not payde And as touching that place we first desire that our sinnes should be forgeuen vs. And because that by benefites receaued men are encouraged to hope that they shall receaue other and greater benefites therefore is this the meaning of that sentence O father which hast of thy goodnes geuen vs grace to forgeue iniuries vnto our trespassers forgeue vnto vs also our sinnes by these wordes also is not signified a cause but a similitude although that similitude be not perfect and absolute For there is none that is wise that will haue his sinnes so forgeuen him of God as he hath forgeuen his neighbour the iniuries that he hath done vnto him For euerye one by reason of the fleshe and that infirmity whiche it carieth about forgeueth much les vnto his brother then he ought For there alwayes sticketh in his minde some offence which although it burst not forth yet his owne conscience is a sufficient witnes vnto himselfe that his minde is not very perfect towardes him by whome he hath ben hurte But the former exposition teacheth that the similitude is to be referred not vnto remission but vnto the liberality of God that euen as he hath geuen the one so also he will vouchsafe to geue the other But whereas it is sayd Forgeue and it shal be forgeuen that is a commaundement and therfore pertaineth vnto the lawe But thou wilt obiect that that sentence is written in the Gospell and not in the lawe That is no thing at all for the lawe and the Gospell are not seperated The law the Gospell are not seperated by volumes or bookes In what maner we ought to forgeue iniuries a sonder by volumes or bookes For bothe in the olde Testamente are contayned the promises of the Gospell and also in the Gospell the lawe is not only comprehended but also most perfectly by Christ expounded Wherfore by those words we are coÌmaunded to forgeue iniuries done vnto vs. And forasmuch as we are bound to do yâ according to the prescript of the law that law dependdeth of this great precept Thou shalt loue the lord thy God with all thy hart with all thy soule and with all thy strengthes according to yâ forme therfore we ought to forgeue our enemies which thing because no man hath at any time performed neither can performe it followeth that we ought to flye vnto Christ by whome we may be iustified by faith and afterward being iustified may after a sort accomplishe that which is commaunded Which although we do not perfectly performe yet it pleaseth God and he fréely geueth vnto vs the promise annexed vnto it not Redeme thy sinnes with almes is expounded because of our workes or for our merites but only for Christes sake They go about also to blind our eyes with the wordes of Daniell wherein he exhorted the king to redeme his sinnes by almes But in that place by sinnes we may vnderstand the paynes and punishementes due vnto sinne For the scripture vseth oftentimes such phrases of speach Which thing we neuer denyed Yea rather we willingly graunt that to workes which procéede from faith God is wont to geue many thinges specially as touching the mitigation of plagues and punishements They obiect also this sentence out of the first chapiter of Iohn God gaue them power He hath geuen them power to be made the sonnes of God how it is to be vnderstand to be made the sonnes of God Wherefore they say that those which haue already receaued Christ that is haue beleued in him are not yet iustified and regenerate and made the children of God but only haue receaued power to be made the children of God namely as they thinke by good workes And in this argument Pigghius the great champion and Achilles of the Papistes putteth great affiance but yet in vayne For he thinketh that of necessity he to whome power to haue any thing is geuen hath not as yet the same thing As though we should here deale philosophically that power excludeth acte which yet euen amongest the Philosophers also is not vniuersallye true For when they defyne the soule they say that it is an acte of a body naturall hauing members or instrumentes and also hauing life in power By which definition appeareth that our body hath life in power when as yet it hath life in acte and in very déede But that worde power here signifieth that the body hath not of it selfe life but of an other namely of the soule Which thing we in this matter at this present may also affirme namely that those which haue receaued the Lord and haue beleued in him are regenerate and made the children of God and yet not of themselues but from some other waye namely of the spirite and grace of God For so signifieth this word power Although the Euangelist in that place spake not peripatetically but simply and most plainely For a little before he sayd His receaued him not By this word his he ment the Iewes which peculiarly professed the knowledge of the true God But when they had refused the truth offred vnto them God would not be without a people but appointed theÌ to be his peculiar people which should beleue and receaue Christ Wherefore he gaue vnto them power that is This power is adoption grace a right and a prerogatiue that when they had receaued the Lorde by faith they should be made and be indéede the sonnes of God And therefore Cirillus expounding that place saith that this power signifieth adoption and grace Farther Pigghius although he thinke himselfe very sharpe of witte yet séeth not that when he thus reasoneth he speaketh thinges repugnant For how is it possible that any man should haue life in himselfe and yet not lyue Assuredly if they in beleuing haue receaued Christ it must néedes be that straight way they haue righteousnes For as Paul writeth in the first epistle vnto the Cor. He is made of God vnto vs wisedome righteousnes holynes and redemptioÌ But what nede we so long a discourse The Euangelist himself declareth vnto vs who those be which haue receiued such a power namely which are not borne of bloud nor of the wil of the flesh nor of the wil of maÌ but of God And if they be borne of God then followeth it of necessity that they are iustified and regenerate They obiect also vnto vs a seruile feare which goeth before charity as though by it we should be prepared vnto iustification and the more easely to receaue charity Vnto whom we aunswere that such a feare without charity is sinne they replye agayne and say that Christ commaunded that feare But God commaundeth not sinne And he commaunded such a feare say they when he sayd I will shew vnto you whome ye ought to feare feare him whiche when he hath killed the body can also cast the soule into hell fire And that this feare prepareth vnto iustification they thinke may hereby be proued for yâ
oughte not to be in doubt whither the spirite of Christ do dwell in vs or no. Ambrose vpon this place noteth that the spirite of God departeth from vs for two maner of causes eyther bicause of the vnderstanding of the flesh or els bicause of the actes therof That is either for false doctrine or els for corrupt maners But if Christ be in you the body in dede is dead because of sinne Hitherto pertaineth the first part of this chapter wherin hath bene declared that although in the saintes there still remayneth sinne yet therof followeth not condemnation for it is taken away by the law of the spirit But froÌ whence this spirit is deriued into vs hath ben set forth namely froÌ the death which the son of God suffered for vs. Farther it hath ãâã declared what they are vnto whome so great a benefite is come namely ãâã which walke according to the spirite and not according to the flesh Now he entreth into the second part wherin he teacheth that we by the same spirite haue obteined participation both of the death and of the resurrection of the Lord. And he exhorteth vs according as our duety is to mortify the dedes of the flesh and to addict our selues wholy vnto the spirit by whom we haue obteyned so great benefites And to knit together those things which are to be spoken with those which are already spoken the Apostle saith But if Christ be in you In that he thus saith that Christ is in vs he sheweth that it counteth it al one for the spirite of God or of Christ to dwell in vs and Christ himselfe to be in vs not that he meaneth that the holy ghost and Christ that is the sonne of God are one the selfe same hypostasis or person But as Chrisostome hath taught this is the nature of the thrée persons that wheresoeuer the one is there also the other are together present Wherfore forasmuch as the holy ghost is in vs it followeth of necessity that the sonne of God which is Christ together with the father is in vs. Which thing Paul hath expressedly pronounced vnto the Ephesians when he sayd That Christ Not where soeuer Christ is accordinge to his diuine nature he is there also according to his humane nature by fayth dwelleth in our hartes And yet it followeth not that whersoeuer Christ is according to his diuine nature he is there also accordyng to his humaine nature For his humaine nature whether we haue a regard vnto the soule or vnto the body is finite neither can so be poured abroade infinitely that it shoulde possesse and fill all things as doth his diuine nature Wherfore we graunt that the sonne and the father are wheresoeuer the holy ghost is and whersoeuer we confesse the son of God to be there also will we coÌfesse Christ to be but yet not alwaies according to his humane nature For yâ is not possible Paul saith in his â epistle vnto the Cor. that the elders dranke of the spiritual rock which followed theÌ that rocke was Christ Of the rocke which was Christ By which wordes are ââ things to be vnderstaÌd first yâ Christ was signified in that rocke secondly yâ he was in very dede present with the people when they dranke as the holy history declareth For it telleth yâ God promised that he would be preset with his people at the rocke Oreb And the same God was yâ sonne which could not then be present according to flesh and humane nature when as he had not yet put it on And yet is he of Paul called Christe And in the selfe same epistle the fathers are sayd to haue tempted Christ in the desert which can not be vnderstand according to the humane nature for as much as it was not then extaÌt The fathers ââ the wildernes tempted Christ How it is to be vnderstande Christ to dwel in vs. So when Christ is sayd to dwell in vs by fayth or the spirite it doth not thereof follow that ether his body or his soule dwelleth in our hartes really as I may call it and substancially It is inough that Christ be sayd to be in vs by hys deuine presence and that he is by his spirite grace and giftes present with vs. Nether is this as some make exclamation to go aboute to seperate the diuine nature from the humane For we holde that the natures in Christ are ioyned together and insâperable And yet that coniunction maketh not that the humane nature extendeth it selfe so farre aâ doth the diuine nature Which thing Augustine hath most manifestly testefied vnto Dardanus Although I knowe there are some which go aboute by certayne wordes of his out his 96. treatise vpoÌ Iohn to cauill that he ment that Christ also according to hys humane nature is still with vs although he be not sene For Augustine wheÌ he interpreteth these words A place of Augustine expounded of the Lord I go to prepare you a place sayth that those places and maÌsions are nothing ells then we our selues which beleue which are as certayne dwelling places vnto which the father and the sonne come and abide in But we must by the holy ghost be prepared to be made mete dwelling places WheÌ he thus expouÌdeth these wordes he demauÌdeth Why then sayth Christ that he goeth away if we must be prepared For he ought rather to be present For if he depart away we shall not âe prepared Afterward when he solueth the question he thus writeth If I doo well vnderstande the thou departest neyther from whence thou camest nether from the place whither thou goest Thou departest in hiding thy selfe thâu commest in manifesting thy selfe But vnles thou abide in gouerning vs and we go froward ãâ¦ã ning well how shall a place be prepared for vs Behold say they by these wordes it is most manifeste that Christe hath not departed from vs but is present although he lye hiddeÌ But these men consider not that these thinges are spokeÌ of the diuine nature For that is it which is said to haue come from heauen and out of the bosome of the Father He came indede not that he departed thence from whence he came but bycause he appeared vnto vs vnder humane nature Agayne he is sayd to haue gone from hence when he ascended according to hys humane nature not that he hath vtterly departed froÌ vs but for that the humane nature in which he appeared vnto vs being taken vp vnto heauen the presence of his diuine nature lieth hidden with vs nether can it be sene of vs. And that this is the meaning of Augustine may be proued by two argumentes First bycause he entreateth of our preparation which belongeth vnto Christ according to his diuine nature for it worketh and insinuateth it selfe in our hartes and mindes Farther that place which he citeth out of the epistle vnto the Corrinthians whereas he proueth that we are the dwelling places of God teacheth the selfe same
iudgeth by them But what shall we say of priuate men Doth not the spirituall man iudge all How farre forth it is lawfull to iudge others thinges doth not Paul say to the Corinthians Ye your selues be iudges From priuate men especially from men adorned with the spirite of God is not takeÌ away that power of iudging wherby is discerned good from ill truth from falshode profite from disprofite But here is not entreated of those thinges For here is spoken of that iudgement wherby we reproue and condemne others But vniuersally it is not lawfull for vs to condemne any man by our iudgement If thou consider the persone it is not lawfull so to condemne any man as one which can not be amended or corrected For alwayes so long as we liue here we must conceaue a a good hope of our neighbour vnles there come in the meane tyme some peculiar reuelacion of God as we haue before taught And as touching actes wheÌ they are neuter indifferent charity requireth that we interpretate theÌ to procede of a good mind for we ought not to accuse those thinges as sinnes which may otherwise be well doone But as touching good factes there is nothing to let but that we may in our iudgement commend them Yea rather both iustice and the law of charity commaundeth vs so to doo But those thinges which are vtterly wicked and plainly repugnant to the commaundemeÌts of God are not condemned of vs but of the words of God But here the question is touching things indiffereÌt As concerning them Paul profitably commaundeth the weake for that they are still ouerspread with darknes to refraine from iudgements For that is nothing els but to goe about to vsurpe the office of God For he is only the searcher of hearts and he alone knoweth with what minde euery thing is done Augustine de verbis Domini in Râsh iudgement coÌmitted two maner of waâs monte sayth That in these two things iudgement is rash when it is vncertaine with what minde any thing is done or what maner thing that shall in time to come be which now séemeth either to be good or euill He standeth or falleth to his owne Lorde Sometimes they which iudge pretend this that they are moued with the griefe which they take by reason of his destruction whome they iudge But let no such affect trouble thée sayth Paule for he whome thou iudgest either standeth to his owne Lorde or falleth and to him redoundeth the profite and the hurt Doe not thou thinke thy selfe more iuster then him That he which auengeth not doe not thou by the vntimely iudgement séeke to destroy Yea he shal be established For God is able to make him to stand Forasmuch as it lieth not in thine handes to make thy brother either to stand or to fall thou Paul here reasoneth of the power of God to the effect First is requisâte that we be certaine of the wil of God before that we reasoÌ of his powerâ oughtest to thinke well of him and not lightly to suspecte that he will fall For he hath a good and mighty Lorde which is able to stay him vp and to establishe him And yet dothe not Paule here as some fable reason from the power of God to the effect For that were to doe nothing and to imitate the Papists which vpon this that God can take away the nature of the bread and reserue the accidences without substances straight way conclude that he so doth in the Eucharist They ought first to be certaine of the will of God and afterward to come to the effect For Paul here maketh mention of the power of God for that he had before sufficiently spoken of his will that God had receiued him and taken him into his famely and geuen vnto him a firme faith and strength wherefore seeing that thou art assured of the will of God and canst not doubt of his power thou oughtest not lightly to distrust of his saluation whome thou iudgest After this manner also is to be vnderstanded that which he before sayd in the. 11. chapiter And if he abide not in incredulitye he shal be againe grafted in For God is able to graft him in againe Here also are we assured of the will of God and that by the scriptures For there are infinite promises made to the nation of the Iewes which can not vtterly be voyde For as Paule straight way afterward affirmeth the giftes and calling of God are without repentaunce and he affirmeth that they were beloued for theyr fathers sake Wherfore séeing that there was no controuersie of his will he aptly addeth an argumeÌt of his power Yet ought we not too much to assure our selues of an other mannes saluatioÌ although we ought not to be in doubt of our saluation For although we Although we can not be assured of the saluation of an other maÌ yet ought we to hope well of him can not be assured of others yet charity moueth vs to hope wel of them wherunto all those reasons which Paul here bringeth doe vrge vs. This man estemeth one day aboue an other and an other counteth euery day a like There was also an other infirmity of yâ Iewes newly conuerted to Christ in that they thought that the dayes ought to be obserued according to the old law namely Easter Whytsontide the feast of trumpets the day of expiations the feast of tabernacles the new Mones and the Sabboths But they which were endued with a stronger faith counted al dayes a like How be it we except the Lords day for it pertaineth to the ten commaundementes that out of the whole wéeke Of the sabaoth and Lords day should one day be consecrated to the worshipping of God That day God wold in the olde law should be the Sabboth day that the benefite of the creation of the world and of the deliuery out of Egipt might the more firmly stick in memory But afterwarde that the memory of the resurrection of Christ and the renuing of our saluation obtained by him and the hope of our resurrection which we wait for should most déepely sinke into our mindes the Lords day was appoynted and that euen of the Apostles Of which thing is very manifest mention made in the holy scriptures Afterwarde by Ecclesiasticall men were brought in a great many festiuall holy dayes which as Erasmus testifieth and as theyr owne counsels Of holy dayes affirme as our times now are were better to be fewer or rather vtterly none at all But it is wonderfull howe Origen Ambrose and others drew these wordes of Paul to the abstinences from meats and from flesh which some Christians at that time obserued as though there were some which in the Apostles time did certain dayes abstaine from flesh or from some other kinde of meats But others thought that all dayes were frée vnto them And yet though we should follow this exposition can not the Papists which at this day laboure to obtrude
⧠Most learned and fruitfull Commentaries of D. Peter Martir Vermilius Florentine Professor of Diuinitie in the Schole of Tigure vpon the Epistle of S. Paul to the Romanes wherin are diligently most profitably entreated all such matters and chiefe common places of religion touched in the same Epistle ¶ With a table of all the common places and expositions vpon diuers places of the scriptures and also an Index to finde all the principall matters conteyned in the same Lately traÌslated out of Latine into Englishe by H. B. ¶ IMPRINTED AT LONdon by Iohn Daye ¶ Cum Gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis per decennium ⧠These bookes are to be solde at the shop vnder the gate DIEV ET MON DRIOâ ARISE FOR IT IS DAY TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND VVORTHY SIR ANTHONY COOKE KNIGHT PETER MARTIR VERMILIVS OF FLORENCE PROFESSER OF DIVINITIE IN THE SCHOLE OF TIGVRE VVISHETH HEALTH WHen I oftentimes consider with my selfe right honourable Sir whome for godlines and learning I reuerence all those things which happened all that whole time that I dwelt in England it driueth into me a great and manifolde griefe And in especiall it is a grief vnto me that so great an hope of the gospell of Iesus Christe and of pure doctrine in that Realme geuen by the most mighty and most mercifull God and confirmed by the great laboure industry and study of godly men hath now in a maner vtterly pearished It is a griefe vnto me to thinke that that most noble wit most sacred brest and incredible piety of that famous king Edwarde the .vj. of that name your most deare pupill is so sodainely taken from vs. It is a griefe vnto me that so many English men being of great fame renoum as well for theyr piety as for theyr knowledge and nobility are by voluntary exile for religion sake dispersed throughout externe and straunge countreys and they which at home were counted moste noble and heroicall doe now wander abrode as men obscure abiect and in a manner vnknowne to all men But it is well in that this happeneth not vnto them for any wicked actes by them committed or for filthy life but only for the name and doctrine of oure Lord Iesus Christ It is also a griefe vnto me that so great a multitude of godly brethren are as doubtles it is to often from euerye where signified vnto vs moste cruelly for theyr holy profession put to the sworde fire and tormentes whome for as much as they are our brethren and haue to theyr head together with vs one and the selfe same Christ and are members of one and the selfe same body and finally are euen oure owne bowels when we heare to be entreated with so great cruelty and tyraÌny it is not possible but that we also should in minde be shaken with horror and set on fire euen as they are in body tormented and murthered These and a greate many moe things being vnto me a great griefe so that I am nowe in a maner hardened to any newe griefe yet cease I not to haue an eye hither and thither to see if I might by any meanes gette some healthfull and profitable remedy bothe for my selfe and for such like as I am but now I haue long time had experience of that it is in vaine to hope for mannes helpe or for ayd at the worlds hand And therefore I persuade both my selfe also others to withdraw their mindes from the aides of the flesh and to implore the heauenly and diuine helpe which doubtles I see is offred vnto vs two wayes One is that we with prayers turning our selues vnto Christ shold say How long Lord shall the wickednes and fury of Idolatry of supersticions and of the ignorance of the scriptures range abroade on the earth How long Lord shall thy holy Gospell be troden vnder foote We in dede haue sinned we haue ben rebellious against thee and haue not harkened vnto thy wordes for which cause we are iustly and for our euill deserte thus daily put âo confusion and shame But thou O Lord our God are most iust in all thy workes But on the other side Lord for as much as it belongeth to thy clemency and constancy to haue mercye to spare and most faithfully to kepe thy couenauntes and promises how long Lord how long wilt thou be angry vnto the end Remember not our iniquities of olde Wherefore we beseeche thee that for as much as in these laste times thou hast by pouring abrode thy plenteous light and that being most mighty vouchsafed to make manifest vnto men which lay in darknes yea more then palpable darknes the secretes of thy truth thou woldest once at the length turne away thy wrath and fury from our ingrate mindes and from the most greuous sinnes whereby we haue laid forth thy most holy name and the pure doctrine which we professe to euil speakings and to blasphemies And deliuer thy congregation from the contumelies and oppressions of the wicked which doubtles light not only vpon vs but also vppon the maiesty of thy name Although thou of thyne owne nature be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is vntouchable and not able to be hurt Illuminate O most louing Christ thy face vpon the Church redeamed with thy bloud which is now in a manner vtterly lefte desolate Thy name only and not any other mannes name we call vpon not vndoubtedly trusting to any our own righteousnes but to thy goodnes only and mercy that thou woldest either appoynt an end or measure of those euils and lenify the vexation wherwith we together with our brethren are afflicted or that thou wouldest at the least vouchsafe to geue vnto the hearts of thine such faith and constancy that they fall not away from the profession of true piety yea rather that they may so nobly and valiantly behaue them selues that by their exile emprisonment pouertye ignominy sworde fire and how cruell so euer kinde of death it be the liuely knowledge of thy gospell may more and more shine forth and be made more manifest to the whole world This kinde of ayde and remeady right honorable sir is the first which I see is to be sought for at Gods hands against our euils and which the holy Fathers prophets Apostles and blessed coÌfessors of the Christian faith with great fruit vsed in their afflictions Wherfore seing that God heard them praying after this maner or muche like therevnto let vs in no wise distrust but that he will also heare vs when as we haue coÌmon with them one and the selfe same cause and one and the selfe same God Vndoubtedly if he heard them he will not despise our prayers but forasmuch as he is alwayes like vnto himselfe if he most louingly and with incredible facilitie receaued theyr prayers he will also fil vs making supplicatioÌ vnto him not with a small but with a most ample consolation The second helpe which is also brought vs from God and is euery where
witnes bloude water and the spirite 79. b Herein is charity perfect in vs that in the day of iudgment we haue confidence 383. a Iude. ANd Enoch the seuenthe froÌ Adam prophesied of such saying beholde the Lorde commeth c. 403. a Apocalips CHrist shal raigne a thousand yeares with his saints 88 Behold I stand at the dore and knock And if any man open vnto me I will enter in and sup with him 384. a Take vengaunce vpon the earth for our bloud 345. b Vntill he put his enemies vnder his feete 360. b Holde faste that thou hast least an other receiue thy crowne 347. b ⧠Common places Of Iustification 367 Of Predestination 285 ⧠The first Chapter PAule the seruaunt of Iesus Christ called to the office of an Apostle put aparte to preach the Gospell of God which he before had promised by his Prophets in the holy Scriptures of hys son which was begotten of the seede of Dauid as touching the fleshe and declared to bee the sonne of God with power according to the spirite of sanctification in that Iesus Christ our Lord rose agayne froÌ the dead by whoÌ we haue receaued grace and the office of an Apostle to be obedyent to fayth amonge all nations in hys name of the number of whome ye also are the called of Iesus Christ To all you which are at Rome the beloued of God called Sainctes grace and peace to you from God the father and from the Lord Iesus Christ As touchynge the saluation fyrste we muste note who it is that wryteth Three things to be considered in this salutation it secondlye to whome it is written lastly what maner of good thinges hee which saluteth wisheth vnto them It is Paule which saluteth the Romanes are they whom he saluteth and the good things which he wisheth theÌ are grace and peace indeede the chiefest thinges which of men can bee attayned vnto RhethoriciaÌs precepts concernyng Prohemes are here obserued Rhetoricians vse in theyr Prohemes to gette vnto them selues authoritie diligent hearing and beneuolence which thinge the holy Ghoste here fullye performeth For whilest that Paule doth adorne him selfe with these titles he winneth vnto him selfe authoritie and he also when he maketh mencion what are the thynges that hee will entreate of maketh the mindes of the readers attentiue And in wyshing vnto them such excellent good thinges and opening hys great loue towardes them he obteyneth theyr good will For by that meanes are they drawen to loue agayne such a man which so well wisheth vnto them Why he is so loÌg in his salutation If any man thinke that thys salutation is more full of wordes then nedeth they must remember that Paul was greuously accused of false Apostles that he had fallen from the lawe and agreed not with the other Disciples of the Lorde and that hee was not to be counted for an Apostle which had not bene conuersant with the Lorde in the fleshe as the other Apostles were To all these false accusations it was necessary to aunswere euen in hys Proheme that he might haue the better eare geuen vnto hym As touching hys name I will nothing speake for I know that the elders dyd not rashlye geue names But because the holy Scripture testifieth not for what cause he was eyther called Saule in the Iewishe religion or Paule after hys conuersion I will omitte coniectures neither will Paule claimeth vnto himself thre titles The propriety of a seruaunt I stand about thys thing In hys superscription hee setteth forth three titles wherby he beautifieth hys name the fyrst is The seruaunt of Iesus Christ and that name is common vnto all the faythfull And the propertie of a seruant is thys not to bee hys owne man but to doe the busines of hys maister Wherfore if we be the seruauntes of Christ thys is required of vs that what soeuer we liue breath and thinke be directed vnto Christ And in these wordes are false Apostles reproued which sought their owne thinges to satisfie the bellye and to increase their gaine and they wanne not men to Christ but rather to Moyses or to them selues For as much as to be the seruauntes of Christ is as we haue sayde a thing coÌmon vnto vs all let vs diligently consider the Metaphore wherby we are so called namely because we ought so to obey God as seruauntes do their maisters But we are farre of froÌ performing it For seruauÌtes do speÌd the Note wherein the most part of men differeth from the seruice of God least parte of the daye about theyr own busines and all the rest of the tyme they are occupyed about their maisters affayres But we do farre otherwise We are a very short space or an houre of our time occupied about things pertaining to God but al the rest of the time that is grauÌted vs we speÌd about thinges humaine and earthly A seruaunt hath nothyng of hys owne nor proper vnto hym selfe but we doo priuatly possesse many thynges whiche we will neither bestowe for Gods sake nor for Christes sake Seruauntes when they are beaten and strikeÌ do humbly desire pardoÌ and forgeuenes of their masters but we in aduersities resiste God murmure agaynst hym and blaspheme hys name Seruauntes do receaue onely meate and drinke and apparell and therewith are content but we neuer come to any ende or measure of heapyng vp of wealth and riches Seruaunts when they heare the threatnynges of their maisters do tremble froÌ top to toe but we are nothyng moued with the threatnynges of the Prophetes Apostles and holy Scriptures Seruauntes wil neither haue talke nor familiarity nor yet shewe any signes of amitye vnto their maisters enemyes but we are continually in fellowshyp with the deuill the fleshe and the world Wherfore We ought to serue God more then seruauntes ought to serue their maisters we are farre from that seruice whiche we owe vnto God whom yet we ought much more both to obey and to serue then our seruauntes ought to obey and serue vs. For God besides that heÌ both fedeth and nourisheth vs hath also brought vs forth hath geueÌ vs eueÌ our being Farther what soeuer seruaunts do towardes vs all that is to our commoditie and nothyng helpeth them but we contrarywise when we serue God do bryng no profite or commoditie vnto him For thoughe we lyue iustly he is therby made neuer a whit the better or more blessed theÌ he was before Also we geue litle or nothyng vnto our seruauÌts but God hath for vs geuen forth his onely sonne and together with hym hath geuen vs all thinges We promise vnto our seruantes a very small rewarde but God hath promised vnto vs the same felicity whiche Christ him selfe hath the fruition of Whereby appeareth how much more we are bounde to serue hym then are our seruauntes bounde vnto vs. But in that we haue sayd that this vocation is common to all to be the seruauntes of Christ it semeth not very
our selues vnto God then is the clay subiecte vnto the potter for this thing we chiefly desire that whatsoeuer we require we maye haue the same through his wyll And forasmuch as when we pray the mind is led away from cares and worldly prouisions and is wholye caryed vp vnto God there ought nothing to be more pleasaunte vnto vs then to occupye our selues wyth thys kinde of study And it is much to be lamented that the manner of praying is so worne out of vre at this day amonge Christians that it is a thynge very rarely vsed and especially in so great a light of the Gospell and scriptures wherfore it is no meruaile though all things waxe so cold Vndoubtedlye heate A Similitude there encreaseth where the light cannot easely go through but is beaten backe againe and as they say reflected backwarde Wherefore this lower part of the ayre which compasseth the earth is most hot because the beames of the sonne which strike vpon the earth forasmuch as they cannot pearse it being so thick are reflected in a manner doubled whereby is stirred vp heat In like manner ought it to be in our harts when the light of gods woorde shyneth vpon them For when we haue receaued it we oughte to reflect it vnto God in makynge prayers vnto hym to performe those thinges in vs which he hath commaunded and which he hath vouchsafed to reuele vnto vs. For when we reade the scriptures God speaketh vnto vs. But when we pray we speake vnto God A profitable dialoge betwene God and vs. And we ought to vse this dialogue very often that when we heare in the holy scriptures that God eyther reuealeth himselfe or commaundeth any thinges we agayne may desire of hym that those thynges be not spoken in vayne vnto vs but maye be executed wyth profyte and fruite Paul teacheth vs here so to order our prayers that we pray not onely for our selues but also for our neighbours Farther when he prayeth that he myght haue a prosperous iorney vnto the Romanes he signifyeth that our workes should beginne with prayers if we wyll haue them to haue good successe But some are feared away from calling vpon God because they say he heareth them not Howbeit they ought hereby Though God seme not to heaâe yet we must not leaue of from prayer to be strengthned for that they heare that Paul was oftentymes letted from goyng vnto Rome and yet contynued he still in the same desire and vsed to repeate the selfe same prayers Yea and in the latter epistle to the Corrinthyans he writeth that he desired as good as three tymes to be delyuered from the pricke of the flesh vnto whom yet at the last aunswere was made that it suffised that he had the fruicion of the grace of God Wherefore eyther God heareth vs at the length or if he geueth not vs that which we desire yet geueth he somewhat in steede thereof which is farre better and more profitable vnto our saluation And God oftentymes differreth our requestes to the ende that as Why the Lord differreth our requestes Augustine sayth in a certayne homely we should learne to desire great thinges with much feruentnes Others are called away from prayers because they thus determine with themselues although I desire not these thinges yet God wyll do that which shall seeme good vnto hym neyther shall hys wyll be altered Why God will haue vs to aske that which otherwise he is redy to geue by my prayers But these men vnderstand not that God before he graunteth any good thinge vnto hys elect is wont excedingly to kindle their mynde wyth a desire to obtayne those thynges Farther when he will do any thynge he stirreth vp those that are hys to desire the same whereby he myght for honours sake attribute that vnto theyr prayers which otherwise he would haue done Thys is an other cause also for that benefytes are then the more acceptable when they are required and desired Farther when we pray our mynds A similitude are the more ioyned wyth God Yea these vowes and holy defires seeme to be nothyng els then ladders and degrées whereby we ascend vp vnto God But let vs returne vnto Paule and sée for what he now prayed That I may haue sayth he a prosperous iorney to come vnto you by the vvill of God He desired to come vnto the Romanes wherefore hys prayer was that impedimentes myght be remoued whiche were partly obiected by Sathan and partly had theyr begynnyng of sondry necessityes of Churches which impedimentes as they dayly hapened a fresh so they with held Paule that he could not go whether he would A prosperous iorney he calleth not only as touchyng commoditye of the lyfe but also a fruitfull iorney that hys laubour What maner of prosperous iorney Paule desired might not be spent in vayne He remembred also that he was by the oracle of God prohibyted some tymes to speake or to go whether he had appoynted As we may sée in the Actes the. 16. chapter where he was forbiddeÌ to speake in Asia and when he would haue gone into Mysia and Bythynia he was letted and by night admonishrd in a dreame to get him vnto Macedonia For there stoode before him a man of Macedonia which sayd Come and succour vs. This thyng therefore he desired as touchyng the Romanes namely that he might not haue any such impediment And though we heare that he desired a prosperous iorney yet we must not perswade our selues that he referred these thynges to his owne commodity or to gayne The prosperous iorneys which God graunted What prosperous iorneyes God gaue vnto Paule him to Macedonia serued to the increase of the Gospell For otherwise he was both beaten there and also cast into prison And when at the last he shoulde go vnto Rome God which heard hys prayers brought to passe that he was compelled to appeale vnto Cesar And when he was in a shippe wracke he bad hym to be of good chere for that he should be a witnes of Christ at Rome also as he had bene at Ierusalem whereby appeareth what prosperity or successe is to be What prosperity Christians ought to looke for looked for in the workes of the elect Vndoubtedly that kynde of prospe ãâ¦ã cy is to be looked for not wherein the fleshe may rest but whereby may come aboundant fruite of the Gospell And whereas the Apostle sayth by the will of God it is not so to be vnderstaÌd as though he thought that any thing could be done be sides the will of God but he desireth such a will which should fauor and prosper hys enterprise that his labour myght not be in vayne And he addeth For I desire to see you Thys myght sufficiently haue bene vnderstand by hys prayers And yet is it not superfluously added For he woulde not haue them thinke that hys prayers were slyght and common prayers but such as procéeded from a perfect and
a most seuere vengeaunce Agaynst all vngodlynes and vnrighteousnes of men He sayth not against men because God hateth not them but taketh vengeaunce on their wicked actes And those comprehendeth he vnder the name of impietie and vnrighteousnes for wicked actes are partlye committed agaynst God and partly agaynst men VVhich vvithholde the truth in vnrighteousnes They attayned vnto so much truth that therby they vnderstode how they ought to behaue them selues towardes God and towardes their neighbours And yet withhelde they the truth in vnrighteousnes Which selfe same thyng dyd the Hebrewes committe concerning the truth which God had reueled vnto them by the law Seing therfore both these Hebrues and those Gentiles were so greuously punished what ought men which professe themselues to be Christians to hope for which wyth holde to themselues so great a lyght of the Gospell without fruite Vndoubtedly they shall at the length become most wicked and euen experieÌce teacheth that those whych boast of Christ and do liue filthely do at the length in naughtynes and filthinesse passe all men though they be neuer so wicked The truth is after Who they be that withholde the truth captiue With what bondes the truth is bound The truth suffreth nothing in it selfe Aristotle in hys Ethikes a sorte with hold captine in them whych vnderstand it and yet expresse it not in workes life And it is ouercome restrayned with the chaynes of euell lustes which breathing vp out of the inferior parts of our mind do obfuscate the vnderstanding and as it were in a darke prison close in the truth knowen God kindleth the truthe in our myndes but by our lustes it is wonderfully darkened There is no cause why we should thinke as Chrisostome admonisheth vs the the truth of hys owne nature can suffer any thyng For it of hys owne nature is vnchangeable But what soeuer euill happeneth the same is hurtefull to our mynd and soule Paul toucheth in two wordes those thynges whiche Arist ãâ¦ã in hys Ethikes when hee disputeth of the incontinent person prosecuteth ãâ¦ã many woordes For he demaundeth by what meanes the incontinente person declineth to vices sithen that he hath in hys mynde a right opinion And hée aunswereth that that thing happeneth by reason he is to much puffed vp wit ãâ¦ã me singular profite which preseÌtly is offred vnto this senses by the wayght wherof the better part also is oppressed so that it geueth place to the lusts neither excecuteth it hys office with efficacie to consider and peyse the truth whiche before it knew Whiche thyng also the Poete affirmeth of Medea Video meliora probóque Ouide of Medea deteriora sequor whiche is in Englishe I sée what thynges are best and I allow them but I folow the worst All this doth Paul teache vs when hee sayth That the vngodly wythholde the truth in vnrighteousnesse That truth laboureth as muche as is possible to burst forth into acte but it is letted of concupiscence or luste And this is that whiche is written in the first of the Ethikes That the more The noblest part of the soule exhorteth to the best things The power of the conscience excellent part of the mynde alwayes exhorteth and prouoketh to thynges which are of the best sorte For so hath God and nature framed vs that the thyng which we know we desire to expresse in Acte which thyng when we do not we are reproued euen by our own iudgement And hereof come those wonderfull forces of the conscience whiche in sinnes of great wayght can neuer be perfectly quieted To with holde the truth in vnrighteousnes is properly to refuse the callyng of God which continually by hys truth calleth vs vnto hym self Wherfore it shall be very profitable for vs if wheÌ soeuer we haue attained to any thing that is true either by our owne study or els by the obseruation of thinges we streighte way weigh with our selues where vnto God calleth vs through that truth which he layth before our myndes By vnrighteousnes the Apostle vnderstandeth generally what soeuer we sinne either agaynst God or agaynste men Wherefore Paul speaketh of that truth which is naturally grafted in vs and also of it which we attayne vnto by our own study For either of theÌ instructeth vs of most excellent thynges touchyng God so that the vnrighteousnes whiche we commit is not able to blot it out of our hartes Whiche thing yet the Accademians attempted An error of the Accademians to teache when as they contended that nothing can certainely be knowne of vs. And so they can not abyde that we should embrace any thyng as beyng sure that it is true but they will haue vs to count all thinges as vncertayne doubtfull An error of the Epicures And in lyke maner do the Epicures goe about to blot out of mens myndes those thinges which by naturall anticipation are imprinted into our myndes concerning God And yet notwithstanding neither of these were able to brynge to passe that which they endeuoured themselues to doo For will they or nill they Whither truth be stronger when it is receaued by fayth then being naturally grafted in vs. these truthes continue still in the myndes of men But which is muche to be lamented they are withholden in vnrighteousnes Peraduenture thou wilte aske how it commeth that the truth which we haue by faythe is of more strengthe to burst forth into acte then is the truth which is naturally attayned vnto Vndoutedly this commeth not therof for that one truthe beyng taken by it selfe and set aparte is stronger then an other For eyther truth hath one and the selfe same The diuersity is not in the truth but in the meane whereby it is taken hold of nature but the difference commeth of the meane and instrument whereby it is receiued The strengthes of nature are corrupt weake and vitiate throughe sin And therfore the truth which they take hold of is of no gret force But faith hath ioyned with it the inspiration of God and the power of the holy ghost And therfore it doth with great force take holde of the truth Wherfore the diuersitie is not in the truth it selfe but in the meane and instrument whereby weembrace it This is the cause why there we are changed but here we remayne the selfe same men which we were before Of which thyng we haue a manifest testimony in the Gospell Christ did set forth vnto the yong man what he should do to obteyne saluation which when he had heard yet was he not moued to geue place but went away with heauines He trusted vnto naturall strengthes and therfore he demaunded of the Lord what he mightes to attayne vnto eternall Example of diuers apprehensions of the truth lyfe But contrariwise Mathew as soone as euer he heard his vocation did with so great fayth take hold of it that forsakyng money and hys office he streyghte way followed Christ And Zachens who otherwyse was
vn to god which was promised yet neuertheles he beleued This is to geue glory vnto God to thinke that he both is able and knoweth and also will performe all those thinges which he promiseth Neyther gaue they thankes They do pecfectly geue thankes which when they vnderstand that they haue receaued of God all the good thinges which they haue do geue thaÌkes vnto him for the same But this did not the Philosophers forasmuch as they did not thinke that all thinges depended of God For they The Philosophers did not perfectly geue thankes vnto god referred many thinges to chance and to fortune that is to the concourse of causes which they supposed to be most frequeÌt in this our lower region which is vnder the Moone Further they affirmed that many things happened vnto vs through the necessity of the matter And so forasmuch as they excluded very many thinges from the prouidence of God they became very colde in geuing him thankes But waxed vayne in their imaginations In Gréeke it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Erasmus sayth they were frustrated For when by theyr imagination they thought to haue obteyned the name of excellent learning and wisedome they wonderfully vttred their owne foolishnes And to be frustrate What it is to be frustrated what called vayne is nothing els then when we hope for some good thyng to come vnto vs and the same falleth far otherwise then we thought for Although we myght say as Aristotle writeth the that is vayn which is not brought to the ende appoynted And experience teacheth by these men that so it happened vnto naturall wisdome For therfore was it reueled that when they knew God they shoulde haue had hym in reuerence and honour But forasmuch as they bended not that way it became vayne ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is turned into English imaginatioÌs or cogitations are reasonynges or disputations which are done wyth great pesing and depe iudgement Wherfore the Philosophers are reproued bicause they abode not in those thinges which they naturally knew of God but declined from it through their disputations and witty collections For on the one side the creatures taught theÌ that the one God which they knew ought to be honored of theÌ wyth a singuler feruentnes and purenes And on the other syde fleshly lustes entising pleasures vrged them whiche oughte vtterly to haue bene excluded in that true and lawfull worshipping of God But these witty men inuented how The Philosophers sought two thinges in the worshippyng of god to knit them both together For they brought in a worshippyng of God but yet such as consisted of gold siluer gorgeous sacrifices dainty banquets playes spectacles or goodly straunge sightes and such lyke thynges whiche ministred vnto their flesh the pleasures therof so that wyth one and the selfe same worke they both worshipped God and also delighted the sences And in summe they fayned that goodnes which Augustine agaynst Iulianus calleth Scylleum bonum Scylleum bonum because it consisted partly of a man and partly of a beast Wherfore we ought diligently to watch agaynst these fond imaginations for that they engender so great daunger For in the latter epistle to the Corrinthians Paule writeth For the weapons of our warfare are not carnall but mighty through God to cast downe stronge holdes Wherfore we ouerthrowyng such depe reasonings and euery high thing we must ligentlye watche against our imaginations that exalteth it selfe agaynst the knowledge of God oughte to be content wyth that manifestation wherby God declareth himselfe vnto vs. For as often as we patche any thing of our owne reason to the worde of God so often we bring forth errors Neyther do these thynges whiche Paule now reproueth serue any lesse for these our tymes then did they for the idolatry of those tymes For Christ This is applied to our tyme. Of the abuse of the supper of the Lord. instituted the Lordes supper that the death of the Lorde should there be had in remembraunce and the communicantes should be pertakers of the fruite therof and be ioyned vnto Christ and be alwayes coupled together among themselues wyth a greater amitie and mortefie the wycked lustes and through that heauenly meate more and more practise a new lyfe This is the worshipping which in thys sacrament God requireth of his Wherewyth men not beyng content eyther because it was a thyng hard to be done or els because they would euermore adde theyr owne inuentions to thynges pertaynyng vnto God haue inuented outward ornaments vestmentes golde siluer precious stones waxe tapers belles and infinite ceremonies therby to set forth thys sacrament And would haue men to stand by at theyr Masse and to be onely gasers on harkeners which should in the meane tyme mumble vp theyr prayers and after thys sorte they would be counted very vprightly to haue done their dueties in these deuyne mysteries so that by such humane deuises the true and lawfull vse of the institution of Christ is in a maner abolished This is the profite that commeth of humaine inuentions So madde and foolishe becommeth the hart that it preferreth lyght and friuolous thynges before thynges necessary and sound ⪠And when they counted themselues vvise they became fooles They had a wonderfull pleasure in themselues by reason of theyr owne inuentions And they which aboue others professed wisedome by the iust iudgement of God became fooles They disdayned to contayne themselues wythin the bondes of that wisedome and knowledge which God had reueled vnto them by his creatures whereby they were called to worship God and did rather geue place to theyr owne imaginations then to the doctrine which they had receyued They delighted in their owne sharpe wittes counted it for a great prayse that they had found out the reason how to set forthe before the eyes of the common people the worshippyng of God by images glorious idols Which could neuer haue bene brought to passe wythout such reasons whiche had great lykelihoode An excuse of idolatrers of truth When they were reproued they excused theyr acte wyth this pretence that they counted not those thinges to be gods which they worshipped but that they vsed such helpes wherby they might the easelier come to the true God And they obiected a similitude taken of a ciuile custome for that men haue not free accesse vnto Kynges and Emperours but by Erles and vnder officers But of how much force thys reason is Ambrose vpon thys place declareth For thus he writeth Men throughe shame vse accustomably euery where thys miserable excuse why they neglect to come vnto God saying that by them we go vnto God as by noble men we come vnto a kinge Well saide is there any man so madde or so vnmindfull of his health to geue vnto a noble maÌ the honor due vnto the king only For that if any in such sorte behaue themselues they are iustly condemned as gilty of treason And shall these
men not thinke themselues gilty which geue the honor of the name of God vnto a creature and forsaking their Lord do worship theyr fellow seruauntes as though there were anye thing greater then God to whom a man might do seruice For therfore also do we goe vnto a king by Tribunes and noble men because the kinge is also a man and knoweth not to whome to commit the publique wealth But to come vnto God from whome vndoubtedly We neede no aduocates to come vnto God nothinge is hidden for he knoweth the merites of all men we haue no neede of an aduocate but of a deuout minde For wheresoeuer such a one shall speake vnto hym he will aunswere hym These wordes of Ambrose if they be of value to confounde thys similitude of these Idolatrers they are able also to confute our men forasmuch as they by the self same fayned deuise defend the inuocation of saints They became fooles For that in steade of the true and perfect-worshippyng of God they embraced but a shadow thereof which thyng Paule in moe places The folishenes of idolâtrers then in one reproueth In the 2. to Tim. the 3. chap. he sayth Hauyng in deede the forme of piety but vtterly denying the power therof And to the Colossians the 2. chap. he writeth that The commaundementes and traditions of men haue in deede a shew of wisedome when as in very deede they are nothyng els but superstitious And they turned the glory of the immortall God into an image Made not onely after the similitude of a mortall man but also of birdes and foure footed An amplification of sinne and creepyng beastes After that they began to esteeme their owne inuentions aboue the doctrine which was reueled vnto them straight way followed idolatry which springeth of the errour of the mynde And whereas it is sayde that God cannot be robbed of his glory they transferred the glory of God vnto creatures they are reproued for that they knew that that glory was in deede in God But when it was offered them they turned it by sacriledge from him an other way Which sinne is here wonderfully aggrauated It was an hainous acte to robbe God of his due honour it was haynous also to transferre the same vnto a corruptible man but it was more haynous to transferre it vnto brute beastes and moste haynous of all was it to transferre it vnto the images of all these thinges Neyther is thys thyng spoken as Chrisostome noteth as though they could in very deede depriue God of hys glorye or honour for that lyeth not in the power of any creature But they are accused of rashe boldenes in that they presumed as muche as laye in them to assaye to bryng the same to passe GOD is in this place called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth not onely immortalitye but also the takyng awaye of all kynde of griefe or spotte of anye manner of corruption And contrary wyse in that man is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it declareth hym not onelye to be mortal but also to be subiecte vnto manye discommodities and corruptions A place of the. 106. Psalme Thys phrase of speach Paule transferreth out of the 106. Psalme where it is written That the Israelites made a calfe in Horeb worshipped a molten Image and chaunged theyr glorye into the similitude of one that eateth haye Herein onely séemeth the difference to be in that here it is sayd that the glorye of God was chauÌged but ther is sayd that theyr glory was chaunged Howbeit in eyther of the places is contayned one and the selfe same sense For their glory was God in him The glory of God consisteth in all things gloried the Hebrewes And Dauid euery where in hys Psalmes calleth him hys glorye And if a man should peraduenture demaunde in what thinges this glorye of God consisteth to aunswere brieflye herein it is contayned to acknowledge him for the author and distributer of all good thinges the iudge of all mens doinges and so amplye to bée spread abroad that he filleth all thynges These thynges if they be beleued do engender adoration a trust or confidence inuocation geuing of thankes feare and other such lyke poyntes of religion But the wicked inuentions of men doe ascribe these thynges vnto Idoles and doe binds God vnto certayne places signes and images And whom we know to be euery where hym do they make to dwell in some one place onely And as mennes mindes are presumptuous and bolde contrarywyse now in our dayes whilest with tooth and naile they maintaine theyr transubstantiations or if I may so call them theyr impanations they in such sorte diffuse the body of Christ which occupieth in déede one certaine place that it is really not onely in so many places The beginning of images in how many the Supper of the Lorde amonge Christian men is celebrated but also now they contend by expresse wordes that it is euery where The endeuour of Idolatrers at that tyme was to teach the common people to honour God which is but onely one by sundrye proprieties which they adioyned to certaine Images of their owne inuention And it is a wonder to sée how much those meÌ pleased them selues in these thynges Plato in Cratilus bringeth in Socrates disputing of the right imposition of names and chieflye he diligently examineth the names of the Gods and sheweth that by them are very aptlye signified the proprieties of thinges deuine Which place Cicero also séemeth to haue imitated in hys booke of the nature of Gods wheÌ vnder the person of the Stoyke he sheweth what the names of the Gods signifie and in what maner they ought to be referred vnto one God onely These men vndoubtedly woulde make them selues wyser then God which hath declared hym selfe by the framing of the whole world For as though that were not sufficient these men inuented Images and many kindes of Idoles But thys is a wyse saying of Athanasius When a liuing man moueth thee not to knowe God how can a man of woode cause thee to doe it They first inuented Images as they alleaged for representation sake But from thence they were afterward ledde to worship theÌ And that they also worshipped the Images of brute beastes many historyes do manifestly declare Vnto Bell Tâe woorshipping of brutebeasts among the Babilonians was first erected an Image by whoÌ was alwayes a Dragon present if we credite to the Apochriphas of Daniell The Aegyptians had Anubis an Oxe which they worshipped And Ambrose testifieth that there were holy seruices done to Rauens Furthermore for that the Poetes fayned that Iupiter for the fulfilling of hys filthye lustes was sometymes turned into a bull sometymes into a Swanne and sometymes into an Egle those kinde of beastes they consecrated vnto God and honoured them as Gods But they néeded not thus to haue set forth the power of God by so many fayned inuentions forasmuch as all creatures doe beare witnes of hym Wherfore
accordinge to theyr woorkes and deedes In deede the mercy of God is now large but yet in such sort that the seueritie of iustice is not wantinge Moses although he had heard manye proprieties of God whiche serued to expresse his goodnes and clemency that is that he is mercifull gentle slow vnto anger riche in mercy and truth whiche reserueth goodnes or mercye for a thousande generacions yet at the end added that God wil not pronounce the wicked man an innocent that he visiteth the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generacion But because they whiche attribute ouermuche vnto woorkes and trust that by them to obteyne eternall life are wont very often to alledge thys place I haue thought it good briefely to declare what is to be thoughte concerning Of works workes But we shal afterward more at large set foorth and declare this thing when we shall haue occasion to entreat of iustification And those things whiche shall now be briefely spoken we will afterward more largely discourse by partes seuerally First this is to be knowen that we deny not that whych is Betwene our good workes eternall felicitye there is no iust proportion There are no good woorkes without fayth Those thinges which are promised vnto works we obteyne by fayth The causes of our saluation Why God attributeth honor vnto woorkes The words of the last iudgement are diligently examined here written that vnto euery man shal be rendred accordinge to hys woorkes But there is not so muche good in good woorkes as eternall felicitie is good Yea ther is betwene these a greater difference then betwene heaueÌ and earth Moreouer there are no woorkes to be counted good which lene not vnto faith and haue not it for the roote from whence they should spring foorth Therfore that which seemeth to be promised vnto workes the same in very deede we obtaine by fayth which is garnished with those workes And because fayth taketh hold of the mercy of God and promises in Christ therfore throughe mercy and Christ whiche are the obiectes of faith shall we be made blessed These are the true and chiefest causes of eternall life the clemency I say of God election predestinacion and the merites of Christe But God in the holye scriptures oftentimes addeth woorkes thereby to stirre vs vp beinge otherwise sluggishe and slouthfull to lyue vprightly And he adorneth woorkes with this kinde of honor that he promiseth vnto them excellent rewardes Whiche thing if we will more narrowly consider let vs wyth diligence weigh what the most high iudge shal in the last iudgemente saye For he will make examination of good workes will say that he was fed with meate and drinke and visited c. But after thys commendation of woorkes when he iudgeth vnto the sayntes the kingdome and eternall life he expresseth the principallest cause that maketh vs happy blessed For he sayth Come ye blessed of my Father and possesse the kingdome whiche was prepared for you before the beginning of the worlde These he pronounceth to be the causes of our blessednes namely that we are deare vnto God and haue geuen vnto vs the blessinge of predestination and election And therfore sayth he that the kyngdome was prepared for vs from the beginninge of the worlde Woorkes in deede are to be had but not as causes Therefore Christ admonished Works are not the causes of our felicity A place of Luke How we are called vnprofitable seruaÌts vs saying When ye haue done all these thinges say we are vnprofitable seruants we haue done but those thinges which we ought to do Neither passe wee any thynge vpon theyr caueling which say that therfore we are vnprofitable seruantes because out good woorkes do bringe no commoditie vnto God Forasmuche as God needeth none of our good workes But say they it ought not to be denied but that we are by good workes profitable vnto our selues We graunt indede that it is profitable vnto vs that we liue well But that vtility is not to be attributed vnto our workes that they should be causes of our blessednes to come For we haue nothing in vs whereby we can make God obstricte and bounde vnto vs. For whatsoeuer we do the same do we wholy owe vnto God and a We cannot by workes binde God vnto vs. great deale more then we are able to performe Wherefore as Christ admonisheth The Lord geueth not thankes vnto his seruant when he hath done his duety And if the seruaunt by well doing cannot binde his Lord to geue him thankes how shall he binde him to render vnto him great rewardes Therefore the name of The name of merits ought to be abolished merite if we will speake properlye oughte vtterlye to be banished out of our mouthes I know that the Fathers sometimes vsed that word but yet not properly But that woord is not found at al in the holy scriptures For the nature of merite is that there be a iust proportion and equall consideration betweene The nature of merite that which is geuen and that which is taken But betwene the good thinges which we looke for and those thinges which we eyther suffer or do there is no proportion or agreemente For Paule sayth That the passions of thys time are not woorthy the glory to come whiche shal be reueled in vs. Farther merite hath ioyned vnto it debt whych thynge Paule testifyeth when he sayth That vnto hym whych woorketh rewarde is rendred accordinge to debte and is not imputed accordyng to grace Which selfe same Paul yet writeth expressedly that the grace of God is eternall life Lastlye vnto the nature of merite there is required that that whiche is geuen pertayne vnto the geuer and be not due vnto hym whyche receaueth it But woorkes are not of our selues for they are called the giftes of God whiche he woorketh in vs. Wherefore Augustine very wisely sayth That God doth crowne his giftes in vs. Now if our woorkes be due vnto him whiche thinge we cannot deny then vndoubtedly the nature of merite is vtterly taken awaye Eternall life is sometimes in the holy scriptures called a reward But then is it not that How eternall lyfe is sometymes called a reward How blessednes followeth good woorkes reward which Paule writeth to be geuen according to debte but is all one as if it shoulde be called a recompensation Gods will and pleasure was that there shoulde be this connexion that after good woorkes shoulde follow blessednes but yet not as the effecte followeth the cause but as a thinge ioyned with them by the appointmente of God Therefore we may not truste vnto woorkes for they are feeble and weake and do alwayes wauer and stagger Wherfore the promises of God depende not of them neither haue they in themselues as they come from vs that they can moue God to make vs blessed We say therefore that God iudgeth according to woorkes because accordinge as they are eyther
iudgement they either aggrauate or extenuate the person then of necessity there must be a respect had vnto the person Because accordyng to the saying of the Gospell That seruaunt shall be more greuously punished whiche knoweth the wyll of his Lord and transgresseth it then he which sinneth ignorauntly Wherfore there remaineth that this place of the Apostle be vnderstanded of such persons as are seioyned from causes Farther there is to be put great difference Persons free from causes Besides iudgemente somethinge may be geuen vnto one man freely and an other of the same state and condition omitted betwene to accept a person in iudgemeÌt besides iudgement to geue vnto som one man any thing freely and not geuing to an other For this latter parte no man can iustlye accuse As if a man hauyng two debters shoulde requyre his debte of the one and forgeue the other he of whome the debte is required hath no cause iustly to complaine of his creditour So likewise God althoughe he cal one and calleth not an other because no merites went before in neyther of them cannot be called an accepter of persons Neither if in rewarding those which labored but one houre in the vineyard he would geue as great a reward vnto those and to them which had labored in it all the whole day ought he to be reproued Because he defrauded not these men of the hire for whiche he agreed with them And vnto the other he would geue freely that whiche they deserue not But then should there be iust cause to complayne if a thing should be geueÌ vnto one man and an other vnto whome the selfe same thing is due should be defrauded And after the selfe same manner forasmuch as God is bounde vnto God is bound to no man no man when he destributeth sondry giftes it is lawfull for him to do with his owne what pleaseth him For that in geuinge vnto some freely he defraudeth not them of any thing due whome he omitteth These thinges hath Augustine against the two Epistles of the Pelagians in his seconde booke and. 7. chap vnto Bonifacius where he thus writeth Acception of persons is there rightlye sayde to be where he which iudgeth leauinge the deserte of the cause whereof he iudgeth geeueth iudgemente with the one against the other because he findeth some thinge in the person which is woorthy either of honor or of compassion And straight way he bringeth the similitude of the two debters and the parable of the vineyard whereof we haue alredy spoken and addeth Euen as therfore here is no acception of persons because one is in such manner freely honored that an other is not defrauded of that his due so also wheÌ according to the purpose of God one is called and an other is not called vnto him that is called a good gift is frely geueÌ of which good gift the calling is the cause vnto him that is not called is rendred euill because all men are guilty for that by one man sinne entred into the world These are Augustines woordes vnto which to the ende we may ouerthrow the argumentes which we haue before recited this is to be added That Those thinges which God geueth vnto men he geueth of hys mercy whatsoeuer good thing God of his liberality geueth vnto menne the same vndoubtedly proceedeth of his mercy and clemencye And althoughe sometimes he pronounceth that he will do good vnto some eyther for theyr progenitors sake or els for theyr prayers these thinges he therfore speaketh to stirre vs vp to liue well Neither are these promises to be vnderstanded of the whole kinred of the posterity or vniuersally For God accordinge to his secret predestination hath his choyce in he seede of the saintes and in hearing of prayers which are made out of other men Which thing may be sufficiently confirmed by examples For althoughe the seede of Abraham were blessed yet that blessing had place in Isaac and not in Ismael The same promise was made vnto Isaac but it was performed in Iacob and not in Esau The common wealth of the Iewes had a promes that it shoulde be preserued but that promes was performed in the kingdome of the house of Dauid and not in the kingdome of the ten tribes Wherfore forasmuch as this choice which is according to predestination is vtterly vnknowne vnto The choyce which consisteth in predâstination is both vnknowne vnto vs also leaneth not vnto persons Two kinds of the benefites of God vs we oughte not to lene vnto the person And it commeth to passe perpetually that they which are so chosen of God are also adorned with good works Wherfore God hath not a respect vnto the person but as we haue sayd iudgeth according to the woorkes And how little a respect of persons he sometimes hath the place in the. 14. chap of Ezechiell declareth where it is saide That the earth shal be destroyed forasmuch as it hath bene altogether viciate and corrupte And thoughe there stoode vp in it Noah Iob Daniell vndoubtedly they shall not deliuer it but shall deliuer theyr owne soules onely Farther the benefites of God are eyther but for a time whiche pertaine vnto this life or els they are eternall whiche belong vnto the chief felicity of which Paule now intreateth Who affirmeth that without respecte of persoÌs it shal by the iust iudgemeÌt of God be either rendred or denied But as touchinge commodities whiche dure but for a time we doubt not but that God vseth sometimes either to hasten or to slacken them at the prayers of holy men which selfe thinge he attributeth also vnto the seede of the saints But in this doing he eyther prouoketh men to repentaunce or els by his lenitye they bringe vnto theÌselues greater punishment But as touching the eternal chief felicitie we haue now declared yâ God hath made no promise generally for the sauing of any posteritie Therefore the Iewes deserued woorthely to be reproued for that they promised vnto themselues onely so greate a thinge as thoughe for that they were of the seede of Abraham they coulde not perishe paule in thys There is no generall promes for the sauinge of any posterity as touching eternall life selfe same Epistle the. 9. chap most manifestly declareth That not all they whyche are of Israell are Israelites neyther because they were the sede of Abraham therfore they were straight way all sons But by Isaac sayth he shall thy seede be called That is Not they whiche are the children of the fleshe are the children of God but the children of the promes are counted for the seede This sentence of the Apostle testefieth that whiche we haue sayd namely that the promises of God in this kinde were singuler and not vniuersal And it is for certaine that in those which are chosen to saluacion are vndoubtedly found good workes if they come vnto ful age Wherfore these The elect if they come to full age shall vndoubtedly
ascribe vnto God but to be counted or pronounced iuste For euery man doth not when he is afflicted acknowledge God to be good Of that minde was Daniell when he sayd Vnto thee belongeth righteousnes but vnto vs confusion of face God suffred Peter the Apostle Dauid the kyng and Moses to sinne that calling them backe agayne vnto hym and geuing vnto them the thynges which hee had promised them he might the more declare hys goodnes But because some men myght thinke that by those wordes may be gathered that men which professe pietie although they liue wickedly yet shall notwithstanding obtayne the promises of God if thys be generally true that our incredulitie or noughtines are no hinderaunce vnto the promises of God we must therfore make a distinction A distinction of the promise of God betwene the promises of God For there are some onely touching outward thynges and tend onely to temporall good thinges as that their publicke wealth should be preserued that the kingdome shoulde continue in the stocke of Dauid and that Christ should take fleshe of hys séede The sinnes and vnbeliefe of meÌ could nothyng hinder the bringing to passe of these thynges In déede in yâ meane tyme came captiuities and afflictions howbeit at the length the promise of God as touchyng all these thynges tooke place There is an other kinde of promises touching those thinges which pertayne vnto our saluation And vnto these in déede the vngodly do not attayne And yet can we not therefore inferre that by our wicked doinges the promises of God are frustrated For they pertayne not generally vnto all men but onely vnto those which be called by the predestination Vnto whome pertaine the promises of God of God according to election as it is writteÌ in this Epistle the 9. chap. where it is sayd Not as though the worde of God hath fallen awaye And straight way is added Are the children of the fleshe the children of God And aunswere is made They which are the children of promise are counted for the seede Wherfore they vnto whome the promises pertayne if they haue fallen shal be called backe agayne to repentance And so theyr synnes which they haue before committed shall not make voyd the promises of God Indede as touching theÌ they deserued to haue them made frustrate For they hauing once broken couenaunt it wer conuenient that God toward them should not stande to his promises accordinge to this common sentence Qui fraugit fidem fides fraugitur eidem That is He whiche breaketh promise let promise againe be broken vnto hym But God so dealeth not to the end his goodnes might be the better declared And those things which Vnto vs also pertayne those thinges which Paule now teacheth Paule now speaketh of the Iewes pertaine vnto vs also For most excellent are these benefites of God towardes vs namely that the Gospell is committed vnto vs that we haue baptisme the holy Eucharist and such other like which thinges vndoubtedly the Turkes and infidels haue not But a man might obiect what do these thinges profite when as in the meane tyme very many are a great deale the worse and the most part abuse them We aunswer with Paule that by this is the goodnes of God to be gathered that he will suffer many noughty men and hipocrites for a few good mens sakes whiche vse these giftes well and will rather very long beare with many wicked men then that his church should come to rume Thou wilt say peraduenture then he willeth their sinnes if he suffer them We ought not after the example of God to suffer sins when we may amend them What els after a certaine maner he willeth them Otherwise he would not suffer them vnles he willed them for God suffereth nothyng against his will But hereby canst thou not gather any excuse for meÌ or yâ we also must alwayes beare with sinnes For God hath no law prescribed vnto him Therfore when he of hys goodnes doth whatsoeuer thinges he will he is not to be accused But vnto vs is a law geuen wherin we are commaunded to admonish our neighbor whom we sée to offend and that not once or alone but twise and the third tyme to take witnesses with vs so that if at the length he will not heare vs let him be brought before the congregation which if he also neglect let him be counted for a Publicane and an Ethenike These thinges are prescribed vnto vs and therfore ought to be done of vs so that the sinnes be manifest and that it may be done without a schisme Otherwyse if by plucking vp the tares shoulde also be rooted vp the wheat it must be differred vntill the end as Augustines iudgement is But in the meane time some wicked men vse to say I woulde to God we had neuer had either the woord of God or Baptisme or the Eucharist For forasmuche as these thinges profite vs not they are to our greater and more bitter iudgemente But these mânne ought to consider that this euell commeth not of God but of themselues Those thinges whiche are geuen by God are good let them ascribe vnto themselues whatsoeuer euell commeth of them and let them knowe that those thinges are alwayes profitable vnto some although very oftentimes to the greater parte they serue vnto condemnation Wherefore a good pastor ought not to Pastors although theâse that they profite not much yet ought they not to forsake theyr ministery An example of the Prophets forsake his ministery to cease of either from preachyng or from ministryng the sacraments vnder this pretence because he séeth his labour to profite but a litle yea rather that men become a great deale worse Forasmuch as the truth of thys place abideth vnshaken namely that these thinges haue great profite Neither is there any cause why he should feare that he is not sent of God so that his calling be as touchyng other circumstances iust and lawfull For the Prophets without doubt were sent by the Lord when the captiuity of Babilon was at hand And when of theyr sermons they had none or at the leât very litle fruit their words as touchyng the greater parte were both to iudgement condemnation yet ceased they not from the charge committed vnto them The Lord hath assigned one When it is lauful to depart from the ministery cause onely for which it is lawfull for the ministers of the worde to holde theyr peace namely when men wil no more geue eare and openly deride and mocke at those thynges which are spoken Then vndoubtedly must they shake of the dust of theyr féete and go theyr wayes But so long as they wyl abyde to heare al though they striue agaynst it yet are they to be borne wyth all Neyther doth the worde of God by and by bryng forth hys fruites as the féede cast into yâ grounde doth not streight way spring vp And there are many tymes some which wheÌ they The
that we shall be the heires of God and the fellow heires of Christ for that he is the first begotten amongst many brethern Christ himselfe also sayth Euen as the liuing father sent me so send I you and dispose vnto you the kingdome as the father hath disposed it vnto me Where I am I will that there also be my minister Agayne in an other place to the ende he woulde declare that we are not excluded froÌ this inheritance he sayth blessed are the meke for they shall possesse the earth And Paule sayth All thinges are youres and you long to Christ and Christ to God Yea also the Angels serue the elect He hath geuen charge fayth he to his Angels concerning thee to keepe thee in all thy wayes Farther by Christ is restored whatsoeuer was lost in Adam Man when he was created was made vnto the image of God which sentence the scripture strayght way interpreteth to be ruler ouer all thinges created And if Christ haue restored this Image then also hath he rendred agayne the principality that was lost and so hath rendred it that the same is sayd by right to be restored vnto vs by right I say of inheritance Nether ought we to despaire of this promise although the outward shew of things appeare now farre otherwise They which pertayne vnto Christ are very weake And the deuil stirreth vp against them the Princes of this world and tyrantes Wherefore we seeme to be most nedy of all thinges and to be most abiect The abiect outward appearaunce nothing depriueth vs of our dominion when yet in very dede we are Lordes of all thinges These thinges are hidden from the eyes of the fleshe but then shall they appeare when Christ himselfe in whome our life is hidden shall appeare Which is not spoken as though Christ doth not now raygne Vnto many paraduenture he semeth to be idle but the godly feele that he raigneth most mightely in the congregation of the elect which is the churche And he raigneth by the spirite the word that is by faith which coÌmeth from the spirite and depeÌdeth of the word of God Which The godly feele Christ euen now also to râigne Christ raigneth by the word and the spirite that is by fayth faith when the elect haue obtained they haue obtained the victorye against the world For Iohn saith This is the victory which ouer commeth the world your faith And forasmuch as the faithfull vnderstand that all thinges are theirs they are content with meate and drinke and apparell as for other thinges they vse of them so much as is expedient vnto their vocation Finallye there is nothing in the world which turneth not to their profite The Chiliassis whom in Latin we may cal Millenarij thought that this inheritaunce of the whole world shal be declared before the end of this world when Christ as they thought shall raygne a thousand yeares in this world with his saintes hauing destroyed and ouercome all the wicked And these men it should seme followed the oracle which is sayde to come from Elias That the worlde should endure 6000. yeares And these An oracle of Elias yeares they thus describe saying that 2000. yeares passed away before the law 2000. vnder the law and as many shall be vnder the Gospell Afterward they adde a thousand yeares in which they say shall be the chiefe rest so that the thousand last yeares they call the Sabaoth And so they appoint a weke in which euery particular day is taken for a thousand yeares according to that which is said a thousand yeares are wyth the Lord as one day againe one day as a thousand yeres Augustine maketh mencion of this opinion in his 20. booke and. 7. chapter de ciuitate Dei and saith that it was after a sorte tollerable that he himselfe was once of the same minde But that which they added concerning pleasures delightes and worldly honors which they sayd all the faythfull should for the space of those thousand yeares enioy together with Christ he earnestly reproueth They vsurped certaine testimonies of the scriptures wherby they thought to establish their fond inuention For in the Apocalips the. 27. chapter it is written that Christ shall raigne a thousand yeares with the saintes hauing in the meane time ouercome and vanquished Sathan They leane also vnto a saying of Christ in Luke the. 22. chapter That ye may eate and drinke vpon my table I wyll so dispose the kingdome vnto you as my father hath disposed it vnto me Finallye the oracles of the Prophetes which by temporall descriptions shadowed the kingdome of Christ they so take as though they were no otherwise to bee vnderstande then they seeme for at the first sight And they in suche sorte speake of this matter as though in the last time shall be restored the golden worlde which is described Great men were Mtilenarii of the Poetes There were of this opinion men not of the meanest sort as Papias which liued in the Apostles tyme Ireneus Apollinarius Tertullian Victorinus Lactantius and Methodius the Martir Wherfore Hierom in his 4. booke vpon Ieremy writeth that he durst not condemn that sentence because many ecclesiasticall men and Martyrs had died beyng of that opinion Howbeit in an other place he manifestly derideth these Millenarij and very pleasauntly mocketh them Eusebius Cesariensis The opinion of the Chiliasts sprang from Cherinthus in the third booke of his history saith that this opinion had his beginning of Cherinthus the heretike of whom Dionisius bishop of Alexandria expounding the Apoe of Iohn thus writeth that he was altogether geuen to lustes and vnto the bellye and therfore attributed these carnall delightes vnto the kingdom of Christ which should continue a thousand yeares Neither contendeth he onely that there should be matrimonies and procreations of children all that whole time but also that there should be circumcision sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law But sithen we sée that Ireneus is agaynst Cherinthus we cannot easely thinke that he was wholy of the selfe same opinion touching this fable And doubtles it is possible that amongest these Millenarij some were touching one and the same thing of an opinion and other some of an other opinioÌ For it is very likely that by reason of that place of the Apocalips some holy men were brought into this opinion to thinke yâ Christ should In the kingdome of Christ the law shall not be renued in this world raigne with his a thousand yeares but touching the restoring of the law the réedifieng of Ierusalem with precious stones the bringing in agayne of delightes and pleasures of this world they were vtterly against it For how is it possible that the law which hath brought no man to perfection shall be theÌ of greatest force when the state of the godly shall be most perfect Doubtles men that are of full age haue no neede of a scholemaister and they which haue profited
go before the thing hoped for And they so declare their opinion touching this matter that they teach yâ merites go before hope either in very dede or doubtles in thought For men newly conuerted commonly whilest they conceiue hope of saluation appoint in minde in thought good workes by which they thinke to merite the last reward But what present hope can these good works imagined in yâ mind which are not yet wrought produce For of a cause which yet is not caâ not be produced an effect which alredy is We should rather contrariwise affirme namelye that this holye will springeth of faith and of hope then that faith or hope should procede from it as from the cause But it is a sport to sée how these meÌ turn themselues when on the one side they say that hope is an assured expectation and yet on the other side they will haue this to be a most firme doctrine that no man can be assured of his saluation vnlesse it be singulerly reueled vnto hym of GOD. Here they perceiue themselues fast tied and they confesse that it is an harde matter to vnderstande what manner of certaintie the certaintie of hope is Here the poore soules swete and go to worke and faine and imagine many thinges First The certainty of hope commeth of the certainty of fayth they teache that all certaintie of hope commeth of the certaintie of fayth and this in dede is not amisse For therfore we certainly hope bicause by saith we embrace the most certain promise of God But they go on farther and say that by faith we generally and absolutely beleue that all the electe and predestinate shall be saued but hope maketh vs to haue confidence that we are of the number of the electe as though hope had a perticuler knowledge vnder faith so that that which was generally apprehended by faith is by hope applied vnto euery one of vs a parte Wherfore they affirme that this certaintie of hope is by supposition if we be of the number of the elect and if we continue vnto the ende And this kinde of certaintye they will haue to consist of very likely coniectures And at the length they conclude that the certaintie of hope is lesser then the certaintie of faith But we contrariwise make the certaintie of either of them alike For looke how much faith we haue so The certainty of hope and of fayth is alike much hope also haue we For faith retaineth not with it self any part of certainty which it deliuereth not ouer vnto hope That is a fayned fond deuise which they bring touching applicatioÌ yâ by hope we shuld priuately aply vnto our selues those things which we haue by faith generally and absolutely beleued For we do not only beleue that God is good or the father or author of mans felicitie but also euery godly man by faith assureth himselfe that God both is will be vnto him good is will be vnto him a father is and will be vnto him the author of felicitie Hereof Faith applieth those thinges which it beleueth vnto him in whom it is commeth that certaintie of hope And therfore is it that Paul writeth that it can not confound And seing faith hath a respect vnto God as to one that speaketh the truth and hope vnto him as to one that is faithfull and most redy to performe his promises and God himselfe is no lesse faithfull in performing then true in promising we may manifestly conclude that hope hath as much certaintie as hath faith Neither can that any thing helpe him which they cauill at the length namely yâ Certaintye as touching the obiect subiect hope hath certaintie as touching the obiect but not as touching the subiect For when say they it hath a respect vnto the clemency goodnes grace and power of God there is no let in those thinges but that euery one might be saued And therfore on that behalfe they put a perfect certaintie But if a man consider the subiect the mynd I say and will of him that hopeth for as much as this minde and wyll is flexible and wauereth and may be chaunged it can neuer be certaine or sure of saluation But these men seme to me to deale euen as they do which in a siege defending their citie diligently shut and defend all other gates but yet in the meane tyme leaue one open thorough which the enemies enter in and waste and spoyle all which done they perceiue that they lost all their labour So these men take exceding great paines that there should séeme to be no vncertaintie as touching the goodnes power and clemency of God or merite of Christ Howbeit in the meane tyme they appoint our will to be so subiect vnto chaunging that it neither can nor ought promise vnto it selfe perseueraunce no not out of the worde of God And so they vtterly take away all certaintie so that this saying of Paul Hope confoundeth not can haue no place neither doth the certainty which they go about to establish any thinge profite For if we looke vpon the holy scriptures we shall not only vnderstand that God is generally good and mighty but also that he is euer vnto vâ good and mercifull and therefore he will confirme our will that it shall neuer fâll away from hym For as we haue a little before mencioned He will not suffer vs to be tempted aboue that which we are able to beare but together with the temptation will make away out And in the first chapter of the first to the Corrinthians He shall confirme you vnto the ende blameles agaynst the day of our Lord Iesus Christ For God is fayhfull by whome ye are called There are besides a great many other testimonies The testimonies of God promise vnto vs perseuerance What the certainty of hope is Hope calleth those thinges which are to comâ as alredy done in the holy scriptures which promise vnto vs both perseuerance and confirmation of our will by Christ wherefore we say that this certaynty of hope is a firme cleauing vnto the promyses offred vnto vs and receaued by fayth for that we knowe that we shall not geue ouer but continue euen vnto the last ende And of so greate force is this hope that as Augustine witnesseth vnto Dardanus and in many other places it calleth thynges that are to come already done as the same Augustine very well declareth by many places of Saynte Paule and especially vnto the Romanes vnto the Ephesians and vnto the Collossians For vnto the Ephesians we are sayde to be already rysen from the deade and to be already set at the right hande of God together with Christ in the heauenly places Vnto the Colossians If ye haue risen together with Christ c. And in an other place He hath saued vs by the lauacre of regeneration And vnto the Romanes By hope we are made safe This certainty springeth chiefely of a worthy estimation which by fayth we conceaue
Wherfore we must say that when he prayed and gaue almes he was not vtterly a stranger from Christ although he were not yet so fully instructed of Christ as mought be sufficient vnto Christian religion But we which ar now by the grace and benefite of God brought vnto this knowledge ought to geue thankes vnto God for his great loue and to lead our life in all innocencie and puritie And this is to do that which the time requireth lest that be vpbraided vnto our ingratitude which Christ reproued in the Pharisies Namely that they obserued the face of heauen but yet knew not the tyme of their visitation So Paul interpreteth that place of Esay Behold now the acceptable tyme behold now the day of saluation And that which Paul here writeth the selfe same in a maner repeteth he in the viij chapiter where he thus speaketh If God be on our side who shall be against vs Seyng he hath not spared hys owne sonne but hath deliuered hym for vs all howe hathe he not together with him geuen vs all thinges Who shall accuse the elect of God It is God which iustifieth who shall condemne It is Christ whiche died yea and which rose agayne and sitteth at the right hand of the father and maketh intercession for vs. These thinges serue wonderfully to the confirmation of our hope as in due place we shall declare And God setteth forth his loue towardes vs. It is rightly said that GOD Nothyng more deare then children did then set forth his loue towardes vs when he deliuered his sonne vnto the death of the crosse for our sakes For there is nothing to meÌ more dere or that they more esteme then their children and therfore we rede that wicked mothers when they would testifie vnto their adulterous louers their most feruent loue and faythe of their perpetuall vse and company slue their owne children for that they saw they had no other more assured argument wherby to testifie their good will towardes them So God when for our sakes he deliuered his sonne vnto the death and that vnto a most shamefull death gaue vnto vs a most sure token of his exceding great loue towards vs. That he created the world for our sakes was in dede a great sign of his good will towardes vs although in it rather shyned forth his power and deuine might and wisedome For it is the part of liberall and frée harted Lordes to geue and to bestow many things vpon their subiects Howbeit Lordes wil neuer go so farre that they will endaunger themselues for their seruantes sake Wherefore when God gaue his sonne vnto the death for our sakes therin as Paul sayth Why God hath shewed so great loue towardes vs. he most of all did set forth his loue towards vs. Which thing he therefore did to stir vs vp to loue him againe God had commaunded vs in his law that we should loue him with all our hart with all our soule and with all our strengthes and that we might the willinglier performe this he would first declare his good will towardes vs that it might appere that he loued cared for vs more then for himself For he would dye euen for our sakes which death yet we so contemne that we will suffer nothyng for it nor restraine our selues from any commodities of the body or delightes of the flesh His will was that all men should be in good case and one aloue in the meane tyme to suffer but we desire to be in good case our selues alone although all other in the meane time perish But it is not possible that there should be in vs so great a conteÌpt both of our owne saluatioÌ also of the saluatioÌ of other men but that either we beleue not so great a benefite of God or els we do not earnestly inough weigh if There was neuer wower that with so great a desire and seruent loue maried his spouse as Christ hath maried vnto himselfe his churche Neither hath any man at any tyme maried a wife so vnlike and vnworthy for The church an vnlike spouse for Christ hym to ioyne with all as Christ hath done the Church For in what estate she was before Christ met with her Ezecbiell describeth in 6. chapter where he sayth that she lay vpon the nether was her nauell string cut of nether was she washed with water nor poudred with salt and there was no eye whiche hadde compassion on her Paul also both here and likewise in many other places at large declareth in what estate we were before we came vnto Christ Vnto the Ephesians he doth not only say that we were by nature the children of wrath but also he addeth ye were once darknes but now ye are light in the Lord. Vnto Titus he saith We were as fooles not obediente but waÌdring out of the way geuing our selues to sundry lustes liuing in malice and enuy hatefull and seking to displease one an other In the first to the Corrinthyans when he had reckened a beaderoll of most haynous sinnes he sayth these thinges vndoubtedly were ye sometimes but ye are washed but ye are sanctified Wherefore we haue the sonne of God geueÌ vnto vs as a pledge of the loue of God He placed not in his stede an Angell or an Archangell although he mought so haue done He vouchsafed to come himselfe and to suffer a most bitter death vpon the crosse It behoued that for our redemption there What was required in the price of our redemtion Why the death of Christ was so acceptable vnto the father should be some such good thing offred vnto God which mought ether equally or els more please God then all the sinnes of the worlde had displeased hym This thing hath Christ offred for vs. And if a man demaunde why the death of Christ was so acceptable vnto God there can no other reason be geuen but his vnmeasurable charity and loue God coulde indede haue ben contented with any other thing But his will was rather to haue this thing not by the affliction and punishementes of Christ to feede his eyes or mynde for that had bene the poynt of a cruell father nether for that he foresaw the great loue and modesty in his sonne although these thinges were in Christ most singular and of very great force with the father but as indede I iudge for yâ he saw that by this only meanes his loue towardes vs mought be most perfectly declared and also to set forth an example of a most holy life for men to follow For if thou demaunde Whether iâ were of necessity that Christ should dye whether it were of necessity that the sonne of God should in such sorte dye I answere that here is to be put no necessity of compulsion for there is nothing in God that is by violeÌce nether also was there any necessity of nature For although there are in the deuine nature many thinges of necessity as is that it be
one that it be three and that it begatte a sonne and suche other yet were it a wickednes to thinke that anye externe effecte commeth from him by naturall necessitye when as whatsoeuer he doth he doth it freelye and of his owne accorde and it is free vnto him not to do what he will not Nether do we here put any necessity by supposition of the ende For the saluation of maÌ mought haue bene wrought by many other wayes and meanes so that hys will had bene so But it was of necessity yâ Christ should dye by supposition of the deuine prouidence and counsell for that God had decreed it should be so And this he did chiefely to declare his infinite loue Much more theÌ being now iustified by his blood vve shal be saued from wrath through him For if when we were enemies we were reconciled vnto God by the death of his sonne much more being reconciled vve shal be saued by his life Here is brought a comparison of diuers estates both of Christ and of vs we were before weake vngodly sinners enemies But now our coÌdition or estate is changed for we are nowe made frendes we are now iustified and reconciled vnto God Christ by his death wrought much for vs but now he liueth and that an eternal life wherein he raigneth with yâ father It was a greater matter It is a greater matter to iustifye then to bringe to blessednes them that are iustified to restore vs to life to iustifie vs and to reconcile vs vnto God then it is to bring vs being now iustified vnto felicity and the foresayd thinges hath he brought to passe by his death wherefore that which remaineth he shal much more easiely accomplishe being now placed in life and in his kingdome for that whiche remayneth is lesse and Christ to bring this to passe for vs is after a sort mightier then himself Now resteth to declare how men not yet reconciled are called the enemies of God Of this may two reasons be geuen the one is touched in the How before iustification we are called the enemies of God epistle vnto the Hebrues where it is said That it is vnpossible without faith to please God And forasmuche as men that are straungers from Christe wante fayth and seinge that they beleue not the oracles of God they beare witnesse that God is a lier and therefore they can not please him An other reason is for that they are still oppressed with vices and by meanes of theyr naturall luste they all the wayes they canne resiste the will and lawes of God Wherefore they are woorthelye called enemyes But Paule affirmeth that by the death of Christe we are iustified whiche is first vnderstande before God by imputatioÌ Secondly also bycause dayly is augmented in vs a new righteousnes How we are iustified by the deth of Christ which in liuing holily we get by the instauratioÌ of our strength which we haue now receaued of the holy ghost Although we must cleane fast only to the first iustification for in it is the stay of our saluation For the other righteousnes for asmuche as it is vnperfect is not able to stande before the iudgement seate of God When the Apostle sayth That vve shal be saued from vvrath By wrath he vnderstandeth not a disturbance What wrath is in God or perturbation of the minde For these thinges can haue no place in God But as Augustine hath wel interpreted in his bokes of the Trinity wrath in God signifieth a iust vengeance And God is sayd to be angry when he sheweth forth the effectes of an angry man which are to punishe and to auenge So he is sayd to repent himselfe that he had made man bycause like a man that repenteth himselfe he would ouerthrow his worke And the reconciliatioÌ wher of the Apostle here speaketh is referred to this kinde of wrath and signifieth that the vengeaÌce is now at an end Contrariwise it is sayd in the Gospel of Iohn That the wrath of God abideth vpon him which beleueth not in the sonne of God wherfore we seing we are now recoÌciled vnto God by the death of his Sonne ought Vpon theÌ that are iustified is no thing sent of God but with a fatherly mind to be fully perswaded in our selues that for asmuche as the wrath of God is ended and taken away nothing can by him be sent vpon vs but of a frendly and fatherly minde Otherwise afflictions and aduersities mought of theyr own nature driue a feare into vs and perswade vs that God is angry with vs. Which thing forasmuche as by the death of Christ is the reconciliation made can by no meanes come to passe And this reconciliation pertayneth not only to those faythfull which then liued when Christ died vpon the crosse but also to all as The reconciliation made by Christ hath a respecte to all times wel those which from Adams time went before those seasons as also to those which shall be euen vnto the end of the world And so great was the goodnes of God in this sacrifice that whereas therein were committed of men many horrible actes for they both condemned an innocent man and also most spitefully crucified the Lord of glory yet the deuine clemency was nothing at all offended The wickednes of them that crucified Christ diminished not the dignity of that price with this so great iniquity and ingratitude but that it counted as most acceptable the obedience of Christe and his infinite loue and vnmesurable patience accepted it for the redemption of mankinde Now resteth to se what this so great loue of God requireth agayne at our handes for there are many thinges which it requireth For first euen as Christ applied all his will and endeuor to redeme vs so is it our part on the other side vtterly and all whole to addict our selues vnto him And as he setting a side all thinges had a care only of our saluatioÌ so also ought we to plucke away our minde from all things not any more to seke our owne thinges but only the thinges that longe vnto What thys so great loue of God requireth againe at our hand Christ They may be an example vnto vs which haue returned into fauour agayne with theyr enemies for they lest they shoulde seme to haue done anye thing counterfeately or faynedly leue no dewty vndone whereby to win their new reconciled frendes and of this thing they haue a greate care not to be thought to retaine still any remnaÌts of enmity or hatred closed vp in the mind as we rede Cicero Crassus Pompeius and many others did Farther also we must take hede that seing by the mercy of God through the death of Christ we are place we doo not through wicked and filthy actes throwe our selues downe hedlong from thence For they which after they haue once ben reconciled cease not to contaminate themselues with vices do not only fall downe hedlonge froÌ theyr most
what also he meaneth by the Body of sinne which he affirmeth ought to be abolished When he speaketh of the Olde man he alludeth vnto Adam and vnderstandeth the corrupt nature which we all haue contracted of him Neither signifieth Not onely the body and grosser partes of the minde pertaine vnto the old man he thereby as some thinke the body only and grosser partes of the minde but comprehendeth therewithall vnderstanding reason and will For of all these partes consisteth man and this maliciousnes and oldenes so cleaueth vnto vs as the Greke Scholies note yâ the Apostle calleth it by the name of man And men yâ are without Christ are so much addicted vnto their lustes pleasures and errors that without theÌ they count not themselues to be men Farther by this Antithesis or coÌparison vnto the new man we may vnderstand what the olde man is In the epistle to the Ephesians we are commaunded to put on the newe man which is creatâd according vnto God in all righteousnes and holynes of truth And coÌtrarâwise To put of the old maÌ which is corrupted according to the lusts of error Wherefore Ambrose expounding this place saith That the Apostle therefore calleth the deedes past the olde man Because euen as the newe man is so called by reason of fayth and a pure life so is he called the old man bycause of his infidelity and euill dedes The body of sinne also signifieth nothing els then the deprauation and corruptioÌ What the body of sinne is of our whole nature For the Apostle would not that by this word we should vnderstand the composition of our body And naturall lust although it be but one thinge yet bycause vnto it are associated and annexed all maner of sinnes which as occasioÌs are offred doo burst forth therfore it is expressed by the name of the bodye And Paul vnto the Colossians after thys selfe same maner calleth sondry sinnes our members Mortifie sayth he your members which are vpon the earth namely fornication vncleanes euill lust auarice and other whiche there followe Our members are the instrumeÌts of sinnes if God prohibite them not And vndoubtedly vnles the spirit of Christ doo prohibite our members they are altogether organes and instrumeÌts of sinnes Chrisostome vpon this place faith That the Apostle calleth not this our body only so but also all our maliciousnes for so calleth he all our maliceousnes the old man The Greke Scholies vnderstand by the body of sinne our condemned nature Although if we would referre that sentence vnto this our outward body it may seme that Paul so spake for that all wicked lust and all corruption of nature is drawen from nature by the body Thys is Humane corruption is drawen by the body The corruption of nature hath sundry names also to be marked that the Apostle setteth our corrupt nature as contrary vnto the spirite but yet by sondry names sometimes by the name of flesh sometimes by the name of the body of sinne sometimes by the name of the old man and sometimes of the outward man and sometimes by the name of naturall man all which things signifie whatsoeuer is in man besides Christ and regeneratioÌ and also whatsoeuer withdraweth vs from the law of God CoÌtrariwise by the name of the spirite he vnderstandeth all those thinges which are done in vs by the inspiration instinction and motion of the holy ghost wherfore Ambrose by the body of sinne vnderstandeth also the soule that is the whole man As contrariwise the soule also in the holy scriptures signifieth sometimes the body and The soule The fleshe the whole man This word flesh also sometimes comprehendeth all the partes of a man that is not yet regenerate For Christ when he reasoned with Nicodemus of regeneratioÌ whatsoeuer saith he is born of the flesh is flesh by which words he sheweth that the flesh ought to be regenerated into the spirite And forasmuch as regeneration pertayneth not only vnto the body nor only vnto the grosser Reason and will are coÌprehended in the name of fleshe partes of the minde but chiefely vnto vnderstanding reason and will it sufficiently appeareareth that these thinges also are vnderstand by the name of flesh And Ambrose sayth that the flesh is sometimes called the soule which followeth the vices of the body Christ also answered vnto Peter when he had made yâ notable confession Flesh and blood hath not reueled these thinges vnto thee Whereby fleshe and blood he vnderstandeth whatsoeuer humane reason can by nature come to the knowledge of Wherefore to retayne still the body of sinne and the old maÌ is nothing els then to liue according to that estate wherein we are borne And Naturall knowledges grafted in vs are of themselues good but in vs they may be sins The affections of them that are not regenerate are sinnes though they be honest if a man demaund whither these naturall knowledges grafted in vs touching God and outward dedes are to be counted good or no I answer yâ of theÌselues they are good but as they are in vs not yet regenerate but vitiate corrupt vndoubtedly they are sinnes bycause they fayle and stray from the coÌstitution of theyr nature For they ought to be of such force that they should impell and driue all our strengths and faculties to obey him But they are so weake that they can not moue vs to an vprighte life and to the true worshipping of God which selfe thing we iudge also of the naturall affections towards our parents frendes countrey and other such like For although these thinges of their owne nature are good and honest yet in vs that are not yet grafted into Christ they are sinnes For we referre them not according as we ought vnto the glory of only true God and father of our Lord Iesus Christ nether doo we them of faith without which whatsoeuer is done is sin And Paul sayth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is knowing this and a litle afterward ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which wordeââeach that those thinges which are here sayd ought to be most assured and certayne vnto vs and perfectly knowen of vs so that euery godly man should fele this in hymselfe This kinde of speach hath an Antithesis vnto that which was sayd at the beginninge Know ye not that as many as are baptised ânto Christ Iesus are baptised into his death as though he should haue said Of this thingye ought not to be ignoraÌt And if ye once perfectly know this principle theÌ those thinges which thereof follow caÌ not but be knoweÌ of you Let it not seme straÌg that Paul doth Why Paul vseth so many tropes figures by so many so suÌdry figure hiperboles I say metaphors exaggerat aggrauateth is matter namely That we are dead vnto sin are buried with Christ and the old man is crucified that the body of sinne should be abolished and suche other like For we neuer sufficiently
case was only touching the life and goodes of the body But here we haue an enemy in the inward partes and in the very bowels and our minde is subiect vnto sinne euen against our willes and we resisting it We were sold so soone as Adam had sinned For by one man sin entred into the world and in hym all men haue sinned We were solde gratis that is for nothyng for there was no iust cause which draue our first parentes to sinne why we are sayd to be sold gratis Farther also forasmuch as when we are borne we draw sinne with vs neither take we it vpon vs of our owne will therfore are we sayd to be sold gratis Augustine vpon the booke of Iudges the 17. questioÌ wondreth at this phrase of speach in the Scriptures wherby men are said to be sold gratis when as no price at al was What to be solde gratis signifieth payd for them And he saith that by this phrase is signified nothing els but that yâ Israelites were deliuered of God into the power of their enemies of whom they should be afflicted no otherwise then if they had bene bought bondmen And he sayth that this word gratis which is red in the Psalmes and in Esay is very aptly put For that God when he in such sort deliuered the Iewes into the power of straungers got therby no honour or worshipping at all as a reward or price For they were idolatrers So we are sayd to be deliuered gratis both vnto the deuill to yâ corruptioÌ naturally grafted in vs for yâ by theÌ redoundeth vnto God neither honour nor thanks For they are enemies vnto God do coÌtinually beare hatred against him But as we are sold gratis so also are we redeemed gratis not but yâ We are redeemed gratis Achab sold him selfe to do euill Christ hath paid for vs both his lyfe bloud but for yâ we haue therunto geueÌ nothing of our own neither ar we iustified by any our merite The self same phrase of speach is red in yâ 1. boke of Kings the 21. cha of Achab yâ wicked kyng He was solde to do euill in the sight of the Lord. But in the Hebrew phrase this word Hithmabo signifieth that he sold himself both for that he willingly and of his owne accorde dyd those things wherunto by the lust grafted in hym he was moued and also for that thorough his owne will he had therunto added many kindes of sinnes Augustine in hys 41. treatise vpon Iohn compareth this seruitude wherby we liue in vnder sinne with the ciuill and outward seruitude and in that comparison setteth before our eyes in how vnhappy estate they are which are in such sort solde vnder sinne and made seruantes vnto the tiranny therof A bondeman sayth he is in A comparison betwenâ the seruitude of sin and ciuile seruitude some hope to chaunge hys lord or maister if he chaunce to be ouer cruell and froward towardes hym For by one meanes or other he practiseth wyth some to buye hym of hys Lorde and counteth it a great benefite if he may leaue his cruell Lorde and obteyne a gentler But sinne so cleaneth in vs that there is no man whiche can hope for any suche change They which are seruants as touchyng ciuile seruitude are in good hope that they shall at one tyme or other find the meanes to runne away from theyr Lords But as for vs whether shall we go whersoeuer we shall be we shall draw wyth vs the tyran sin Suppose that there were one which would redeme vs. Is it not of necessity that he be free from the common Lord whose seruantes we are that is from sinne I thynke verily it is For other wyse whatsoeuer he should buye should be bounde vnto sinne vnto whome he though he were now a redemer is also a seruaunt But there can none be found free from sinne except only our Lord Iesus Christ. Wherfore vnto hym let hym go whosoeuer wyll be deliuered from sinne But a man will obiect But the Apostle sayth that we are now deliuered from sinne for thus he writeth But now we beyng deliuered from sinne are made the seruantes of righteousnes Why then doth he nowe complayne that he is sold vnder sinne Here must we call to mynd that which we haue oftentimes said that we are in déede deliuered by Christ but yet not with a full deliuery but only Our deliuery is not yet full and perfect with a deliuery begonne which then at the last shall be perfect when our last enemy death shall be destroyed and when as Paul sayth this mortall body shall haue put on immortality and this corruptible body shall be made incorruptible But in the meane tyme we possesse not a full liberty but a liberty hoped for Now then seyng that we are still carnall and sold vnder sinne it is our partes continually with faithfull prayers to cry vnto the lord not without good aduisement to approue those things which are pleasant vnto vs but rather let vs haue in suspicioÌ all things yâ are ours for that froÌ the bondslaues of sin can nothing lightly be looked for which is in very dede good And wheÌ we are oppressed with any calamity let vs in no wise complain of God as though he afflicteth vs without any our defect For it is not possible but that of them whiche liue vnder sinne should be many It is not possible but that we must nedes commit many thynges amisse thinges amisse committed The thinges which Paul before spake in this chap. that he knew not sinne and was ignorant of lust when he wanted the lawe and as soone as it came sinne excedingly encreased in him and so increased that of it through the commaundement he was slayne and such other like thinges all these I say the Pelagians easely graunted mought be vnderstand of Paul both when he was yet an infant and also wheÌ he was of full age so long as he endeuoured not himselfe to an vpright life But here they somewhat staggered when they saw that he sayd of himselfe and that in the present tempse The lawe is spirituall Here falleth away much from free will but I am carnall being sold vnder sinne For here they felt that somewhat but what do I say somewhat yea rather that very much falleth away from frée will They saw moreouer that he can not be iustified at his owne pleasure which is driuen to be the seruaunt of sinne and which after he is come vnto Christ is sayd yet notwithstanding to be sold vnder sinne so that he can not in all poyntes fulfill the lawe of God which is spirituall Wherefore they went about to wrest these wordes of the Apostle to an other sense For they sayd that he called himselfe carnall for that whilest he here liued he had not yet put on the spirituall fleshe which we shall haue in the resurrection but still caried it about with him which in the meanetyme was
that it is good nowe he after a sort goeth vp one steppe higher which pertayneth only vnto the Godly For theyr will towardes the lawe is not a colde will but pleasant feruent and The will of the godly towardes the law is not cold The vngodly are not kindled with a true loue to that whiche to good The saints tooke great pleasure of the law of God vehement With great endeuor they contende that they may indéede performe that which in minde they desire But the vngodly although by a naturall light which is not vtterly extinguished in them they haue some knowledge of iustice and vertue yet are they not kindled with a true loue of things good Wherefore yâ Apostle writeth not these things vnto theÌ but vnto the godly which euery moment striue against yâ lust which is grafted in theÌ by nature But how great a plesure yâ good meÌ take of yâ law of God many places of yâ scripture testefie Dauid in his 1â9 psalme sayth Blessed are they which walk in the Law of the Lord and which seke the testemonies thereof And in his 1. psalme Blessed are they which meditate in his Law day and night And in an other place The Law of God sayth he is more precious then gold and precious stones and more swete then hony and the hony combe And other infinite such like testemonies But there is very much difference betwene the godlâ and men straungers from Christ For the wise men amongst the Ethnikes did Difference betwene the Ethnikes and godly men put the greatest part of theyr felicity herein that they might alwayes remember the notable actes by them done But they greatly reioysed not of the knowledge of the true and perfect righteousnes bycause they perfectlye knew it not But the sayntes contrarywise alwayes cast theyr eyes vpon the Law of God and when in it they se before theyr eies drawen out the portrature of a iust man and the perfect image of God whereunto we are created they can not but wonderfully reioyce But afterward wheÌ they turne aside theyr eyes to their works they are excedingly sory for that they se them so much to fayle of the example set before them So paynters when they se an image excellently set forth they A similitude take therein great pleasure But when as hauing enterprised to make such an other they se that they can not attayne to that liuelines and excellency they begin to be sory and to be angry There is noted also in Pecockes the selfe same An other similitude kinde of affection for when they haue erected vp theyr fethers they delighting in the pleasant variety of the colours seme much to reioyce But agayne when they behold theyr deformed and blacke fete streight way theyr courage is deiected and they let downe theyr fethers So the godly delight in the Lawe of God and are inflamed with great loue to his commaundementes but contrariwise they lament and are sory for the filthines which they find to be in al their works Concerning the inward man Sithen Paul calleth the regenerate part of man by this name it can not be doubted but that he speaketh of the whole man For man consisteth not only of the body and of flesh but also of the soule and of that part whiche they commonlye call rationall And this whole man is called both inward outward He is called the Inward man in that he is moued by The whole man is called both inward and outward in diuerse respectes the spirite which worketh in our inwarde partes and of stony hartes maketh fleshy hartes But he is called outward in that he is taken with the delights of this world with riches honors goodly shewes and such like thinges For all these are outward thinges So the Apostle hath now proued the first part which he put forth namely That he would doo good and that he delighted in the law of God concerning the inward man Now he goeth to the other part to declare that he is agaynst his will drawen to other thinges I fele an other Lavv in my members resisting the Lavv of my mind and leding me captiue into the Lavv of sinne vvhtch is in my members This Law which he describeth is the force of sinne and of our naturall corruption He calleth it the Law of members for that before he called this whole euil the body of sinne but a body hath members Farther members in this place signifieth as I haue before admonished all the powers of the minde and all the partes of the body now contaminate with sinne The Apostles minde was to declare that this disease drawen from our birth stayeth not only in some one part of vs but persâth thorough out the whole man and thoroughout-all his partes Here we haue sondry Sondrye names of lawes What the law being aâ large taken signifieth names of Lawes for hece is mencioned The Lawe of God The Lawe of the minde The Law of sinne The Law of the members And this hereof commeth for that the Law is largely taken for all that whiche gouerneth moderateth our actions And bycause our actions procede not all from one greuÌd thereof it commeth that there are diuers names of Lawes Although the Law of the mind and the Law of God is one and the same It is called the Law of God bicause by it is expressed the will of God And it is called the Law of the mind for that it raigneth chiefely inwardly and is most knowen in the minde The Law of sinne also and the Law of the members is one and the same It is called the Law of sinne bycause such lust is of it selfe sinne and of it selfe bringeth forth other sinnes and it is called the Lawe of the members for that it vseth all our Why sinne to adorned with the name of law partes strenths and faculties for instrumeÌts Chrisostome warely admonisheth that sinne is not for any his owne dignity adorned with the name of Lawe for that commeth thorough our default for that we obey sinne as a Lawe For so Christ called Mammon Lord and Paul called the bely God Rebeâling ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã There is a greate conflict betwene these two Lawes for the Law which is in my members laboureth to lede me away captiue and to make me a bondsclaue vnto the Law of sinne But if the Law of sin and the Law of the memvers be one and the same how is the one sayd to lede away a man captiue vnto the other This is not without greate consideration Lust grafted in vs impelleth vs to actual sinnes sayd For so long as lust grafted in vs which is sinne resisteth the Law of God by which Law the knowledge of the minde is enstructed it impelleth vs to many kindes of sinnes Those are commonly called actuall sinnes whereunto our lust and corrupt oâsposition incline vs. But this maketh vs subiect vnto the law of sinne that is vnto death for death as
vnder the law And that is it which condemneth and killeth For it vnder the payne of damnation commaundeth that we should beleue in Christ. Wherefore they which beleue not by the condemnation of the law do perishe But the propriety of the Gospell is only to make safe It mought also be somewhat more plainly aunswered The Gospell as it onely outwardly maketh a souÌd ⪠differreth little from the law that the Gospell so long as it doth but outwardly only make a sound neither is the holy ghost inwardly in the hartes of the hearers to moue and bowe them to beleue so long I say the Gospell hath the nature of the killyng letter neyther differeth it any thyng from the Lawe as touchyng efficacye vnto saluation For althoughe it conteyne other thynges then the Lawe dothe yet it canne neyther geue Grace nor remission of synnes vnto the hearers But after that the holy ghost hath once moued yâ harâs of the hearers to beleue then at the length the Gospell obtayneth his power to make safe Wherefore the lawe of sinne ⪠and of death from which we are deliuered is it whereof before it was sayd that it leadeth vs captiââs and rebelleth against the lawe of the minde In this fight saith Chrisostome the holy ghost is present with vs and helpeth and deliuereth vs that we runne not into dammation He crâwneth vs saith he and furnishing vs on euery side with stayes and âelpes bringeth vs into the battayle Which I thus vnderstand that we are counted crowned through the forgeuenes of our sinnes and holpen with succors when we are so holpen with free and gracious giftes and with the strength of the spirite and instrumente of heauenly giftes that we suffer not this lawe of naturall corruption to raigne in vs. And let this suffice as touching that euill from which we are by the spirite of Christ deliuered Now let vs declare what is the nature of this deliuery This deliuery may indede be compared with that deliuery whereby the children Our deliuery is compared with that deliuery whereby the Israelites escaped out of Egipt of Israell were deliuered out of Egipt But they were not ãâ¦ã at liberty but yâ they were with greeuous perils greate teÌptacions excercised in the desert and when they were come to the land of Canaan they had alwayes remnants of the Amoritres Chittits Heuites and Cetites with whome they had continuall strife We also are so deliuered from death and sinne that yet there still remayneth no small portion of these euils But yet as Paul saith they can not hurt vs. For although it be sinne yet is it not imputed But by death our body shall so be losed and the soule shall so be seperated from it that by meanes of the holy resurrection it shall neuertheles returne againe vnto life And for that cause Paul said not simply that we are deliuered from sinne and from death but from the lawe and power of them Augustine also in his first booke and 32. chapter De Nuptijs concupisceÌntia saith that this deliuery consisteth of the forgeuenes of sinnes which thing also we see happeneth in ciuill affaires For if a man being A similitude cast into prison knowing himselfe to be guilty doth waite for nothing but for yâ sentence of death and yet through the liberallity and mercy of the king he is not only deliuered from punishment but also the king geueth vnto him greate landes and aboundance of riches and honors if we should consider in him the principall ground and cause of his deliuery we shall finde that it consisteth in the forgeuenes of his crime and offence For what had it profited him so to be enriched if he should straight way haue bene put to death So although by the benefite of the spirite we haue our strengthes renewed and the power or faculty to beginne an obedience forasmuch as by all these thinges the lawe of God can not be satisfied we could neuer be iustified vnles we had first remission of our sinnes For we should still be vnder condemnation and should be vnder the power of sinne and of death And when Paul vseth this word law he speaketh metaphorically For by the lawe he vnderstandeth force and efficacy And he attributeth it vnto sundry This word law is here taken Metaphoricallye thinges vnto sinne vnto death and vnto the spirite and if there be any other thing which hath the authority of ruling and gouerning the same may be called the lawe of him whome it gouerneth and ruleth But as we haue already sufficiently tought when we heare of this word lawe no man ought to thinke that here is spoken of the lawe of Moses And thus much as touching the maner of this deliuery But in this place therecommeth to my remembrance a sentence of Chrisostome in his homely de sancto adorando spiritu wherein he admonisheth that this is an apt place to proue the deuinity of the holy ghost For if the holy ghost be the author of our liberty then it behoueth him to be most frée And that A place to proue the diuinitye of the holy Ghost he is the author of our liberty not only this place declareth but also that place wherein it is written Where the spirite of the Lord is there is liberty But Arrius Eunomius and other such like pestiferous men would haue the holy ghost to be a seruaunt For they in the holy Trinity put a greate difference of persones for the sonne they sayde was a creature and for that cause farre inferior vnto the father but the holye Ghoste they affirmed to bée the minister and seruaunte of the sonne But if he bée a seruaunte howe then can hée bée vnto others the author of libertye He hath indéede other argumentes out of the holy scriptures whereby he confuteth the Arryans but it sufficeth me to haue rehearsed thys one argumente onely because it serueth somewhat for this place Now let vs se who they be that are partakers of this deliuery For Paul doth not superfluously entreate thereof For when he had taught that this libertye commeth of the spirite of Christe althoughe it be the true and principall cause yet bycause it is oftentimes hid nether can it be seene of other men therefore Paul turneth himselfe vnto the effects as vnto thinges more euident For there are many oftentimes which boast of the spirite and of faith which yet are most farre from them and remayne vnder damnation This selfe same maner shall Christ obserue in the last iudgement He shall first say Come ye blessed of my Father receaue ye the kingdome prepared for you froÌ the beginning of the world By these wordes is expressed the chiefe and principall cause of our saluatioÌ namely yâ we are elected of God predestinate But bycause this cause is hiddeÌ from the eyes The proue by the effectes declareth who are the elect of God of men to the end they might seme true heyres of the
the Gosple Dauid Manasses and Peter repented So long saith he as thys affection shall so remayne it can not be subiect vnto the lawe of God but forasmuch as it may be changed all hope is not to be cast away In writing thus he teacheth nothing but that which is sound But this is to be noted that this chaunge consisteth not in our strengthes For it is altogether of the spirite of Christ and of grace For as longe as we be as we were before we our selues caÌ neuer change our selues But afterward Chrisostome addeth that peraduenture this affection of the fleshe signifieth a wicked action and that Paul ment nothyng els but that an euill worke can neuer be good And in the same sence thinketh he is to be taken this sentence of the Gospell where it is sayde That an euill tree can not brynge forth good fruytes This interpretation I can in no wise allow for that I sée that Paul here speaketh not of any action or worke but speaketh of the affect féeling and corruption of nature Neither can I be perswaded that the Romanes were so blockish that they neded to be taught that an euill action could not be good But that Christ by the euill trée vnderstoode not workes but man those thinges doo manifestly declare which are in that place by Mathew rehersed For he had warned them to beware of false prophets which come in shepes clothing but within are rauening wolues By their fruites saith he ye shall knowe them Doe men of thornes gather grapes or of briers figges Either make the tree good c. And farther that we may be chaunged which thing we deny not he goeth about to proue by the parable ââ tares Tares saith he are made wheate and chaunged into it And therefore the goodman of the house would not haue them weeded out But we finde not in the Gospell that tares ar chaunged into wheat Only the lord would not haue the tares plucked vp lest perhaps yâ wheat being mixed with theÌ bicause peradueÌture yâ rootes of yâ wheat and of yâ tares being intricated together should be together plucked vp But herein as we haue said coÌsisteth not the coÌtrouersy For we know yâ such affects may be changed and broken But he afterward sayth that that is done by the spirite and grace of God which thing is both most true we also haue oftentimes affirmed the same Howbeit as Chrisostome is alwaies to much prone to defend frée wil humane streÌgth he addeth That this lyeth in our power to receaue the spirite and grace so that euerye Chrisostom thinketh that euery one of vs can do what he will him selfe and that it lieth in our power to haue the spirite grace An other hard place of Chrisostome Motions contrary vnto the law are in the regenerate dayly made more remisse man may do what he will Which thing we vtterly deny For if a maÌ can of himself receiue the grace of God when it is offred vndoubtedly such a worke should bâ both good and also could not but please God which yet should be done of a man not yet regenerate and so a trée being yet euill should bring forth good fruites which according to the sentence of the Lord is not possible For vnles our stony hart be taken from vs and in stede therof a fleshy hart be geuen vs we shall continually abide the selfe same that before we were Farther he addeth that the law of the members doth no more rebell against the law of the mynde neither doth it leade vs captiues vnto the law of sinne And that this is not so I doubt not but that euery man hathe experience in himselfe And we haue before by most manifest reasons declared yâ those thinges which Paul writeth in the 7. chap. of this epistle doo pertaine vnto men regenerate Vnles peraduenture this be Chrisostomes meaning that these motions in the regenerate ar daily made more remisse But he vndoubtedly hereunto had not a regard as those thinges which follow do plainly declare And it séemeth that he spake generally of this our tyme which is since Christ offred himself vnto the father and suffred death Augustine hath of this place a sound interpretation One and the selfe same soule saith he may be subiecte both vnto the affecte of the fleshe and also vnto the affecte of the spirite as one and the selfe same water is bothe made warm ⪠and is also by cold congeled and made I se So that then if thou wilt say that I se is not whote thou saist truly and if thou wilt say moreouer that I se can not be whote this also is true for I se so long as it is I se can not be whote But it is possible that heat may be put to it the I se may be resolued made whote But that I se should both keepe still his own nature yet in the mean tyme be whote it is vtterly vnpossible After this maner the affect of the flesh may either be taken away or be broken and a spirituall affecte succede in his place But that a carnall affect should be made spirituall it is by no meanes possible If thou demaund whither spirituall obseruings of the commaundements of God ar vnpossible or no I aunswer that in the oldenes of the flesh they are vnpossible but if the spirite and regeneration be added they are not vtterly vnpossible although the law of God cannot in this life be performed no not eueÌ of the most holiest For it pertaineth to the spirite of Christ to tame the frowardnes of yâ flesh and when we are once come to death vtterly to extinguish it Now yâ these things are thus expounded there remaine two errors to confute wherof one is of the Maniches An error of the Manichies which therfore thought the flesh to be called enmity against God bicause it was created of an euill God which continually resisteth the true and good God But the matter is farre otherwise For here is not entreated of the hypostasis or substaÌce of the flesh but of the fault or corruptioÌ which by reason of the fal of the first man is alwaies ioyned with it An other error is of yâ PelagiaÌs which wer not ashamed An error of the Pelagians to say yâ man by yâ streÌgths of nature is able to kepe yâ coÌmaundemeÌts of God From whome the scholemen at this day differ not much For they affirme that a man without the grace of Christ is able to kepe the Law of God as touching the substance of workes although not according to the meaning of the Law for they which are of that sort whatsoeuer they worke it caÌ not be done of charity And so they are not afrayd to say that a man caÌ loue God aboue all things though he want the grace of God Nether in the meane time marke they that the Apostle here sayth that the wisedome of the flesh is enmity agaynst God If an Ethnike
should at any time say that he loueth God aboue all thinges when we haue diligently considered the matter we shall playnly finde that vnder that dissembled loue lieth hidden in his hart a most greate hatred of God And where as the Apostle sayth that the affecte of the flesh is not subiecte vnto the Law of God he hath not a respect vnto works moral or ciuill but only as I haue sayd to our corrupt and vitiate nature And herein chiefely is the first table to be considered The first table contayneth the force and vigour of the latter table which requireth a perfect fayth loue worshipping and feare of God in which things coÌsisteth the force vigour and as it were the soule of the obedieÌce of the rest of the commaundementes Of those thinges which haue hitherto ben spoken the Apostle inferreth this conclusion that they which are in the flesh caÌnot please God and therfore they are nether deliuered nor recoÌciled vnto God They whiche are in the flesh are euill trees If the meÌ them selues can not please God theyr workes can not be acceptable vnto God We must desire a more aboundaunt spirite that we may the more please God So that this is a certaine token whereby we may know by the effect and aposteriori as they call it who they are that are deliuered from sinne and made pertakers of the benefite of the death of Christ And if they which are in the fleshe can not please God then it followeth that they are euill trées which bringe not forth good fruite Where are then merites of congruity and of works as they call them preparatory For if the men themselues can not please God vndoubtedly theyr workes can not be acceptable vnto God Wherefore miserable is the estate of the wicked which in no wise can please God But it is our partes continually to pray for a more aboundant spirite of Christ that we may more and more please him But ye are not in the flesh but in the spirite bycause the spirite of God dwelleth in you But if any man haue not the spirit of Christ the same is not his And if Christ be in you the body is dead bicause of sinne but the Spirite is life bycause of righteousnes And if the Spirite of hym that raysed vp Iesus from the dead dwell in you he that raysed vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodyes bycause that his spirite dwelleth in you Ye are not in the fleshe That which he before spake generally he now perticularly applieth vnto the Romanes and after his accustomed maner discendeth from a generall theme to a perticular Here is agayne in this place a sentence which can not but figuratiuely be interpreted for if we should vnderstaÌd Chrisostom saith that figures are necessary in the scriptures Of these wordes of the Lord this is myâ body simply that we are not in the flesh the truth would shew the contrary Wherefore Chrisostome vpon this place sayth that it is a thing very daungerous alwayes to vnderstand the scriptures according to the proper significations of the words I meruaile therefore what our aduersaries meane so much to iangle and to make such an adoo when we say that these wordes of the Lord This is my body are spoken figuratiuely and that we vnderstaÌd them not as though the body of Christ were carnally really and substantially in the bread But that which is shewed forth we teach to be the sacrament of the body of Christ whereby is signifyed that hys body was fastened vnto the Crosse and his bloud shed for vs. And this vndoubtedly is done with greate vtility if we both beleue those things which are set forth and also receaue the sacrameÌt with such a faith as behoueth But they say that Christ did not so speake I graunt he did not But if it be sufficient so to answere why doo they not here also say that Paul spake simply and appertly Ye are not in the flesh for other interpretations hath he added none If they say that that may be gathered by those thinges which he before spake so also will we say that this may be gathered as well by the nature of the sacraments whose nature is to signify the thinges whereof they are signes and also by yâ which is there written namely that these thinges ought to be done in remembraunce of the Lord and that they should shew forth his death and also by many other thinges which are written in the 6. chap of Iohn Farther Chrisostome vpon this place sayth That Paul wheÌ he thus writeth doth in no wise deny the nature of the fleshe but exalteth it to a more higher dignity namely that it should rather obey the impulsion of the spirite then lust So we say that when the fathers seme to deny that the nature of the bread abideth in the encharist they deny not the nature of the bread but declare yâ it is exalted to a higher dignity namely to be a sacrameÌt Against transubstaÌtiation How folish they are which by these words speake against matrimony of ministers of the body of Christ and now to serue to a spiritual purpose and vse But they yet dote a greât deale more which thinke that this place maketh agaynst the matrimony of ministers of the Church For if it were so he should conclude vniuersally that all Christians ought to liue without wyues For there is no Christian after that he hath beleued in Christ is any more in the fleshe We haue in dede a body fleshe and members meate drinke and matrimonies all which thinges séeme to pertayne vnto yâ flesh but we haue theÌ in God to vse theÌ according to the spirite not according to the flesh Neither doth Paul in this place meane any other thing theÌ did yâ Lord in yâ Gospell wheÌ he sayd vnto hys disciples Ye are not of thys world Wherfore Ambrose saith that we haue such a nature framed vnto vs as we felâ it to be he addeth moreouer That the wise men of the world are in the flesh because they resist fayth and wyll beleue those thynges only which are agreeable to reason This place againe teacheth vs that Ambrose by the name of fleshe vnderstoode reason Ambrose by the name of flesh vnderstandeth reason also What it is to be in the flesh and the higher partes of the soule We say therefore that to be in the fleshe according to the Apostles meaning signifieth nothing els then in all our actions to be ruled and gouerned by the sence and affecte of nature not yet regenerate in Christ Now by this it appeareth that it is proper vnto a Christian to follow those thinges which are of the spirite and to auoyde those thynges which are of the fleshe And this propriety of a Christian lyfe partly moueth vs not to forsake it and is partly a note by which we may be made more certayne of our iustification By what note or maâke we
requestes for they knew not what they asked And to the declaration of this matter he saith it is wonderfull necessary not to be ignoraunt of the maner of the primitiue church For at the beginning there was in Christian men an incredible force of the spirit For some excelled in the word of vnderstanding some in the worde of knowledge some in the gift of tonges some in the gift of healyng Which giftes Paul in yâ first to the Corrinthians in many other places reckoneth vp And amongst those giftes The gift of praying a right also was the gift of true praying wherby certaine were assured of such thinges which were to be asked of God so that they were fully certained what should be profitable vnto saluation Of these men some one when the Church was gathered together stept forth and in the name of them all prayed for those thinges which might be profitable not after any common or colde manner but being earnestly pricked forward and with many teares Of this thing there remaineth at this day A signe or tracke of the old manâr after a sorte remayneth in the church The holy ghost is here taken for the gift some signe or trace For when prayers are to be made publikely in the Church yâ Deacon with a loud voyce exhorteth yâ people to pray sometymes for yâ church somtimes for this necessity sometimes for yâ Wherfore Paul in this place taketh not yâ holy spirit for yâ third person in yâ Trinity but for yâ gift wherby any of the faithfull was stirred vp to pray or for the minde of a godly man so stirred vp of the spirite of God Wherfore Chrisostome thinketh that the spirit in this place signifieth a spirituall man Neither thinketh he that he so prayed as though God were to be taught but onely that they which were present might know what to aske The things which Chrisostome hath hitherto noted are not very vnlikely But here arise two doubtes the first is for yâ Paul amongst the giftes of yâ spirite which he in many places maketh mencioÌ of reckeneth not this kind of gift But this is âasely Whether Paul make any mencioÌ of the gifte of prayers aunswered vnto For the gift of prayers may be comprehended in that gift which Paul calleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is muâuall charity For we do not only helpe our brethren by almes by assistance by guardonship and by good councell but also by daily and feruent prayers Neither do I thinke that Paul hath made mencion of all the giftes of the holy ghost For he hath omitted the spirit of feare of fortitude of which Esay maketh mention ⪠It was inough for him to reckon some by which the forme and maner of yâ rest might the better be vnderstand Although in Zachary is mencion also made of yâ spirit of prayers ⪠For thus it is written in yâ 12. chap. I wyll poure vpon the house of Dauid and vpoÌ the inhabiters of Ierusalâ the spirit of grace of prayers which place yet yâ Chaldey interpreter turneth coÌpassion For in Hebrue it is Tehannonim in the Chaldey Vehachamin The other doubt is for that this exposition of Chrisostome séemeth to draw into to narrow a compasse the helpe of the holy ghost namely to those only which had this peculiar gift as though those thinges which are here spoken are to be vnderstaÌd only of publique prayers wheÌ as the wordes of Paul séeme rather to pertayne vniuersally vnto all men For the faithfull can not in any place lift vp pure hands without the helpe of the spirit of God Ambrose expoundeth these thinges more generally But it is wonderfull how he red thus It is the spirite which helpeth the infirmity of our prayers neither doth he only so rede it but also so interpretateth it And our prayers saith he are by the spirite two maner of wayes corrected the one way is if peraduenture we aske thynges hurtfull the other is if we aske thynges ryght and profitable but before the tyme. The spirite saith he commeth and powreth hymselfe vpon our prayers to couer our vnskilfulnes and vnwarefulnes and by hys motion causeth vs to aske those thinges which are profitable Augustine in his 121. epistle vnto Proba De orando Deo at large handleth this place and demaundeth whether we thinke that these were so vnskilfull of Christian religion that they were ignorant of the Lordes prayer They were not vndoubtedly How then were they ignoraÌt what they should aske In the Lordes prayer are contained all thinges profitable and to be desired for Here is entrâated of asking of thynges indifferent when as in it are contained all thinges that are profitable and to be desired for He maketh answere that these men were in great persecutions and it is very likely that they oftentimes prayed to be deliuered which thing might be vnto them sometimes profitable and sometimes hurtfull Wherefore here is entreated not of all maner of thinges but only of thinges indifferent which if we obtayne not yet is there no cause why any man should be discouraged for peraduenture yâ thinges should be hurtful vnto vs which we beleue should be profitable vnto vs and if we obtaine them yet ought we not insoleÌtly to puffe vp our minds For although these thinges be geuen vs yet do they not alwayes conduce to saluation Those thinges which are contayned in the Lordes prayer are necessary The things that are coÌtained in the Lords prayer can not be ill wished for neither can be amisse wished for But such things are oftentimes geuen of God in his anger as vnto the Israelites in the desert was geueÌ flesh with so great wrath that a great multitude of them perished So at their reqâest they had a king geuen them not yet of good will but in the fury of the Lord. Vnto the deuill when he made request was Iob geuen to be vexed of him Christ also permitted the deuels to enter into the heard of swyne How beit Paul could not at his request haue the pricke of the flesh taken from him Yea neither could Christ also obtaine that the cuppe which was now at hand mought passe away from him And yet no man dare say that either the deuill or the ângodly Israelites were more acceptable vnto God then Christ or Paul But what it is the spirit to pray for vs with vnspeakeable sighes Augustine in the same epistle which we haue spoken of declareth for he saith that we in thys thyng are disseased of a certayne learned ignorance For we know not what is profitable for vs. But on the other side the spirite insinuateth it selfe and causeth vs to sighe for good thynges And they are called vnspeakable sighes because it is not we our selues that speake or vtter that which we aske but it is the spirite The third person abaseth not it selâe as though he were lesser then the father He prayeth because he makeâh vs to pray which stirreth
verity is had a farre other sence By all these things it is manifest how this word purpose ought to be taken And this our saying do those wordes which follow euidently proue Whome he hath foreknowen those also hath he predestinate Paul A gradation by this gradation teacheth that the purpose of God is firme For he holdeth it as certaine that as many as are predestinate shall also come vnto eternall glory Glory the end of predestination Violence is excluded Certainty abideth ⪠which is the end of predestination I like that very well which Chrisostome sayth that herehence is excluded all violence For the election of God bringeth no violence either vnto the predestinate or vnto the reprobate but that in no case taketh away the certainty of predestination For none that is truly a Christian and in déede godly ought to doubt whether he pertayn vnto the election of God or not None that is godly ought to be in doubte whether he be predestinate or no. The argument of Paul touching the certainty of predestination For if we be in doubt touching yâ matter how can we cal God our father or with what confidence can we pray And as touching this place Paules argument should be weake and perswade nothing if we ought to be in doubt of our saluation Paul admonisheth the Romanes quietly to suffer tribulations for that they should turne vnto them vnto good Neither was he content with an argument taken of the loue which we beare towardes God for that was weake for no man can put confidence in his owne worke And therefore he goeth to predestination for that it is firme and can not be deceaued And it is all one as if he had sayd they which are predestinate of God do not only beleue in hym and loue hym but also vnto them all thinges yea though they be aduersities turne to good Ye are predestinate of God wherefore be of good comfort these calamityes wyll bring vnto you some commodity and will helpe forward your saluation In thys argument if a man should doubt of the minor or second part and should suspect it not to be true what profite then shall the persuasion of Paul bring It should be a They which commaund vs perpetually to doubt do not with efficacy exhort to patience We must not for euery manner of pretence be spoyled of a necessary good thinge Childrens play weake argumeÌt and conclude nothing This thing vndoubtedly do they which coÌmaund vs perpetually to doubt whether we be of the number of the elect or no. But they pretend the endeuour of an holy life namely that men should not begin to liue dissolutely and securely â losely But they ought not for the retaining still of some perticular good thinge to spoile vs of this most presente and moste necessary good thing This is childrens play which when they will by stealth snatche away any thing from their fellow bid him looke aside to behold some other thyng But we if we will deale wisely and not suffer our selues to be deceiued shall still retain either commodity For first let vs not doubt of the goodnes of God towards vs neither let vs be vncertaine whether we be elected and predestinate Farther beyng nowe certaine of our saluation let vs be more more stirred vp and kindled by so great a benefit of God lest liuing wickedly we be found ingrate towards him we must not so remedy the one part that we forgo the other which is most of all necessary We must not to the ende the security of the flesh should not lead vs away to vices be in doubt of the predestination of God for it is certaine of Paul set forth as certaine vnles we will say that he when he persuadeth these thynges doth but trifle and loose his labour Augustine in his booke De Correp gratia saith If the predestination of God be deceaued they which are predestinate shal perysh but they peryshe not therfore predestination is not deceaued Againe If it sayth he be deceaued God is ouercome of the sinne of man so that that whiche he hath predestinate can not come to passe But the power of God is not ouercome of our sinne Wherfore predestination is not deceaued It is the point of vngodly men and of scorners to say that God is deceiued in his counsels For so dallieth Lucianus in Timone that when the The predestination of God cannot erre from his ende Of what thing consisteth the confidence of saluation It is not our parte to prescribe vnto God the meanes whereby to be led vnto saluation Here is entreated of the foreknowledge which is ioyned with approbation temple of Castor and Pollux was smitten with lightening it erred much for that otherwise it was sent of Iupiter vpon Anaxagoras Wherfore a godly mind ought to be persuaded of two thinges First that the predestination of God cannot erre from his ende appointed Secondly that we assure our selues that we pertayne vnto the number of the predestinate Which thing although it cannot be comprehended by naturall knowledge yet may it be holden by the certainty of hope and of fayth And forasmuch as we heare out of Paul that God himselfe worketh our saluation we ought to permit vnto his wisedome to vse in bringing vs to saluation what instruments please him For it is not our part to prescribe vnto hym whether he ought to lead vs by aduersities or by prosperities so that he bring vs to saluation Farther seyng Paul hath shewed vnto vs so large and certayne a fountaine of our saluation we ought not onely to geue thankes for that so great goodnes but also with all our endeuour to labour that we be not founde ingrate towardes hym Whome he for knew those also hath he predestinate The forknowledge wherof the Apostle here speaketh although it betoken knowledge yet it signifieth not a common and generall knowledge but such a knowledge which is ioyned with fauour and approbation wherby God doth elect certaine and count them for hys This kinde of knowledge is denied vnto the wicked for the Lord will say vnto those folish virgins I know you not Which selfe thing shall also be said vnto the wicked which haue prophecied wrought miracles in the name of Christ not doubtles that God knoweth not either them or their workes but for that he approueth them not neither acknowledgeth them for his Of this knowledge Christ sayth in Iohn I know my shepe Christ in dede knew other men which were not hys shéepe but he embraced them not with a singuler knowledge neither fed he them And Paul to Timothie saith The Lord knoweth who are his And Dauid in the Psalme The Lord knoweth the way of the iust For so great is the perspicuity of the mind of God that it nedeth not for the knowledge of things to wayte vntil they be extant God seâth thinges to come as if they were present Here to foreknow extendeth no farther
We are not taught by any parte of thââanonicall scripture âhât the ââââtes departed do pray for vs. Althoughe the saintes do praye for vs. yet are not they to be inuocated do make intercession for vs we can not proue by any parte of the canonicall scripture Wherefore we ought to haue Christ only for our mediator aduocate neither are thinges vncertaine to be admitted for certaine Although I can easely graunt that the saintes in our countrey with most feruent desires wishe the saluation of the elect Yet dare I not say that they pray for them especially seyng the scripture no where teacheth any such thing And although I should confesse this yet should it not therof follow that we ought to cal vpon saintes departed For we are not certaine out of the worde of God that they can heare our prayers Wherfore they greuously offend both against religion and against Christ himself which appoint vnto themselues saintes for new mediators and aduocates wheÌ as there is but one onely mediator betwene God and men namely the man Christ Iesus who now as Paul saith maketh intercession for vs. The same thing doth Iohn testify saying I write vnto you that ye sinne not And if we sinne we haue an aduocate with the father euen Iesus Christ the iust Augustine against the epistle of Parmenianus in the 8. chap. in these wordes noteth that the Apostle excluded not himselfe None so holy but that he hath nede of the intercession of Christ from yâ rest For he said not ye haue an aduocate but we haue For there is none so holy but yâ he hath nede of Christ to be his aduocate and mediator Farther he saith not ye haue an intercessor but we haue an aduocate Iesus Christe Augustine in that place reproueth Permenianus for that he had in some places written that Bishops are mediators betwene God and the people which thing he sayth is not It is a thing intollerable that bishops should be mediators betwene God and the people We must not pray vnto Angels to be suffred of the faithfull The same Augustine in his 10. booke of confessions the 42. chapter thus writeth Whome should I haue found which mought reconcile me vnto thee Should I haue gone vnto Aungels But with what prayers With what Sacramentes And he addeth That there were many which would haue bene reconciled by Angels and were miserably deceyued for that an euill Aungell oftentymes transformeth hymselfe into an Aungell of lyght And if it be not lawfull for vs to pray vnto Aungels much les is the same lawfull for vs to doo vnto dead sayntes For here is no les perill to be deceaued then there These things writeth Augustine in that place both godly and soundly who yet in other places was not so circumspect in eschewing the errour of hys tyme. Who shall separate vs from the loue of God shall affliction shal anguishe shall persecution shall hunger ⪠shall nakednes ⪠shall danger shall the sworde As it is written For thy sake are we deliuered to the death all the day long we are counted as sheepe for the slaughter Neuertheles in all these things we are more then conquerors thorough hym that loued vs. For I am persuaded that nether death nor lyfe nor Aungels nor principalities nor powers nor thinges present nor thinges to come nor heigth nor depth nor any other creature shal be able to seperate vs froÌ the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. Who shall separate vs from the loue of God After that Paul had by so many reasons confirmed the exceding great loue of God towardes vs now by way of interrogacion he crieth out that there is nothing which can interrupt that loue wherewith God loueth vs. Let aâcuse vs whosoeuer wil let come aduersities be they neuer so great yet all things shal work vnto vs to good For this is the property of one that loueth continually to do good vnto him whom he loueth Wherfore seing God so loueth vs what soeuer he doth or whatsoeuer he sendeth vpon vs we must beleue that it shall be helthfull vnto vs neither ought any aduersities to perswade vs but that we are continually loued of God Wherfore this is a conclusion of all those thinges which haue bene before entreated of And that which the Apostle âaith he is most fully persuaded of I would to God we were also persuaded of the same He reckoneth vp those thinges which seme commonly to be most harde and wherby men are oftentimes broken and euen these things he auoucheth hinder not the loue of God towardes vs so far is it of that they can plucke it away from vs. The Apostle the longer abideth in this place for that our flesh humane reason can hardly be perswaded of this thing For oftentymes when we are afflicted we cry My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And that with a farre other manner of affect then Christ pronounced those wordes We cry Howe long Men think aduersities to be tokeÌâ of Gods anger Ambrose vnderstandeth these thinges of our loue wylt thou be angry O Lord With many such other like For whatsoeuer aduersity happeneth we thinke the same to be a token of Gods wrath towardes vs wheÌ as yet he of a singuler loue suffreth vs so to be afflicted I know that Ambrose Augustine and very many other take loue in this place for that loue wherwith we loue God as though the meaning of Paul should be Seing God hath so loued vs ought not we agayne on the other side most constantly to loue hym And thys sentence is neither vnapte nor impious Howbeit I rather preferre the other for that it séemeth to serue better to the scope of the Apostle for hee in thys place goeth about to perswade vs that we should not be in doubt of the loue of God towardes vs. And therefore he sayth that he foreknewe vs predestinated called iustified and glorified vs gaue hys sonne vnto vs together with hym all thinges and that Christ hym selfe maketh intercession vnto yâ father for vs. All these thinges pertain vnto yâ loue which God beareth towardes vs. And a litle afterward the Apostle addeth But in all these thinges we are conquerours through hym which hath loued vs. These words most plainely serue to my sentence wherunto also subscribeth Chrisostom I confesse in dede that of this good will of God towardes vs is stirred vp our loue towardes hym howbeit Paul semeth to entreat of that first loue and not of thys our loue But they which will haue these wordes to be vnderstand of our loue towardes God somewhat do doubt whether the elect they yâ be in very deede iustified may at any time leese faith charity and other vertues or no. But that semeth Paul to denye for he sayth yâ there is nothing can plucke vs away from the loue of GOD. For this sence is gathered out of the interrogation which he here putteth But whatsoeuer other
as God had commaunded in the booke of the law This exposition in dede semeth to be somewhat more witty and more likely Howbeit by the wordes of the holy history it is confuted For when Moses feruently prayed the Lorde answered Let me alone I wyll kill all thys people at once for their contumacy towardes me and will make thee a prince of an other people both much greater and also more noble Wherefore there is no reason why Moses shoulde desire to bée putte out of authority that he shoulde not bee the head of that people when as God of hys owne accorde and wyllingly offred that thinge vnto hym Wherefore we must nedes confesse that Moses desired none other thing then that which Paul now wisheth for Chrisostome is so much against this opinion which Ierome defendeth to Algasia that he sayth That such as so thinke are so farre from the truth as a blindeman is from the light of the sunne And of this his confutacion this reason he bringeth Paul saith he had before spoken many thynges of that straighte coniunction which he had wyth God when he sayd that neyther tribulation nor anguishe nor persecution nor hunger nor nakednes nor daunger nor sworde is able to seperate hym from the loue of God After that as though he had not yet satisfied himselfe he addeth neyther death nor lyfe nor aungels nor principalities nor powers nor thynges present nor thynges to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature Now after the rehearsall of so many and so great thynges what more weighty or more noble thyng could he bryng which could excell these thynges Could this that he would gladly suffer death to bring hys brethren vnto Christ But this sayth he is a very small matter if it be coÌpared with those thynges before spoken For before he had twise mencioned death but he whiche refuseth to geue hys lyfe for the truth and for the health of his neyghbour seperateth hymselfe froÌ God by feare of death And therfore he should haue added no new thing to that which he before had spoken Wherfore we ought to thinke that Paul had a regard to farre greater thynges then these men suppose he had There is an other opinion of those which thinke that Paul referred not these thinges vnto the time wherin he wrote them but vnto that tyme wherin he liued a straunger from Christ For the better declaration wherof we ought to vnderstand that there are certaine men which after that they haue cast themselues hedlong into any thing endeuour themselues by al meanes to draw others to the same not that the place and estate wherinto they haue transferred themselues liketh them but that hauing many companions ioyned vnto them they might either be the lesse reproued or els the thing which they haue yll begon might haue a more tollerable ende And thus these men expounde the woordes of Paul The Iewes mought haue suspected that Paul for that cause desired to bring al other meÌ vnto Christ for yâ he himself had already geueÌ himselfe vnto him not for that from the harte he counted the thing good But not so saith the Apostle yea rather so deare is your saluation vnto me that so from the hart I desire to communicate this good thing vnto you that I would wishe my selfe to be accursed from Christ and not to be yet called vnto him so that ye might come vnto him that is I would earnestly desire that ye might haue come to Christ before me And this thinke they is to be made accursed for his brethreÌ And to haue some shew to proue this Thou séest say they that he saith not that he desireth now to be made accursed for that could he not do after he was once conuerted but onely he wisheth himselfe to be made accursed that is when he was not yet conuerted vnto Christ But euery man may easely sée that this interpretacion is wrested and troublesome and yet if we should receiue it Paul should not auoide it which he semeth most of all to eschue For what do they not consider that he which of loue desireth to haue bene once in times past accursed from Christ the selfe man desireth this also now to be made accursed For if he should haue done that to the honour of God how should he not do this also to the honour of God Howbeit this interpretation among others haue the Gréeke Scholies I will not now stand any longer about Graeca Scholia the confutatioÌ therof for that I doubt not but there are not many which wil defend it There ar others which go about to proue this desire of Paul by the law of God Men say they are so framed yâ euery man when he is in trouble aduersity desireth gladly to be redemed by some other man yea euen with the hurt of him which should redeme him They adde moreouer that the law of God is that we should loue our neighbours as our selues Wherfore forasmuch as we our selues would gladly desire that an other man should be damned for vs therefore we ought also to wyshe the same to others that we our selues should be damned for them least we would otherwyse to be done vnto oure neyghboures then we woulde to bee done vnto oure selues if we were in the like case And farther they say that euery one of vs ought so to loue his neighbor as Christ hath loued vs but Christ for oure sakes did not only geue his life vpon the ârosse but also was made a curse and was after a sort forsaken of the father For he cryed My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Wherefore they conclude that that thing which Paul and Moses did was dew hy the Law Here if thou demaund who caÌ performe this Law They will answere no man but yet are not godly men for that cause condemned For say they we all dayly want muche of the iuste obseruation of the Law but our dayly falles are forgeuen vs for Christes sake and that which wanteth of our righteousnes is made good by the righteousnes of the Lord which is ascribed vnto vs through âayth And yet ought not anye man therefore to slake his endeuor to performe this kynde of commaundement We must labor as muche as lieth in vs if it succede not we ought to lament and so shall it come to passe that âinne shall not be imputed vnto vs so that we doo not vtterly shake of our endeuor which thinge some men doo which so farre fall that they hate theyr enemies and persecute them but we ought not so to flatter our selues For there are certayne kinds of sinnes so greauous that they can not stand with fayth and charity Howbeit we must confesse that this vertue which we se was in Moses in Paul is a verye rare vertue Wherefore this vertue may be called heroicall or noble This in dede is a good interpretation and commended of those men vnto whome in very dede for piety and
my kinsmen according to the flesh Affinity of the flesh is oftentimes an occasion that maketh vs to loue our neighbour and that of charity Paul Affinitie of the flesh is an honest occasioÌ to make vs to loue our neighbor saith to Tim. He which hath not a care of his own and especially of his housholde hath denied the fayth and is worse then an infidel for the vnder the pretence of religion he leadeth a worse life theÌ infidels who being led only by the instinct of nature are louing towards their kinsfolks prouide thinges necessary for theÌ Wherfore we ought to thinke yâ the coÌiunctioÌ of the flesh of kinred is geuen vnto vs of God as a pricke to charity not yâ we ought to haue a regard to such thinges as be our owne but as adioyned vnto vs of God For otherwise there is none which doth chose vnto himselfe parentes brethren or countrey Wherfore we ought to haue a care of those which are geuen to vs of God and not to bestow our endeuor as we list our selues without choyse not that we ought not to loue and to do good to all meÌ whatsoeuer they be Now onely he entreateth of degrées and sheweth an ordinary and an accustomed way wherehence we must begin vnles peraduenture some occasion more necessary draw vs an other way How then doth the Apostle say in the latter to the Cor. that he knew none as touching the flesh yea neither Christ him selfe There to know is to put confidence for he saith that he did no more put coÌfidence in any outward thing but in Christ onely For the false Apostles continually boasted of their Iewishe religion of the stocke of Christ according to the flesh of the law of ceremonies and other such like as though of these thinges should depend the saluation of men These thinges in déede are benefites of God and those not to be contemned but yet without Christ no man ought to put confidence in them This meaneth Paul in that place by these wordes to know accordyng to the The flesh of Christ without faith profiteth not flesh yea eueÌ the flesh of Christ without a true and sound faith nothing profiteth For so Christ himselfe saith in Iohn The fleshe profiteth not any thyng it is the spirite which quickeneth Wherfore we haue not now knowen Christ by the iudgement of the flesh neither do we consider him according to the base conditions which he had whilest he was here on earth Paul before when he was of the Iewish religion attributed much vnto these thinges namely that he was a Iewe of the tribe of Beniamin a Pharisey and that of his people should Christ be borne Yea he then in these thinges did put the whole ground and stay of his saluation But beyng afterward conuerted vnto Christ he placed al his confidence in faith in him Wherfore he sayth that he now knewe nothing according to the flesh namely in that manner that he had before knowen Which are Israelites From a priuate condition wherby they according to the flesh were knit vnto him he ascendeth to a publike condition namely yâ they were Israelites that is the people of God Teuolah the chosen people of God dere Places made noble by the Gods vnto whome they were consecrated vnto them the flocke the shéepe the lot and the inheritaunce of the Lord. Many nations and cities had a wonderful great delight in themselues for that they were consecrated vnto certaine Gods Athenes was commended of Minerua Dolos the âland of Apollo and Diana Cicero against Verres praiseth al Sicilia but especially the mountaine Etna for that it was consecrated vnto Ceres as though it were wholy nothing els but an house and temple of Ceres How much more honorable The Israelites were coÌsecrated vnto God was it to yâ Israelits for yâ their whole natioÌ was consecrated vnto yâ true God the creator of heauen and of earth Hereby ought we to learne that the giftes of God can not be so contaminated of men but that they are perpetuallye to be commended And that we should not here erre Paul maketh an excellent distinction We must make a distinction betwene the giftes of God and betwene the mâ that are adorned with theÌ betwene the giftes of God and betwene the men that are adorned with theÌ The giftes of God are alwaies to be highly commended but the men as they behaue themselues are either to be dispraysed or to be commended Before in the 3. chap. Paule spake of the selfe same matter when he said What is then the preferment of the Iewe. He answereth hauing a respect vnto the giftes of God Much euery maner of way First because vnto them are committed the wordes of God For what if some of them haue not beleued Hath their incredulity made voyd the faith of God God forbid Howbeit afterward when he entreateth of saluation where he hath a respect vnto the common vices of nature vnto infidelity and other sinnes he speaketh otherwise Wherin then do we excell them No maner of way And to declare how much he estemed those giftes be they neuer so excellent if we want faith and be agaynst Christ in his epistle to the Phil. when he had reckened vp all the things which he had when he was of the Iewish religion he saith That he counted all these things as losses and donge For that being seioyned from faith they do nothing but puffe vs vp and more and more lead vs from Christ Israelites This is a name deriued of their father Iacobâ it is a much more To be called Israelites is more excellenter then to beÌ called Iacobites excellenter name theÌ if they had ben called Iacobites for they receaued that name not of yâ name which was geueÌ vnto yâ Patriarch at his birth but whiche he got by a victory by such a victory wherin he ouercame God himself Ther is set forth vn to vs no smal nobility of that man of whom they tooke their name when as he is Why Iacob was called Israell said in wrastling to haue ouercome eueÌ God himselfe For therfore was he by God called Israell as it were a prince with God and who had preuailed against God And together with the name he receiued a signe or a token or marke in his body For after that time he began to halt The godly ouercome God when they ouercome the temptations sent of him Abraham was tempted of God to stay his own How the godly ãâã to ouercome God sonne that temptation he ouercame and was made therby most famous They also ouercome God when they ouercome all aduersities which vndoubtedly happen not vnto them without the prouidence and gouernement of God So reade we in the holy scriptures that Iob and many other holy men did And they so ouercome that vnto them all thinges worke to good Finally they ouercome when wyth a liuely and perfect faith they embrace the
touching Ismaell and Esau whether they be faued or whether they be condemned And the like some do touching Salomon Origen and others such like But I omitte these thinges and thinke of Esau and Ismaell so much onely as the holy scripture hath set forth vnto vs. And I think that there are What is to be thought of Esau no places extant by which we may define any thing touching their saluation The scripture thus speaketh of Esau that he so vehemently hated his brother that he sought to kill him that he sold his birth right that he prouoked h ãâ¦ã âarentes to anger when he had take strange women for wiues that he was a violent man and despised the land of Chanaan promised vnto the fathers and in the epistle to the Hebrues it is written that he although he poured out many teares yet found he no place of repentance Of Ismaell also we reade that he was reiected not only What is to be thought of their stocke by the will of Sara but also by the will of God But touching both their posterities I deny not but that some of them mought be saued no les then some of the stocke of Iacob might become runnagates and obstinate For it is sufficient to the election and reiection of God that some part of ech stocke be either elected or reiected And touching this sentence I haue Ambrose on my side who affirmeth that the most holy man Iob was of the famely of Esau Which saying yet how much it is to be regarded I know not This thing only I dare affirme yâ as many as were saued that came of Israell those were saued by the grace of God and had a promise of their saluation and on the other side as many as were saued of the stocke of Esau those also were saued by the mere grace of God but there was no peculiar promise touching their saluation But as many as were of that stocke condemed Indefinite promises at not to be vnderstanded of euery one perticulerly they were condemned for their sinnes And the sentence of the reiection of the posterity of Esau is indefinite neither is to be vnderstanded of euery one perticularly But it may séeme more then wonderfull that God in his election worketh not only contrary to our iudgement but also contrary to his own lawes For not only after the mauer of men the first borne are preferred before the rest of the brethern but also by the prescript of the lawe of God they were holy and obtayned a dooble portion of the inheritance But God therefore so doth that we should God doth thinges contrary to his lawes vnderstand that we are saued only by grace and not through any priuiledges or conditions of this life and moreouer to geue vs to vnderstand that he is vtterly free from all lawes For his will is euen iustice it selfe and the rule of all thinges that are vpright and iust But because men can not attayne to the knowledge of of this hidden election therefore we ought to frame our selues to the lawes of of God which are published abroade and set forth to all men For Isaack circumcised his sonne Esau as God had commaunded him neither was he greatly carefull whether he were elected of God or reiected for he was then vtterly ignorant of the counsaile of God But the mother for that she had hard the oracle gaue faith vnto it as it became her and had a care that the blessing mought be distributed according to the will of God And so by her industry it came to passe that Iacob preuented his brother of the blessing Touching which will when the father also was by the spirite of God made more certayne he would by no meanes make voide that which had now passed betwene him and Iacob Paul mought now seme to haue thoroughly defended the truth of the promises of God when as after the example of Ismaell and Isaack which were borne of diuers parentes and at diuers tymes he with so great diligence bringeth in also an other coople of bretheren Iacob and Esau in whome all thinges in a maner were equall For they were borne both of one and the selfe same parentes and in one and the selfe same day and as Augustine saith in his epistle to Sixtus both conceaued at one and the selfe same time least any man mought cauell that the father was better when he begat the one then he was when he begat the other And the mother which bare them both was one and the selfe same woman And although she myght in that space of time whilest she was with child alter her maners and disposition yet that could not in such sort profit the one to be a let vnto the other Although by the Greke it appeareth not that they were both conceaued at one and the selfe same tyme. Howbeit this is red That Rebecka had fellowship by one euen by our father Isaack But Augustine followed the latine translation Farther it is not vnlikely to be true yâ they which were borne in one and the selfe same tyme were also begotten atone the selfe same tyme especially seing that the Apostle in this place endeuoreth The industry of yâ holye ghost in Paul in this coople of twynes vtterly to take away all maner of differences In Paul also is to be considered the industry of the holy ghost who when he had affirmed out of the holy scriptures that of these two brethern the one was elected the other reiected bringeth no other reason or cause of the counsell of God but that election should abide according to purpose But because he saw that this would in no case satisfy humane reason therefore he confirmed his sentence by an oracle of Malach. who straight way at the the beginning of his first chapiter thus writeth The Lord hath loued you And ye haue sayd wherein hath the Lord loued vs And the Prophet maketh answere Iacob and Esau were they not brethern But I haue loued Iacob and haue hated Esau Wherefore with Malachy to loue is all one wyth that which Paul hath That the Election of God shoulde abide according to purpose Neither is this to be passed ouer that the Apostle in thus ioyning together these Paul most diligently red the scriptures two testimonies declareth that he had not negligently red the scriptures Wherfore we also must endeuor our selues to do the like when as we shall see places of the scriptures alleadged either of the Apostles or of other writers Paul when he red the Prophet Malachy and saw that God proueth his loue towardes the Iewes by that that he had loued Iacob and hated Esau when yet notwithstanding they were brethern and twines straight way turned himselfe to the history of Genesis and there considered many thinges which mought conduce to adorne and amplifye this matter namelye that they were borne bothe at one and the same time and of one and the selfe same parentes and that the
the foreknowledge of merites For acception of persons is when contrary to iustice distributiue we haue a A similitude respect vnto the conditions which make not a man worthy either of yâ gifte which is distributed or of the office which is committed to his charge as if a bishoppricke should be geuen vnto a man bycause he is beawtifull and of a tall stature or for that he is a stout warrior neglecting in the meane time other men more worthy and méete But of this fault God cannot iustly be accused For he findeth in vs no persons or qualities or conditions For we come all equally of the corrupte Masse of Adam Wherefore whatsoeuer afterward commeth either as touching giftes or worthines the same we haue not of our selues but of the goodnes of God But to returne to Ambrose who thinketh that some are elected for that God knoweth that they shall beleue and others are reiected for that he knoweth that they wil be enemies vnto the truth It appeareth also that Augustine beinge yet rude nor as a then a Bishop followed this sentence of his father Howbeit afterward when he had better examined the matter he reuoked it And Ambrose minde is that the loue and hatred of God springeth of faith or infidelitye foreséene Therefore he addeth Wherefore God foreknowing that they should be endued wyth an euyll wyll counted theÌ not in the nomber of the good although Christ said vnto the. 72. disciples whiche afterward fell awaye from hym as it is written in the 6. chapter of Iohn Reioyse and be glad for your names are written in heauen For they are sayde to be written accordinge to a certayne present iustice and not accordinge to foreknowledge And God forasmuche as he is a iust iudge iudgeth according to present iustice and not according to foreknowledge Wherefore that which the Lorde sayth to Moses in Exodus the 23. chapter If any man sinne against me I wyll blot him out of my booke is so to be vnderstanded that according to the righteousnes of the iudge he seemeth then to be blotted out when he sinneth but according to the foreknowledge of God he was neuer writen in the boke of life For Iohn sayth they wente out from vs for that they were not of vs for if they had bene of vs they had doubtles abiden with vs. Afterward Ambrose defineth the foreknowledge DefinitioÌ of the foreknowledge of God after Ambrose of God and sayth that it is that whereby God hath certainelye appoynted what manner of will euery mans will shal be wherein he shall abide and whereby he shall ether be condemned or crowned wherefore there is no acceptation of persons in the foreknowledge of God And he saith that it is possible that they which shall be good to the end become sometimes euill as it came to passe in Dauid contrariwyse that they which shall at the last become euill and shal be condemned yet notwithstandinge sometimes seeme good as Saul Iudas Salomon and Ioas as long as Ioiada the priest liued We sée that Ambrose in this his sentence was brought to that pointe that to auoyde the acceptacion of persons he referred the election of God to the foreknowledge of workes least God should séeme vniust But we haue already declared that the equitye and The iustice and equitye of God is not here put in any danger iustice of God is nothing put in daunger if we rightly vnderstande wherein consisteth the fault of the acception of persons But amongst the new writers Phocius whose sentence is rehearsed amongst the Gréeke Scholies by purpose vnderstaÌdeth as other do foreknowledge of woorkes and thereof he affirmeth springeth election when as by it is put a difference betwene men But election cannot be vnles there be put some difference in those things which ought to be elected But we Election caÌ not be but when there is differeÌce of thinges The difference of things to be lected is not taken of the nature of the thinges themselues but of the purpose of God say that this difference is not to be considered by the thinges themselues which are elected but by the sondrye purpose of God towardes them For whatsoeuer good thing is founde in men the same commeth from the méere mercye and goodnes of God Neither can God foreknow that any thing shal come to passe but that which he willeth to be For forasmuche as all thinges that are haue by his will that that they be whatsoeuer he foreknoweth shal be it is of necessitye yâ he willeth the same to be Wherfore God found no difference in men but he himselfe putteth differeÌce in theÌ The same Phocius addeth Although there were no other reason of the election of God but his will yet ought we therewithal to be conteÌt But there is an other namely his foreknowledge of workes But we haue alredy declared what deceiued this maÌ namely for that he thinketh yâ the difference which must of necessity be in election is alwayes taken of the thinges that are to be elected when oftentimes they come of the méere will of him that electeth But nowe will I come to Augustine who in his questions to Simplicianus in his first booke and 2. question at large entreateth of this matter He demaundeth in that place why the mercye of God which was present with Iacob was wanting in Esau And he maketh answere that it cannot be sayd because that the one should beleue the other should not beleue for that fayth it self is the gift of God which thing others also sayth he do confesse but therfore they say the one beleued for that he woulde receaue that when it was offred and yâ other beleued not for that he would not receaue it But this aunswere is not sufficient For then mought euery man ascribe his faith Our faith is not an effect of our will to his owne will and thus say Therfore haue I beleued for that I woulde And by that meanes he should haue wherof he might glory and the grace of God and our fayth should be of workes Farther vnto the PhillippiaÌs Paul writeth that it is God which worketh in vs both to will and to performe according to his good will Wherefore no man can haue a will to beleue vnles God geue vnto him that will Moreouer A good wil is the gift of God it should then not be of God that hath mercye but of man that willeth runneth And it is meruaile sayth Augustine if these men were demaunded whether a good will be the gift of God if they durst deny it but peraduenture they wil say God in vayne hath mercy if man will not Which is imprudently spoken For euery man hath a will vpon whome God hath mercy But if thou demaunde what maketh in vs this good wil we answer the calling of God But that séemeth to be The calling of God of two sortes against this which we reade in the Gospel That many are called but fewe
thinges he hath of God So Paul to the Corrinthians when he had sayd that he had laboured more then all others added But not I but the grace of God whiche is in me The axe is not sayde to make the arke but the carpenter which vseth the axe so we also are the instruments of God both to wil to worke but it is God which worketh those things in We are the instrumeÌts of God vs. Here they obiect then are not we lordes of our owne actions if it be God which worketh our workes in vs. These men vnderstand not that God the creator with so great wisedome worketh in all thinges that he moueth them not but in such maner as they ought to be moued Wherefore seing our will is so made of God that it caÌ not be compelled God driueth it not by force to do any thing vnwillingly The wil of man cannot be coÌpelled but of himselfe geueth vnto it to worke fréely and of his owne accord And therfore are we lordes of our owne actions in as much as we do nothing by compulsion Wherefore the Apostle hath now excluded both our endeuors and also our workes but yet not to that entent we should liue idely But because here is entreated of predestination and of the eternal election of God therefore these things We must not by reasoÌ of the doctrine of predestination geue our selues to liue ââelly are not to be farther dilated then the place it selfe will suffer After that we are once regenerate and that we haue the spirite of God all occasions of sluggishnes and slouthfulnes is vtterly taken away In the interpretacion of Ambrose this is to be noted that first he confesseth that that which is asked oughte not to be in the will of the asker but in the choyse of the geuer Which sentence if it might be taken playnly maketh very much on our side but he spake it in a farre other sence For straight way he addeth For whether it be mete to be geuen or no it ought to be weighed by the iudgement of the geuer Dauid and Saul required pardon but God iustly iudged which of them asked with a good mynde and which with an euill and his iustice may be declared in the euent For wheÌ eche of theÌ fell into great narrow straights touching their kingdome Dauid declared hys worthynes which beyng driuen out of his house by hys sonne with a patient mynde bare that chance neither suffred he Semey to be killed when he cursed hym But Saul beyng broken with aduersities dispayred of the Lord and sought helpe at the handes of a witche and wicked spirite These thinges declare that the iudgement of God was not deceaued So he thus vnderstandeth these wordes It is not of hym that willeth nor of him that runneth that it is not inough to will vnles the iudgement of God confirme that will to be good But this interpretacion is manifestly repugnant with that particle But of God that hath mercy For that which Paul referreth vnto the mercy of God this man referreth to iudgement Chrisostome although he thinketh that this clause It is not of hym that willeth nor of hym that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy to be an antithesis pronounced vnder the person of the aduersary yet because as I suppose he séeth that that agréeth not he so laboureth to interpretate this place otherwise that although they are counted to be the wordes of the Apostle yet therof he sayth followeth no absurdity for the Apostle ment to teache nothing els but that all is not of him that willeth nor of hym that runneth for we haue nede also of the grace of God and therefore we must not put any confidence in our workes and vertues But we haue alredy before sufficiently tought that this is an interpretacion not according to the place For they which retayne vnto themselues any thing and remitte not all whole to God although that seme to be but a litle and a modicum yet is it repugnant to the holy scriptures For they most playnly teach that as touching this matter there lieth nothing in our power And when Paul sayth that boasting is excluded not by the lawe of workes forasmuch as euen this modicum which these men seke to retayne can be nothing els but a worke they say in wordes onely and to no purpose that there is nothing whereof we can glory for in very dede they leue matter to glory of Of these things Chrisostome afterward speaketh when he interpretateth these wordes And if God minding to declare his wrath c. Wherefore it appeareth that both he and also others tooke occasion of their interpretacion of Origen For the scripture saith vnto Pharao For this same purpose haue I raysed thee vp to declare in thee my power and that my name mought be shewed forth throughout all the earth Wherfore he hath mercy on whome he will and whome he will he hardeneth Augustine to Simplicianus thus knitteth together these wordes with that which hath bene already spoken It behoued the Apostle to proue that it is not of man that willeth but of God that hath mercy Therefore he bringeth scripture which testifieth this thyng of Pharao namely that he was to thys ende stirred vp of God that he moughte in him shewe forth his power This conclusion is diuers from the former conclusion Farther he noteth that the conclusion here is diuers from the conclusion going before For he here saith not it is not of him that willeth nor of him that contemneth but of God reiecting as he before sayde It is not of hym that willeth nor of hym that runneth but of God that hath mercy Of this diuersity this I sée to be It coÌmeth of him that doth ill to be condemned but not of him that doth wel to be saued Why God reiecteth not in consideration of workes foresene Here men are more offended the reason for that euill workes deserue calamity and destruction but good works deserue not felicity Wherefore it may come of the euill man to be condemned but it can not come of hym that worketh well to be saued And yet ought we not therefore to thynke that God is by euyll workes foresene led that he will not haue mercye on any man for that dependeth onelye of hys mere wyll For as touchyng some those whom he hath decréed to electe are no lesse corrupt in hys syght then those whome he reiecteth But thys is worthy the noting that there is greater controuersie touching this part theÌ there was about yâ part which weÌt before For it is les displeasaÌt vnto meÌ iâ they be said to be predestinated and elected then if they be sayd to be hated and reiected of the mere will of God wtout all consideration of merites when as yet the consideration in ech is a like Of Pharao it is written in the 9 ⪠chapiter of Exodus To this ende haue I raysed thee vp to shew forth in
Gentiles And forasmuch as they which are called are both by the Prophet and also by the Apostle said not to be the people of God and to be strangers froÌ They which are called were before strangers from God Strangers from God can haue no good workes Against merite of congruitie A place of Ose mercy it playnly appeareth what our life and what our workes were before we were called to God Wherefore they are worthely to be reproued which affirme that men euen before iustification are after a sort iust and do by theyr workes deserue of congruity as they vse to speake to be iustified But as touching the prophecy of the Prophet that it may the better be vnderstanded I will as briefely as I can comprehende the whole summe thereof God would haue the Israelites admonished by Osea both of the greate wickednes of theyr idolatrye which they committed and also of the punishmentes whiche GOD would sende vppon them and to the ende they might the more thoroughly be persed he would not vse vnto them a simple kinde of speach but a wayghtye and figuratiue kinde of speach For God commaunded the Prophet to take to wife an harlot and to beget of her children of whoredome By that facte would God teach that he had ioyned vnto himselfe as a wife that nation of the Iewes when yet notwithstanding she was euen from the beginning an harlot For both the parentes of Abraham were idolatrers in Chaldea and also the elders of the Israelits had with most filthy supersticion serued in Egipt and yet did the Lord âouchsafe to take them and to count them for his Farther out of that sinagoge also were borne children geuen to fornication who beyond all measure worshipped idols Wherefore God decréed to auenge so great iniury which they had recompensed him with for so many and so great benefits And therfore God commaunded the first sonne of Osea to be named Izrehel which word signifieth the séede of God but with a farre other etimology or deriuation then that whereby yâ Iewes so greatly boasted that they were the séede of God For God in that place by the name of that sonne would signify that the Iewes should like sede sowen be dispersed and sowed abrode throughout the whole world For he had appointed to ouerthrow the kingdome of the ten tribes ouer whome Iehu was king And to the end God would the more declare the greatnes of his wrath he commaunded the daughter which was afterward borne to be named Lorachamah for that she had not obtayned mercy And the sonne that was last borne he willed to be called Loam that is not my people These names were signes that that people should be Names wâr signes of the euent to come reiected that so that they should no more be the people of God neither should they haue the fruition of the benefit of his mercy by which punishement the Iewes were vtterly made equall with the Gentils Wherefore when as the Prophet afterward promiseth that they shal be called the people of God and shal be partakers of his mercy there is nothing to let but that also yâ selfe same benefit mought be bestowed also vpon the Gentiles for they also at that tyme were not the people of God Neither left the Prophet vnspoken of whence this reconciliation should come namely hereof for that all they which should be called home agayne should take vpon them one name namely Christ Iesus the Messias and Sauior And this instauration began then to take place when the people were brought home againe from captiuity in which thing is to be considered not only the ciuill benefite of the bodies but much more that they were brought againe to restore the Church and to renew the worshipping of God wherby true piety might be nourished and encrease all which things are herein most of all performed in that many are dayly called vnto Christ Paul in this place ioyneth together two testimonies the one out of the first chapter of Osea the other out of the second and that A place of Ose which is put first is taken out of the second chapiter The words in Hebrew are thus Verachamahthi eth lorachamah veamarti loimmah Iemaa atha that is I will haue mercy on her which obteyned not mercy and I will say to it which was not my people thou art my people The other testimony out of the first chap. where it is thus writen Vehaiah bimcom aschar iaamarlahem lohimmi athem vehamar laheni Bene el chai that is And it shal be in the place where it was sayd vnto them ye are not my people there they shal be called the sonnes of the liuing God When as God calleth the people of Israell not his people he declareth what might be vpbrayded vnto them when they waxed insolent against the Gentles which were called vnto Christ for they said that they were strangers from God for the selfe same thing mought be replied against them For God himself by the Prophet so How these things may be applied to the Gentles pronounâeth of them Of this oracle the Apostle concludeth that it ought not to séeme a thing new or vnsemely that the Gentiles should pertaine to election and should be made pertakers of the mercy and vocation of God For that which séemed to be a let that it should so come to passe was as the Prophet testifieth common to the Iewes and to the Gentles And if a man diligently weigh the sence of these two places he shall sée ⪠which thing oftentimes happeneth in the Prophets that God setteth before their eyes the sinne wherewith the Israelites were infected namely idolatry after that he declareth the punishment which he would inflict vpon them but least they should begin to dispayre he addeth one only remedy namely our Sauior and Messias so long before waited for And this being thus declared and ordred straight way followeth that which the Apostle here teacheth that forasmuch as both the Iewes and the Gentles are in perdition and destruction out of ech people should rise vp the Church which is the body of the members of Christ For ech of them were like a farre of from saluation But it may séeme wonderfull how the Apostle calleth them not beloued which by conuersion are The scripture speaketh two maner of wayes of the predestinate draweÌ vnto Christ For if before they were called they pertayned vnto electioÌ how could they be called not beloued But this we ought to know yâ although the scripture speake sometymes accordyng to the determination of predestination and calleth them the sonnes of God which are not yet conuerted to God for so Iohn writeth that the sonnes which were dispersed might be gathered together in whiche place the Gentiles not yet regenerate are called the sonnes of God yet oftentymes it speaketh contrariwise of men according to their present estate as here we se the Apostle doth and as he doth to the Ephesians the second chapter where
willeth But that God should will sinnes is to be counted for most absurd and for a blasphemous doctrine They say moreouer that God can not iustly punish ⪠if we committe those thinges which he him selfe both willeth and worketh But this must we of necessity say if we affirme that not only our ends but also our meanes to the endes depend of the purpose of God To satisfye this doubt first let them remember that it can not be denied but that God after a sort willeth or as other some say permitteth sin But forasmuch as that is done without any coaction of our minde therefore no man when he sinneth can be excused For he willingly and of his owne accord committeth those sinnes for which he ought to be condemned and hath the true cause of theÌ in himselfe and therfore hath no nede to seke it in God Farther this is no good comparison which these men make betwene good workes and sinnes For God âo worketh in vs good workes that he ministreth vnto vs his grace and spirit whereby these workes are wrought for those are the groundes of good workes which groundes doubtles we haue not of our selues But sinnes he so gouerneth and after a sorte How God is said after a sort to wil sinne willeth that yet notwithstanding the groundes of them that is the fleshe and our corrupt and vitiate nature are not in God but in vs. Wherefore there is no nede that they should be powred into vs by some outward motion And God is sayd after a sorte to will sinnes eyther for that when he can he prohibiteth them not or for that by his wisedome he directeth then to certayne endes or for that he suffreth them not to burst forth but when and how and to what vses he him selfe will or finally for that by them he will punish other sinnes But these adde that God by no meanes willeth sinne For so it is written in Ezechiell As truly as I liue sayth the Lord I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be conuerted and liue But we answere that the Prophet in that place entreateth not of the mighty and hidden will of God and of his will of efficacy For God by that will worketh all thinges which he will both in heaueÌ and in earth But he entreateth of that will which they call the will of the signe For no man can by those signes and tokens which are expressed in the law gather that God The first aunswer willeth his death or condemnation For the lord commaunded hys lawe to be published vnto all men he hath vnto all men set forth those things which should be profitable and healthfull lastly he vpon all men indifferently powreth greate benefites Wherefore by this will which we call the will of the signe he willeth not the death of a sinner yea rather he prouoketh them to repentance But as touching the other will which they call the will of his good pleasure if by it he would that no man should perish then doubtles no man could perish and there is no will so peruerse as sayth Augustine which God if he wil caÌ not make good Wherefore according to this will he hath done all things whatsoeuer he would This is a redy and playne interpretation which if our aduersaries admit not but will nedes contend that the wordes of the Prophet are to be vnderstanded Another aunswer of the mighty will of God and of his wil of good pleasure theÌ will we answer yâ yâ sentence pertaineth not vniuersally vnto all sinners but only to those which repeÌt And those are yâ electe predestinated vnto whome God as according to his purpose he geueth faith and vocation so also geueth he repentaunce Wherefore which sense so euer they followe they shall neuer by those woordes conclude that God vtterly by no meanes willeth the death of sinners or willeth sinne But they obiect certaine wordes out of the first chapter of the booke of wisedome where it is written God reioyseth not in the destruction of the liuing But if say they he by anye manner of meanes willeth sinne or the punishment thereof he can not be said not to reioyce therein For he reioyseth doubtles in that which he will haue to be done First I aunswere that that booke is not in the Canon and therfore the authority thereof maye be refused But amitte that that booke were canonicall yet do those wordes make nothing against vs. For he whatsoeuer he was that was the author God doth not against his will punishe wicked actes of that booke ment nothing els but to remoue from God that prauitye of nature whereby wicked men take pleasure in euil things And yet was not his meaning that God punisheth wicked factes against his wil. For otherwise whatsoeuer that author vnder the name of Salomon was he should be against the true Salomon For he in his Prouerbes vnder the person of wisedome thus writeth of the vngodly and of the vnbeleuers I also will laugh in your destruction In which wordes is declared that God with a laughing that is with a chiereful minde administreth iustice As touching the wordes of Ecclesiasticus which are writen in the. 15. chapter That no man ought to say of God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is he hath deceaued me How it is to be vnderstanded that God deceiueth no maÌ in which place the lattine translation hath Me implanauit Vnles we will haue that place to be manifestly repugnant with many other places of the scripture in which God is sayd to haue deceaued the people by false prophets and to haue commaunded that Achab the king should be deceaued and to haue made blind the hart of the people that they shoulde not sée we must néedes after this manner expounde those wordes That no man ought to lay the fault in God as though he woulde excuse himselfe Achab though he was deceaued yet he moste iustly deserued to be They whiche are deceiued are iustly deceiued deceaued for that he contemned the true oracles of God and delighted himselfe in false Prophets The infidelity also and impiety of the people of Israell caused the vengeance of God and execution to come vpon them so that when they were deceaued they could by no meanes be excused Our aduersaries also séeme somewhat to be offeÌded for that we affirme that men haue in themselues the cause of sinnes that is a corrupte and viciate nature For in the first chapter of the booke of wisedome the generations of the world are sayde to be good and not to haue in them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is a medicine of destruction This is true indéede so that it be vnderstanded of the first constitution of thinges and chieflye of the creation of Our nature as it was instituted of God wanted corruption man which was created of God in a good estate But afterward thorow his fall he spilt both himselfe and his posterity
men are drawen vnto the father Verely if a man consider yâ course of the text he shal see yâ this sence caÌnot stand After yâ he had made mâncioÌ of the eating of his flesh of the drinking of his bloud yâ Iewes were by reasoÌ therof offended the disciples went their way Vpon occasion wherof Christ said No man coÌmeth vnto me vnles my father shall draw him which he ought in no case to haue said if he had ment only to reproue theÌ of infidelity He should not doubtles haue made mencion of yâ father as though he drew them not if he do bestow this gift vpon all men And Augustine when he interpretateth this place saith Why he draweth this man and draweth not that man do not thou iudge if thou wilt not erre In which words he declareth that all men are not drawen of God And in the selfe same chapter it is written Euery one that my father geueth vnto me shall come vnto me Wherfore if all men were drawen they should all come vnto Christ And in the same place it is written Euery one which hath heard of my father and hath learned commeth vnto me Wherfore seing that many come not vnto Christ therby is declared that many neither haue heard nor learned And in the 10. chapiter when Christ had sayd that he is the shepherd and hath his shepe amongst other thinges he sayth Those whome the father hath geuen vnto me no man can take out of my handes But we sée that many fall away from saluation and therefore we ought to thinke that many are not geuen of the father vnto Christ But here also the aduersaries cauille that although no man can take them away yet notwithstanding men of their owne accord may depart A cauillatio away As if a man had seruaunts being himselfe a Lord of great might he mought doubtles say no man can take away these seruants froÌ me but they may of their A similitude owne accord depart from me But how vayne this their cauillation is the words which follow declare For Christ addeth That which the father hath geuen vnto me is greater then all By which words he declared that therefore those whome he had receaued of the father could not be taken away from him for that he is most mighty wherefore if they which are in Christ can not be taken away by others neither also are they able to withdraw themselues not that they are compelled by force but by the way of perswasioÌ it is of necessity that they abide Which self It is of necessity that the predestinate do abide thing the Lord also spake touching the temptacion of the latter times namely that the elect should be deceaued if it were possible In the selfe same 6. chapiter of Iohn Christ sayd That no man commeth vnto him but he vnto whome it is geuen of the father Which place hath one and the selfe seme sence with that other sentence wherin he said No man commeth vnto me vnles my father shall draw him And Iohn Baptist as it is written in the 3. chapiter of Iohn when he heard of his disciples that Christ baptised many answered that no man can receaue any thing vnles it be geuen him from heauen And in the selfe same chapiter The spirite bloweth where it will which thing although it be spoken of the winde yet notwithstanding is it applied vnto the holy ghost which regenerateth For to declare the force of the holy ghost the similitude is taken of the nature of the winde But The reueling of Christ is not commoÌ vnto al meÌ this is more manifestly set forth in Mathew when it is said No man knoweth the father but the sonne and he vnto whome he will reuele hym In which place we are tought that the reueling of Christ is not geuen vnto all men which thing Christ in the selfe same Euangelist declared when turning him vnto the father he said I geue thee thankes o king of heauen and of earth for that thou hast hidden these thinges from the wise and prudent men and hast reueled them to infantes Here also is declared that the reuealing of true doctrine is not common vnto all men But if thou wilt say that therefore it is not reuealed vnto the wyse men A cauillation for that they wyll not receaue it The woordes whiche followe doo not render thys cause but rather declare that the wyll of God hath so decreed For it followeth For so hath it pleased thee And agayne when the Apostles enquired why he spake in Parables vnto the people he aunswered Vnto you it is geuen to knowe mysteryes but vnto them it is not geuen and he sayde that he so spake vnto them that they seeing shoulde not see and hearinge shoulde not vnderstand And he cited a prophesie out of the sixte chapter of Esay wherein was commaunded that the people should be made blind and that theyr hart should be made grosse lest peradueÌture they should be conuerted God should heale theÌ Moreouer the apostle citeth out of yâ boke of Exodus God thus speaking I wil haue mercy on whoÌ I wil haue mercy and wil shew compassion on whoÌ I wil shew coÌpassion Also yâ which is written of Pharao To this ende haue I raysed thee vp that I mighte shewe in thee my power And he saith also that some vessels are made to honor and some to contumely Which wordes most euidently declare that grace is not set forth common vnto all men Peter also in the Actes of the Apostles sayd vnto Simon the sorcerer Repent if peraduenture God forgeue vnto thee this thought But they saye that in this place Peter doubted not but that grace is common vnto all men but he was vncertaine whether Simon would receiue it and earnestly repent But this subtle shifte nothing helpeth them for as the Apostle teacheth vs vnto Timothe euen repentaunce RepentaÌce is the gift of God also is the gifte of God For he admonisheth a Bishop to kepe fast sound doctrine and to reproue them that resist If peraduenture God geue vnto theÌ to repent Whereby is concluded that it lieth not in the handes of all men to returne into the right way vnles it be geuen them of God Moreouer some sinne againste the holy ghost who are not pardoned neither in this world nor in the world to come Wherefore it is manifeste that vnto these men grace is no longer set foorth nor common And in the Actes of the Apostles God is saide to haue opened the harte of the womaÌ that solde silkes to geue héede to those thinges which Paul spake which is spoken as a certaine thing peculiarly geuen vnto that woman And this place maketh that plaine which is written in the Apocalips Behold I stand at the doore and knocke if any man open vnto me c. For we are sayd to opeÌ in as much as God worketh that in vs for he maketh vs to open and it is
noted as a vice and that daungerous And as the difference is greate betwene a good and an euill zeale so also the effectes which are of other deriued are much diuers Christ was kindled with a good zele when he draue Effectes of good â euill zeale the biers and sellers out of the temple ouerthrowinge theyr tables and chayres With the selfe same zeale was Phinees moued when he thruste thorow the moste filthy whoremongers Contrariwise the effect of an euill zeale we may beholde in Paul who through zeale persecuted yâ church of Christ And in Iohn it is writen yâ yâ the time should be when they shoulde thinke yâ they do God highe seruice which afflict the faithful of Christ Peter also being kindled with an immoderate zeale drue out his sword to kill them which laid hands vpon Christe There is also an other difference For an euill zeale engendreth hatred but a good zeale hath ioyned with it charity For Samuell although with a great zeale he worshipped ⪠God yet a long time he mourned for Saul And nothing is more repugnante vnto euill zeale then charity as vnto a good zeale is chiefly repugnant selfe loue They also are of a contrary affect which are either so blockishe that they are stirred vp with no desire of good thinges or els are so corrupt that they are not afeard to boast of wicked and villanous factes These thinges generally spoken we will now applye vnto the An euill zele of the Iewes Iewes They had a zeale towardes the lawe ceremonies and outward workes for that they excéedingly loued and had in admiration and onelye embraced these thinges wherfore it wonderfully gréeued them to be excluded from them neither could they abide that the Ethnikes shoulde be admitted into the fellowship of true religion Wherfore they were affected with a zeale but yet with an euil zeale for that as Paul saith it wanted knowledge But forasmuche as Paul séemeth to be moued with a desire and good wil towards the Iewes by reason of this zeale there ariseth a question whether anye sinnes may so please vs that of them we shoulde Whether iâ be lawful to take pleasure of sins A distinctioÌ of sinnes take pleasure or that therfore should be engendred any good will We must put a difference betweene sinnes for there are certayne sinnes enormious and grosse which all men vnderstand to be sinnes and there are other sinnes which although they be condemned before God and are in very déede sinnes for that they are committed of men not regenerate who are as yet euill trées neither directe they their workes vnto God as they ought to do yet are they morally good Wherefore if we meane of grosse sinnes and speake of sinnes as they are of theyr owne nature properly and truely then none that is godly will delight in this kind of sinne For if a man loue God with all his hart of necessity he wil abstaine from al sinnes which are manifestly repugnant vnto the will of God and vnto his law but per accideÌs that is by chaunce it is possible that some pleasure may bee taken in them as if we be now deliuered the more greater the wicked actes are whiche we haue coÌmitted the more shal we therfore reioyce And if a man haue ben before proud and arrogant after some fal being repeÌtant do behaue himself more modestly he wil somwhat reioyce by reason of his sinne Which thing also happeneth if after faultes comitted be made good lawes and an order appointed that such faults be not afterward committed For we reioyce that such an occasion was offred And because that as Paul saith where sinne hath abounded grace also shall abound and vnto We reioyce in sinnes ãâã accidens them that loue God all thinges worke to good we will graunt that by a phrase of speach although not proper but per accidens the godly may somtimes take some pleasure of sinnes But if we speake of moral works which are done of them that Good moral workes delight vs althoughe they be sinnes are not regenerate if we consider them simply we can not but reioyce in them For euen as it is a pleasure and that no small pleasure to consider the natures of herbes the proprieties of liuing creatures of precious stones and of the starres so also is it a delight to sée the actes of notable men which actes God would haue to be in the nature of man for the preseruation of common wealthes and of ciuil discipline Who taketh not pleasure when he readeth the honest life and vertuous actes of Socrates Or when he weigheth with himselfe the notable actes done by Scipio Africanus and also when he séeth the things which are in our time done of notable men when yet they are voyde of Christian religion Yea forasmuch as they haue a certaine shew and countenaunce of sounde vertues the godly so much delight in them that they are not seldome moued ernestly to pray for the saluation of those meÌ thus thinking with themselues If God would vouchsafe to change these men and to draw them vnto Christ they should be a great ornament and A similitude help vnto the Church neither do they easely dispayre of theyr saluation As a skilfull husbandman if paraduenture he sée a ground very ranke with brakes and wedes desireth to buy the same for he thus thinketh That if the noughty herbes were weded out and the brakes with a plowe rooted out that grounde woulde plentifullye bring forthe good corne And so also will he doo if he sée wilde vine trées or wild oliue tréees of their owne accord spring in any place for he will thereby iudge the ground to be méeke both for vine trées and for fat oliue trées if it should be well husbanded Christ also our Sauior when a young man had asked him counsell what he should do to attaine vnto eternall life and he had answered kepe the commaundements and the young man made answere that he had thereunto endeuored himselfe euen from his youth which yet was not true Iesus notwithstanding delighted in that his endeuour such as it was of enquiring touching saluation and of obeying the commaundements of God as much as lay in him For this is the meaning of that which Marke writeth in the 10. chapiter that Christ loued him namely being moued with mercy by reason of his present calamity for that he labouring and going about to attayne vnto the righteousnes of works fell away from it And the Lord also when he had made answere that the greatest commaundement is that we should loue God with all our hart with all our soule and with all our strenthes and that the next commaundement is that we should loue our neighbour as our selues and a certaine scribe had commended this answere of the Lord he sayd vnto him Thou art not farre from the kingdome of heauen although he yet beleued not neither was yet by Christ iustified But the Lord
in this place saith when he writeth And they shall say vnto Sion Thy God raigneth Hetherto hath sinne raigned Wherfore Paul in this Epistle said Let not sin raigne in your mortall body Death also hath raigned For the same Apostle Death hath raigned from Adam euen vnto Moses The Deuill also hath raigned whom the Lord calleth the Prince of this world and Paul the gouernour of this worlde and the God of this worlde All these thinges haue hitherto miserably exercised their What maner of princes the Hebrues had tyranny ouer vs But nowe the Lorde raigneth For as touching outwarde kingdomes the Iewes indéede had many iudges and many kings few good some tollerable but a greate many moste wicked tyrannes And they whiche were good as Dauid Ezechias Iosias and suche like were yet notwithstanding weake neyther coulde they eyther defende the people from calamities or make them good Wherefore the Iewes were oftentimes oppressed of theyr enemies led away into captiuitye and being therout deliuered were in reste for a while But after Alexander the greate came the Macedonians and most grieuously afflicted Iewry After theÌ came Pompeius Crassus Herode and last of all Vespasianus and Titus whych vtterly ouerthrew all The church also of Christ had hys outward Princes partly wicked and partly good as touching ciuill righteousnes but yet very Then shall we bee in good estate wheÌ Christ raigneth in vs. Wherein coÌsisteth the kingdom of God weake Wherefore our estate can neuer be in good case vnlesse Christ raygne in vs. Thys as Daniel sayth in hys seconde chapter is the kingdome of heauen which is neuer corrupted in it is peace not during for a time but an euerlasting peace For in the Psalme it is sayd In his dayes shall aryse righteousnes and aboundance of peace vntill the moone be taken away And in Esay And of his peace there shall be no ende But herein consisteth hys kingdome that we be directed by the word and spirite of God After these two maners Christ raygneth in vs. The woord sheweth what is to be beleued and what is to be done The spirit impelleth and moueth vs to doo these thinges Thys is the euerlasting kyngdome of God whereunto when he wil adioyne any people or any nation he visiteth them by hys ambassadours whych are Preachers of the Gospell and them wyll hee haue to be receaued cherefully yea he sayth He which receaueth you receaueth âe and he which despiseth you despiseth me We haue now the iudgemeÌt of God âouchyng Ministers wherewith the beleuers ought very mutch to comfort themselues although the world iudge otherwyse and count them for mad men and ãâ¦ã castes and estéeme them as paringes and chips so long as there is a world thây shall be so iudged of But for as much as the iudgement of the world is foo ãâ¦ã and vnderstandeth not the thinges that pertayne vnto God therefore we ãâ¦ã st not leane vnto it but rather embrace the most firme and most pleasant sen ãâ¦ã ce of God Nahum the Prophet in hys fyrst chapter hath the lyke saying of ãâ¦ã beutifull féete of such as preach the Gospell so that that whych was foretolde of Esay he also foresawe shoulde come to passe But at Rome in our dayes men At Rome they fall downe to kisse the fete of the Pope drawen by thys testimony of the Prophet doo fall downe and kisse the féete of the Pope as though he preached the Gospell going about the whole worlde preachyng peace when as rather he is a sworne enemy of the Gospell and maketh open warre agaynst the true doctrine thereof neyther at anye tyme ceaseth to disturbe peace betwene Christian Princes The Pope as a sworne enemy of the Gospell not a preacher therof But all obeye not the Gospell For Esay sayth lorde who hath beleued our hearing vnto whom is the arme of the lord reuealed Then faith is by hearing and hearing by the word of God But all obey not the Gospell This séemed to bee agaynst that so great dignitye of the Apostles whych hath now bene proued both by the authoritye of God which sent them and also by theyr ambassadge that very fewe and especially Of preaching doth not always follow the faith of the hearers of the Iewes beleued which came to passe by no other meanes but for that outward preachyng is not alwayes of necessity ioyned wyth the fayth of the hearers For it is possible that for as much as the power of God is not bound vnto instruments a man may beleue wythout a Preacher and on the other syde a man may heare preaching yet not haue fayth As in thys selfe same epistle he ioyned foreknowledge together wyth predestination although manye are foreknowen of God which yet are not predestinated vnto eternall life he ioyned vocation also together wyth iustification although verye manye are called whych yet are not iustified The Apostle in thys place describeth fayth by the name of obedience and that not wythout iust cause for in it is contayned obedience twoo maner Faith is iustly called obedience of wayes For fyrst it is necessary that the minde or humaine reason do geue place vnto the reuelation of God simply consenting thereunto whych thing pertayneth to a redy obedience for otherwise there are many thinges which let and after a sort call vs an other way There is also an other obedience for they which truly beleue endeuor themselues to obey the commaundementes of God whiche thing before they neither did nor could do The Apostle vsed this selfe same phrase in the first chapter of this epistle By whome we haue receaued grace and Apostleship to be obedient vnto fayth In the Actes of the Apostles also it is declared that many of the priestes were obedient vnto faith and in this sence is faith somtimes Why faith is called a law called a law not for that it bringeth with it blessing or cursing but because that it likewise as the law doth requireth obedience howbeit diuerse For the law requireth obedience euen of them that will not and yet in the meane tyme doth it not geue strenthes to performe it but faith forasmuch as it most fully persuadeth piety stirreth vs vp to liue according to the profession thereof And for that thys doubt touching the fewnes of the beleuers chiefely moued the Iewes therefore to quiet their mindes he bringeth a testimony of Esay whose doctrine they durst not reiect whereby they mought vnderstand that God had long tyme before prouided for this skarsity of the beleuers For Esay sayth who hath beleued our hearing The Prophet before those wordes brought in God the father which commaunded that his sonne should be preached and that his reproches which he should suffer for the saluation of mankind should be tolde abroade vnto whome the company of the Prophetes aunswered who hath beleued our hearing And to whome is the arme of the Lord reuealed As if they should say we indéede haue
of the celestiall motions to confirme and amplify the law of nature And their words into the endes of the world The latter part of this sentence repeateth the sense of the firste and more fully expresseth it and with amplification Howbeit Origen here reasoneth that this word sound in the firste parte is to be referred to the capacity of the rude and vnlearned sort But words are to be referred to the knowledge of the wise and stronger sorte But this curiositye of words is vaine nether can it by any good reason be proued But as touching Pauls meaning some thinke that it is an allegory And an allegory is where the words are not transferred from their proper signification but sounde one thinge and couertly shew forth an other thing as wheÌ it is said That perles are not to be geueÌ vnto swyne Here euery word kéepeth stil his proper signification in them is tought that the precious doctrine of God ought not to be setforth vnto impudent and obstinate men So Dauid saith that the heauens declare the glory of God but he vnderstood an other thing namely yâ the Apostles and Prophets go about throughout yâ who le world preaching and setting forth the prayses of our most excellent creator This interpretacion Augustine and manye of the Fathers haue followed But some say if it be so Paul then shall not confute the Iewes forasmuch as of an allegory What maner of argument is gathered our of allegoâes is brought but a weake argument But we aunswere that an allegory is then profitable when the matter is before proued by other firme testimonies whiche thing Paul hath alredy done First he shewed that God had sent forth messengers which preached the Gospell Wherfore the Iewes coulde not cauel that they had not heard the Gospel Further he againe proued the same by Moses and Esay the Prophet wherfore if by the way he brought an argument taken of an allegory it is not to be reproued Moreouer we must make a distinctioÌ of allegories some are deuised by men and those haue in theÌ no weight at all but those which haue bene by the holy ghost reuealed in the holy scriptures are moste firme As that whiche Christ saide of Ionas and of the serpente lifted vp in the deserte and that whiche is written to the Galathians of the sonne of the boundmaide and of the sonne of the frée woman that they are two testaments We may also saye that Paul cited not the words of Dauid as a testimony to proue any thinge but rather alluded to hys wordes in replying against the Iewes which made their excuse that they had not heard them that preached the Gospel when as the sound of theÌ went out throughout all the earth not as though Dauid spake of them but because his wordes are agreable with the thinge whereof is nowe entreated as some sometimes vse the wordes of Homere or of Virgill to discribe thinges which they neuer entreated of And we may easly thinke so for that Paul when in reasoninge he citeth the holye scriptures is wont to adde As it is written or Esay or the scripture so saith whiche is here omitted And if we will not that it be an allusion let it be a metaphore which draweth the wordes to a like signification without adding the note of similitude Of Bees Virgill sayde that they make themselues a king and other little pety rulers signifieng thereby that theyr ofspring are partly of the common sorte and partly of the honorable sorte As if he shoulde haue said adding a note of similitude Their ofspringes are as kinges or as counsellers So Christ sayde Ye are the salt of the earth that is as the salte of the earth the light of the world And of Iohn we reade He is Helias that is as it were Helias So Paul now to amplifie the publishing abroade of the Gospell saith How haue they not hearde the preachers of God which are the heauens that is like the heauens Whose sounde is heard throughout the whole earth and theyr words into the ends of the world And so it shall neyther be an allegory nor an allusion but a metaphore And finallye if we will néedes haue this argument to be taken out of Dauid we must thus say God as sayth the Psalme would that his naturall knowledge should by the celestiall creatures be published abrode throughout the whole world wherefore he hath in like sorte prouided that the Gospel shoulde be euery where published abroade how then can ye say that ye haue not heard And the reason then shal be taken a pari that is of yâ like for ether doctrine is profitable and as God would haue that to be publikely set foorth so also would he not this to lye hidden Or els it is taken a minori that is of the lesse If this naturall knowledge being of les value and not so profitable be published abroad shall not the other which is of the Gospell being much more healthfull and of much more profite not be published abroade And doubtles there are very many places in the scriptures whereby may be proued that the doctrine of the Gospell should be publyshed abroad thoroughout the whole worlde As in Esay 24. 59. chapters and in Malachy and in a manner euerye where in the Prophets And if the Gospell were published abroade throughout the whole worlde then coulde not the Iewes cauel that they had not heard of it especially when as preaching began at them according to that saying Out of Sion shal go the law the word of the Lord out of Ierusalem Neither did the Apostles turne vnto the Gentiles but when they now saw the obstinacye of the vnbeleuinge Iewes For then they wente vnto the Gentiles which yet before also had ministers of the word of God althoughe not so aboundantly and by ordinary succession as the Iewes had Amongst the Gentils liued Melchizedech Balam Iob and the Sibilles whose testimonies touchinge The Gentles had some ministers although not by ordinary succession Christe are recited of old writers Ioseph liued in Egipt Ionas was sente vnto the Niniuites Daniell and his companions preached in Babilon Nehemias and Esdras liued amongst the Persians all which meÌ kindled some light of true piety amoÌgst the Gentiles But at the length was the doctrine by the Apostles made complete The Iewes are confuted by an argument taken a minori that is of the lesse If the Gentiles being farre of and in the endes of the world haue heard how haue ye Iewes not heard And this maner of exposition foloweth Chrisostome Neither is it any meruaile that Paul now writeth that the Gospell is euery where published abroade for he writeth the selfe same thing vnto the Collossians in the first chapiter and that twise First he saith In the truth of the Gospell which being preached thoroughout the whole world bringeth forth fruite And towardes the ende of the same chapiter he saith The Gospell which is preached
that so fewe of the Iewes shoulde receaue Christ and his Gospell But euen as at that time many were preserued from idolatry by the goodnes of God so now also by his grace manye are deliuered from incredulity and many more shal be deliuered towardes the end of the worlde This history is written in the first booke of kinges the. 19. chapter Although the history of Helias actes begin in the. 17. chapter There Helias foretolde vnto Achab that An history of Helias because of idolatry and impiety which was dayly encreased heauen should be shut vp When he had declared this great euill to come he departed and God hid him by the brooke Cherith For Achab went about to séeke him to the end to kil him A rauen euery day by his ministery fed him whereby was declared that the seruantes of God when néede is haue all thinges to do them seruice yea euen those creatures whiche otherwise seme vtterlye vnprofitable The brooke was dried vp by reason of want of rayne God coulde haue filled it with water againe that the Prophet mought thereout haue dronke but he woulde not yea rather God sente him to Sarepta to succor a faythfull and godlye widow and her sonne who as the Hebrues thinke was Ionas After thrée yeares he was commaunded to returne to the kingdome of Israell and to geue raine But he thought that fertility could not conueniently be restored againe vnles he should first purge the land of idolatrers He therfore coÌmaunded that the Prophets should be gathered together in mount Carmell where they coulde not obteine of theyr God fire from heauen for their sacrifice Which thing Helias by a wonderfull great miracle obteyned Whiche acte forasmuch as it coulde not but be allowed of all men caused him to take the Prophets and to slay them at the broke Cison and after the iust execution of this death he obtayned of God greate aboundance of raine Neither is he to be condemned as a murtherer in that he slew so many Prophets For they by reason of theyr idolatry were iustly according to the law of God guilty of death And forasmuch as the ordinary power ceassed it was lawful for the Prophet to punishe them when as God had committed vnto him an extraordinarye power Iesabell that wicked woman as soone as she heard of these thinges sware that she would the nexte day kill Helias by occasion whereof he fled and being wery in his iorney and considering with himselfe the vngodlines which at that time raigned he was wery of his life and desired of God to die And the Aungell was present with him and set by him breade baked on the coales and water and twise bad him to eate and from thence he came to mounte Horeb and lodged in a caue waytynge to talke wyth God And being demauÌded what he did he answered this which Paul now citeth And streight way was stirred vp a strong mighty wind and in the wind was heard a voyce yâ the lord was not in the wind after yâ wind came a mighty earthquake after the earthquake a vehement fire but God was neyther in the earthquake nor in the fire after that followeth a soft thinne breath as it were an hissinge there was the lord who asked Helias what he did And he answered I am very Rabbi Leui A place of the booke of kinges declared zelous for God bycause the children of Israell haue foresaken the couenaunt and slayne the prophets cast downe the alters and now also they seke my life What these thinges ment I will briefely declare according to the enterpretacion of Rabby Leuy the sonne of Gerischon the wind the earthquake and the fire represented the zeale and vehement affect of Helias who would haue had God streight way to be angry to auenge and to destroy the wicked there was not the Lord for he had not decreed so to deale but would gently and by litle and litle correct punish them moderatly I say by leasure in continuance of theÌ therfore the Lord was in the soft and thin breath and noyce wherfore when he had heard Helias complaynt he sayd I wil doubtles punish them wheÌ I se time not after thy pleasure but as I shall thinke good Anoynt Azaell to be king ouer Siria he when the time commeth shal be the minister of my vengeance Anoint also Iehu to be king of Samaria and he shall punish the Baalites Anoynt also Helizeus to be prophet in thy place for he also shal correct the wicked sinnes of yâ The godly thorough to much zeale expostulate with God people But whereas thou thinkest that thou alone art left it is not true for I haue reserued vnto me seuen thousand men which haue not bowed theyr knees before Baal So oftentimes commeth it to passe with the godly yâ thorough to much zeale they expostulate with God for the good successe of the wicked as though he should seme to neglect his owne cause The same thing also happeneth vnto vs in our dayes for we thinke that we alone are left when as all Itally France and Spayne are bondsclaues to supersticions and to Antichrist But it is not so indede The Church is not cut of although it be oppressed with great tiranny and in those places are many thousandes of good men which in theyr oppressions and anguishes most chastly kepe theyr fayth vnto God Seuen thousand is not here to be taken for a certayne and definite nomber but for a very greate nomber The multitude of them that shal be saued is not to be measured by the capacity of our vnderstanding and by the discretioÌ of mans iudgement God alwayes preserueth vnto himselfe many both in the Papacy and vnder the Turke and in Counselles whome we know not but vnto him vnto whome it belongeth they are perfectly knowen The expostulatioÌ of good men with God The expostulation of men with God is of two sortes may come two maner of wayes eyther that they are only sory and complayne vnto him of sinnes of impiety idolatry and such like wickednes and expresse vnto him what a griefe it is vnto them to se such thinges and this acte is godly and laudable and vsed in the prophetes and in the Psalmes Sometimes it is done as though they would accuse God of negligence as which looketh not to his owne cause and they will prescribe vnto him a way as though if they were in his rome they would handle the matter a greate deale better which without doubt is sinne and that no light sinne The thinges which happened at that time were very like vnto those things which Paul had experience of in his tyme. For all the whole kingdome of the ten tribes had gone astray and in the kingdome of Iuda there remayned very few which were desirous and zelous of true piety as in the first times of the Apostles all in a maner mought seme to haue bene strange from Christ Helias without doubt desired to dye and
euen so are oftentimes found many such ministers which by reason of the greate burthen of theyr vocation and bycause of the maliciousnes and incredulity of the people desire to forsake theyr ministeries hauing the selfe same infirmity where with this our Prophet semeth to haue bene after a sorte ouercome when he desired to dye But let ministers this know that they must abide in theyr vocation Ministers ought not to forsake their vocation so long as the strengths of the body will suffer them and that they be not thrust out by force For the men and people committed to theyr charge ought neuer to be forsaken so long as they can abide to heare the word of God And if they be all together contemners of the word of the lord and will not suffer it to be preached then as Christ commaunded his Apostles let them shake of agaynst them the dust of theyr feete and depart But so long as there are any amongest them which will suffer the pastor to preach and to entreate of the word of God he ought not to geue ouer his ministery Wherefore I know not whither Melitius did well or no of whome Theodoritus maketh meÌcion in his 2. booke and 31. chap. An history of Melitius that he foresooke the bishopricke of a certayne Church in Armenia being offended with the ouer greate dissobedience of his flocke But the same man afterward being chosen bishoppe of Antioche was for defending the catholike fayth agaynst the Arrians thrust into exile In which fact God paradueÌture declared that he was not well pleased that he had departed from his first vocation By the example of this Prophete we may know how many troubles ministers haue to passe through in gouerning the Church and âhose no small or common Ministers haue a greâ many troubles to passe thorow troubles but such as in comparison of the which death is rather to be chosen With how greate a griefe and zeale doo we thinke Christ sayd O vnbeleuing nation how long shall I suffer you VVhich haue not bowed the knees to Baall ⪠⪠In Hebrue is added and haue not kissed him Although the nature of idolatry be placed in the mind yet by these signes it sheweth forth it selfe outwardly The wicked bowed theyr knees to idols and kissed them And here are manifestly reproued yâ Nicodemites of our Against the Nicodemites time For the Lord sayth that those whome he had reserued vnto him selfe dyd not these thinges how then should they thinke it to be lawfull for them in time of persecution Baall is deriued of this Hebrew word Baall signifieth to beare dominion and to be an husbande For they chose these made Gods to be theyr What Baal signifieth how that word agreeth with idols Lordes patrones as our men had their peculiar saintes to be their defenders whome they worshipped Nether is the name of an husband vnapt for idolatry for in stede of the true God which is the only husband of the Churche they broughte in other Gods as husbandes Wherefore the Prophetes called idolatry by the name of fornication whoredome and adultery which yet the vngodly as I suppose sought to adorne with the title of matrimonye God was angry with this heynous wicked crime that not without iuste cause for they went about to parte and to deuide amongest many Gods that worshippinge which was dew vnto one God only and that which they gaue vnto theyr owne imaginations was taken away from the true God And there could nothing haue bene deuised more contrary to the first and greatest commaundement wherein we are commaunded to loue God with all our hart with all our soule and with all our strengths And so much God detested this worshipping of Baall that in Osea the prophet in the 2. chapiter he sayd Thou shalt cal me Ishi that is my man and not Baalâ that is my husband For although God were the husband of the Church yet would he not so be called of it lest he should by any maner of meanes to communicate in name with idoles Wherefore I haue oftentimes meruayled how the Christians in the old time when the Churche first began suffred the names of the dayes as Dies Solis which we call Sonday Dies Lune called Monday Dies Martis called tewsday Dies Mercurij called wedensday Dies Iouis called thursday Dies veneris called friday and Dies Saturni called saterday to take place would also by the selfe same names name the planets Verely forasmuch as these names were at that time the names of idoles it had bene better to haue abolished them and it was more dangerous at that tyme theÌ it is now For there are now none left which worshippe such idoles as they ãâã still did although I se that in the Church many vsed to say prima secunda âercia quarta feria that is as it were the first second third or fourth day of the weake as the Iewes vse to say the first second or third day of the sabaoth And in like sorte may it seme wonderfull touching the monthes as Ianuary Marche and suche like in stede of whiche the godlye named them accordinge to the order of nombers Helias maketh intercession against Israell It may seme that the disposition of Prophetes ought rather to be enclined to mercy Samuell being offended with the Israelites sayd far be it from me that I should cease to pray for you How theÌ doth Helias now make intercession against Israell Some say that this was only How Helias prayed against Israell a complaint made in familiar talke before God but Paul saith manifestly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is against Israell And his vision touching the wynd earthquake and fire declareth that he being moued with a great zeale desired that God woulde auenge the wickednes of the Israelites Wherefore Paul rightly interpreted his It is lawfull for the faintes to pray against the wicked prayers that they were made against Israell But this ought not to be counted a fault in the Prophetes in the godly when as they inueigh not against the men but against vices and sinnes them would they haue destroyed them woulde they haue punished and forasmuch as those sinnes can not be seperated from meÌ therefore their prayers describe them in such sort as they are namely with men Moreouer oftentimes it is to be sene that they frame themselues vnto the will of God which by the impulsion of the spirite they know and do to the vttermost of their power allowe and therefore as they know any to be punished they seme in their prayers to pray that way euen agaynst them And the things which they séeme oftentimes in their prayers to speake they to this end only speake them to foretell vnto them of their time things which they knew should afterward come to passe Lord saith he they haue transgressed thy couenannt and haue slayne thy Prophetes so great an enemy was Iezabell vnto
piety and vnto the true worshipping of God yâ she sought vtterly to destroy all the Prophetes Whose fury yet the piety of Abdias at that time resisted and hid an hundreth Prophets in caues fifty in one caue and fifty in an other They seeke saith he my lyfe For at what time he fled Iesabell had threatoned to kill him the next day I haue reserued vnto my selfe When God thus maketh answer he manifestly declareth that others which had bowed their knées vnto Baal had kissed him pertayned not vnto him And in that he saith I haue reserued vnto my selfe he declareth that that was his gift that these men also went not astraye Neither All whole is of God sayth he yâ his helpe was the chiefest part of their staying from idolatry but plainly saith I haue reserued them vnto my selfe Hereof Paul concludeth that not all the people of the Iewes are reiected neither yet are all chosen And in that example which he bringeth when he so plainly and largely handleth it he most sharply accuseth the Iewes For by the doings of their elders he declareth what maners ones they also presently were For if they had said we crucified Christ as a deceauer and we persecute his Apostles as seducers What did your fathers saith he vnto Helias What did they to the Prophetes This place declareth in what sort the Iewes alwayes behaued themselues against the messengers of God The accusation as saith Chrisostome is after a sort transferred is as if he should haue said Now Paul accuseth you not nor Peter nor Iames nor Iohn but Helias who shut vp heauen whom the rauen fed who slew the Balites and obtayned fire from heauen with whom the Lord as ye haue heard spake so familiarly They haue cut downe thine alters These were the high places in which High places the Father 's Abraham Isaacke and Iacob in the old time offred sacrifices their alters erected in the name of the Lord were yet remayning and it was lawfull to sacrifice on them vntill the temple was built But the Israelites namely the ten tribes were such enemies vnto the name of God that they could not abide so much as his alters to remayne for they would haue no sacrifices done but vnto their golden calues or to Baall and to other idols and could not abide that any monuments of the true God should be left remaining But as touching alters Alters ought ãâã to ââ vsed in this time ⪠they haue no place in the tyme of the Gospell For forasmuch as the only sacrifice of our saluation is accomplished by the death of Christ Iesus our sauior vpon the alter of the crosse and the oblations of sacrifices are vtterly taken away therefore alters also haue ceassed But we erect a table in the congregacion of the faithfull vpon which we celebrate the supper of the Lord. And now at the length to make an end of this place I thought it good to admonish that we in examining of the scriptures vse the like diligence that Paul did for vnles he had with great attentiuenes red these thinges he coulde not with such dexterity haue entreated of them Euen so at this present tyme is there a remnaunt according to the election of grace And if thorough grace then not of works Or els were grace now no more grace But if it be of workes it is no more grace or els were worke no more worke Euen so also at this present time is there a remnaunt according to the election of grace He applieth the example which he hath now entreated of to the state of his time When he sayth a remnaunt he thereby signifieth that that part which perisheth is farre greater as he before had sayd Though the multitude They that shal be saued are called a remnaunt for that they are few of the children of Israell be as the sand of the sea a remnaunt only shal be saued Againe Vnles God had left vnto vs seede we had bene as Sodom and had ben like to Gomorrha Wherefore if in Helias time when the lesse part was saued the promises fell not away so now also in so great a blindnes of Israell they are not made voyde And the more to abate the Iewes pride he saith that this remnaunt is remayning vnto vs not of merite or of workes but of grace Wherefore we haue here a new proposition whose first part is not proued namely that they which are saued are saued by grace for that thing all men graunt but this he declareth that this saluation is not of workes which neded a demonstracion or profe The Iewes would not denie the first part as our Sophisters also at this day deny it not but either of them haue alwayes gone aboute to mingle therewithall the merites of men The Apostle expresseth what he chiefely ment by grace Merites caÌ not be mingled with grace Election is the chiefest grace What election of grace is namely the election of God for that is the first chiefest of all graces giftes Election of grace in yâ Hebrue phrase is a gracious or free election which is not of merites Howbeit Chrisostome and the Greke Scholies thought that by this word election is after a sort corrected or contracted the name of grace that whersoeuer election is added we should vnderstand that grace is geuen according to approbatioÌ But what they vnderstand by approbation it is not so playne but that one of these two wayes we se it must of necessity be vnderstanded namely that they take approbation either actiuely or passiuely Actiuely that the remnauntes haue grace for that they elect and approue the thinges which are vpright sound and iust Or passiuely that they are approued of God as men godly iust and beleuing The first way can not be admitted for it is manifest that here is not entreated of the election of men wherby as it pleaseth them they elect good or euill thinges but of the election of God for Paul manifestly saith that God had not cast away his people whome he foreknew or as Augustine saith predestinated Neither can the other be graunted for election dependeth not of our workes foresene as we haue before declared Origen hath in a maner the selfe same sentence for he saith that all in dede are saued by grace but Here is not entreated of ceremoniall workes when election is added thereby are signified perfecter soules which vnto purenes and holynes of workes added a singular endeuor and diligence Moreouer he would fayne haue the workes which are heare excluded of Paul to be vnderstanded only of ceremoniall workes which can not be when as Paul as we shal sâ addeth an vniuersall reason that vnto the nature of grace it is repugnaunt to be of workes and this is true what kinde of workes so euer we put But it semeth that he therefore taketh such great paynes in this matter for that he is aferd least if workes should be excluded from the cause of
so be weakened that they may not be able to attaine vnto them An allegory of the table But let vs diligently consider and weigh all the partes of this execration And that which is first spoken of the table expresseth a goodly allegory for by the table is signified vnto vs whatsoeuer is pleasaunt acceptable and delighting or wherin we content our selues as in a good thing which recreateth and refresheth vs as we know the table to be for vnto it we come to be refreshed with meate and drinke and to be mery yea and in feastes are knitte amities and mutuall frendshippes which are made more firme For Mensa that is a table as Varro saith is as it were Mesa that is to say a meane for it is an arbitrer and mediator betwene two or more But saith Dauid vnto these wicked men let it chaunge his proprieties let it be voide of his end let it not be vnto them pleasaunt nor ioyfull nor sweete but pernicious hurtfull and a snare let them euen there be taken and be destroyed Origen against Celsus maketh mencion of a certaine Poet who wrote a kind of verses called Iambica against Licambes for that he had transgressed against the table and salt and had bene vnfaithfull and cruell against him with whom he had vsed ordinarily to be at table and to eate with and he aptly applieth that vnto Iudas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord with whome together he had eaten And our sauior instituted the holy table whereat the faithfull receaue the Eucharist that there should not only be celebrated the memory of his The table of the Eucharist death but also that in the holy banquet should be wéeded out all maner of hatred and displeasure growen betwene Christians Pithagoras in his banquets and meates would not suffer that bread should be deuided with a knife by bread signifieng yâ bond of humane society And the Macedonians were woÌt to make leagues and couenaunts at their feastes and banquets Plutarch also in his problems telleth An vsage of the Macedonians how that the table is an holy thing and therefore the elders were carefull that in presence of the guests it should neuer be empty or voyde for that that is not seemely for thinges consecrated vnto God Wherefore the Prophet prayeth yea he prayeth against the wicked that all prosperous and happy things should be turned vnto them into misery which thing we reade in the histories came oftentimes to passe for wordly men in those things very often came to destruction wherein they both most delighted themselues and placed all their felicity When Pompey was ouercome in Pharsalia Egipt and Ptolome were his table for he hoped that there he mought be recreated and be at rest howbeit there he miserably lost his head Cesars table séemed to be aboue all others in the publike wealth of Rome when as he was the chiefe of the Senate house and as Dictator out of his regall seate gaue lawes and bare dominion but whilest he setled himselfe in these things he was mirably slayne The table of the Iewes was in the time of Christ to kéepe still their dignity place nation and priesthod and whilest they with a blind zeale too much gaue themselues to these things they slew Christ and therefore they were throwen down hedlong into vtter destruction Neither let vs looke for any other ende of the Pope of his kingdome whose table is the name of the Church counsels Fathers customes longtime receaued the pompe and shew of outward ceremonies and such other like things for the defence wherof forasmuch as he together with his fighteth against the truth and that plainly set abroad he shall fall into a snare and into distruction This self thing did the Iewes in the time Ieremy wheÌ they cried The tempell of the Lord The tempell of the Lord boasting that they were the sonnes of Abraham and frée men and the children of promise but yet they were with great miseries brought to destruction And how euen the outward table hath brought vnto some destruction the holy history setteth forth vnto vs in the eldest sonne of Dauid For he was slaine of his brother Absalon for defiling his sister Thamar And the like chaunce happened vnto Simon the high priest as we rede in the first booke of the Machabes who being bidden by his sonne in law to a feast was by him slaine Dauid by an antithesis aptly maketh a snare to be contrary vnto a table For the table ought to be frée where we may safelye refreshe the minde and if any snares bee there laidâ a man can not well auoyde them There is added an other curse which according to the Hebrew verity is of quiet men that is of frends and such as are ioyned by any familiarity Frendship is a necessary thing or acquaintaunce There is no man but vnderstandeth that frendship is a necessary thing Which neither euen great princes nor Emperors can want for if they be destitute of frends by whom shall they gouerne their dominions kingdomes And howe méete and profitable concorde is in aduersityes wée néede not many wordes to declare for that it is to all men most manifeste It is also as a thing most to be desired and most pleasant grafted in vs by nature or rather by God and as Aristotle in his Ethikes sayth of it it is more conuenient then iustice For if we were all truly frendes betwene our selues Frendship better then iustice there should be no nede of iustice for no man would hurte one an other but if we were all iust yet still should we nede frendshippe for that it is a thing of hys owne nature and of it selfe good Of so greate a commodity doth Dauid in hys execration desire that the wicked might be depriued and prayeth that those whome they thought to be theyr frendes mought be vnto them traytors which how detestable and hurtfull a thing it is the history of Samuell declareth where it is written that Ioab slew Abner and Amasa two notable captaynes fraudulently namely pretending frendshippe vnto them and kissing them Our Lord An example of traitry also who for our sakes would suffer all kinde of greues suffred also this kind of mishappe touching which thing we haue in the Psalme a wonderfull complaynte for vnder the person of Christ it is sayd My quiet frend which did eate meate together with me hath lifted vp his hele agaynst me Thus haue we now declared the Hebrew verity But bycause Paul and the Seuentye haue turned it retribution or recompence let vs se how theyr phrase of speach agreeth with thys sence In my iudgement it signifieth that Dauid prayed that in the table where they were wont to refresh theyr mindes and to haue all thinges in safety and security there should happen vnto them a recompence and yâ there they mought be punished for all the wicked actes which they had before committed that whereas the seuerity of God semed before to
oliue tree against nature neither in this respect are miracles done eyther besides nature or agaynst nature But if we looke vpon the proprieties and qualities of things both miracles are not according to nature yea rather they are repugnant vnto it and men are contrary to nature called backe to true piety and grafted into a good tree Wherefore Augustine aptly said that to haue possibility to beleue is of nature but to beleue is of grace I knowe that there are some which in this place referre contrary to nature this way that the spirituall grafting in is contrary to the naturall grafting in which men according to yâ rules of husbandry vse wheÌ as in naturall grafting the grafte which is grafted in bringeth forth fruite agreable to his owne sappe not to the sappe of the stock wherinto it is grafted But here the braunches of the wild oliue tree grafted into the fatte oliue tree draw their sappe whereout they bring forth good fruites not of their owne naturall plant but of that whereinto they are grafted These thinges without Braunches proper haue greater conformity to theyr owne plante then straunge plantes doubt as I haue before mencioned are true but they seme not to serue to the purpose of Paul The summe is that there is a greater conformity agreeablenes and proportion betwene braunches broken of to their owne plant then betwene straunge braunches to the selfe same plaÌt But because this conformity though it be neuer so nigh is not of it selfe sufficient therefore the power of of God is necessarily to be had Whiche power is sufficient to grafte in any whether they be nigh or farre of or howsoeuer they be God is able saith Iohn of these stones to rayse vp children vnto Abraham And the Lord sayth Thinges which are impossible with men are possible with God The Prophets and all yâ scriptures in a manner when any great thinges or after a sort incredible are to be looked for at Gods hands commaunde vs to consider the power of God And thereof commeth vnto the godly most swete consolation if at any time any great aduersityes hange ouer their heddes for they doo not easely feare the power of their aduersaries which set before their eyes the power of their heauenly father And hereof it commeth that the Church when it prayeth for helpe at Gods In the beginnyng of prayers are well put these words almighty God The power of God extendeth farther theÌ his will How an argument a posse ad esse is in this place of force hands alwayes in a manner in the beginning of their prayers hath these two wordes Almighty God Neither is this to be passed ouer that it commeth to passe farre otherwise in vs then in God both in all other thinges in a maner and also in this thing chiefly For in vs the will extendeth a great deale farther then the power when as oftentimes we will very many thinges which yet we are not able to performe But it is cleane contrary with God for he is able to do many more thinges then he will For the Father coulde haue geuen vnto his sonne which was euen at the point to be crucified eleuen legions of Angels which should straight way haue deliuered him but he would not But if a maÌ say that it is not a strong argument a posse ad âsse as the Logicians vse to speake that is from possibility to being and therefore Paul ought not to conclude that the Iewes shal be grafted in againe for that God is able to performe that thing for besides power is also required will We answere that here can no controuersy be made touching his will for that he is redy to do them good the promises the couenant which he made and the benefits which he bestowed vpon their elders playnly declare Further if he would graft in the Gentles being straungers why should we doubt but that he will one day bestow the A similitude like benefit vpon the Iewes Wherefore this we may affirme that the nation of the Iewes is at this tyme like vnto the roote of some good tree in the tyme of winter which roote if one that hath no skill looke vpon he will soone contemne plucke vp and burne it if it lye in him But a skilfull husbandman will say that it ought to be spared and will be more carefull to cherishe it for he knoweth that when the time commeth he shall haue thereof leaues flowers God hath not extinguished the Iewes but daily calleth some of theÌ fruites So vndoubtedly doth God deale with the Iewes he extinguisheth not that stocke but oftentimes out of it calleth some vnto him and towardes the end of the world looketh for great plenty of his elect to come thereout Not that any holynes is to be attributed vnto that stocke or generation if it be considered by it selfe for as we haue already twise admonished as touching it selfe it is condemned and obnoxious vnto the curse Which thing Paul acknowledged when he sayd We are by nature the children of wrath as others are But when these excellent things are spoken in the commendation of the nation of the Iewes vnto it is adioyned the fauor of God and his promise and couenant which yet burst not forth into acte but only as touching the elect Of which things yet there appeare Certain tokens of the nobilitie of the natioÌ of the Iewes some markes in others for they are studious of the law and of the word of God although they vnderstand it not rightly and as Paul sayd They haue the zeale of God but not according to knowledge which things although vnto them they are sinnes yet is it a certaine light and shew of that nobility wherof we speake For I would not brethern that ye should be ignoraunt of this mistery least ye should be high mynded that partly blindnes is come vnto Israell vntil the fulnes of the Gentiles be come in And so all Israell shal be saued as it is written Out of Sion shall the deliuerer come shal burne away the vngodlines from Iacob And this is my testament with them wheÌ I shall take away their sins For I would not brethern that ye should be ignoraunt of this mistery The entent of the Apostle now is to proue that in the nation of the Iewes still remayneth séede of election which thing he doth many wayes First he setteth forth his prophesy which he calleth a mistery after that he bringeth testimonies of the Prophets then he declareth the nature of the vocation and giftes of God namely that they are without repentance last of all he teacheth that the order of thinges so requireth and he abideth long in this matter for that of the full knowledge thereof much depended the peace and quietnes of the Church at that tyme. And how much the peace and tranquillity of Churches is to be desired we may How much the tranquilitie of churches is to be be
order appoynted by God in nature For God for the conseruation good order God will haue an order to be kept in outwarde thinges How Roboam is said not to haue prepared his harte of thinges will that this by a certayne connexion should follow of the other But I meruayle what these men meane when out of the bookes of the Chronicles they say that Roboam the sonne of Salomon did euil in that he prepared not his hart to enquire of the Lorde They mought easely haue sene that this serueth nothing to thys present purpose vnles they be if I may so terme them table doctors which haue more skill in the tables then in the bookes For as often as they finde in the table of the holy bookes thys woorde to prepare or preparation that strayght way whatsoeuer it be they snatche and thinke that it maketh for theyr purpose and pertayneth vnto theyr preparatory woorkes But the holy history when it declared that the kinge behaued hymselfe wickedlye addeth by exposition as it oftentimes doth that he had not an vpright hart redie to séeke the Lord. Neither doth this any thing helpe theyr cause which is written in the 16. chapter of the prouerbes Why it is said yâ it pertaineth to man to prepare the harte It pertaineth to a man to prepare the hart but the aunswere of the tonge is of the Lord. For we ought by those woordes to vnderstande nothinge els then that men indéede are wonte to purpose wyth themseues manye thinges but the euent and successe is not in their power but dependeth of GOD. Men oftentimes appoynte wyth them selues what they will saye in the senate house in the iudgement place before the kinge vnto the souldiours and vnto the people But what shal come to passe lieth in the pleasure of God They indéede prepare the hart but God ordereth the aunswere of the tounge according to his prouidence Such an other waighty reason they cite out of the 10. Psalme The Lord hath heard the desire of the poore thy eare hath heard the preparation of their hart But in this place these The preparation of the hart of the poore good masters make two flat errors For first they vnderstand not that which they speake secondly they cite not the place accordinge to the truth of the Hebrue For the sence is That God despiseth not the prayers of the poore but according to hys great goodnes accomplisheth for them those thinges which they had determined in their mind to desire of him And this is the preparation of the harte For there is none that is godly desireth any thing of God but first he deliberateth in his harte that the same thing is to be desired Otherwise he should come rashly vnto God should pray foolishly But these men wheresoeuer they finde in the holy scriptures this word to prepare straight way snatch it vp euen against the nature thereof to establish workes preparatorye But nowe let vs sée what the sentence is after the Hebrue veritie Taauah anauim shamata iehouah tachin libbam tacshib osnecha That is Thou hast heard the desire of the poore Lord thou hast prepared or shalt prepare their hart thy eare shall heare Here we sée that Dauid affirmeth that God heareth God prepareth the hart of the saintes the desires of the saintes whome he calleth poore And he addeth a cause namely because God prepareth their hart to require those thinges whiche may serue to their saluation and please God But by whome God woorketh such a preparation in the hartes of the faithfull Paul teacheth in this Epistle when he thus writeth God prepareth our hartes by his holy spirits What we should aske as it behoueth vs we know not But the spirite prayeth for vs with vnspeakeable sighes But it is God which searcheth the hartes he seeth what the spirite will aske for the saintes We sée therefore both by Dauid and also by Paul that God heareth those prayers of them that pray vnto him which are by the impulsioÌ of his spirite stirred vp We learne also of the Ethnike Philosophers and that in mo places then one that those are worthy of reproofe which without consideration and rashly require any thing of God But they which professe Christ euen as they beleue that he is the author of their prayers so also do they close them vp in thys sentence Thy will be done But say they Ezechiell saith in his 18. chapter Walke in A concilition of places of Ieremy and Ezechiell my wayes and make ye a new hart Ieremy also saith Be ye conuerted vnto me saith the Lord. Wherefore a man say they may of himselfe prepare himselfe to the obteyning of righteousnes But these men should remember that it is no vprighte dealing to cite some places of the scriptures and to ouerhippe leaue vnspoken other some Let them goe therfore and sée what Ezechiell writeth in the. 30. chapt I saith the Lorde will bring to passe that ye shall walke in my wayes Agayne I will geue vnto you a fleshy hart and will take away from you your stony hart Ieremy also in the 31. chap. Conuert me O Lord and I shal be conuerted Wherfore Augustine very wel sayd Geue what thou commaundest and commaund what thou wilt They abuse also an other place out of the Prophet Ionas to confirme their error For in him it is writteÌ that Of the fact of the Niniuites God regarded the woorkes of the Niniuites Beholde say they the affliction of the Niniuites wherby they afflicted themselues with fastings and cried vnto the lord prepared theyr mindes and made them apte to obteine pardon As though it behoued not the Niniuites first to beleue the woorde of God before they coulde eyther pray healthfully or els repent Séeing therefore they beleued before they did any workes they were iustified by faith and not by works which folowed afterward And God is sayd to haue regarded their works because they pleased him Neither did we euer deny that the workes of men being now iustified are acceptable vnto A profitable rule for the right vnderstanding of sentences of the fathers touching iustificatioÌ God So often as we finde in the scriptures such places which séeme to attribute righteousnes vnto our workes we muste according to the doctrine of Augustine haue a consideration out of what foundation those workes procéede And when we perceaue that they springe out of faith we oughte to ascribe vnto that roote that which afterwarde is added as touching righteousnes And how fowlye these men ârre in their reasoning hereby we may perceaue for that they take vpon them to transferre those thinges which are proper vnto one kinde of men vnto an other Which thing eueÌ humane lawes wil not suffer For as it is had in the Code As touching testaments or last willes If rusticall and vnlearned men which dwell out of cities A similitude and haue not store of wise and learned
Pighius when thou she west me one which being not yet regenerate by his owne strengths repenteth him of all his iniquities obserueth al the commaundements of God we wil say that he is iustified by his works But when will this ship ariue wherfore let him cease to boast of the words of the law For those words what so euer they be whether they pertaine vnto promises or vnto proceptes we will after this maner interprete But he saith moreouer that Christ also sayd He that dothe the will of my father shall enter into the kingdome of heauen But the Lord saide not saith he He which beleueth Yea but I say that in an other place he did and maketh no mention of any worke For this saithe he is the will of my father that he which seeth the sonne and beleueth in him haue eternall life Let not Pighius then from henceforth deny that the Lord euer spake this But that no man should thinke that the scriptures speake things contrary I answere that these two sentences are not repugnant but agrée very well together Pighius by the will of the father vnderstandeth a great heape of good workes But Christ saith this is the work of God that ye beleue And after this action of beleuing follow many other good workes Wherefore the holy scriptures are not repugnant one to the other And Pighius argument is left weake and of no efficacie But bicause Pighius séeth himselfe vrged with the word of God for that so oftentimes is red in the holy scriptures that man is iustified by faith He saith that that is to be vnderstande of a liuely and strong faith which hathe ioyned with it other vertues As thoughe forsothe we euer spake of any other faith If he speake this from the heart he beleueth the self same thing that we beleue Wherfore lay aside the contention and the controuersie being ended let vs all agrée in one But Pighius cannot abide that this agréement should take place For afterward when he expoundeth how we are iustified fréely he saith that that is nothing else but that God will fréely impute vnto vs vnto righteousnesse the works of faith hope and charitie What haue we héere to do Doubtlesse it séemeth vnto me that this man doth not with a sound iudgment read the scriptures but doth with a corrupt affection wrest them at his pleasure For where workes are Paule denyeth that there is any frée imputation for these two are repugnaÌt one to the other Wherfore in that Pighius goeth about to ioyne them together doeth he not séeme most manifestly to be against the Apostle Thus muche of Pighius vnto whome our Smith the eight wise man of Gréece and the first wise man of Englande adioyneth himselfe a companion as Theseus did vnto Hercules But in very déede hâ bringeth nothing else but that which he hath drawne out of the sinks of this man and other suche like First he saith that faith is not touching remission of sinnes and therefore we fondly faine that iustification is had by it For the faith saith he wherby Christians are discerned from no Christians is in Iesus Christ Which thing also as though it made much to the purpose he goeth about to proue by yâ holy scriptures and by a testimony of Ierome But I would haue this man to answere me if euer he learned the Hebrew tongue what is the signification of this name Iesus Vndoubtedly amongst all the Hebrewes this word Iaschag signifieth to saue wherefore Iesus may in Latine rightly be turned Seruator that is a sauior But if which thing I thinke true he be ignorant of the Hebrew tongue yet he ought at yâ least to haue beleued the Angel which so interpreted that name Thou shalt call his name saith he Iesus for he shall saue his people from their sinnes How then can faith be in Christ Iesus vnlesse it be also touching the remission of sinnes through Christ Afterward he is not aferd to cite that also out of the Epistle of Peter Charitie couereth a multitude of sinnes Behold saith he forgeuenes of sinnes is here ascribed not vnto fayth but vnto charitie He that will haue a mete axe to cutt those knots a soâder let him attentiuely consider the holy scriptures and diligently sée from whence those places which are cited in the new testament are taken out of the old This sentence of Peter is had in a maner out of the 10. chap. of the Prouerbs For there it is thus written Hatred stirreth vp rebukes For whome a man hateth he vncouereth and publisheth abroad his faultes as much as in him lieth But contrariwise Charitie hideth and couereth the sinnes of his brother For they which truly loue one an other are wont to defend one and other and to couer one an others faults so much as they se by conscience they may And this is a most true sentence of Salomon Wherfore Peter going about to exhort Christians vnto Charity wisely and aptly borowed this sentence out of Salomon But Smith not vnderstanding nor considering this thinketh that Peter thought that remission of sinnes is gotten by Charity But he is most fowly deceaued as oftentimes he is wont to be But leauing these men aside let vs this remember that if any time the Fathers seme to attribute righteousnes vnto workes the same is not to be vnderstand of that righteousnes which God fréely imputeth vnto vs thorough Christ but of yâ inward righteousnes cleauing vnto vs which we continually get and confirme by vpright life Or if those thinges which they speake doo manifestly pertayne vnto the righteousnes imputed that is vnto the remission of sinnes we must alwayes as we haue before taught run vnto the foundacion of good workes namely vnto a liuely fayth in Christ Which rules and such like if our aduersary would consider they would neuer so impudently obstinately defend so manifest lyes Although if I should speake any thing touching Pighius forasmuch as I sée that he is nether of dul wit nor vnlearned I can not say that he in earnest and from the hart wrot touching this matter but when he had once taken the matter in hand he counted these thinges for pastime and pleasure But now to prosecute that order which I haue appoynted let vs come vnto the Fathers and sée how muche they make on our side And vndoubtedly for thys matter shall we not nede any great nomber of testimonies For euen as to vnderstand of what tast the water of the sea is it is not nedeful yâ a man drinke vp the whole sea so to vnderstand what the Fathers thinke touching this we shall not nede to go thorough all theyr sayings Ireneus a most auncient author in his 4. booke and 30. chapter agaynst Valentine writeth somewhat touching this matter although briefly And I suppose that he for this cause wrote so briefely of it for that this truth was in those first times so confessed and certayne that it was not of any
be present they are profitable vnto iustification But this is worthy to be laughed at For we haue before most playnly taught that all workes which are doone before iustification are sinnes So far is it of that they can serue any thing vnto iustification And if they should by any meanes profite vnto iustification our glorieng should then not be excluded For we might glory that we had doone those thinges by whose helpe and ayd we were iustified But of this sayth he we can not boast for that they were done by a certayne grace of God preuenting But this is chiefly to be marked that these men attribute a great part of such works vnto frée will And therfore in yâ be halfe at the least we may glory Neither also shall yâ be true which the Apostle sayth what hast thou that thou hast receaued And agayne why dost thou boast as though thou hadst not receaued Here some of theÌ answer yâ we can not glory of this liberty of will for that we haue it not of our owne For it is God which hath endued vs with this faculty and gaue vs frée will when he created vs. But this is not sufficient The Pelagians fâed vnto the common grace of creation to take away boasting First for that this were to fly vnto the coÌmon grace of creation which thing the Pelagians did and by that meanes should at the lest may be left vnto vs a good vse of frée will of which we might glory For although we haue the same of God by creation yet the right vse thereof is ours namely to assent vnto God when he calleth vs and to apply our selues vnto good workes which of God are set forth vnto vs. And therefore vtterly to take away all glorying it is nedeful yâ we continually haue this in our mynde which Auguctine hath admonyshed vs of in his booke de spiritu Litera the 24. chapiter That not onely the wyll and election of well doyng is of God because by creatioÌ he hath geuen choyce free wyll but also because by the perswasion of thynges sene he hath made vs both to wyll and to beleue and that not onely by the outward preaching of the Gospell but also by inward perswasion For he doth not onely stirre vp the hart but also perswadeth draweth and boweth it to beleue I graunt indéede that it is the office of the will to will and to embrace that which God offreth for we do not will by vnderstanding or by memory but by will And yet for all that I doubt not but that it is God which maketh vs to wil and to follow good things Farther our aduersaries think that although workes concurre vnto iustification yet is that notwithstanding true which the holy scriptures teach namely that we iustified fréely Because say they those workes are geuen of God and are done of grace If this refuge mought helpe then had not Paul done well when he tooke away from ceremoniall works the power of iustifiyng For a Iew might say Our fathers which in the old tyme were circumcised and performed other obseruations of the law did not the same by their owne naturall strengthes but by the grace of God both helping them and stirring them vp thereunto Wherefore if other workes which were commaunded in the lawe coulde profite vnto iustification to merite it as ye speake of congruity why coulde not ceremoniall workes do ⪠the same Neither will this any thing helpe to say that Paul taketh not away from them the power iustifiyng but onely after the comming of Christ For he manifestly speaketh of Abraham which was iustified by fayth and not by circumcision and vseth a testimony of Dauid of whome it is most certayne that he liued vnder the lawe But whereas this man sayth that charity and hope can not be excluded I would gladly know of hym whether the workes of these vertues be iust or no. I know he will graunt that they are iust What will he then answere vnto Paul who vnto Titus sayth Not by the workes of righteousnes which we haue done But I know these meÌs fond deuises They answere that such workes also are excluded if they be done by the law and by frée will without grace But what nedeth to exclude that which can A strong reason to proue that faith onely iuâtifieth not be For who will either loue God or hope in him without grace Farther in what maner so euer they be done they can not serue to iustification for we are iustified by grace as it playnly appeareth by the holy scriptures But betwene grace and workes is so great contrariety that Paul sayth If of grace then is it not now of workes and if of workes then is it not of grace Neither ought these men to be so much displeased for yâ we vse this word Only For we necessarily conclude it of that which Paul sayth First that we are iustified by fayth and afterward addeth without workes How aptly we thus conclude I will declare by a similitude in the 6. chapiter of Deutronomy if we follow the truth of the Hebrew it is thus written Thou shalt feare the Lord God and hym thou shalt serue Here as thou séest wanteth this particle Only yet because there followeth Thou shalt not go after straunge Gods The seuenty interpreters haue thus turned that place Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God and hym onely shalt thou worship These men of the first proposition being affirmatiue that God is to be worshipped and of the other beyng negatiue that straunge Gods are not to be worshipped concluded that God onely is to be serued Whose authority should not be of so great waight with me but that Christ himselfe hath cited that place in that sort For thus he rebuked the deuill Depart from me Sathan for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and hym only shalt thou serue Here we sée that to disproue the worshipping which is geuen vnto a creature this particle only is necessary which although it be not had in the Hebrew yet is it necessarily gathered out of it Now when as we also after this maner reason why should these men so much be offended Let them consider that the best and the most auncieÌst Fathers abhorred not from this word It is a thing ridiculous to sée with how colde toyes and poore shifts Smith goeth about to The fathers vsed this worde Onely resist them First he sayth that they ment nothing els but to represse men that they should not waxe insoleÌt But let Smith in one word according to his good wisdome aunswere me whether the Fathers spake this truely or falsely If they spake it truely then make they on our side and why doth this man so much impugne it But if falsely this good end nothing helpeth theÌ to represse the insolency of men For euen as euill is not to be committed that good may ensew so false doctrine is not to be affirmed to ouerthrow other
wherewith the faithfull are illustrated Wherfore Paul requireth a force and efficacie wherby our minds should be inflamed And although as we haue before taught it lieth in no mannes hand to be endued of God with this or that power of the frée gifts for God distributeth them to euery manne as he will yet the regenerate for that they are not simply men but are the men of God and haue their strengthes after a sort renued by the grace and spirite of God they may by their endeuor prayers and industry stir vp The regeneraâe may after a sorte stirre vp in themselues the spirite in themselues the spirite whereby to be feruent or they may frame themselues vnto it when it stirreth them vp For so Paul sayth to Timothe Stirre vp the grace which is in thee by the imposition of the hands of the eldership And to the Thessalonians Take hede ye extinguish not the spirite For euen as vnto fire being once kindeled we may put wood and coles to make it to burne the more so the spirite being now geuen may by the exercise of doctrine exhortacion or ministery be stirred vp to make vs the more feruent and this to doo Paul now here exhorteth vs. In the Actes of the Apostles the 18. chapiter it is written of Apollo that he spake with a feruent spirite as which taught diligently those thinges which pertayned to the Lord. But it is added that he was learned and eloquent In that place I se two thinges ioyned together which are very necessarye for a preacher First that he diligently take hede what he speake that he poure out nothing rashly or agaynst the Two principal offices of a preacher truth the second is that those thinges which he speaketh be not spoken coldly and slenderly but be set forth effectually and feruently But in some though otherwise they are vehement inough yet there wanteth doctrine in other some in whom sometimes séemeth to be diligence inoughe yet they want feruentnes of spirite And that which I now speake of prââchers ought also to be applied to other offices wherof is now entreated Seruing the time Here some rede ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is time and some ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Lord. Chrysostome and Origene read Lord and rather allow that reading then to read time peraduenture therfore for that they thought it is the poynt of an inconstant and light man to be changed according to the time and for that to serue the time may seme to be rather a wary behauiour of maÌ then yâ worshipping of God But coÌtrariwise Ambrose what neded saith he to say that we must serue the Lord when as all the things which hitherto haue bene spoken thereto tend that we shold serue the Lord. But that notwithstaÌding there is no cause but that we may read Lord. For they mought say that Paul in his sentence admonisheth the godly to thinke that in all those things they serue not men but God who séeth all things and to whose honor all things ought to be directed How be it Origen somewhat releÌteth and saith that we may serue the time whilest we consider how short it is and coÌtracted that although we haue wiues yet we are as if we had none and although we possesse yet as though we possessed not redéeming the dayes for that they are Occasion is to be obserâed euill which interpretation I dislike not Although time in this place may more aptly signifie occasion which is earnestly and diligently to be obserued if we wil doe any good to our brethren For occasion otherwise passeth away neither can it be called backe againe when we will We know with how great subtlety and wickednes Sathan and the flesh resist the workes of God And therefore it commeth that there is no man almost which patiently taketh admonitions reprohensions And muche les in a manner if we admonish out of time and out of season Paule gaue place somewhat to the time when hée Circumcised Timothe But he could by no means be persuaded to circumcise Titus also though he were vehemently therunto vrged Christ himselfe according to the consideration of the time fled when the Iewes sought to put him to death Howbeit afterward when he saw opportunitie he returned of his owne accord Therefore his disciples sayd Euen now the Iewes sought to stone the and wilt thou now agayne go into Iewry Christ answered them Are there not 12. houres in a day In which words he signified that Occasions are counted as beckes of God we ought to serue time And for no other cause Salomon sayth that there is a time to build and a time to plant c. Such occasions are as certayne beckes of God to bring thinges well to passe which beckes we ought no les to obserue then souldiers doo the signe or watchword of theyr captayne And good seruaunts attempt nothing before that they se theyr Lord or maister to becken thereunto Erasmus thinketh that to serue the tyme is to take in good parte aduersities when they at any time happen And this sentence he thinketh is confirmed by that which followeth For Paul addeth Reioysing in hope patient in tribulation But if there be any which like better the other reding seruing the Lord we wil not be agaynst it But here is to be noted this Greke word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is seruing For therby we vnderstaÌd which thing we before also admonished that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã belongeth not only What is to be taken hede of in obseruing of occasions vnto creatures excelling in dignity but also vnto God him selfe On the other side he which thinketh that Paul commaundeth vs to serue the time ought to beware that whilest he obserueth occasion he decline neither to the right hand nor to the left that is that he chaunge not his sentence For we ought to be constant in that which we rightly vnderstand although euery time will not suffer vs to burst forth straight way into act Reioysing in hope This can not they doo which settle them selues in worldly thinges for in them only put they all theyr hope and confidence and wayte for nothing ells Paul in this place vnderstandeth the hope of eternall felicitie whereby men are so confirmed in aduersities that Paul to the ThessoloniaÌs calleth it an How patience worketh hope and hope patience helmet Here is hope reckened as the ground of patience in tribulation At which thing some man paraduenture may meruayle For before in the 5. chapiter Paul wrote Tribulation worketh patience patience experience and experience hope There we se that hope is produced of patience But contrariwise in this place patience is sayd to spring of hope But herein is no contrarietie For this commonly commeth to passe in thinges which are nigh by nature that by an inuerse order they Thinges nigh by nature together ⪠doo by an inuerse order inferre thââne the other What hope is mutually inferre
the one the other For so of rayne are engendred cloudes and agayne of cloudes is brought forth rayne And as the philosophers say of good actioÌs spring vertues and contrariwise of vertues spring good actions Chrisostome as we before admonished testefieth that the honor which we geue vnto brethern hath not only loue to the roote thereof but also engendreth the selfe same loue in those whom we honor Now hope to expresse the nature thereof is a certayne faculty or power breathed into vs of God whereby with a constant and patient mind not thorough our owne strengthes but thorough Iesus Christ we wayt for the saluation now begone in vs which by fayth we haue receaued vntill at the length it be accomplished They which hope are mery and reioyce for that they are assured that they Hope maketh glad maketh sory shall one day obteyne the things which they hope for Howbeit in the meane time they are somewhat sory and it greueth them for that they haue not as yet obteyned those thinges Moreouer they which hope for thinges hard and difficile which Hope is of things hard but not of things impossible yet are not impossible For vnles we thought that we may by the grace and spirite of Christ obteyne eternall life we would neuer hope for it Paul before in the 8. chapiter obserued eueÌ this selfe same order For he taught that of hope springeth patieÌce For the hope sayth he which is sene is no hope For who hopeth for that which he seeth And a litle afterward If we hope for that which we se not we wayte for it thorough patience Doubtles the mind is not a litle stirred vp to suffer all thinges where great rewardes are set forth And therefore in the selfe same chapiter Paul sayth The suffringes of this time are not worthy the glory to come which shal be reueled in vs. But here it may be doubted why Paul vnto hope attributeth ioye especially seing that ioye is an affect comming of a preseÌt good thing but hope is of a thing to come I answere that those good thinges which are hoped for are in dede absent but such is the force of hope that that which is absent it after a sort maketh present Hope maketh things absent present Faith also maketh thinges absent present Of the Eucharist Therefore Paul in the 8. chapiter very aptly wrote that by hope we are made safe and vnto the Ephesians That God thorough Christ hath brought to passe that we now sitte together with him in heauen at the right hand of God And according to this forme of doctrine we vse to say that they which beleue truly hope doo make the body and bloud of Christ euen present although otherwise in very dede they be in heauen and they wholy in mind and in spirite haue the fruition of them so often as they rightly and godly come together to the supper of the Lord. But how great a good thing it is to haue in tribulations a patient mind hereby may be gathered for that it is a common saying That it is a great euil not to be able to suffer euill as if a man should say that aduersities and tribulations which commonly It is a gret euill not to be able to suffer euil A most profitable chaine are called euill are not in very déede euill but only for that they can not be borne or suffred Continwing in prayers Chrisostome gathereth together in good order those thinges which may mitigate the painefulnes of those offices which haue now ben mencioned Which chayne or order he thinketh Paul hath diligently prosecuted The first remedy is loue and that such a loue which coÌmeth of a brotherly affect For there is nothing hard to him that loueth Secondly is required the feruentnes of the spirite of God thirdly the hope of that which is most excellent fourthly ayd helpe obtayned at Gods hand by affectuall prayers Wherefore Paul here admonisheth vs of prayers that we should continew in them But wheras he here saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is continwing to the Tessalonians he sayth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is vncessantly For we ought to pray vnto God without ceassing and intermissioÌ so much as humane imbecillitie will suffer And euery man so often as any thing happeneth which eyther troubleth the mind or stirreth vp a feare or desire ought to turne his mind to God which can either deliuer him or accomplish the thinges which he desireth And this is done in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye Yea those prayers are chiefely commended which are as burning firebrandes cast vp into heauen by a sodayne conuersion to God and doo not thorough multitude of woordes waxe cold And Christ in Luke the 19. chapiter admonisheth vs to pray alwayes and not to be weary In Greke it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã For ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã are sometimes those which are slouthfull and sluggish And that we should not become such nor be discouraged in prayeng Christ hath set forth vnto vs the parable of the widow and of the vniust iudge to declare vnto vs that God will without doubt heare those thinges which we incessantly aske of him And at the end of the parable he addeth The Lord will take vengeaunce of theÌ quickely But how doth he it quikely when oftentimes God quickly auengeth his There is no tarying in God but in our thinking he differeth it so long He is sayd to doo a thing quickely which doth that that is to be done so soone as occasion offreth it selfe Wherfore the tarieng is not in God but in our thinking But if we should be admitted into the inward parts and secrets of the counsell of God we should se that we are very rashe and hedlong in making our peticions Wherefore that is to be cast away from vs that we be not letted from enduring and perseuering in prayers Communicating to the nessâties of the Sayntes geuing your selues to hospitality He chiefely maketh mencion of the sayntes for that they aboue all others haue most nede as those whome the world hateth And he rightly addeth Straungers The saintes haue most nede aboue all others Why the flesh abhorreth the poore for at that time the sayntes being turned out of all theyr goods liued ofteÌtimes as wanderers abrode and exiles Wherefore Paul exhorteth the Romanes to entertayne such men with a louing mind and with liberall hospitalitie The flesh is not redy to doo good to this kind of men For when it séeth them in misery it iudgeth that they can by no means be recompensed agayne at theyr hands and therfore whatsoeuer is bestowed vpon them it thinketh to be lost And they which follow this affect count nothing more blessed then to receaue Wherefore they willingly geue nothing but where they thinke there shall returne vnto them agayne either as much or rather more God oftentimes in the law commendeth Of the poore and of straungers
commeth of a manly and strong faith And therfore I thinke Iames sayd that patience hath a perfect worke vnles peraduenture a man will thus vnderstande it that perfection is not in any work vnles we perseuer in the same For when we leaue of we bring not the worke to his ende and so without patience it is left vnperfect And besides all this our enemies are by this meanes chiefly feared away from continuing to persecute vs For when they sée yâ we are not moued by their iniuries they thinke that they lose their labour And therfore they take not so great pleasure of the reproches wherwith they reproched vs. But if they perceiue that we are out of quiet and take it in ill parte they will thinke that theyr iniuryes haue taken good successe and will afterward be more bolde in theyr wicked endeuors By this we may sée why the Lord sayd blessed are ye when they reuile you and persecute you and speake all maner of euill and make lies against you for my sake Reioyse and be glad for your rewarde is great in heauen This commaundement of Christ the Apostles executed For they returned from the presence of the Counsell reioysing that they were counted worthy to be reuiled for his name sake And Paule in the first to the Corinthians sayth we are euill spoken of and we blesse In Greke it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Paule alwayes wished not weâ to his enemy ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã How be it this counsell Paul alwayes obserued not For to the Galathians he sayth I would to God they were cut of which trouble you And Dauid saythe let theyr table be made a snare before them let theyr eyes be made dimme that they may not see and bow downe theyr backe all wayes And other bookes of the Prophets are euery where ful of cursses and imprecations wherewith they cursse the enemies of the people of God Here doubtles as I iudge is it to be sayd that we ought so to deale as Paule now admonisheth so long as we haue a respecte to our owne iniuryes Whether it be lawful at any tyme to curse ouâ enemies and that we walke the ordinary way and common course whereby we are of loue bound to wishe well to our neighbours But if God open vnto vs his hiddeÌ will and declare what shall without doubt come to passe of our enemyes and of those which persecute vs then if we sincerely and truely loue him we ought vndoubtedly to stay our selues in his will and counsell Howbeit this caution is added first to be fully assured whether those things which God hath opened vnto vs pertaine only to a threat or wholy to declare his determinate and assured wil. For where we suspecte that God threatneth only to bring vs to repentaunce we ought not to cease of from prayers euen for the wicked So did Moses when he made supplication to God for his people So did Abraham for the Sodomites so did Samuel for Saul and so did Ieremy for the people But when they are assured that it is the fixed and certaine will of God they doe not only pray against yâ wicked in prophesying as Augustine thinketh against Faustus in his 16. booke and. 22. chapiter where he thus writeth But cursses when they are spoken by the way of prophesie come not of the euill desire of him that curseth but of the foreknowing spirite of him that denounceth them But also it is done with a minde now consenting vnto God and wishing the self same things that he wisheth Dauid when as otherwise he was so gentle and fauorable towards Semei Absolon Saul and other enemies yet sometime so cursseth and banneth the wicked that it driueth an horror into the readers Christ also first be wailed the infelicitie of the City of Ierusalem for that it knew not the time of his visitation and sayth how often would I haue gathered together thy children as a henne doth her chickens vnder her wings and thou wouldest not Howbeit euen the same Christ when he knew the assured and vnmoueable will of God did burst forth into these words I geue thanks vnto thee O father of heauen and of earth for that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent men and hast reueled them to infants Euen so Lord for that it hath so pleased in thy sight Moreouer men of God when they come to this poynt haue not a respecte to theyr owne cause neither doe regarde theyr owne iniuryes but consider that by the wicked workes of the vngodly the Church of God is hurt the spirituall procedings therof are letted the course of the Gospell is hindred And they moste ardently desire that the name of God might be sanctified his kingdome most amply spred abrode And hereof it commeth that wheÌ the godly pray against wicked men they persecute not theyr own enemyes but the enemies of God whom they desire might be most purely worshipped Dauid sawe that he was called of God to the kingdome and vnderstode that the enterprises of the wicked wer not so much repugnant to his honor as to the will of God Wherfore worthely in his prayers he wisheth rather that they should pearish and that most vily then that any iotte of the most iust will of God should be hindred Wherefore bothe in this place and in suche other like we are prohibited not only to cursse but also to speake euill when we are ouercome with the contumelies iniuryes of the wicked by which it is not méete that we shold suffer our mindes to be broken to be led away from the rule of charity Herein doubtles consisteth the noblenes of stomake of Christians their incredible valiantnes of courage not only not to cursse them that persecute them but also to speake well of them and to pray vnto God for them How be it I can not inough wonder that Aquinas should say that by these words of Wherin consisteth the noblenes of âomacke of the Christians ân erâour of Aquinas Paule Christians are not compelled by the force of the commaundement to shew singularly an affect of loue to theyr enemies or as they vse to speake to shewe signes of beneuolence vnto them except it be in case of necessity For it is inough if they exclude them not from the generall bond of loue wherewith we ought to loue our neighbours Neither sayth he is it necessary that we peculiarly pray for them But this is sufficient if we exclude them not from the common prayers which we make for all men And if any man sayth he besides the case of necessity doo shew vnto his enemy tokens of a singular loue or doo singularly make intercession for him that man followeth the counsell of Christ but obeyeth not the commaundement But Christ and Paul when they spake of these thinges taught not this distinction This doctrine doubtles cutteth in ⪠sonder the strings of Christian religion it abateth the vehemency of the spirite
a thing of small waight For euery Christian ought to be fully perswaded touching this that he worship not bread and wyne in steade of God that he thinke not that the body of Christ is diffused through infinite places and that he plucke it not downe from heauen Although Paul in this place by controuersies of disputaâion do rather vnderstand brawlings and contencions of words which are on either side poured out for victory sake and by which yâ minds are kindled to wrath and are alienated and plucked away one from an other Which thing happened in this foresaid question For either part iudged that hys reasons or arguments serued to his purpose In suÌme here is entreated onely of brawling and contencious disputacions and not of gentle and quiet disputacions whereby men may be instructed to piety Moreouer this is to be noted that they which put a difference betwene meates are called of Paul weake when as yet at They whiche put a difference betweene meates are to be counted weake this day such men will be counted most strong But they obiect that Paul here speaketh onely of meates of the law and not of fastinges and of the choyse of meates which is now called into doubt But these men consider not that the Iewes had a great deale more iuster excuse which could not persuade themselues that those ceremonies should be abolished which God himself had deliuered vnto them by Moses then they at this day can haue For those men supersticiously to omitte to speake more sharply with so great a zeale follow the traditions of men only Howbeit I meane not here to defend those glottons which vnder the preteÌce of the liberty of the Gospell geue themselues only to eating and drinking One beleueth that he may eate of all thinges but an other which is weake eateth herbes That man Paul sayth beleueth which thinketh that all things are frée vnto him and those he calleth weake which to the end they would not light vpon flesh prohibited or dressed otherwise then the law commaunded did eate nothing but herbes for that in them could be no danger of violating of the law whervnto Why the children of the Iewes abstained from the meates of the kings table also those young men in Daniell semed to haue had a respect wheÌ they would not defile themselues with the meates that came from the kinges table For they desired to haue rootes and herbes geuen them to fede vpon And without doubt it is necessary that euery one haue an assured fayth of that thing which he doth that it be not repugnant to the lawes of God He which eateth let him not despise him that eateth not and he which eateth noâ let him not iudge him that eateth Paul goeth betwene either parties as a mediator and taketh away their brawlinges and hedgeth in either part by certayne bondes and limites according to his authoritie He permitteth euery man at his pleasure to eate what meates so euer he will so that he behaue himself in such sort that he despise not his weake brother He brideleth also the weake and permitteth them for a tyme not to eate against their conscience but yet in such sort that they should not condemne others which are better theÌ themselues As knowledge There is danger both in knowledge and in vnskilfulnes By what names the supersticious are reproued without charity puffeth vp and so puffeth vp that we contemne others in comparison of our selues so vnskilfulnes on the other side maketh vs prone and redy to iudge and condemne others Chrisostome noteth that those supersticious weake ones are in these wordes couertly in dede but yet sharply reproued For first saith he they are called weak and that in faith which doubtles is a most greuous fault Secondly Paul coÌmaundeth them to be receaued as though of themselues they are not able to arise vp or to stand but haue nede of instructions and of doctrine and consolations Lastly he saith that they are by more strong disputations which they are not able to conceiue easely offended and for that cause are prone rashly to iudge For they condemned others which were more frée as though they violated the law of God and were geuen to glotony and to the belly more then was meete These faultes the papistes at this day vpbraide to many of our men but by what right and how truly let God iudge For God hath receaued him Paul bringeth notable reasons wherby he feareth Ab adiunctis away the weake from daungerous iudgements The first is taken of things annexed together for that he whome thou iudgest is not any common or vulgare man For God hath receiued him neither hath he suffered him to lie in sinnes to worship idols and to be ignoraunt of true religion and pietie Yea rather he hath brought him to this estate that he is now a member of Christ and a pertaker of the nature of God Wherfore seing that God hath adorned him with so great honour how darest thou presume to iudge him Who art thou which iudgest an other mans seruaunt He standeth or falleth to his owne lord yea he shal be established For God is able to make him to stand This man estemeth one day aboue an other and an other counteth euery day a like Let euery man be fully satisfied in his mind He that obserueth the day obserueth it to the Lord. He that eateth eateth to the Lord and geueth God thankes And he that eateth not eateth not to the Lord and geueth God thankes For none of vs liueth to himselfe neyther doth any dye to himselfe For whether we liue we liue to the Lord or whether we dye we dye to the Lord. Whether therefore we liue or dye we are the Lordes For Christ therfore dyed and rose agayne and reuiued that he might be Lord both of the quicke and of the dead VVho art thou which iudgest an other mans seruant Here he reprehendeth theyr fact by a similitude taken of things ciuil humane Men vse not to clayme vnto them selues any right ouer an other mans seruant And knowest not thou that those whome thou in such sort despisest are the seruants of the lord Vndoubtedly he which is taken into the famely of any great prince is not commonly iudged of any but of his lord I would to God these things were alwayes had in remembrance and obserued of backebiters to consider that those whose good name they seke to deface are not only men but also are now receaued of God into hyâtuition The faithful both are called and also are the âeÌ of God and are by Christ made his children Paul in the epistle to Timothe calleth the beleuer the man of God in which wordes he signifieth yâ he is not now a bare man But are all iudgements by these wordes prohibited Not vndoubtedly to those which haue either in the publike wealth or in the Church any publique power For in very dede these men iudge not but rather God
this is a great aduauncement vnto piety therfore Paul setteth it forth to the end to commend those weake ones to the better sort Howbeit lest in this matter he shold attribute more vnto them theÌ to the freer sort as though he shold think that the stronger in vsing liberty had not a consideration of the law of God he pronounceth the sentence which he setteth forth coÌmon to ech part They sayth he which obserue dayes obserue theÌ to the Lord they which obserue theÌ not obserue theÌ not vnto the Lord. And they which eat eat to the Lord they which eat not eate not to the Lord. And those datiue cases which Paul here vseth to obserue to the lord to eate to the lord to liue to the lord to dye to the lord signifie nothing ells but that we ought in all our actions in all our life and euen in death to depend of the lord And geueth thanks to God Hereby we may iudge yâ eyther of those what soeuer they did had a regard vnto God for that either part gaue thanks vnto him Of what great force geuing of thanks is Wherefore geuing of thankes is of no small force For it is as it were a certaine healthfull sawse and maketh that which otherwise of it selfe should haue bene hurtefull commodious and healthfull vnto vs. Therefore Paul to Timothe writeth Euery creature is good and nothing is to be cast away which is receaued with thanks geuing For none of vs liueth to him selfe neither doth any die to himselfe For whether we liue we liue to the Lord or whither we die we die to the Lord. This may thus be applied to be a reason wherby the stronger sort are feared away from contemning the weaker namely for yâ they both liue dye vnto the lord It may also be a general cause why they are sayd both to obserue not to obserue dais vnto yâ lord either to eate or not to eate to the lord for that vniuersally they liue vnto the Lord and dye vnto the Lord. By these woordes we are aptly and manifestly The scope of our lyfe and of all ⪠our actions instructed touching the scope of our life and of all our actioÌs I would to God this might neuer slippe out of our mind but mought with most depe rootes be fixed in our hartes Life and death I thinke in this place are to be vnderstanded as touching the body For I se not very wel what consideration they haue which referre these thinges to the life of fayth and to the death of sinne For there is none which sinneth to the Lord. For that can not pertayne to the honor of God Vnles paraduenture they meane that this is all one with that which was before spoken He standeth to his Lord or falleth But the first exposition semeth in my iudgement more playne and agréeth with those thinges which Paul writeth to the Phillippians And Christ shal be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death VVhither therefore we liue or die vve are the Lordes This in sum ought to be of greate force with them for that not only our life and death depende of the lord but also for that we all both as touching life and as touching death are hys proper possession And if this be so who can contemn his neighbour escape vnpunished This is in a maner all one with that which Paul before sayd Why iudgest thou an other mans seruaunt That fault was reproued in the weake ones and this is now layd to the charge of the stronger sort that they reiect and contemne not euery kind of men but these which are the Lords Paul sayth to the Corinthians Ye are not your owne men For ye are bought with a price Glorifie God now in your body and in your spirite which belong to God Agayne ye are bought with a price be not ye made the seruaunts of men For Christ therfore died rose agayne and reuiued that he might be Lord both of the quicke and of the dead Here he ascribeth a cause why we ar by good right the Lordes For he hath redemed vs by his death by his resurrection hath deserued Whether Christ if he had not dyed for vs shold haue had vs to his proper possession life for vs. Wherfore he is Lord both of our life and of our death But here paraduenture thou wilt demaund whither if Christ had not died we should haue bene his proper possession or no As touching his diuine nature eueÌ without his death and resurrection he is our lord For we are created of him whatsoeuer we haue we haue it thorough him But bycause he is in very dede maÌ he hath by his death and resurrection iustly and worthely gotten vnto him selfe this dominion which yet the father could haue geueÌ vnto him freely but to set forth his glory he would rather geue it to his merites Wherefore Paul to the Phil. sayth for which cause God hath geuen vnto him a name which is aboue euery name namely for that he had humbled himselfe to death euen to the death of the crose OrigeÌ very largely entreteth of this doubt Howbeit I thinke that this solution which I haue here brought is more playne more true But there ariseth also an other doubt For Paul semeth to speake agaynst that sentence of the Lord in 22. chapiter of Mathew He is not the God of the dead but of the liuing For if he be not the God of yâ dead how is he here sayd to be Lord of the dead But if the matter be more narrowly examined there is not herein contrariety For there the Lord would hereby proue the resurrection of the dead for that God could not be truly the God of AbrahaÌ of Isaac and of Iacob vnles he would haue them to be saued and that wholy both as touching soule and body For it is the propriety of GOD to saue thâse whose GOD he is And the Scripture in Exodus pronounceth that GOD is the GOD of those patriarches Wherefore they liue and shall more fully liue in the blessed resurrection Hereby it is manifest that Christ spake of those which were thought to be vtterly dead both in soule and in body But God can not be their God For he can not suffer such a death to preuaile against his But here Paul sayth that Christ is Lord of of the dead which are dead in body only but liue in spirite and when tyme commeth shall rise agayne Wherefore we sée that betwene these places there is vndoubtedly no contrarity But because we are by the way lighted vpon those words of the Lord there are as I thinke in them two thinges to be obserued First that although of them is properly concluded the resurrection of the godly whose God God confesseth himselfe to be yet followeth it that of the selfe same words may be concluded the resurrection of the wicked For if God of his goodnes do so
semeth by a certain preuention to answer to those which sayd they wold liue fréely and defende the faith which they had receiued Paule answereth haue thou thys fayth before God and kepe it to thy self Chrysostome thinketh that in this place is not to be vnderstanded that fayth wherby Of what faith Paul here speaketh we beleue the doctrines of fayth For Paul before sayd with the harte men beleue to righteousnes and with the mouth is confession made to saluation Wherfore it is not inough to beleue rightly before God vnles also thou profes thy faith before men But here to make profession of faith out of ceason is ioyned with a vice which thing pertaineth to oâtentacion But I sée not why this which Paul now entreateth of caÌnot be a doctrine of faith For christiaÌ liberty is not the least of those things which Christian liberty pertayneth to the doctrine of fayth we ought to beleue which vnles it wer so the boÌdage of the law of Moses might easly returne agayne Neither doth Paul prohibite but that we may into our weake brethren instill the doctrine of our fayth For our moderation whereby we frame our selues to them hereto only tendeth that they mought one day at the length be brought vnto our faith and be made more strong therein Wherefore this is the meaning of Paul haue it before God and with thy selfe that is excercise not thy faith out of ceason So he prohibiteth vnto them only the vse of meates for a tyme which they beleue to be frée and not properly a true and apt declaration of their fayth And vnto a weake brother and to one that is not yet fully perswaded it shall for this tyme be sufficient if he haue fayth touching the principall poynts of religioÌ For it is not straight way required that he expressedly beleue all things which are to be beleued This sentence is no defence at all to those which contrary to the most manifest word of God winke at supersticious and idolatrous Masses and at the prophanations and abuses of the sacraments for that they wil not offend the litle ones but thinke it inough to haue faith in themselues and before God For here Paul speaketh only of such thinges which are meane and indifferent and not of thinges necessary or repugnant with the word of God Blessed is he which condemneth not himselfe in that thing vvhich he allovveth Least he should séeme to haue to much fauored the weake he now to defend the stronger sort declareth that the greatest felicity herein consisteth that euery A great felicity of christians one when he examineth and peyseth that which he alloweth or doth do not condemne the same but do assuredly sée that it agréeth with the word of God This is the greatest felicity of Christians that they neuer at any tyme be accused of theyr owne hart as though they had allowed or committed any thing which they iudged not to be vpright These thinges as sayth Chrisostome are not spoken of the wicked which delight altogether in whatsoeuer they themselues inuent but of the faithfull which whatsoeuer they thinke speake or do measure the same by the rule of a sound fayth and by the word of God And Chrisostome thinketh that these The conscience is not vpright vnles it be established by an vpright fayth wordes aunswere to those which were before spoken Hast thou fayth haue it with thy selfe and before God As if he should haue sayd Let not this séeme to thée a small thing herein art thou blessed for that thou hast a sound iudgement of things For this is a most ample gaine and better then the whole world For although al men accuse thée yet if thy fayth conscience accuse thée not thou art blessed and of this thine inwarde iudgement thou receiuest most great fruit But the iudgement of thy conscience can not be vpright vnles thy faith be vpright perfecte For otherwise many when they kill Christians and godly men thinke that they doe God high seruice Hereunto pertaineth that which Paul sayth in the second Epistle to yâ Corinthians the. 1 chapiter This is our glory the testimony of our conscience And Iob in his 27. chapter For mine heart shall not reproue me so long as I liue But he which doubteth is condemned if he eate for that he eateth not of faith He which doubteth and eateth is coÌdemned for that he is not persuaded with him self that that which he doth pleaseth God wherfore he caÌ not direct it to his glory when as he thinketh that it displeaseth him but euery worke what so euer it be that wanteth his ende is sinne Diiudicare which is turned to doubt here chiefly pertaineth to infidelity namely when the minde is tossed to and fro with reasoÌs neither is there in the minde any firme persuasion Wherfore Abraham is commended for that he without any such debatings beleued For that he eateth not of faith The cause why he is condemned commeth not of the vnclennes of the meat but for that he beleueth otherwise then he sheweth in acte This sentence is of great force to keepe vnder the strong in fayth not to compel the weake those that are not yet persuaded to eate those things which they thinke to be prohibited For vvhatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne This is a generall cause whereout is gathered most excellent doctrine namely that God regardeth not the shewe pompe and outward glory of workes but weigheth inwardly whether they procéede from a true obedience And this is done when by the word of God we beleue that suche things are bothe required of God and also doe please him Wherefore This sentence of Paul is generall The good workes of heretikes are to them made sins whatsoeuer springeth not out of this fountaine is sinne Origen thinketh also that this sentence is generall And therefore he sayth that the workes of heretikes are turned into sinnes for that theyr faith is not a true fayth but a counterfaite and false faith euen as some knowledge is called a false knowledge And he citeth this sentence Let theyr prayer be turned into sinne The fiftenth Chapiter WE that are stroÌg ought to beare the infirmities of the weake and not to please our selues For let euery man please his neighbour in that that is good to edification For Christe also pleased not himselfe But as it is written the rebukes of them which rebuke thee haue fallen vpon me For whatsoeuer things are written afore time are written for our learning that we through patience and conâolation of the scriptures might haue hope Now the god of pacience and consolation geue you that ye bee like minded one towardes an other according to Christ Iesus That ye with one mind with one mouth may praise God euen the father of our Lord Iesus Christe Wherfore receiue ye one an other as Christ also receiued vs to the glory of God The Apostle still prosecuteth that which he tooke in
hande and exhorteth the stronger sorte and theÌ that were confirmed in doctrine to beare with the weake and that with great loue And first he bringeth an argument taken of the ende of the giftes of God For they are to that ende geuen vnto vs that with them we should helpe our brethren that our strengthe should serue to make others stronge and that our knowledge shold serue to instruct others Chrysostome sayth that here are reproued those froward and in a maner superstitious persons in that they are called weake but others are called strong which ought to beare with them And thereto he thinketh Paul had a respect in that he counteth himself in the nomber of the stronger sorte And this he doth not as sayth Origen as a boaster abrode of his owne praises but by his example to stir them vp who though in might strength he were not inferior vnto them yet he made himselfe all things to all men Neither is this word to beare lightly to be peised For in Greke it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is An argument takeÌ of the deniall of our selues to beare and after a sorte to carye vpon a mannes shoulder So Paule in an other place beare ye one an others burthen and so shall ye fulfill the law of Christ wheras he addeth and not to please our selues it is a newe profe taken of the deniall of oure selues which deniall we professe For not to please our selues is nothing els as Ambrose interpreteth it but not to seke that which may be profitable and plesant to our selues but that which may be commodious to our brother For let euerye man please his neighboure in that that is good to edification Therefore he addeth in that that is good and to edification that no man shoulde thinke yâ we ought to please our brethreÌ as touching filthy and hurtful affections In that he before sayd vve ought here he vseth a kinde of commaunding he declareth that euery one of vs is bound to these things neither pertaine they to gratification but to the bonde of the law and of loue For Christ pleased not himself To the ende the more vehemently to stirre vp theyr mindes he exhorteth them thereunto by an example For in wordes to professe Christ to be the master of our life and in very dede to abhorre from his instistitutions These are preceptes and not councels is both ridiculous and also ful of ignominy and shame In this sentence this word to please which in Greke is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifieth to obey to satisfy and to be seruiceable For otherwise that worde being vnderstanded in the common signification should ouerthrow the senteÌce and meaning of Paul For there is none of vs which ought not to please himselfe when as he examineth his doings by a sound iudgment and is fully persuaded that they are through faith acceptable vnto God Neither did Christ at any time after this maner displease himself in those things which he did But how he framed himself to the commodities of other meÌ we are plainly taught by the holy scriptures He abased himselfe and toke vpon him the forme of a seruaunt when as in very déede he was Lord ouer all and being of all men the most holiest he did eate with Publicanes and sinners and being most chaste he prohibited not his feete to be washed with teares and to be wiped and anoynted of a woman noted of great infamy finally being condemned with most wicked theues he vouchsafed for our saluation to be crucified betwene them He which did and suffred so many and so great things could he seme to haue sought to haue pleased himselfe or rather to frame himselfe to our commodities Wherfore the Apostle rightly setteth this example before our eyes But as it is vvritten the rebukes of them vvhich rebuke thee haue fallen vpon me This testimony is written in the. 69. psalme And Paul vseth it in this sense as thoughe the sonne should thus talke vnto the father Not only the zeale of thy Now the coâtumelies of god light vpon Christ house hath eaten me vp but also what so euer contumely and rebukes are done against thée which doubtles is done through al the sinnes of al men the same wholy lighteth vpon me and that am I ready euen by the deathe of the crosse to beare and to make satisfaction for The heartes of men thoughe they were of iron and harder then euen the most hardest stones may yet notwithstanding by this example be softned to suffre any thing for the saluation of our brother Dâubtles in this example is much more comprehended then Paul requireth of the Romaines ⪠For he commaundeth them not to beare the blames of the weake but only tâ be an helpe vnto them and to heale their infirmitie For vvhatsoeuer things are vvritten afore time are vvâitten for our learning This he addeth in the commendation sake of the holy scriptures least he shoulde seeme not very aptly to haue alleaged that testimony of Dauid The things sayth No part of the holy scripture without fruite he which were in times past written by the instinct of God pertaine to vs that we should be instructed by them Wherfore no part of the holy scriptures is without fruit For Paul sayth whatsoeuer things are written are written to our learning in other bookes though they be excellently and exactly wrytten yet thou shalt finde in them somewhat which thou mayst reiect as that which in no case pertaineth to thée But in the holy scriptures thou shalt neuer finde any thing which serueth not to thy instruction and saluation so that thou weigh the thing rightly And I would to God that as many of vs as doe read the holy scriptures would with this purpose and minde read them and wold out of euery parte of them seke our owne edification But a man shal sée many which by reading the holy scriptures are in How the scriptures are to be read déede made the learneder but yet they become nothing at all the better For they doe not at euery clause thus question with themselues what pertain these things to thée What pertaine they to thy conuersation and what belong they to thy doings This without doubt the holy Ghost had chiefly a regarde vnto not to teach any thing in the holy scriptures which should be superfluous In this thing chiefly ought the holy bookes to excel prophane bokes that nothing can be cut away from them as ouerplus or superfluous If these properties be agreable with the olde testament then much more agrée they with the new testament For one the same Against the Libertines spirite was author of them bothe Where now therefore are the Libertines of all men the most arrogantest which brag that they are so high and celestial that they haue no néede of the holy scriptures For they thinke that the scriptures are geuen only to weake men and to little ones Verely Paul nombreth
himselfe amongste those which receiue profite out of the holy scriptures For he saythe not they are written for your learning but for our learning Neither is there any cause why the Anabaptists together with the Maniches and Marcionites should bark against The thinges which are in the olde Testament pertain to vs. the olde Testament For here Paul bringeth a testimony out of the Psalmes in the olde Testament Origen by a certaine learned induction proueth that those things which are written in the olde Testament pertainâ also to vs. Paul in the first Corin. sayth that those things happened to them in a figure and were sealed in wrytings for our sakes vpon whome the ends of the world haue come And in the same Epistle he citeth this sentence Thou shalt not binde the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the corne and this he declareth was not so spoken as though God hadde a care ouer Oxen but for that they rather serue for vs. And to the Galathians he sayth that Abraham had two sonnes which in very dede shadowed vnto vs two Testaments And to the Corinthians he saythe that the Israelites did eate Manna in the wildernes and dranke of the rocke that we might knowe that they did eat the spirituall meat and drink of the spirituall drinke namely of the rocke that folowed them and that rocke was Christ Thus much Origen And doubtles it would be tedious if a man The common people ought not to be prohibited from the reading of the holy scriptures The vtilitie of the holy scriptures should recken vp all such kind of testemonies By these thinges also let those men consider which seke to prohibite Christian men from the reading of the holy scriptures how ill they prouide for theyr commodity whilest the labour to defeÌd theyr owne obstinacy inueterate abuses and supersticions That we thorough patience consolation of the scriptures might haue hope This thing Paul attributeth to the doctrine of the scriptures that it easely bringeth men to patience and maketh them willing wholy to committe all that they haue to the gouernaunce of God And thereout he declareth are taken most swete consolations and most feruent exhortacions wherby the minds may be thoroughly stirred vp to execute the dewties of piety and of loue And by that meanes being fensed with a strong and sound hope we shal neuer afterward wauer in nor out as children and reedes doo These notable and excellent giftes sayth Origen he attayneth not vnto out of the scriptures which only redeth them when yet in the meane time he beleueth them not neither vnderstandeth them but he which both vnderstandeth them and beleueth them Although I thinke that vnto these woordes is to be added that God of his goodnes geueth at the length vnto men that dayly rede the holy scriptures grace both to vnderstand and to beleue and chiefely seing that fayth The reading of the holy scriptures is profitable both to the beleuees to the vnleuers Patience and consolation commeth of the scriptures commeth of hearing the light of fayth shaketh away the darkenes of ignorance Wherefore the reading of the holy scriptures is most profitable both to them that that beleue and to them that doo not beleue And patience and consolation is sayd to procede of the scriptures both for that God geueth these thinges vnto them which pereseuer in reding of the holy scriptures and whith beleue them and also for that in them we rede that Christ and his members haue for the truth and for innocency and piety sake suffered many greauous and sharpe things and by such examples we are mooued moreouer also for that by them we vnderstand that God hath alwayes bene present with his so that he hath eyther vtterly deliuered them or ells he hath made them constant and valiant to suffer all thinges And thereof we conceaue a good hope that God wil also be the same God towardes vs and that he will haue vs in the same place and nomber that in times past he had them which are commended vnto vs in the holye Scriptures Neyther are we mooued by such examples only but also we heare God himself exhorting vs to patience and to valiantnes and also promising vnto vs his helpe And therby we are made couragious and doo fele sondry and manifold consolations and also we are stirred to a good hope of the chiefe felicitie Novv the God of patieÌce and consolation geue you that ye may be like minded one towards an other according to Christ Iesus That we should not thinke that the very scriptures can of themselues engender in vs patience and hope and consolation ⪠Paul pronounceth God to be the true author of these giftes He vseth indede The scriptures are not of them selues the efficieÌt cause of these giftes the holy scriptures as lawfull instruments by which he engendreth these things in our hartes Neyther doth Paul in vayne adde this kind of prayer For thereby we vnderstand that it is not inough that we teach vprightlie and faythfully vnles God geue strength and efficacy to our doctrine Wherefore they which preach and teach the people ought also with dayly and feruent prayers to helpe them whome they instruct that they being by God made good ground may receaue sede with fruite He calleth God the God of patience and of consolation for that he can God is named by his effâctâs not be named otherwise of vs but of his effectes And amongst other effects which are attributed vnto God Paul in this place mencioneth those chiefely which serued most to his purpose and which a litle before he had attributed to the holy scripture He wisheth vnto the Romaines mutuall agréement for that at that time they somewhat disagréed amongest themselues as it is manifest by those thinges What agrement is wished which we haue before red Howbeit he wisheth not vnto them euery kind of agrement but yâ which is according to Christ For many conspire together and well inough consent in committing of wicked actes and that very oftentimes agaynst Christ But we must not pray vnto God for such an agreement but rather must pray against it Or els by According to Iesus Christ he vnderstandeth that they should be instructed according to his example That ye with one minde ând with one mouth may glorify God and the father of our Lord Iesus Christ It is not inough with one mouth with one the selfe same words to glorifie God Christ vnles also be added one the self same mind which is to be vnderstanded by the coniuÌction of charitie namely that all discords be vtterly banished away There is also required an agréement in the principall Touchyng what thinges an agrement is necessary in the church poyntes of doctrine and in the articles that are necessary to saluation As touching thinges probable it is not of necessity that all men be of one the same mind concerning them so that charity be
are thorough Christ receaued of God therefore Paul sayd the God of hope He sayth he the author of so great a gifte fill you with ioy and peace in beleuing that is thorough fayth He putteth fayth first and out of it springeth hope and thereout are deriued peace and ioy For when we beleue and hope we obteyne righteousnes And after that followeth peace and ioy And in these thrée thinges as we haue before declared consisteth chifely the kingdome of God And as before he made mencion of the holy ghost saying Righteousnes peace and ioy in the holy ghost so here also maketh he mencion of him For he addeth That ye may abound in hope thorough the power of the holy ghost Neither They whiche trust ãâ¦ã in God are heauy is this lightly to be passed ouer that he sayth That ye may abound For hope engendereth not peace and ioy vnles it be ample and plentifull For those which haue but litle fayth we sée when aduersities come are heauy and sore troubled For euen as theyr harte is ouer runne with feare so theyr speach yea and theyr contenance is ouerwhelmed with heauines Peace and ioy although they may be referred vnto the mynde for they which beleue and which are coÌfirmed in hope do reioyce in the Lord and haue peace both in their conscience and also towards God yet notwithstanding by reason of the consent and vnity whereunto Paul exhorteth the church of Rame I encline rather to this sentence to vnderstand that ioy whereby euery man reioyseth for the commodities and giftes of his brother and likewise that peace whereby the faithfull with an entier affect of loue embrace one an other and are knitte together with an indissoluble bond of mutuall loue Neither sayth Paul only thorough the holy ghost but also expresseth his power For forasmuch as he wished that those giftes might be in the Romanes ful perfect and aboundant he by the way signifieth that it is requisite to implore a great force of the spirite that they might attayne to those giftes And I my selfe also am perswaded of you brethren that ye also are full of goodnes and filled with all knowledge Forasmuch as Paul hath hetherto at large discoursed as touching doctrines to teach that man is iustified without workes by faith only in Christ and also hath as touching maners exhorted them to be obedient to the publique power to loue one an other to receaue the weake and that the weake should not iudge the stronger and that they should agrée amongst theÌselues now least the Romanes should be displeased with him as though he had attributed vnto them that they had very litle profited in the religion of Christ and had taken vpon himselfe more then was méete by this conclusion he warely remedieth that affect which otherwise mought casely haue séemed to haue sprong of What is done â â this conclusion It is profitable for vs to prayse our brethren the fleshe And as Ambrose noteth whilest he prayseth them he more feruently inflameth them to those things which he had admonished them of For when a man perceaueth that he is praysed especially of excellent men he commonly more diligently applieth hys study and endeuor least he might séeme to haue ben adorned with a false commendation And by this meanes Paul bringeth himselfe out of the daunger of ill suspition in that he sayth that he is fully persuaded of theyr excelleÌt goodnes and singular knowledge but for that he was the generall minister of the Gentiles it had not bene his parte to haue pretermitted his duety towards them Goodnes in this place which in Greke is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Erasmus noteth signifieth all kinde of vertues and is opposite to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which on the contrary side comprehendeth all kinde of vices But how coulde Paule without a lye pronounce these things of the Romaines When as in that Church were many weake ones and they were enfected with greuous dissensions and brawlings amongst themselues Whether Paul could truly thus prayse the Romanes Is it lawfull for the minister of the worde of God to lye to beare with the wicked affects of the people which paraduenture would take it in ill parte eyther to be taught or to be stirred vp to doe well or to be accused Doubtles I thinke that in yâ Churche were many very weake members which were infected with those vices which haue bene reproued of the Apostle Wherefore the thinges which are here written nothing pertaine to those members But it is likely that amongste them were many most perfect and most holy men which were aboundantly adorned of the holy Ghost both with muche knowledge and with honest maners To these men the Apostle referreth this parte of his talke Neither here only doth he after this maner write but also in the first to the CorinthiaÌs For he saith through him ye are enriched in all thinges in all kinde of speache and in all knowledge so that ye are not destitute of any gift These things was not Paul afeard to pronounce of the Corinthians who yet did néede to be taught what giftes of God were more excellent then others and to be confirmed touching the resurrection and to be admonished to abstaine from fornication to excommunicate the incestuous person to vse the supper of the Lorde rightly not to prefer themselues before others because of theyr institutions and a great many such like things which vndoubtedly he ought not to haue written if all the members of that Church had bene by the holy ghost so adorned with the gifts of God and with knowledge that they wanted nothing And if the case were so then what shold we now at this day loke for that our people should in all poynts be perfect Which yet I would not that any man shoulde thinke I speake as thoughe I were of this mind that the slouthfulnes and negligence of pastors is to be borne withall For euen as at that time they which were of the excellenter sorte mought by very good right be adorned with great praises for that they coÌtinually labored in admonishing teaching and enstructing others for Paul and the rest of the Apostles omitted nothing which was to be done for the common saluation so ought these men to behaue themselues to the ende these Apostolicall prayses might iustly be applied vnto them also Origen somewhat curiously Whether any may be truly sayd to be full of al goodnes The apostle with that that he beganne this epistle with the same Iâ say enbeth it enquireth how they are sayd to be ful of all goodnes and knowledge when as there is none in this life which is without all maner of faulte and we nowe sée through a glasse only in a riddle And to contract al his sayings into a few words he sayth that these things are to be expounded according to the small measure of this life and according to the degrée and time of euery mannes conuersion
I shall take my iorney into Spayne I wyll come vnto you For I trust to se you in my iorney and to be brought on my way thitherward by you after that I haue bene somwhat filled with your company Therefore also I haue bene oft let to come vnto you The Romans mought by these wordes haue suspected that Paul had contemned them when as he being appointed of God to be the minister of the Gentles had yet notwithstanding in bestowing the benefite and office of hys preaching preferred other nacions before The cause why Paul went not at the beginning to Rome them This was not the cause sayth Paul But forasmuch as ye had alredy heard the Gospell and your fayth was now published thoroughout the whole world but in these places Christ was not yet preached I was hitherto letted by the ministery committed vnto me that I could not come vnto you Paul before in the beginning of this epistle mencioned this selfe same thing I had purposed oftentimes sayd he to come vnto you but hetherto I haue bene letted But there saith Chrisostome he spake nothing of the cause but here he sheweth it namely for that he was stayed in those places which he could not leaue before that he had filled them with the Gospell And what was the cause why he went not to the Thessalonians when yet his desire was thereunto he declared in the epistle which he wrote vnto them For he sayth that Sathan was a let vnto him but he alleadgeth not the planting of new Churches And this difference of causes Origen noteth But I sée also an other cause why the Apostles somtimes were compelled to do contrary to that which they had appoynted in their mynde the admonishment I say of yâ holy ghost Touching which thing we read in yâ 16. of the Actes As we passed through Phrigia and the countrey of Galatia we were prohibited by the holy ghost to preach the word in Asia And again in yâ same place They assayed to go into Bithinia but the holy ghost permitted them not But Ambrose sheweth yâ there was also an other cause why Paul so earnestly enforced himselfe to preach the Gospell there Why Paul made such spâde in going about countrey where Christ had not ben heard of namely to preuent yâ false Apostles For if they had gotteÌ into those places before theÌ they would not haue taught Christ very sincerely and if they had once sowed pestilent errors the Apostle succeding them should haue had much more a doo to bring them to good ground agayne For those nations must nedes afterward not only haue learned but also must haue taught to put away the errors wherwith theyr corrupt teachers had enfected them But now seing I haue no more place in these quarters c. He sayth that he had iust cause which letted him that he could not come to Rome Now he putteth theÌ in hope of his comming which was next to be spoken of For if I depart hence now sayth he I shall not doo otherwise then my office ⪠requireth And that shall then be after that in these quarters there shal be no more place wherein I haue not built a Church And I haue a great desire to se you Which thing I hope shal shortly come to passe But here the Romanes mought say doost thou then contemn the state of the Apostleshippe and doost thou count it for nothing to come vnto vs to whome the Gospell is alredy preached and doost thou ouerhippe those which as yet haue heard nothing of Christ Paul answereth it shal not be so ⪠But forasmuch as sayth he there is nothing as yet bestowed vpoÌ the Spaniards and their whole countrey lieth open for me I thinke now to goo into that countrey And so it shall come to passe that I will come by you that I may a few dayes solace my selfe in the Lord and in the purenes of your fayth and your louing confabulation and spirituall familiarity Here let vs note the obedience of the Apostle which preferred the necessary condition of the Apostleship which was such that it behoued him to go not whither he would but whither nede required before his so great a desire to se the Romanes although the same desire were very iust and honest Erasmus noteth that the Apostle taketh away from this woord Hispania the first sillable For he writeth Spania And paraduenture they so speake in Grecia And when he wrote these letters he was at Corinthus in Achaia But we also at this day in Italy call that contrey no otherwise then Paul doth For we say Spagnia and Spagninolo vtterly cutting of the first sillable For I trust to se you in my iorney and to be brought on my way thitheâ warde by you after that I haue bene somewhat filled with your coÌpany The Apostle desireth not only to haue yâ fruition of theyr godly and swete familiarity at Rome but also that after he had satisfied both his and theyr desire he might by them be Why Paul desired to be brougât on his way in to Spâine by the Romanes brought into Spayne not that he was affected to any pompe or gorgeous shewes or that he desired as at this day the Popes and Cardinalls doo to bee brought on his way with honour but that euen in the iorney might by them that went with him to communicate his doctrine and exhortations to the Church of Rome and to others For it can not be doubted but that they which would accompanie him in his iorney would obserue and note all things which by the way they eyther heard of him or saw in him that when they came home they might declare the same edifie the Church more firmely It is likely also that Paul forasmuch as he had occasion to trauayle into sondry countries and which were far distant would chiefly picke out such companions as were well knowen in those places cities which they should trauayle thorough that by them might be opened a more redier entrance to preach the Gospell For although the truth of Christ haue no nede of mans helpe but that it can consist without it yet notwithstanding for the more commodious spreading of it abrode it is lawfull for a godly man to vse familiarities frendshippes and societies For he knoweth that all his thinges ar Gods and Christs after that he hath once vtterly geuen and consecrated himselfe vnto him We find also in the latter epistle to the Corinthians the first chapiter that Paul when he should go to IerusaleÌ desired to be brought on his way by them to whom he wrote that epistle But whether the Apostle according to his hope went into Whether the Apostle went into Spaine Spayne and by that occasion visited the Romanes it can not by these woords certainely be gathered For the godly sometimes promise vnto themselues many thinges and that with a godly and iust desire which yet haue not successe for they were by coniecture led that it should
are committed to a mans charge to be caried are commonly sealed vp that it may the certainlier be knowen that they are all whole and without fraude rendred to theÌ which ought to haue theÌ which seales if they be vnbroken whole theÌ is his fidelity yâ brought theÌ discharged Wherfore Paul by this kind of speachment to signifie his innocency simplicitie vpright dealing touching this mooney For meÌ are yâ willinger redier to bestow theyr goods vpon yâ poore if they vnderstaÌd yâ they shal Almes is called fruit be administred faythfully He here calleth almes by the name of fruite which he before called a communion or communication and that for many and iust causes First for that after the Gospell is sowed and receaued with a pure and liuely faith straight way is geuen iustification before God Then is it requisite that there followe some fruite both of a pure and perfect life and also loue towardes our neighbours that there may be had some assured signification of our inward righteousnes Moreouer those almes are called friute for that such liberality was fruitefull to those nations which dealt so louingly with the poore saynts Last of all that communion semed to bring to them of Ierusalme some fruite of theyr piety For he which putteth his trust in Christ and professeth him when he is in extreante troubles although he haue a reward in heauen yet here also oftentimes when it semeth good to God he reaâeth such fruites Further lest the Romanes should suspect that the time would be very long and vncertayne before Paul would come vnto them therefore when he speaketh these thinges he setteth and appointeth a certayne time So soone sayth he as I haue performed this which I am in hand with I will come vnto you Agayne he maketh meÌcion of his iorney into Spaine which although he accomplished not yet ought not Paul therefore to be reproued of an vntruth For this is sufficient to discharge his faith that when he wrât those It is not â lie except it be done with amind to deceiue letters he purposed the same thing is his mind which he wrote For no mortall man hath the euents of thinges in his owne hand But to the full and perfect nature of a lie as Augustine testifieth is required a will to deceaue And thereof we haue a manifest testimony in the latter to the Corinthians The same thing touching this matter writeth Gelasius in the 22. the 2. question For sayth he so much as his will was then to doo he pronounced that he would in dede performe For I know that when I come I shall come to you with fulnes of the blessing of the Gospell of Christ Chrisostome semeth at the first sight to referre this fullnes of blessing to almes for that Paul many times caled them by that name which Almes are a blessing thing I thinke he did according to the custome of the old scripture wherein a gift or reward is oftentimes called a blessing For Iacob desired Esau to vouchafe to receaue the blessing which he had sent before him And Abigail desired Dauid to receaue the blessing which she brought And Dauid sayd to the elders of Iuda Receaue ye the blessing of the pray of the enemies of the Lord. And so the meaning of this place that Paul hopeth that wheÌ he shall come to Rome he shall find layd vp with them a great and plentifull almes for the poore which he here calleth a blessing This sence were apt inough but that this woord of the Gospell is added which is a let thereunto After that Chrisostome had peysed that woord he at the length leneth this way to interpretate blessing for the aboundance of all vertues and good A demonstratiue kinde of speach vsed for a deliberatiue woorkes and they without doubt are a most plentifull blessing of the Gospell namely that they which beleue should shine most brightly with excellent woorks Chrisostome also is of this mind yâ Paul by a certaine spiritual prudence coÌmendeth those things in yâ Romanes wherunto he chiefly exhorted theÌ And this is much vsed amongst yâ best lerned orators to vse a demoÌstratiue kind of spech for a deliberatiue kind But Ambrose expoundeth yâ aboundance of the blessing of yâ Gospel to be a confirmation of the dectrine of yâ Gospel by miracles Origen addeth yâ this pertaineth to yâ gift of prophesieng as though Paul should prophesie that he should come to Rome with most excellent gifts This exposition disliketh me not and especially when I consider with my selfe those wordes which were before cited out of the 19. chapiter of the Actes For Luke in that place saith that Paule purposed in spirite to goe to Rome And he might boldly promise vnto himself that he should bring aboundaunce of spirituall giftes who knew assuredly that vnto him was graunted the grace of the Apostleship which he doubted not but that it shold amongst them Wherof coÌmeth the fruite of preaching be fruitfull And I thinke that no man is ignorant but that the fruit of preaching is sometime muche holpen by the piety of him that preacheth and sometimes by the simple and pure faith of the hearers although in very déede all whole ought to be ascribed to the power force and working of God Also brethren I beseche you for our Lord Iesus Christes sake through the loue of the spirit that ye helpe me in my busines with your prayers to God for me That he wold dâliuer me from the vnbeleuers in Iury and that this my ministery which I will doe at Ierusalem may be acceptable to the saintes That I may come to you with ioy by the will of God and may together with you be refreshed The God of peace be with you all Amen I beseche you brethren c. The force of this obsecration or prayer is héereby made plaine for that it is set forth not only through the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ then which there ought to be vnto vs nothing more holy but therewithall The spirit of loue also is mingled the loue of the spirite And this particle throughe the loue of the spirite is all one I thinke as if he had sayd through the spirite of loue For as in Esay is mention made of the spirite of strength of wisedome of fear of counsel c. to geue vs to vnderstande that all the excellent faculties or powers of the minde come from the spirite of God so here is mention made of that gifte of the holy Ghost whose helpe Paul most néeded namely that the Romains should with a feruent loue pray vnto God for him Verely the corrupt affects of our vnclene nature doe so draw and plucke vs one from an other that vnles we be holpen by the bond of the holy Ghost we can not be ioyned together with a true and holy society and if that society want then shall there vtterly be no fruit of mutuall prayer It may
a frowning couÌtenance and with bitter opprobrious woordes This is a paradoxe of Christian philosophy a doctrine intolerable vnto the fleshe that we should with a valiant minde tollerate iniuries although they be vniustly inflicted vpoÌ vs and Paradoxes of christian philosophy that we should not cease to doo good vnto them which haue our trauayle and diligence in suspicion and beare a deadly hatred against vs. But it is meruaile how Paul calleth them saintes who beare vnto him no great good fauour But he saw that with faith and iustification is ioyned very great infirmitie and that oftentimes With iustification is oftentimes ioyned greâ infirmity it happeneth that holy men haue no vpright iudgement touching thynges humane either for that they are not rightly enstructed or els for yâ they are fraudulently seduced by others That I may come with ioy vnto you by the will of God and may together vvith you be refreshed This is the ende why he wished to be deliuered namâly that he might be with the Romanes and others whome he might by his diligence and labour helpe in the aduancing of the Gospell Herein Paul placed all his consolation Let the ministers now go and boast of their riches and reuenues and commodities omitting in the meane tyme the apostolicall office of doctrine of preaching of labours and of troubles For herein doth Paul put his solace rest This also is to be noted the lowlines and modesty which Paul vseth wheÌ he speaketh these thinges For he saith not that I may teach admonishe instruct correct you but that I may comforte and refresh my selfe with you This is it which he sayd at the beginning of this epistle To confirme you that is that I might be comforted together with you thorough that fayth which is common both yours and mine The God of peace be with you all Amen He last of all wisheth vnto them peace and that no common peace but the peace of God which ought truely to be called the chiefe good thing For as Paul in an other place sayth it passeth all vnderstanding With peace he began his epistle and with peace he endeth the same And when as he himselfe could not as yet be with them he wisheth yâ they might haue with them the God of peace that is God pacified and mercifull for so signifieth this particle the God of peace The sixtenth Chapiter I Commend vnto you Phebe our sister which is a seruaunt of the Church of Cenchrea That ye receaue her in the Lord as it becommeth saintes and that ye asist her in whatsoeuer busines she nedeth of your ayde for she hath geuen hospitality to many and to me also I commend vnto you Phebe our sister Men thinke that this holy wooman What maner of ministery Phebe had in the church caried this epistle of Paul to Rome She had bene a minister in the Church of cenâhrea not indede in teaching publikely but in looking to the poore which were susteyned at the charges of the Church And what maner of widowes either as touching age or as touching maners were required to that charge it is at large set forth in the epistle to Timothe By what maner of meanes she was an helpe vnto Paul we know not But it is inough for vs out of this testimony of Paul to vnderstand that she had oftentimes bene beneficiall both to many others and also to Paul himself She is here thrée ways commended for that she was a sister for that she was a minister and for that she had geuen hospitalitie to many others and to Paul also Wherunto also may be added that she was holy For Paul streight way Phebe thre waies coÌmended addeth as it becommeth saints Hereby it is manifest yâ Christians that are strangers ought not only therefore to be receaued for that they are brethern but also for that they pertayne to God as saynts and wholy dedicated vnto him Cenchrea is a towne nighe vnto Corinthe and a port or hauen longing to that towne Neither is it to be meruailed at that Paul here coÌmendeth a woman for he also wrotâ letters of commendation to Phâlemon for Onesimus his bondman Salute Prisca and Aquila my fellow helpers in Christ Iesus which haue for my life laid downe their owne necke vnto whom not only I geue thankes but also all the churches of the Gentles Likewise greete the church that is in their house Salute my welbeloued Epenetus whiche is the first fruites of Achaia in Christ Salute Mary which bestowed much labour on vs. Salute Andronicus and Iunia my cosins and fellow prisoners which are notable Amongst the Apostles and were in Christ before me Salute Amplias my beloued in the Lorde Salute Vrbanus our fellow helper in Christ and Stachis my beloued Salute Appelles approued in Christ Salute them whiche are of Aristobulus house Salute Herodian my kinsman Salute them whiche are of the frendes of Narcissus which are in the Lord. Salute Triphena Triphosa which women labour in the Lord. Salute the beloued Persis which woman hath laboured much in the Lorde Salute Râfus chosen in the Lord and his mother and mine Greete Asyncritus Plegon Hermas Patrobas Mercurius and the brethren which are with them Salute Philologus and Iulias Nereas and his sister and Olimpas and al the saints which are with theÌ Salute one an other with an holy kisse All the Churches of Christ Salute you Salute Prisca ⪠and Aquila This woman Prisca the wife of Aquila is called of Luke in the 18. chapiter of the Actes Priscilla Her husband Aquila was borne in Pontus but as touching his stocke he was a Iew and he was of the same art or science that Paul was But why he setteth the woman before the man we know not but hereby it is manifest that the loue of ech of them was notable when as for Pauls sake they did put theyr life in danger Wherefore the Apostle coÌfesseth that not only he himsefe is much in theyr debt but also all the churches of the Gentils For it was euââât that they had doone a great benefit to them all in that they had preserued Paul theyr teacher and maister Neyther is this to be passed ouer with silence that he calleth the man and the wife his helpers and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which commonly they cal felow workers And â not without a cause For they instructed in yâ way of the lord Apollo a Iew one that had very great knowledge in the law as it is writen in the 18 chap. of yâ Actes All these which are there named Paul hath adorned with most excâllent titles Which if a man diligently consider conteyne nothing that is earthly or worldly but conteyne most excellent gifts and vertues What thinges ought to moue christians to loue one another which God had geuen vnto them that we might vnderstand what are the things that ought to moue vs to loue men If there be any which loue them that
these men Your obedience This he therfore addeth least by reason of this adnioâition he might séeme to haue no good opinion of them And this in déede is the common interpretation But I like very wel that which Origen sayth that here is couertly reproued the ouermuch easenes and redines of the Romaines to beleue For yâ redynes putteth liers and false Prophets in hope to deceiue them Wherefore he exhorteth them not so easely to suffer them selues to be deceiued Which exposition yet if any man shall thinke not to agrée with this that foloweth I am glad therfore of you we ought to vnderstand that it is better to offend on that behalf For if they should haue true doctrine taught them and sound teachers there shold follow very great fruit Wherfore hâ exhorteth them and stirreth them vp to prudence namely to heare with iudgement and to try examine those things which are spoken before that they beleue them I would haue you sayth he wise to that which is good and simple concerning euill as if he should say Be ye without guil and fraud and be not crafty and subtil to deceiue and to doe iniuryes Paule requyreth at theyr hands simplicity but yet ioyned with prudence he requireth also prudeÌce but yet a simple prudence So Christ sayde Be ye prudent as serpentes and simple as doues Wherfore let no man boast of the ignorance of the scriptures or of the want of knowledge in doctrine or of vnskilfulnes in doing of thinges as thoughe this should be counted vnto him a praise For God will haue vs vnskilful to committe things vniust but prudent wary circumspect industrious to finde out to iudge and to performe those things which are good And the God of peace shall tread Sathan vnder your fete shortly Out of this notable promise the Romanes in times past mought and we at this day may receiue We are made sure of the victory most swéete consolation and confirme our selues valiantly to fighte séeing that we are assured of the victory He promiseth that the troubles dissentions and offences wherewith the Church of Rome was troubled should be diminished and broken and therewithall also sheweth that all our temptatioÌs are to be ouercome by the strength and helpe of God There is no small emphasis in this word Conterere that is to treade vnder For it is vsed in those things which are so broken that they can by no meanes be restored againe But this perfect full and absolute victory we haue not in this life For here the deuil still renueth warre against the seruaunts of God Therefore some thought that this saying of Paul is to be referred to the comming of Christ which for that Paul beleued to be euen at the dores therfore he addeth shortly But Ambrose thinketh that this is to be vnderstanded of Paules comming to Rome For by it they should so be confirmed that all impediments of saluation should vtterly be expelled But I thinke neyther of those expositions to be of necessity For we may simply vnderstand that Sathan shall be ouercome and so ouercome that he shal no more be able to do any thing to hinder our saluation And Paule by this kinde of speche séemeth elegaÌtly to allâde to that which is written in Genesis that the serpent in déede should bruse the héele but his head should be broken in pieces by the séede of the woman Which thing for as much as Christ hath performed he hath also geuen power to his members to be able to doe the same In Luke the 10. chapiter the disciples sayd vnto Christ Euen Lord the deuils also are through thy name subiecte vnto vs. Vnto whome Christe answered I saw Sathan like lightning fal downe from heauen Behold I geue vnto you power to treade vpon Serpents and Scorpious and ouer all the power of the enemy And yet is not this victory to be taken in this sense as though henceforth we shal no more be assaulted with temptations for oftentimes temptations are profitable for vs. And Temptations are profitable for vâ lest we shald geue ouâ selues to idleâes euen when we are in to much security and haue all things quiet and in tranquillity God himself stirreth vp vnto vs an aduersary that our strength being at conflict with him should not waxe heauy in slouthfulnes but should with a godly exercise be stirred vp The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with you Vnder the name of grace he comprehendeth both the fauor of God towards his and also the effectes thereof that is sundry giftes and faculty and endowmentes All which vnder one word he wisheth vnto the Romanes Towardes the end of the chapiter going before he wished vnto them peace saying The God of peace be with you all Here he wisheth vnto them grace that forasmuch as he had begonne thys epistle with these words Grace vnto you and peace so also he mought wyth the selfe same wordes end it Timotheus my fellow worker and Lucius and Iason and Sosipater my kinsemen salute you I Tertius which wrote thys epistle salute you in the Lord. Gaius myne host and the host of the whole Church saluteth you Erastus the receauer of the City saluteth you and so doth Quartus a brother The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with you all Amen Timotheus my fellovv worker saluteth you Before with great diligence he reckoned vp those whome he would haue at Rome to be saluted in his name now also he reckeneth vp those which send salutacions vnto them And before that we come to the rehersall of theÌ this is not to be passed ouer that amongst those which No mencioÌ is made of Peter dwelled at Rome and were saluted of Paul no mencion at all is made of Peter who if he had then ben at Rome it is not likely that Paul would haue ouerhipped him For these so diligently whome he sendeth salutacions were much inferior to him Of Timothe I will speake nothing For his name is famous both in the Epistes of Paul and in the Actes of the Apostles And this semeth to be sufficient to the commendacion of him that Paul oftentimes calleth him his sonne and his naturall Lucius peraduenture is Luke sonne And in this place he calleth him fellow worker Lucius This man Origen supposeth to be Luke whose name is drawen of Paul to the forme of the names of the Romanes Iason Of this man is large and manifest mention made in the Actes of the Apostles the 17. chapiter The Iewes that were at Thessalonia were troublesom vnto him and accused him vnto the Magestrate for that he had geueÌ lodging and harbrough to Paul and Silas Sosipater This man paraduenture as Origen thinketh is that Sosipater the son of Pirrhus of Berea of whome also Luke maketh mencion in the Actes I tertius which wrote this epistle salute you in the Lord. Tertius sayth Ambrose not in nomber but in name No man is ignoraÌt but that the Romanes were called
Tertii Quarti Quinti Sexci c. Neyther executed this maÌ any small office in that he was the scribe or secretary of Paul Gaius mine host and the host of the whole Church saluteth you It must nedes be that this was a good and godly man For the Lord commaunded his disciples that when they came into any citie they should first of all looke whome they thought to be a mete man with whome they might be might abide Wherfore seing yâ Paul was most diligent in obseruing the coÌmaundements of the lord he would not vndoubtedly leue this vndoone Hereout may we gather the worthines of Gaius This Gaius Ambrose thinketh to be that man to whome Iohn the Apostle wrote reioysing of his loue and dewties which he shewed towards the faithfull And vndoubtedly it was a great token of religion and piety to bestow hospitality not only vpon Paul but also vpon the whole church This is he sayth Origen of whome Paul sayth to the Corrinthians I geue thankes to God that I baptised none of you but Crispus and Gaius and he addeth that it was an old tradition that this maÌ was afterward Bishop of Tessalonia Erastus the receauer of the citie saluteth you Although the magestrateshipps and dignities of this world encrease not the fayth of Christ yet forasmuch as Paul knew that they are certayne ornaments of piety he would not reiect them So to the Phillippians They which are of the house of Cesar salute you The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with you all Amen He agayne wisheth vnto theÌ the selfe same thing that he before wished not that yâ repeticion there of is vayne but to declare that it is a thing moste necessary and most oftentimes to be prayed for To him now that is of power to establish you according to my Gospell and preaching of Iesus Christ by the reuelation of the mistery which was kept secret since the world began but now is opened and published among all nations according to the scriptures of the prophets according to the ordinance of God for the obedieÌce of fayth to him I say only wise be prayse thorough Iesus Christ for euer Amen To him that is of power to confirme you This part wanteth in some books and in some is put at the end of the 14. chapiter streight way after these woordes Whatsoeuer ie not of fayth is sinne But now it is red in the last place of this epistle neyther will we alter that order Marcion as Origen telleth vtterly reiected certayne Marcion reiected the two last chapiters of this epistle We caÌ not render glory vnto God but thorough Christ epistles of Paul ⪠and other some of them he so alowed that yet he would not admitte them but only mayned and gelded So he vtterly reiected the two last chapiters of this epistle Wherefore in the bookes that he corrupted this pârt vtterly wanted But we together with other sound and catholike interpreters wholy allow these woordes which he hath cut of therfore wil we interprete theÌ Paul is with a great zeale of piety moued to the end his epistle with the prayses glory of God To him sayth he which is only wise be prayse thorough Iesus Christ for euer We can not render prayse and glory vnto God but thorough Christ For as thorough hym are deriued all giftes vnto vs so on the other side thorough the selfe same are referred prayses and thankes geuing from vs to GOD. Wherfore they which beleue not in Iesus Christ do neither vnderstaÌd not set forth the true God How God iâ wise from whome all good thinges come He is onelye wise For he is not as sayth Origen wise by wisedome as men commonly are but therefore he is wise for that he begeteth wisedome not only in that he hath brought forth his only sonne but also for that by his breathing and spirite he maketh vs wise VVhich is able to confirme you Forasmuch as we are weake and infirme we haue perpetually nede of confirmation Wherefore Paul sheweth vnto vs the fountayne from whence we ought to seke it And he prudently inculcateth thys and especially to the Romanes for that as we haue sayd they were troubled with sondry discordes amongst themselues According to my Gospell and preaching of Iesus Christ Hereby it is manifest God confirmeth his by the gospell that God confirmeth his not by humain inuentions or traditioÌs or by the law but by the Gospel which vndoubtedly is nothing ells but the preaching of Christ According to the reuelatioÌ of the mistery which was kept secret since the world began but now is reuealed By this preuention he answereth to theyr cogitacions which suspected the Gospell to be a new doctrine It is not so sayth he For it The gospell is no new doctrine was before the world began but it was hidden with sileÌce kept secret a long time But why God euen froÌ the beginning reuealed vnto some of the fathers although indede to a very few so great a secret namely that all mankind should by so wonderfull a meanes be renewed and saued by Christ and why he opened this vnto the people of the Iewes only and that no otherwise then in shadowes and prophesies we can not by our coniectures and vnderstandinges attayne vnto For God according to his most high liberty and wisdome shewed this secret both when and to whome and in what sort he himselfe would According to the vvritinges of the prophets This he addeth lest any man should suspect and count weake the new reueling of this mistery It hath the testimony of the Prophets According the ordinance of God That which we now sayd namely that this mistery was not reuealed by mans inuention or wisedome but only by the hidden will of God he now in these wordes confirmeth For the obedience of fayth Last of all he putteth the end why the Gospel was reueled namely that men should beleue it and by that meanes be saued Amongst all nations As touching this preaching of the Gospell there was no acception of persons Christe sent his Apostles to preach thoroughout the whole world ⧠The ende of the Commentarie of D. Peter Martir vpon S. Paules Epistle to the Romaines ¶ Faithfully perused by M. Dauid Whitehead ⧠A diligent Index or table of the most notable thinges matters and wordes contayned in this whole worke A ABacucke the prophete is expounded 16. 17 Abraham is iustified 71. 72. 75. is the heyre of the worlde 88. is like vnto God 92. Aarons ornaments brought in againe by the Papists 448 Accademians error 20 Achab solde him selfe to the deuill 171 Acception of persons 255 Actuall sinnes are the fruits of originall sin 151 Adam was not deceiued 110 Aduersities profiteth the godly 224 Affections grafted in man when hee was created 29 Affection of the fleshe 196 Affects are diuers 176 Afflictions are not euill 99 Afflictions are to be extenuated 211 Almes called a Communion 451 Almes are called a
affirme that by regeneration is takeÌ away the guiltines of sinnes For although these vices remayne both as the scripture testefieth and also as experience teacheth yet their bond and guiltines is taken away Wherfore Augustine oftentymes saith that lust in dede remayneth but the guiltines therof is by Christ takeÌ away And he addeth that somtimes it coÌmeth to pas that the act and worke of sinne passeth away as we see it is in theft and in adultery but the guiltines notwithstandyng abideth and sometymes it commeth to passe that the guiltines is takeÌ away but the fault remayneth Which is plaine to be sene touching this lust wherof we speake It remayneth in dede but yet we cannot by it be as guilty condemned to eternall death If thou demaund why it is called sinne when as the guiltines is taken away I aunswer bicause in that it is not imputed vnto vs it hath not that of his owne nature for as touching his owne nature as we haue before taught it deserueth death and damnation but this commeth by an other meanes namely of the mercy of God through Christ But euery thing ought to be considered by it selfe and of his own nature Wherfore seyng the proper nature of sinne Euery thinge ought to be considered by his owne nature is to striue against the law of God and this thing we sée to come to passe in this lust and in these first motions therfore they ought to be called sinnes Neither by this our sentence do we fall into that folishnes which the Pelagians vpbrayded vnto Augustine and to other of the catholikes as though they should say that by regeneration The PelagiaÌâ bââided vnto catholikes folishnes is not blotted out sinne but only rased For when heares are shauen there remaine still vnder the skinne the rootes of the heares by which they grow vp againe For although we affirme that in men regenerate remaine still lust A similitude corrupt motions yet do we not deny but that God is perfectly reconciled vnto vs. Wherfore although of their owne nature they are sinnes yet by the mercy of God they are so blotted out that they now vtterly cease to be imputed wherfore if we As touchinge imputation sinnes are vtterly taken is regeneration haue a respect vnto imputation there remayneth nothing of them Last of al they obiect vnto vs that we do iniury vnto Augustine when we say that he affirmeth these to be sinnes when as he interpreteth himself that they are called sinnes improperly For as a scripture or writing is called a hand for that it is done with the hand so that these called sinnes for that they come from original sinne and as cold Why Augustine calleth these motioÌs sinnes is called slouthfull for that it maketh vs slouthfull so are these called sinnes for yâ they stirre vs vp to sinnes but yet properly they are not sinnes So say they Augustine by this meanes doth not only interpretate himselfe why he calleth these sinnes but also hath geuen vnto vs a way how we ought to vnderstand Paul wheÌ he calleth these sinnes Hereunto we aunswer first that if either Augustine or any other of the fathers do deny that these are sinnes that is to be vnderstand by When the fathers say that these motioÌs ar not sinnes they vnderstand that they are not actual sinnes way of comparison if they be compared with actuall sinnes but not that the nature of sinne can wholy be taken away from them Which thing Augustine in another place most plainly declareth For against Iulianus in his 6. booke 8. chap. For it is not sayth he no iniquity when in one man eyther the superiour partes are after a vile maner seruantes vnto the inferiour partes or the inferiour partes after a vile maner resist the superiour partes although they be not suffred to get the maistry Seyng that he calleth this sinne iniquitie he plainly declareth that vnto it is agreable the nature of sinne which we before described And in his 5. booke agaynst the same Iulianus He expressedly calleth these motioÌs sinnes and affirmeth thâ to be iniquities the third chapiter he thus writeth The luste of the fleshe agaynst which the good spirite lusteth is sinne for that in it is a disobedience agaynst the gouernment of the mind and it is a punishement of sinne for that it is rendred vnto the merites of the disobedient person and it is a cause of sinne thorough the falling away of hym that sinneth Here we sée that lust is of Augustine thrée maner of wayes called sinne Neither Note these wordes of Augustine can it be sayd that he writeth these thinges of a man not regenerate For he expressedly saith Against which the good spirite lusteth For in the wicked is not the spirite of God which striueth against lustes Wherfore we haue out of Augustine thrée places one which we before cited out of his 5. booke de libero Arbitrio and Lust remayning in vs is truly and properly sinne two against Iulianus wherin he expressedly confesseth that lust is sinne and bringeth a reason why he so thinketh Neither oughte our aduersaries as touchynge the interpretacion of Paul to runne vnto a figure to say that this is not properly to be called sinne For both out of Paul and out of other places of the scripture is brought good reason why lust is truly and properly called sinne And it is to be woÌdred at that these men otherwise are euery where so prone to figures when as in this one proposition This is my body they so much abhorre from al kind of figures when as yet notwithstanding a figure is there most conuenient And if thou desire other testimonies of the fathers wherby to proue that lust is sinne we haue before cited Ierome vpon Mathew And there are in Augustine against Iulianus found cited a great many other sentences of the auncient fathers All which make wholy on our side But now let vs come to the exposition of the 8. chapter The eight Chapter FOrasmuch as nowe there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus which walke not after the flesh but after the spirite For the lawe of the spirite of lyfe which is in Christ Iesus hath made me fre froÌ the law of sinne and of death For as much as in this chapiter are entreated many notable things it shall The Method of this chapt not be amisse to deuide the summe of them into the partes thereof Firste Paul remoueth away condemnation which he sayth is taken away by the Lawe of the spirite of life which spirite we haue obteyned by the benefite of the death of Christ And this liberty promiseth he not indifferentlye vnto all men but only vnto those whiche are in Christe and walke not accordinge vnto the fleshe but according to the spirite For they which seperate them selues from Christ can not be pertakers of his benefite TheÌ he addeth that we by this spirit are
pertakers not only of the death of the Lord but of his resurrectioÌ also for forasmuch as Christ was by it raysed vp from the dead as many as are endewed with the same spirite shall likewise be raysed vp from the dead For that cause he exhorteth vs by the spirite to mortefye the deades of the flesh that we may be made pertakers of euerlasting life Thirdly he amplifieth and adorneth this state and condition which by the spirite of Christ we haue obteyned namely that now we are by adoption made the children of God that we are moued by this spirit and made strong against aduersities to suffer all afflictions Which prayses serue not a little to quicken our desire that we should desire to be dayly more aboundantly enriched with this spirite Fourthly he confuteth those which obiected that state to seme miserable and vnhappy in which the faythfull of Christ liue For they are continually excercised with aduersities so that euen they also which haue the first fruites of the spirite are compelled to mourne And he writeth that by this meanes these thinges come to passe for that as yet we haue not obteyned an absolute regeneration nor perfect saluatioÌ for we haue it now but only in hope which when time shall serue that is in the end of the worlde shall be made perfect Fiftly he teacheth that notwithstaÌding those euills which doo enclose vs in on euerye side yet our saluation is neuertheles sure for the prouidence ⪠of God whereby we are predestinâte to eternall felicity can nether be chaunged nor yet in any poynte fayle And by this prouidence sayth he it commeth to passe that vnto vs which loue God all thinges turne to good and nothing can hurt vs forasmuch as God hath geuen vnto vs his sonne and together with hym all thinges wherefore seing the father iustifieth vs and the sonne maketh intercession for vs there is nothing which can make vs afrayd Lastly he sayth that yâ loue of God towards vs is so greate that by no creature it can be plucked from vs. Hereby it is manifest of how greate force the spirite of adoption is wherewith we are sealed so long as we wayte for the perfection of our felicity And these thinges serue wonderfully to proue that our iustification consisteth not of workes but of fayth and of the meare and free mercy of God This is the summe of al that which is coÌtained in the doctrine of this chap. As touching the first part the Apostle alledgeth that condemnation is now takeÌ away which he proueth bycause we are endewed with the spirite of Christe But this deliuery he promiseth vnto those only which are in Christ Wherfore seing it is manifest what his proposition or entent is now let vs se howe these thinges hange together with those which are alredy spoken Toward the end of the former chap Paul cried out twise first when he sayd Vnhappy man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death And by the figure Aposiopesis he expressed not the deliuerer but here he sayth that that deliuerer is the Lawe The law of the spirit and life deliuereth of the spirite and of life Farther in that place with greate affection he sayd I geue thankes vnto God through Iesus Christe our lorde nether declared he wherfore he gaue thankes But nowe he playnly expresseth the cause For he sayth that now there remayneth no condemnation and that we are deliuered from the Thankes are to be geuen for that there remayneth in vs no coÌmendation Law of sinne and of death This is it for which he gaue thaÌks Lastly he added how that in minde he serued the law of God but in flesh the law of sinne Now he more playnly expresseth what that is namely to be in Christ and not to walke according to the flesh but according to the spirite Hereby it manifestly appeareth how aptly these thinges are knit together with those which are alredy spoken The Apostle seemeth thus to speake Althoughe sinne and the corruption of nature where wyth the godlye are vexed be as it is alredye sayde styll remayninge in them yet is there no daunger that it shoulde brynge condemnation vnto men regenerate for they are holpen by the spirite of Christe wherewith they are now endewed And euen as before he aboundantly entreated of the violence and tiranny of sinne which it vseth against vs being vnwittinge What thinges auayle to know our selues and vnwilling thereunto so now on the other side he teacheth what the spirite of Christ worketh in the Saintes Wherefore seing not only the holy scriptures but also the Ethnike writers do expressedly commaund that euery man shoulde knowe himselfe peraduenture there is scarse any other place out of whiche the A godly maÌ consisteth of two principles same may better be gathered then out of these two chapiters For a godly man consisteth of his owne corrupt and vitiate nature and also of the spirit of Christ because we haue before learned what yâ corruptioÌ of nature that is sinne woorketh in vs and now is declared what benefites of Christ we obtayne by his spirite by this may euery man as touching ether part know himselfe Vndoubtedly wonderfull great is the wisdome of the Apostle who when he wrote of the force of sin expressed it chiefely in his owne person to geue vs to vnderstand that there is no Why Paul chaungeth the persons in these two descriptioÌs man so holy which so long eas he liueth here is cleane ridde from sinne But afterward when he entreateth of the helpe of the spirite of Christ he bringeth in the person of other men least any man should thinke with himselfe that not all manner of Christians enioye this excellente helpe of God but onelye certaine principall and excellent men such as were the Apostles After these things which we haue before heard out of the seuenth chapter a man mought haue sayd forasmuch as we are so led away captiue of sinne and that by force and against our willes what hope can there be of our saluation Much saith Paul Forasmuch as now there is no condeÌnation to theÌ which are in Christ For by the spirite of Christ we are deliuered from the lawe of sinne and of death This reason is taken of the cause efficient whereby is not only proued that which was proposed but also euen the very carnell and inward pithe of our iustification is touched For although men being now iustified are so restored vnto the giftes of God that they begin to liue holily and do accomplishe some certayne obedience begonne of the lawe yet because in the iudgement of God they can not stay vpon them forasmuch as they are vnperfect and are not without fault of necessity it followeth that our iustification should herein consist Wherein consisteth iustificatioÌ âª namely to haue our sinnes forgeuen vs that is to be deliuered from the guiltines of them And this is it which