferring of the thing hoped for is the drying of the bones Prou. 13. 12. To this we answere confessing that this deferring of the happinesse appointed for the faithfull is and ought to be very grieuous vnto them For as he who is poore sicke weake in prison exile and in all kindes of miserie hath good cause to desire riches honour health strength liberty to see his own natiue coūtrie his parentes kinred and friends and in breife to be happie no lesse cause haue the faithfull to desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ. But God hauing regard rather to their good then to their desire hath in wisdome appointed that it should be otherwise that their happinesse shoulde be hoped for for some space of time before it be enioyned Yea this delay is needful for the good of
the faithfull for that otherwise they could not be prepared and made fit for the enioying of eternall glory And that in these respects First in that the faithfull are left for a while in crosses troubles sorrow sinne and all manner of misery they haue time giuen vnto them to consider both their owne naturall estate howe wretched they are of themselues and also the excellencie of that glory which is prepared for them in heauen and so see and acknowledge the vnspeakable goodnesse of God who hath freed them from the one and will at the appointed time bring them to the other The which thing cannot be so duelie waied and considered by man when he is in the state eyther of extreeme misery or of absolute glory as it is by the faithfull in this present life the which is a mixt state consisting partly of sinne and misery and partly of holinesse and happinesse partly of life and partly of death so that as a man cannot at any time so well diâ—cerne a thing to be black or crooked as when he layeth it beside that which is white or straight so the faithfull doe more easely and truely conceiue their owne misery and Gods mercy in this life wherein they doe sensibly feele them both then eyther they did before regeneration in which time they knew neither themselues nor God or then they shall doe in the world to come wherein their naturall misery is not felt in their owne bodies and soules as it is in this life but onely remembred and beheld in the reprobate Wherein God dealeth with sinfull man as earthly kings deale sometimes with rebels malefactors whom although they purpose not onely to pardon their offence but also to receiue into fauour and loue and so doe restore them from death to life from shame to honour yet they doe not at the first admit them into the highest degree of their fauour to their secret counsell or to their personall presence Thus did King Dauid deale with Absolon 2. Sam. 14. 22. who after that he was pardoned and receiued into fauour was two yeares in IerusaleÌ„ before that he saw the kings face And thus doe the faithfull after that they are fully iustifyed from the guilt of their sinne they doe not forthwith rush into heauen but remaine heere on earth in the outward court of Gods palace waiting till they may be admitted into the glorious presence of God in heauen For we are not to thinke that there ought to be the same manner of the first creation of man of his regeneration that as in the first so also in the second birth man ought incontinently as soone as he doth existe to be made perfectly happy as if happinesse were a small and light matter which might be lost in one moment of an houre recouered in another And therefore we are to put a difference betwixt the first and the second happinesse of man the first beeing giuen immediately by God whereas the other is gotten although not by the helpe yet by the meanes of man who is in some sort to worke his owne saluation and must be endued in this life with some measure of grace whereby hee may be prepared for the fulnesse of it in the worlde to come the which thing cannot be done vnlesse his saluation be deferred for otherwise there woulde be no triall of his faith and loue yea no vse of hope patience praier and such other spirituall graces for the working whereof God doth defer the happinesse of his elect This the Apostle doth plainely teach vs Rom. 8. 24. 25. 26. saying If the thing hoped for be seene hope is no hope for how can a man hope for that he seeth but if we hope for that we see not then we doe with patience abide for it Likewise our hope being thus deferred the spirit helpeth our infirmities in praying for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed Thus we see how it commeth to passe that hope hath so necessary and great vse in this third estate Now we are to declare the nature of it more particularly by shewing first what it is secondly what relation it hath to faith thirdly what are the vses and commodities which it bringeth lastly what are the signes by the which it may be knowen For the first Renewed hope is an expectation of celestiall glory or of eternall glory in heauen This definition giueth vs to vnderstand that the obiect whereat this holy affection aimeth and looketh is not present but to come and yet not any future thing but that which is good for not onely hope but all other affections and the whole will of man yea euen when they are sanctified and in their purest and holiest estate doe abhorre and eschew all euill whether present or future and doe cleaue onely to that which is good for man And yet not any future good is the obiect of this hope but the chiefest good which indeed is all manner of good and euen happinesse it selfe For so we are to thinke that as faith trusteth in God for happinesse so hope waiteth for it And although both faith and hope sometimes take hold of a particular good as Abraham both trusted and hoped in God for Isaac and as the man sicke of the palsey did for bodily health yet neyther faith nor hope rest in a particular good but onely through it looke at the generall good vsing it as a meanes way token or pledge of the generall good and happinesse Yea further there is this difference that faith and hope doe for the most part apprehende a particular good whether it be a temporall blessing or a spirituall grace doubtingly vnlesse there be a special promise of it as was that which God made to Abraham of Isaac as not being absolutely needfull for their happinesse and therefore not needfull to be graunted by God but they lay holde on happinesse which is the vniuersall good without doubting or any exception whatsoeuer So that by hope we meane hope of eternall glory in the which sense this word is vsed throughout the writings of the Apostles Lastly the obiect of hope is not any terrestriall good or happinesse as was that wherein Adam was created but a celestiall happinesse as it hath beene in parte described heretofore In the second place we are to declare the nature of hope by comparing it with faith with the which it agreeth in these respectes First faith is the cause and as it were the mother of hope for a man cannot hope to come to heauen vnlesse he be first taught by faith the right way and true meanes of saluation Yea he is more then madde who thinketh once to enter into the glorious presence of God in heauen being not first cleansed by faith from the filthinesse of his sinne but whome faith iustifyeth him hope glorifyeth Againe as faith bringeth foorth hope so hope like a louing and gracious childe cherisheth and vpholdeth faith for how coulde any man rely himselfe
morall lawe and therefore it belonged to man in the state of innocencie This the heathen oratour witnesseth saying All they who are in the handes and iurisdiction of any other doe feare For although they be perswaded of their loue and mercy yea of their owne innocency yet they doe consider not onely what they will doe but also what they may doe The second cause of this feare was the surpassing and incomprehensible glorie and maiestie of God the which being fully reuealed hath force not onely to astonishe and amase but also to confound and consume any creature whatsoeuer yea although the saide creature be not stained with sinne and so not subiect to the anger of God For euen as a brittle glasse being filled with some extreame strong liquor cannot but burst in sunder not because of any antipathie which is betwixt them but because the glasse is not of sufficient strength to containe the liquor So is it with the creature when God doth appeare in perfect glory in regard whereof the Angels themselues are said to couer their faces least they shoulde behold it howe much more then hath man who is but dust and ashes and whose life is in his nosethrilles iust cause of feare Yea the brute beastes and senslesse creatures themselues who neither doe nor can sinne are sayd to be affected with this feare of the glorious maiestie of God Thus we read Psal. 29. The voyce of the Lord shewing it selfe foorth in power and glory doth breake the cedars of Libanus It maketh them skip like young calues yea it maketh the desert to quake the hindes to calue the mountaines to smoke and in breife all creatures what soeuer to melte away before his face And thus did man feare God in the state of innocencie for although he had daily conuersation with God yet he knewe that as a vessel of glasse clay or any brittle matter often meeting with vessels of brasse or yron may easely get a knock and so be broken to shiuers so might he be confounded by the glory of God if God did at any time reueale the same fully vnto him Thirdly man being in his first state had iust cause to feare God in regard of the weaknes and mutability of his owne nature which might easely be ouercome with some temptation and that in regard of the freedome of his will which might easely forsake God and imbrace euill by the which meanes he should not onely be subiect to the anger of God and to eternall death but also displease and dishonor God who had shewed him selfe so louing and bountifull a father and creator vnto him Thus we see the causes of this feare nowe we are to consider the vses of it First it serued as a bridle to restraine man from falling from God by disobedience For although man in this holy estate did obey God more for loue then for feare of punishment yet it pleased God to vse all meanes possible to keepe him from sinne and therefore he propounded not onely the rewarde of life to his obedience but also the punishment of eternall death to his disobedience whensoeuer it should happen as we read Gen. 2. 17. In the day wherein thou shalt eate of the tree of knowledge of good and euill thou shalt incontinently die Secondly this feare serued to keepe man as froÌ„ sin so from all presumptuous bold vndecent behauiour in respect of God For we know as it is commonly saide Familiar conuersation will easelie breede contempt Lastly man was by this feare put in minde and made to acknowledge as the basenesse infirmity mutability of his owne nature so also the infinite power authority and maiesty of God Sect. 2. Of the want of feare THe third heade of mans rebellion is the want of the aforesaide feare of God for since the fall man hath no regard either of the power might and maiesty of God or yet of the weakenesse of his owne nature as he had before but conceiueth amisse both of God and of himselfe But what maruaile is it that man doth not feare in consideration of the weakenesse and mutabilitie of his nature which may fall into sinne when as he feareth not the iustice of God and his eternall anger due vnto him selfe for sinne already committed For if man in his innocencie had iust cause of feare as hath bene declared howe much more ought he being sinfull For if he being righteous is scarslie saued howe shall he nowe appeare before the iudgment seate of God being guiltie of sinne And yet man in this sinfull state hath although greater cause of feare â—et lesse feare then he had before yea in truth â—one at all but is benummed with a senselesse securitie hauing no remorse of conscience nor feare of punishment for sinnes â—ommitted neither standeth in awe of the glorious presence of God This appeareth â—oth by the testimony of scripture in many â—laces as namely Rom. 3. 18. where a carnall â—an is described by this note That he hath 〈◊〉 feare of God before his eyes as also by â—ayly experience which sheweth vs that â—ery few in the worlde doe in their actions regarde whether they be good or bad whether pleasing or displeasing to God and so whether they be such which will bring vppon the doers some heauie iudgement or no whereas if mens hartes were possessed with the feare of God they would thinke him to be alwaies present with them and to beholde their doings and so they woulde be both restrained from euill and pricked forwarde to doe good but we see it to be farre otherwise for in committing sinne men thinke that they are safe and all is well if they can doe it so secretlie as that they may auoyd the shame slaunder reproch and anger of men together with the punishment prescribed by humane lawes But we need not stand in the inlarging of this point which is so manifest Sect. 3. Of renewed feare THe third head of renewed subiection is the feare of God the which is a singular grace and hath great vse in regeneration howsoeuer it may seeme to fight with fayth and hope morâ— then it did in the state of innocency seeing that the faithfull can not loose that holy and happy state wherein they are placed and therefore need not feare any euill being not only happy but also sure to coÌ„tinue so for euer To this we answere that although the feare of eternall death and misery cannot stand with perfect faith and hope whereby life and happinesse is certainely expected yea although the faithfull neede not feare the mutability and freedome of will beeing certaine of their finall perseuerance in faith yet there are many causes by the which they ought to be moued to feare God Hither we are to referre the causes of feare in the state of innocency whereof the most ought to be of more force to moue the faithfull to feare God then they were to man in his pure estate For shall man
being in happy innocency the holy Angels being in perfect glory yea the brute and senselesse creatures feare in regard of the glorious maiesty of God and shall the faithfull being sinful and miserable not be affected therewith But we know that the seruants of God haue alwaies feared his glorious presence Thus the people of Israell make it an impossible thing that a man shoulde see the glorie of God and liue And Manach Sampsons fafather saith Iudg. 13. 22. We shall die because we haue seene God Further the faithfull are not freed from the feare which the committing of sinne bringeth with it for although they know that no sin tho neuer so hainous can depriue them of the eternal loue of God in Christ or of eternall saluation yet they ought so much the more to feare to displease or dishonour God then Adam did in his innocency because God hath shewed himselfe more louing gratious and bountifull to them in their regeneration then he did to Adam in his first creation for God sheweth his loue farre more in bringing some fewe from the common death of mankind to eternall saluation then he did in creating all in a common state of life Neyther are we to thinke that the faithfull liuing in this worlde are so exempted from sustaining the punishment of sinne as that they doe not in this regard also feare God for although if we speake properly it cannot stand with the iustice and equity of God to punish the faithfull for their sinnes the which he hath already punished to the full in the death of Christ yet the fatherly chastisements which he layeth vpon them for their great presumptuous sinnes to keepe them and others from committing the like are often so sharpe as that they doe not without cause seeme to be grieuous and fearefull punishmentes Hence it is that this sentence is annexed to those grieuous iudgementes which befell any of the people That all Israell may heare and feare the Lord. The vses of this grace are as before to restraine the faithfull from sinne for although that be true which the heathen poet saith Odâ—runt peccare boni virtutis amore oderunt peccare mali formidine poenae yet two motiues are more effectuall then one especially in this corrupt state wherein the faithfull retaining some reliques of their corrupt nature are often frayed from sinne by feare when as the loue of God is not able to restraine them Pro. 16. 6. and 3. 7. and 14. 16. A wise man feareth and escheweth euil In this respect The feare of God is called the beginning of wisedome that is of an holy and vnblameable life Psal. 10. 10. Pro. 11. 7. because the godly man doth alwaies behaue himselfe as in the presence of the great and fearefull God of heauen Hitherto the rest of the vses mentioned in the first section of this chapter are to be referred which it is not needfull to repeate Yet there is one speciall commodity which the faithfull reape by this grace to wit immunity from temporall plagues for euen as it is said of a fierce and roring Lion that in the heate of his rage he spareth those beastes which yeelding themselues to his power doe by feare and trembling aske mercy at his handes so when as God is so prouoked to anger by the sinnes of his seruantes that no praiers or vowes can pacify him yet this submisse feare of his wrath doth quench the burning heat of it by the which meanes it commeth to passe that this feare of God doth not breed any trouble or disquietnes in the minds of the godly but rather freeth them from the feare of all euill whatsoeuer and therefore to conclude this chapter euery faithfull man ought to labour with all care both to haue in his heart and to expresse in his whole life and behauiour this singular grace of the feare of God that so he may call God his feare as he is called the feare of Isaac Gen. 31. 42. 53. where Iacob doth sweare to Laban by the feare of his father Isaac that is by God whom onely and no other thing in the world Isaac feared Thus we are exhorted Heb. 12. 28. Let vs labour to please God with reuerence and feare For euen our God is a consuming fire CHAP. VII Sect. 1. Of the subiection which man in his innocency did owe to God as to his father THus we see the first part of mans subiection with the particular dueties thereof the second kind of subiection is that which the sonne oweth to the father for God was to man in the state of innocency not onely a liege Lord and soueraigne King but also a gracious and louing father and that by vertue of the first creation the which is a kinde of generation For the creator giueth being and existence to the creature as the father doth to the sonne Yet not all the creatures are in this respect to be accounted or called the sonnes of God no more then men doe account those senselesse things which they fashion and make of clay woode or any such matter to be their children although they be their workemanship and therefore there is somewhat else in man which maketh him the sonne of God to wit the likenesse or similitude of man to God for man doth resemble God so as we see the sonne doth his father not in the outward shape of his body for God hath no shape neyther can be resembled to any thing that either is or can be imagined but in the inward holines of his soule the which is called in scripture The image of God whereof more hereafter Yet this is here to be noted that although man be by his originall and naturall state the sonne of God yet he is not so his sonne as is the second person of the Godhead who partaketh the very essence of the father whereas man hath not in him any part of gods essence but onely a shadow or light resemblance of it So that the second person is the sonne of God as is the natural sonne begotten by any man and therefore is of the substance of his father not differing from him in any respect saue only that the one is the father the other the sonne but man is the sonne of God so as he who is a son by some accidentall meanes as by law by adoption by tuition by susception or by any other way beside natural procreation For these sonnes do not participate the nature essence of their fathers but only do resemble them perhaps in countenaÌ„ce conditions name or in some such outward respect whereas in nature kinde and substance they are far differing from them But to proceed Man being not a senselesse or brutish but a reasonable creature is the son of God not he onely but also all the holy Angels who being likewise indued with the image of God are called the sonnes of God Iob. 1. 6. The sonnes of God came on a
generall renouation of their mindes and also sin it selfe by the infirmitie of the flesh And therefore they haue an accusing conscience which is nothing else but the sight or knowledge of sinne in themselues Hereof follow diuers effectes in them as namely feare in respect of those temporall punishments whervnto they by their sins haue layde themselues open Secondly an encrease of humiliation in regard thereof And lastly this accusing conscience is as a bit to restraine the faithful from sinne checking them as it were in the teeth with the iudgments of God which they doe by committing sin pull vppon thēselues Thus we see what is the accusing conscience of the faithfull which then worketh when they fall by force of temptation into some greate sinne otherwise it doth not greatly vex and trouble them Yet as sinne is neuer wanting so it is neuer altogether idle Now let vs consider the contrarie worke of the conscience excusing the faithfull before God the which it doth first in regard both of their owne inherent righteousnesse and also of the imputed righteousnesse of Christ. In the first respect their conscience excuseth them not as being perfectly iust but as those who are Gods faithfull seruants performing vnto him tho imperfect yet true vnfained and heartie obedience Thus doth the Prophet Dauid often in the psalmes offer his innocencie and integritie to the triall of God This excusing conscience dare not shewe his face before the iudgment seate of God where it would be found as a filthie and defiled clout but it commeth into the court of Gods mercie and loue who rewardeth the Godlinesse of his seruants with temporall blessinges and security from temporall iudgments But the true excusing conscience loketh on the perfect righteousnes of Christ by vertue whereof it doth iustifie and absolue the faithfull as being fully and perfectly iust and free from all guilt of sinne This excuser is he who only can abide the triall of Gods iustice who maketh the faithfull reioyce in all miseries yea secure in regard of danger It maketh them triumph ouer sinne Sathan hell death and damnation and replenisheth their heartes with such a perfect peace whereby they feele the ioyes of heauen euen whilst they liue vpon earth wherof whosoeuer hath once tasted may counte himselfe thrise happie This kinde of excusing conscience commeth of a true faith as doth the former kinde of the other partes of sanctification and of holinesse of life the one freeth the faithfull from the feare of temporarie euils as the other doth from the feare of eternall death Of both of them ariseth the assurance of saluation which is the vndoubted perswasiō and certaine knowledge of a faithfull man that he is one of those who shalbe made partakers of eternall glorie But against this doctrine many do obiect say that it is impossible for any man to attaine to any such knowledge seing that the eternall counsels and decrees of God are so secret that no man hath at any time knowen the minde of God or beene of his counsell in that behalf Againe that this knowledge is to be gotten if by any meanes then either by immediate reuelation or by arguments drawen from a mans owne estate as from some fayth or holinesse which he fyndeth in himselfe The first meanes is generallie reiected The other being vncertaine cānot be a sure foundatiō whereon to build this certaine perswasions Lastly that by this meanes there would a dore be set open to all licentiousnesse Godlesse securitie For what neede he who knoweth certainly that he shal be saued take paines and sustaine trouble griefe in working his owne saluatiō by a Godly holy life To this we answer confessing that the number of the reprobate or elect cānot be knowen and also that this knowledge is not gotten by any immediate reuelation yet affirming that euery faithfull man may be and ought to be assured of his owne saluation and that by that wounderfull worke of regeneration wrought in him by the holy spirite the which doth euen leade the faithfull man as it were by the hande into the secrete counsell of GODS eternall election and doth there let him see not the state of other men but his owne name written in heauen For they who are truelie regenerate are truely called they who are truely called are iustified they who are iustified are that is they shalbe as certainly certainely as if they were already glorified Rom. 8. 29. 30. And therefore the scripure speaketh of the faithfull as of those who haue already attained eternall saluation Ioh. 3. 8. Yea this is done not without good cause For the regeneration of this life and the eternall glorie of the life to come are not two diuerse states or conditions but onely diuerse degrees of the same condition eternall saluation being nothing else but the perfection of holinesse and happinesse whereof the faithfull haue in this life receaued some parte as a pledge and earnest-pennie of the whole So that they hauing alreadie as we say one foote in heauen and gotten possession of it neede not doubt of their saluation but may confidently say as it is 1. Ioh. 3. 14. We knowe not we hope or gresse that we are translated already not that we shalbe hereafter from death to life not by any immediate reuelation but because we loue the brethren that is because we feele our selues endued with renewed holinesse whereof the loue of the Godly is a notable part And with the Apostle Rom. 8. 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life neither Angels nor principalities neither thinges present nor thinges to come can separate me from the loue of God in Christ. But it may be further obiected that although true regeneration be a certaine signe and forerunner of saluation yet it is hard for a man to knowe whether his regeneration be true or onely a shadow and resemblance which is often in the reprobate and although he haue true faith and holinesse at one time yet he may loose and lack them at an other and so dispossesse himselfe of that estate of saluation wherein he was In both which respectes He that thinketh that he standeth ought to feare least he fall rather then to boast of the certaintie of his saluation We answere that true regeneration is not so small a matter neither maketh so light a chaunge in a man but that it may be plainely discerned where it is present Neither is it any vncertaine thing which may be lost but wheresoeuer it is there it doth euidently appeare at one time or at an other and where it once appeareth there it alwaies abideth For regeneration being a totall and a supernaturall change of the minde will affections thoughtes wordes and dedes of a man cannot be hid or doubtfull for any long time but will shewe it selfe both to the eyes of other men and much more to the conscience of the beleeuer himselfe For all though it commeth
maketh a speidie gainfull and happie voiage howsoeuer if that she chaunce to meete with a rocke or to runne vpon some sand she is in greater danger then if she had made lesse hast and borne a lower saile So where the strength and force of these affections is wanting there is as lesse danger in respect of sudden falles so lesse abilitie of aspiring to any high degree of holines for that the graces of the holy spirit wanting their sailes or being be calmed for want of winde often lie floting vp and dowen and doe not make so euident or notable progresse in their course Of these renewed affections the most notable is called loue an affections so often commended vnto vs and so highly extolled in the scriripture as if it contained not one part onely but euen the wholle substance of created holinesse in the which respect it is saide to be The fulfilling of the lawe Math. 22 40. Rom. 13. 8. and the one halfe of renewed holinesse the which is vsually cōprised in these two words Faith and Loue which is sayde 1. Cor. 13. 13. To be greater then faith But that we giue neither more nor lesse to this affection then is due vnto it this is to be held that holinesse whether created or recreated doth not consist either in any one or in a fewe but in many graces amongest the which loue hath the first place assigned vnto it yea often the denomination either of the wholle holinesse of man or more commonly of the holinesse of all the practicall faculties Not as if it were the only grace for there are many distinct graces euen as many as there are distinct faculties of mans soule required in perfect holinesse or yet as if it were the chiefe grace for faith hath the first place although in nature it be not so excellent as loue which is an heroicall grace being the foundation and as it were the subiect and ground-worke not onely of loue but also of all other graces and of all holinesse whether created or renewed Why then is loue more spoken of and inculcated in the scripture then faith or any other grace We answere that the spirit of God hauing continually in enditing the scripture respect to the capacitie of men propoundeth and commendeth vnto them holinesse not so much in grosse and in generall as in some particulars which are more easely surely and certainly conceaued then the generall in the which respect loue is preferred before faith as being more euident apparant and sensible and therefore a more sure and infallible marke and note of generall holinesse The great appearance of loue ariseth of these two causes First because whereas faith hath relation to God onely loue extendeth it selfe both to God and men Secondly where as faith lieth hidden in the heart and minde loue is outward practical and therefore more apparant and sensible Againe loue is preferred before all other practicall graces because holinesse consisteth as partly in duties to be performed in respect of our selues so cheifely in duties to be perfourmed to others namely to God and to men the which a man cannot performe as he ought vnlesse he beare a loue and a harty desire of the good both of God and of man Thus much of loue in generall The particulars of it are these First the regenerate man loueth God aboue all the thinges in the worlde desiring his good in the aduancement of his glory much more then his owne saluation From the which fountaine of the loue of God springeth the loue of all men but especially of the Godly who are renewed according to the image of God in holinesse and iustice Psal. 16. 3. All my delite is in the holy ones which are here on earth and cheiflie in those which excell in vertue This loue of the saintes is an infallible signe of true regeneration and of the true loue of God namely whenas a man loueth an other hartelie and vehemently euen as it were his owne naturall sonne or brother for this cause onely he being otherwise astraunger vnto him for that he seeth in him manifest signes and argumentes of true and vnfained godlinesse 1. Ioh. 3. 14. We knowe that we are translated from death to life because we loue the brethren And Ioh. 13. 35. By this shall all men knowe that ye are my disciples if ye loue one another Nowe we come to the other fountaine of loue namely selfe-loue the which also hath place in the regenerate although in an other manner then in carnall men For they loue themselues yet so as that they loue God more by infinite degrees and their brethren as themselues Againe they doe not shewe or vse this selfe-loue in prouiding earthly and sensuall pleasures for their bodies but in procuring the eternall saluation of their soules and yet they doe and ought to loue themselues more then they doe any other yea to be more carefull for the good estate of their owne bodies and soules then of the bodies and soules of their brethren Yet this must be vnderstood in equall comparison for a faithfull man ought not to loue his owne bodie and to desire the safetie thereof more then the eternall saluation of his brother the which ought to be procured yea with the losse of our owne temporall liues Ioh. 3. 16. As Christ laide downe his life for vs so we ought to lay downe our liues for our brethren Yet a man neede not depriue himselfe of life for the safetie of the temporall life of his brother being a priuate man nor of eternall life for the procuring of his eternall saluation If any man doe here obiect the examples of Moses Paul of whom the one desired to haue his name blotted out of the booke of life and the other to be accursed from Christ for the good of the Iewes We āswere that the Iewes were then to be cōsidered not simplie as mē but as the whol visible church of God the confusion whereof coulde not but be a great hinderaunce to Gods glory the which ought to be procured euen with the eternall confusion of our owne soules if the case doe so require For so Moses alledgeth that if God did destroy his owne people the Egiptians who were spitefull enimies to God and his worshippe would laugh at their distruction and blaspheme God himselfe And so we cannot doubte but that the glory of God shall be wonderfully enlarged by the conuersion of the Iewes and therefore it may be more desired then our owne saluation From this fountaine of selfe loue flow the afore saide streames of speciall loue whereby the faithfull man is affected more to those who doe any way come neare himselfe then to those who are estraunged from him This partial loue is good and lawefull for why shoulde not man encline and cleaue more to those whom God hath ioyned more nearely vnto him Hence commeth the speciall loue due to parentes which cannot be wanting but in him
this spirituall ioy by reason of the infirmitie of the flesh and although they cannot cleane extinguishe it yet they coole and diminishe it yea and so driue it into a corner as that it doth not any way appeare Yea euen the ordinarie misery and vanitie of this life being compared with the happinesse of the life to come doth worke in the faithfull sorrow sighes and grones as we read Rom. 8. 13. Beside this matter of sorrow which they haue in themselues they are continually sore grieued and euen tormented in themselues when as they beholde the vaine and wretched estate of the creatures being moued to pittie euen by the miseries of the brute beastes the horrible sinnes which abounde euery where and the generall atheisme which raigneth in the worlde to the greate dishonour of the name of God And much more whenas they consider the calamities miseries abuses corruptions and defections of the churches professing the name of Christ. These thinges doe and that iustly worke continuall greife in the heartes of the Godly yet this greife is moderated with patience and contentation in the will of God and so it be commeth a godly sorrow which doth not bringe them to desperation and death as carnall sorrow doth but is at length the cause of greater ioy And thus omitting for breuities sake the rest of the affections which haue not so common and notable vse in the life of man we conclude this second part of mans holinesse to wit his conformity to God The third part of this treatise of the chaunges hapening in the three estates or of the degrees of holinesse and sinfulnesse CHAPTER I. Of the chaunges hapening in the three estates of man in generall THe mutabilitie of the creature whereby the identitie of God is illustrated appeareth not onely in the generall diuersitie of mans state which sometimes is innocent and happie other times sinfull and miserable and againe becommeth holy here on earth and glorious in heauen but also in the particular chaunges hapening in his seuerall states whereof none can make him so immutable as that he may say truely of himselfe I am that I was and will be that I am and no otherwise As touching his created holynesse it coulde not be either so firme and stedfast but that it might be in some sorte diminished or so absolutly perfect but that it ought daily to be encreased But this vncertaintie and mutabilitie appeareth farre more plainelie in his other estates the one of naturall sinfulnes the other of renewed holines of both which there are in a māner as many degrees as there are carnall regenerate men in the world For although the corruptiō of sin haue already so possessed all the partes faculties of body soule be as deeply imprinted into the soule of man as the spottes are in the skin of a leopard and therefore may seeme not to admitte any encrease by reason of the greatnesse or any decrease by reason of the naturalnes of it yet both these chaunges may be seene the one vsually in most vnregenerate men who doe daily plunge themselues deeper and deeper in to the pit of sin adding one sin to another and thirst to drunkennesse as the scripture speaketh the other in diuerse both within and without the church Likewise in regeneration the faithfull man neuer standeth at one stay but doth alwaies grow either vpwarde or downewarde in godlynesse For as vsually he encreaseth his spiritual strength chaunging his christian infancie with a ripe and constant age and adding grace to grace till he become a perfect man in Christ so sometimes he decreaseth in holinesse as we see the bodies of men doe in old age and so as it were returning the same way he came falleth into one sinne after another and so decreaseth in holinesse although not totally and finally yet greiuously and fearefully Thus the spirituall state of man chaunging it selfe from lesse to more and from more to lesse from good to euill and from euil to good yea from good to better and from euil to worse is as variable as is the moone which continually decreasing or increasing in light appeareth euerie night in a newe forme These chaunges differences and degrees are necessarie to be knowen of all christians that so they may be either sought after or auoided as they are either good or euill And therefore we are here to declare the degrees both of the holinesse and also of the sinfulnesse of man not the conuersion of one estate into another the which is the argument of the two former partes of this treatise but the proper chaunges of each state as first howe Adam continuing in the state of innocencie might either haue decreased or increased in holinesse Secondly howe a carnall man abiding in his naturall sinfullnesse may be more or lesse sinfull And Lastly howe a regenerate man may decrease or increase in spirituall graces Of these in order if first we put the reader in minde that these chaunges are made from that measure of created holinesse of sinfulnesse and of renewed holinesse which hath bene declared in the two former partes of this booke wherein although sometimes for illustration a higher degree both of holinesse and of sinne be mentioned yet we haue indeauoured to sette downe that mediocritie as it may be called of holinesse both created and renewed which is to be seene ordinarily and vsually in men in the state of innocencie and of regeneration and likewise that measure of sinne which is naturall to all men and may be seene in many vnregenerate men not in all because in some it is diminished nor in most because vsually it is encreased as afterward will appeare CHAP. II. Of the chaunges of created holinesse IT may be doubted how man liuing and continuing in his innocent and happy estate could decrease in holinesse especially seeing that as hath beene said in the first part Chap. 3. Sect. 2. all the partes of his holinesse were so tyed and linked together that he could not loose any particular grace without loosing all nor commit the least sinne in the state of innocency because by committing sinne and in the very act and moment of committing it he should fall from his innocency into a sinfull state Wee answere that although all this be true yet there must a difference be put betwixt the want of a grace and the small measure of it and so betwixt the committing of sinne and the decreasing in holinesse which may be without sinne and that in this state if so be it be with these conditions first that this decrease be not so great as that any grace or part of holinesse be wholly wanting for thereof sinne would necessarily follow Secondly that it be not continuall or finall but onely for some short space of time In this manner we may well thinke that particular graces as faith loue temperance might be in man in the state of innocency sometimes in great and sometimes in small measure
giuen and hee shall haue abundaunce And it is said of diuers in the booke of the Acts that they were full of faith and of the holy ghost This abundance in the minde is called Plerophoria a certaine and vndoubted perswasion said to be in Abraham Rom. 4. 21. Hereof cometh abundaunce of faith of loue Rom. 5. 3. and 15. 13. and of all graces as 1. Thess. 1. 3. the Apostle mentioneth the worke of their faith their laborious loue and their patient hope And 2 Thess. 1. 3. that their faith superaugescit that is encreaseth aboue the common and ordinarie measure and that their loue did abounde accordingly This aboundaunce of grace is to be seene in the prophets Apostles martyrs and many other of the seruantes of God who therefore are made types and patterns for vs to imitate and set before our eyes as lanternes full of light and as shining and blazing starres that we might both admire and labour to ouertake them in their excellent graces and especially in their particular vertues For thus the scripture mentioneth the vprightnesse of Enoch who walked with God in all his waies the patience of Iob. Iam. 5. 11 the faith of Abraham the meeknesse of Moses the courage of Iosua the faithfulnesse of Samuel the absolute perfection of Dauid being a man according to Gods owne hearte the wisdome of Salomon the zeale of Phinies Iosias and many others Thus Paule mentioneth his owne painefulnesse in preaching the gospel to be farre aboue the labours of the rest of the Apostles Thus he sayeth Rom 16. 7. That Andronicus and Iunia were men notable among the Apostles and of Timothie that none was like to him in faithful labour and care for the good of the church Philip. 2. 20. The notes and markes whereby this abundaunce may be knowen are these a burning zeal of gods glorie of setting forwarde his worship and gospel a vehement hatred of idolatrie and all shadowes of superstition a tender and bountifull loue toward the godly a minde vndaunted with any torment death or miserie a constant course of godlinesse in all outward chaunges whatsoeuer as the Apostle sayeth of him selfe Philip. 4. 13. That he coulde want and abounde be full and empty and that he coulde do all thinges a life free from any grosse sinne an extraordinary contempt of all worldly pleasures Lastly a manner of freedom from being either ouercome or almost tempted by any grosse sinne For although the corruption of flesh and the impudencie of Sathan who was not ashamed to tempt Christ to commit sin be so great that no man be he nener so holy may lay away his weapons and be secure in respect of temptations yet by the blessing of God and a long practise of all godlinesse the faithfull come sometimes to such a surpassing strength in grace that as the couragious horse going into the battel scorneth the feareful sounds noyse of the trumpets so this godly man wherof we speake in this chapter laugheth at the temptations of Sathan and the entisementes of the world yet not presuming on his owne strength but relying himselfe wholly on the mighty power of the spirite of God The meanes of attaining to this high degree of holinesse is to seeke it by earnest prayer at the handes of God from whom onely commeth euery good and perfect gift But the meanes which God vseth in giuing it are diuerse some good some euil in themselues and therefore not to be vsed by vs of the first sort are all holy exercises appointed by God for the begetting continuall encrease of grace to the carefull diligent long and continuall vse whereof God doth often graunt this happie successe euen as he blesseth the diligent and painfull hand with greate plenty in temporall thinges Of the second sort is the abundaunce of sinne before regeneration the which it pleaseth God some time to chaunge into this abundaunce of grace as we see that the highest floudes follow the lowest ebbes This God doth to make manifest the great power and efficacy of his spirit in renewing the elect which is able to bringe the greatest measure of holinesse out of the greatest wickednes as cleare light out of palpable darkenes This Christ teacheth vs. Luk. 7. 41. In the parable of the two debters whereof the greater had greater cause and also a greater measure of loue And in the example of the woman verse 47. Who loued much because many sinnes were forgiuen vnto her sowhere sinne doth abound there grace aboundeth much more Yea for this purpose God doth sometimes vse the hote fiercenesse of affections and the violent disposition of nature the which as of it selfe it carieth a man headlong into the most outragious sinnes so being sanctified by Gods spirite it becommeth the whetstone of holinesse Thus was the Apostle Paule both naturally and spiritually affected and therefore being an infidell he was a most superstitious pharisie more then mad in persecuting the church and becomming a faithfull man passed all others in vnquenchable zeale of Gods spirite Lastly as touching this abundance of grace no man can attaine so high a degree of it as that he may sitte downe as being at his iorneis end but as the greater riches that a man hath the greater is his gaine desire and encrease of riches so the more holinesse that any man hath the more carefully ought and the more fruitfully may he laboure in encreasing it Phil. 3. 13. Brethren saieth the Apostle I count not that I haue attained vnto any such perfection But still I doe forget that which is behinde and endeuore my selfe to that which is before That is I doe not minde that holinesse which I haue already receaued but doe continually thinke on that which I doe want as yet CHAP. IX Of celestiall holinesse ALthough we haue now gone as far in declaring the renewed holinesse of man as any man can in this worlde either in hauing or in practising it yet we are not here to rest as being come to the end of our iorney For if the aforesaid aboundaunce of spirituall graces which be it neuer so great cannot possibly be voide of sinne be absolutelie the highest degree this inconuenience which is in no wise to be admitted would of necessitie follow that man doth not in regeneration recouer as good a state and as great a measure of holinesse by the mercy of God in christ as he had in his first creation and lost by his owne sinne in Adam And therefore we are to goe on a little further in this treatise and in our desire till we come to such an absolute perfection of renewed holinesse as is free from the least spot of sinne whatsoeuer This perfection may without all question yea must necessarely be attained vnto For man can not be perfectly happie by enioying the presence of God into the which nothing being sinfull can enter as long as he is imperfectly holy Yet he
in the minde knowledge being put for affiaunce as the cause is often put for the effect Thus Coll. 2. 2. Faith is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the full assurance and certaine preswasion of the vnderstanding and so throughout the wholle scripture faith is made nothing else but beleefe and to haue faith nothing but to beleeue that the worde promises and threatnings of GOD are true But in trueth to make vp the full nature of fayth there must be added to this action of the minde an action of the heart and will to wit affiaunce We confesse that there is a kinde of faith which is a meere perswasion of the minde as namelie that which is called the fayth of miracles whereby a man being perswaded of the power and will of GOD for the effecting of strange thinges doth by vertue of that knowledge worke miracles but this fayth doth not concerne the saluation of man and therefore doth not belong to our purpose In the second place the definition giueth vs to vnderstand that the obiect or thing whereat fayth aimeth and where about it is conuersant is not anie particular blessing or good whatsoeuer but full and perfect happinesse which containeth in it all graces blessings pleasures and ioyes whatsoeuer doe anie waie make for the good and excellent estate of man Likewise the promises of GOD whereon faith relieth are those which are made concerning happinesse Yet sometimes it pleaseth GOD to make some one particular and temporarie blessing a signe and pledge of eternall and vniuersall happinesse and then the faith of the beleeuer relieth it selfe first and immediatly vppon the saide particular promise and on the blessing therein contained but it doth not rest there but through that particular obiect doth see and take holde of eternall happinesse Thus GOD promised to Abraham being nowe stricken in yeares a sonne this promise Abraham did fully apprehende by faith and by this meanes became happie and was accounted iust before GOD. Rom. 4. 22. Abraham beleeued God promising a sonne vnto him this his particular faith was accounted to him for righteousnesse for that in that one blessing he saw the infinite treasures of Gods mercy loue and bountie propounded vnto him Although we might answere another way saying that the obiect of Abrahams faith was not onely Isaac but also Christ the sauiour of the worlde who was to come of Isaac and to make all the nations of the earth happie Likewise Math. 9. The man sicke of a palsey vnder his bodily and temporarie health looked for eternall saluation as Christ the searcher of the harte doth witnesse saying to him thy fayth hath saued and purchased to thee thy former health withall pardon of sinnes vvhich is euerlasting happinesse Heereof ariseth a third point to be considered to vvit that this faith doth after a speciall manner both tie man to God and so bring forth all the rest of the partes of holinesse for as this is ingrafted into the nature of all liuing creatures to preserue themselues in a good estate so especially those vvhich are indued vvith reason namely Angels and men as soone as the exist they do in the first place bend all the force of their mindes to seeke out some meanes of continuing and increasing their ovvne happinesse The meanes vvhich doe in this consideration offer themselues are of tvvo sorts the first is the onely true meanes euen God the fountaine of all happines on whose word promises made touching their happy estate they by faith depend and rely themselues and so they are ioyned to God for euer The other means is the creature it selfe trusting not in God but in it selfe vvhereof hereafter Thus faith in that it ioyneth vs to God it conueyeth from God to vs as all happinesse so also all spirituall graces and holinesse the meanes of happinesse in the vvhich respect it may be called the fountaine of all the holinesse follovving euen as vvhen vvater is brought from a fountaine or spring to any place somewhat distant by pipes of wood lead or clay the first pipe which ioyneth all the rest to the fountaine may be said to giue the water to the rest so doth faith conuey the graces following to vs and that both by the immediate extraordinary blessing of God who multiplieth his graces vpon the creature cleauing vnto him in ful affiance as men vsually giue howses land and all thinges needful to those that rely themselues vpon them as also by meanes inherent in the reasonable creature the which loueth honoureth and serueth God not for nought but as the giuer of all happinesse and so doe all the rest of the affections and faculties of mans soule follow both that light of the minde which faith bringeth with it or rather which bringeth forth faith commonly called beliefe and also faith it selfe The last words of the definition which mentiō the perfect holines of man giue vs to vnderstād that the only means of being happy is to be first perfectly holy as hath been heretofore often declared Thus much of the generall doctrine of faith now we come to the kinds of faith the which are two in number the first is the faith of the first estate to wit that wherewith Adam was indued in his creation the second is the faith of the third estate to wit that wherof all the regenerate are made partakers so that the first is a created the second a recreated faith The which two kindes as they do agree in all those pointes which haue beene declared in the former section so they differ in that which followeth The difference ariseth of the diuers kinds of that perfect holines which is mentioned in the generall definition of faith For the faith of the first estate looketh for happinesse by righteousnes inherent in the person of the beleeuer and by his own natural holines but the faith of the third estate maketh men happy by imputed righteousnes supernatural holines The cause of this difference is this God created man perfectly holy therefore he might wel looke that he should retaine that holines which was bestowed vpō him but man by his fal lost his holines therefore being now sinful vnrighteous must in this third state cloth himself with the righteousnes of some other So that in both states perfit holines is the means of attaining happines but in the first state this holines is inherent in Adams person in the second it is had from another And therefore the first kind of faith is to be defined affiance in Gods promises propounding happines to the natural proper or inherent holines of the reasonable creature whether man or Angell This faith is vsually called legall faith although not properly seing that this name agreeth also to the euangelical faith the which doth require perfect obediēce the absolute fulfilling of the morall lawe for whosoeuer beleeueth in Christ fulfilleth the lawe and hath legall iustice by the death of Christ
and legall holinesse although not perfect in this life by his spirit Yet because the morall law was giuen for this end to shew man his vnrighteousnesse by commaunding inherent righteousnesse hence it is that by legall righteousnesse is vsually meant proper or inherent righteousnesse and so by legall faith is meant that faith which looketh for hapinesse by inherent righteousnesse the which may more fitlie be called naturall faith because it was ingrauen in the nature of man as the other kinde is supernaturall yet we call it legall faith because perfect inherent righteousnesse is nothing but the perfect keeping of the lawes and commaundementes of God as sinne is defined 1. Ioh. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sinne is the breaking of the law whether it be the morall lawe written Exod. 20. the which was ingrauen in the heart of Adam in his first creation or any other law yea euen of things in nature indifferent inioyned to man by God the transgression wherof is a transgression of the morall lawe for the creature sinneth whensoeuer he disobeyeth the voyce word lawe and commaundement of God whether in a thing in nature indiffereÌ„t or simply vnlawful Thus did Adam sinne and fall away from God by eating the fruite of a certaine tree which he was forbidden to touch So that by this legall faith none can trust in God for eternall happines but onely he who in his owne person fulfilleth the whole law of God and that in deed in word in thought in will and in affection yea in the vniuersall puritie of this nature being free from all curruption of sin The which thing forsomuch as it cannot possibly be performed by any of the sons of Adam all being stained with that originall impurity which cannot by any meanes in the world be shaken off Hence it followeth that this naturall faith cannot haue place in any of them onely the holy Angels which continue in their naturall purity holinesse are endued with it for they trust for happinesse by the meanes of their owne perfect righteousnesse Yet this their happinesse is not so to be attributed to their proper obedience as that it be wholly denied to the grace of God for where the Apostle saith Rom. 4. 4 If saluation bee by works it is not of grace he meaneth the meere fauour of God remitting sinne the which hath place iâ— the other kind of faith yet euen the holy Angels although they be saued by works that is by their owne perfect holines yet their holines coÌ„meth from the grace of God without the which supporting them in all temptations suggested by their own free minds and wils or by the reprobate Angels they coulde not stand Sect. 2. Of infidelitie THus much of faith Nowe we come to the first kinde of rebellion wherby man falleth away from God called infidelitie for that it is both in name and nature cleane contrarie to faith For by it man ceaseth to trust and depend vppon GOD renouncing his patronage and protection as being altogether vnable to bestow any good thing much lesse perfect happinesse vpon his clients and therefore he seeketh for another Lorde and king in whom to trust So that as faith is affiance on Gods promises so this kinde of rebellion may not vnfitlie be called defined defiance or distrust in Gods promises propounding happinesse to the holinesse of the creature and eternall miserie to his disobedience The first example of infidelitie is the diuell with his wicked Angels who not acknowledging God to be the giuer of happinesse did beginne to seeke for it else where in the which consultation he saw that as there was no creature more excellent then himselfe so there was no meanes of attaining happinesse so like as for to relie himselfe vpon himselfe vpon his owne strength power wit policies and inuentions by the which he did perswade himselfe that he should become far more happy then he could be by continuing in that obedience and alleagance which he did owe to God The second example of infidelitie was Adam who was by the deceit and perswasion of Sathan drawen away from trusting in God and on his worde to trust in the â—euill and in that meanes of attaining happinesse which he did shew vnto him In Adam all mankind fell from faith to infidelitie wherein it remaineth all men being bred â—orne brought vp without any affiance in God relying themselues for their happinesse onely on themselues their owne wit learâ—ing beauty strength friendes riches nobilâ—tie yea on sinne Sathan and this present world and no more depending vpon God tâ—en if there were no God For victorie they trust in chariots and horsemen for health in the phisition for life in meate and drinke for riches in their owne industrie or in their parents for glory honor in vvorldly preferments and dignities not once vpon any occasion acknovvledging God or looking vp to heauen This infidelitie or defiance of God commeth of vnbeliefe which is the blindnesse of the minde or the ignorance of man not seeing the euident trueth of Gods promises but beeing perswaded that his worde is altogether voyde of trueth and that his promises are nothing but faire pretences his feareful threatnings nothing but vaine skar-crowes terrifying and fraying none but religious fooles and that the whole course of the worlde is not ordered by his decrees will and prouidence but by nature chaunce fortune and the counsell oâ— man So we reade Ephe. 4. 18. The Gentiles haue their vnderstanding darkned and so are alienated or estraunged from God bâ— the ignoraunce which is in their mindes and 2. Tim. 3. 8. Men of corrupt mindes anâ— reprobate as touching faith Lastly this blindnesse of minde the companion and cause of infidelitie commeth by our naturall corruption from the fall of Adam for wheras once the light of his minde was darkned by the delusion of the Diuell insomuch that he thought euill to be good and the way leading to extreame misery to be the onely meanes of the greatest happinesse it could not be but that his will affections actions and all the faculties both of bodie and soule shoulde be corrupted for that one of them doth followe the disposition of an other so that a corrupt mind bringeth a peruerse will and a sinfull will and inordinate affections doe darken the minde as hath bene alreadie shewed Hereof it followeth that infidelitie doth both separate a man form God and also depriue him of all the partes of holynesse yea insteed thereof filleth all the parts and faculties of a mans soule and body with the corruption of sinne For man renouncing God is wholly separated frome him neither can any longer receiue any blessing from him for euen as a subiect or tennant discliaming his king and Lorde and relying himselfe vpon a newe master euen one who is a deadlie and professed enimy to his first maister doth incontinently depriue himselfe of all those farmes landes houses prefermentes and commodities whatsoeuer the