it is false and pepish doctrine to make obedience anie cause of our election when as Christ plainly sheweth their hearing following of him to be signes of their election putting the only cause of it in his fathers gift in the 29. verse Then also a childe may see this is nothing to the question for wee enquire not of the causes but of the certaintie of our election The latter part of his answere is in these words When as therefore we doo heare the voice of Christ and follow him then may we be sure that wee are his chosen sheepe which can neuer bee plucked out of his hand nor perish but that wee shall haue eternall life But when as we refuse to heare his voice and will not follow him but our owne fancies and euill lusts then may we be sure that we are not his chosen sheepe How this agreeth with the former part of his answere I refer it to the reader and what his crasie head here ran vpon I will not determine Only this sufficeth he granteth in these words an euerlasting certaintie of the state of those that are Christes chosen shéep therefore he granteth the argument of the place and so consequently the question Thus the Lord can make the enemies of his trueth to wound themselues Another of the places hee bringeth I acknowledge which is this The gifts and callings of God are without repentance His answere to this is That it was written to proue that though the Iewes were reiected and reprobated for a time yet at the last they should bee conuerted vnto Christ because God had from the beginning chosen them for their fathers sakes A lier is best knowne by his shifting and it is their propertie if they can possibly auoide it by circumstances they will neuer speake directly to the purpose as knowing they shal then be taken tardie So E. G. being pressed with the place aforesaid telleth vs a tale of the verse going before it in the text that of the Jewes shall also some be saued because they were chosen for their fathers and so cunningly passeth ouer the proofe of that reason which the Apostle yeldeth and which was now the question For the Apostle hauing rendred this reason why of y â— Jewes there should be saued to wit because there was of them elected for their fathers sakes hée sawe this néeded further proofe séeing men might think their election to be a matter of nothing to them that folowed not the footsteps of their godlie fathers Therefore in the 29. verse he confirmeth his former reason by this vniuersall and perpetuall principle For the gifts and calling of God are such as he cannot repent him of As though he should haue answered the former obiectioÌ„ in mens minds on this sort The gifts of God in the 9. Ch. 4. v. and his calling wherby he tooke vnto him this nation for his people in times past are not the gifts and calling of a man who is apt to repent him of his facts but they are of God who cannot be changed and is subiect to no repentance whereupon it followed that their election stood certaine and could not be disanulled by anie meanes Yet E. G. who presumed so much of his quicke sight that hee durst set downe these points and interprete diuers scriptures contrarie to the receiued iudgement and sense of the whole Church of GOD was so blinde in espying the consequence of this place that he asketh how this doeth prooue that he can neuer fall away from God that is once truely called and sanctified Certeinly hée shall neuer iudge colours for me that is not able to discerne one inch before his eies But lest he haue left any as dim eids as himselfe behinde him I will lend them these spectacles to make the letters greater Whatsoeuer is done not to be repented of for abideth euer vnremoueably but the gifts that God giueth and the calling wherewith he calleth his are done not to be repented of therefore they abide for euer vnremoueably And so consequently there is no breaking of anie more The parts are plaine and the argument I doubt not to auouch it against anie heretike inumcible Now to these arguments I wil adde two or three me not as my store for I protest I could fil a 〈◊〉 treatise with the proofes for this purpose nor yet as a thing verie needfull considering what hath béen said But for the desire I haue to satisfie all such as are not wilfully bent to contention E. G. hath granted before That they are certainly Christes chosen sheepe which heare his voice and follow him Now we take all the truely sanctified to be such therfore those whom we vnderstaÌ„d here for truely sanctified are all one with those E.G. accounteth the chosen sheep of Christ Herevpon let this be the third argument for the perseuerance of the saints They that cannot be seduced cannot fall awaie but the elect cannot be seduced if the word of Christ may bee taken 24. Math. 24. verse therefore the elect cannot fall away 4. Christ saith 4. 10. 14. verse Whosoeuer shall drink of the water that I wil giue him he shall not thirst for euer but that same water which I will giue him shall become in him a fountaine of water springing vnto eternall life Now what hee vnderstood by that water is explaned in the 7. of John 39. verse where it is said to be the spirite which Christ wold giue those that beleeued in him Wherhence I reason thus Whosoeuer haue the holy Ghost promised to abide in them for euer shall neuer fall away but all that truely beléeue in Christ haue this promise therfore they shal neuer fall away and so consequently the state of the saints is vnchaungeable 5. That blasphemous absurditie which before hée foolishly charged our doctrine withall touching the inward man of the regenerate shall most necessarily bée found the consequence of this his srensie For if the spirite of God may bee cleane put out in the saints as he most grosâ—y granteth how can it be auoyded but that he maketh the deuill mightier then God himselfe Christ indéed is that strong man that many times that is in all that are ordemed to life entreth by force and driueth Sathan out of his kingdom And although Sathan also cease not to assault the Cities of Christ that is the saints in whoÌ„ Christ owelleth by his spirite yea to batter some pinnacles or towers of the same yet that hee should be able to take the spoile of it â—â— cast out Christ the king and raign himself in hissteed is abhominable to be thought and ouermatcheth in measure the greatest blasphemie of the Papists 6. The golden chaine of so sure a making as the linkes can neuer be sundred in 8. Rom. 29. 30. verses warranteth vndoubtedly this doctrine vnto vs sith that iustification the lowest linke by the order of working is indissolubly coupled with glorification the highest linke for the assurance of
then these conclusions 1. That the regenerate hath not whilest this life endureth full freedom of his will 2. That he sinneth manie times But now E. G. fearing lest his naturall man would not be entertained of vs according to his speach hetherto giuen out in his recommendation séeketh colour to enter his suite againe by most vntruely charging our ministers and that without offering anie proofe to teach That the inner man of the regenerate is the spirite of God Which I can not thinke he did as hauing receiued it either by speach or writing from any of account on our side but because the Adamant rockes of frée will and mans abilitie had such power to worke his shipwracke and therefore he laboureth not onely to ouerthrow our supposed opinion of the inner man but also aboue all to establish the naturall man with as manie prerogatiues as we giue the regenerate man concerning a sanctified life that so by that meanes his regenerate man might sit aboue the Stars attain to that in this life which we haue no promise for but in the life to come In answering whereunto I hope manie wordes will not bee looked for though he in this point be larger then ordinarie partly because I may not follow his humor where he fighteth with his shadow and partly also for that I haue alreadie set out the full proportion of the naturall man according to the scriptures First therfore in a word to satisfie the Reader concerning the false reporte of this man We are taught and do receiue it from the euidence of the word that the inner man is the whole man so farre forth as he is borne againe of God and wrought vpon and renewed by the holie Ghost whereby not onely his vnderstanding is enlightned to apprehend perceiue the thinges that are of God but also his will and affections rightned to desire and to moue the members to the doing of them Which renewing because it is but in part in this life therefore is there a contrarietie and strife in the childe of God betwene this and his regenerate parte the one disposed according to God the other according to corrupt nature And this latter is according to his contrarie condition called the outward man which Paule setteth out by the terme of the other law in his mēbers whereby we vnderstand euen the whole man insomuch as he is borne corrupted and depraued from Adam Which distinction the scripture obserueth likewise in other places by the termes of New man and Old man E. G. chalengeth these partes as the natural mans right in common with the regenerate and putteth this for difference that the regenerate hath moreouer beside the inwarde and outwarde man the spirite of Christ Should I say this is strange stuffe and hetherto vnheard off in any sound congregation I shall moue those of his spirite nothing at all nay I feare me they take pleasure in walking alone making to them selues an Idoll of their owne conceipt and so their reioycing is naught but I will say this by the grace of God and make it good that the worde of the Lord alloweth no such diuision for his naturall man and therefore he shall not enioy What therefore bringeth E. G. to proue y ◠natural man to consist of these two partes First because whereas the holie Ghost doth bid the naturall man to cast off the old man he doth there plainely distinguish betweene the naturall man and the old man The place that he citeth for this is the 4. off the Epist to the Ephe. and 22. verse whereupon as though it were cleare for his cause he presumeth to interpret the meaning of that speach the old man for his purpose namely that by it is meant nothing els but the old and wicked conuersation and life of the naturall man But his reason is apparantly false and his conclusion heretical That his reason is false euerie man seeth that can read the 1. verse of the Epistle to the Ephe. vnlesse E. G. presuined so farre of his singuler cunning in conuaying that hee could bring his naturall man into y ◠mumber of the true saints and faithfull ones whom the Apostle called vppon in that Epistle to put off the old man If one say there were hipocrites among them not regenerated I striue not therein But then they must obserue withall that which I wish E. G. could haue considered in all the Apostles writings Namely that in regard of this mingling whilest they exhort they write that vnto all which can in déed take place but in the truelie sanctified And againe in dehorting they write manie things vnto all which can simply be verified but in the hipocrites And yet both these courses haue due effect in both these sortes of men By exhortation the hipocrites are made vnexcusable and by threatnings the children of God are made more watchfull as hereafter more largely Now where he saith The old man is nothing els but the wicked conuersation and life of the naturall man His breath is ranke of pelagian frée will whilest hereby he insinuatety yea and the law of contraries constraineth him to say that the new man is the new and godly conuersation of the naturall man Which though it be an absurditie hatefull inough to all that are but meanely exercised in the scriptures that the natural man should thus be adorned with frée wil yet it is so much more foule and odious in this man as that he giueth the naturall man in this place by consequence of the opposition some power both of willing and doing good and againe within the space of two leaues following spoileth him of the latter vtterlie So that he is not onely contrarie to vs in this case but to himselfe also that he might agrée with no bodie Another reason he would draw from these wordes of S. Peter For of whomsoeuer anie man is ouercome to him also in seruitude is he addicted Here saith E. G. the man that is in bondage must needes bee distinct from his corrupt nature to whom he is in bondage And out of the word ouercome he gathereth that there must néedes be a fight and resistance without which saith he there can be no conquest nor victorie This is but vngracious dealing with the scriptures Peter speaketh not there neither of a méere naturall man but of such as had a calling and reckoning in the cōgregation of the faithfull which because they bare the estimation of fighting the Lordes battailes together with his people though it were but in their owne conceipte if it had béene lawfull to haue dealt thus with comparisons E. G. might yet haue séene that it was not without cause the Apostle afforded them such a Phrase as being agréeable to their own sense might the more notably conuince them in their cōsciences of their most miserable case Especiallie this being no new guise or vnwonted thing in the scrip tures As namely where our Sauiour saith I
promised so in his fift commandement Againe it is said of the righteous man That whatsoeuer he doth it shall prosper therfore shall no vnprosperous successe come to ante of his labors and endeuours in this life And on the contrarie part according to this mans fashion shal we condemne all for disobedient children that die in their youth or vnrighteous men that sow séede which commeth not vp againe Nay who is ignoraunte that albeit we reade in the newe couenaunt manie promises of fuller words then this whereof is now the questioÌ„ yet is not there performance to be expected or taken touching â—his life absolutely or simply according to the â—ordes but in a measure and dispensation onely Examples whereof I will reach you one or two Christ saith Whatsoeuer ye aske the Father in my name he will giue it you Yet Paule prayed often for a full deliuerance froÌ„â—he sting of concupiscence and could not obtain Againe he promised that when they should receiue the spirit of trueth It should lead them into all trueth Yet we know they were not afterwarde without all errour in their practise which appeared both in Barnabas and Peter So likewise The holie Ghost which my father shall send in my name he shall teach you all things proueth not an absolute knowledge in present to be giuen to the Apostles neither indéed did they attaine vnto it while they liued here but only in an ordered measure according to the most wise dispensation of the God of spirites the full performance thereof resting to be reuealed in that day when they should sée the Lord face to face And according vnto this proportion we ought to vnderstand that saying to the Philippians That God worketh in vs both to will and to doo not that this woorke is full absolute as E.G. pretendeth but daily by measure wrought in euerie of the children of God according to the good pleasure and dispensation of his will Which thing he must likewise haue necessarilie séene if hee had not wilfully closed his eies both by the contradiction of other scriptures to his sense of this place as also by the verie light of the wordes in the text it selfe For it is not written God hath wrought in you both to wil and to do as though it were done alreadie but God doeth worke or bring to passe in you both to will and to doo as implying the worke to be but begun and in doing in them yet And this being well considered is so far from mainteining a full fréedom of wil in the regenerat to do the commandement of God as that it concludeth iust the contrarie and so taking this proud crowne from his head humbleth him againe vpon his knées to beg daily of his heauenly father new supplies of strength to fight the spirituall battels of continuall temptations But the regenerate person must not only be content to depart with y e counterfeit crowne which this foolish man had put vpoÌ„ him but eueÌ„ tolaie by his robe also to put on his armour againe acknowledging himselfe to be yet subiect to the woundes though not to the death of his aduersaries hands For where E.G. would persuade him that The seruant of God is so quite separate from sin as that he is not to be reckoned the seruaÌ„t of God that doth sin what doth he but bewitch his senses with the enchanted cup of a false persuasion that whilest he thus groweth to some securitie in his strength Sathan as hée is a cunning pioner might secretly vndermine his fouÌ„dation ere he be aware For hée that supposeth himselfe all strong groweth shortly to lesse suspition of danger especially y e Lord in his iudgement so suffering Sathan accordingly to vse his cunning who then dooth subtilly withdraw him selfe and for a season puts no more fire to y e darts of concupiscence that so this man hauing many daies the glorie of the field and thereby growne secure in the high conceit of his owne strength might haue at the length all childelike feare and trembling stolne out of his heart and into the place thereof conuayed no lesse priuily then the East wind carieth the Caterpiller the filthy influence of meritorious imaginations Which if they once drawe nourishment of life in the partie that they be able to moue long time shal not passe ere they leaue neither bud nor blossome of true religion in him How far E. G. had the wofull experience of this and therefore how much it standeth euerie man in hande to marke this point let his miserable fall euen in y â— very foundatioÌ„ testifie whilest this was a question which he stifly mainteined also namely That wee are iustified by faith works not by faith alone Which things considered I thought it my dutie to giue this caueat to the church that whosoeuer thinketh himselfe to stand in the number of the regenerate might a fresh consider himself especially the daunger being thus openly set before his eies that he be not carried away by this false seducer lest hée trie the manner of his wofull fall soone after Neither think you that the places of scripture which he mustreth here in the margeÌ„t are anie lesse for this matter then after his accustomed maner abused The first place he pointeth vs to is Ro. 6. 16. 19. thus it is read Know you not that to whom you apply your selues as seruants to obey his seruants you are whoÌ„ you obey whether it bee sin vnto death or obedience vnto righteousnes In y e 19. verse As you haue applied your members to bee the seruants of vncleannes and iniquitie to fulfil iniquitie euen so now apply your members to be the seruants of righteousnes vnto holines Let the reader also consider the whole Chapter for his instruction it resisteth the prophane securitie that wicked men would take by the doctrine of iustification by faith taught before and proueth that they onely are to glorie in the benefit of Christ as hauing true faith that walke now in newnes of life resemble Christ in crucifying the old man and liuing vnto God Whereof he giueth most certaine notes in the words that E.G. hath cited For as to occupie our selues in seruing argueth a Lord or maister to whom we are adicted so the works of our seruice must néeds proue whom we haue takeÌ„ our selues to especially there being in this case but two maisters to serue to wit sin or righteousnes and their waies openly repugnant one to the other Accordingly wherto in â—he 19. verse he exhorteth to apply their seruice vnto righteousnes all those that hold the benefit of iustification by faith Which as all the world knoweth we are daily taught with great instancie earnest obtestation and therfore E.G. to haue béen in this his abhominable insinuation impudent aboue all measure so yet this maketh not one mite for his purpose to proue vs altogither frée from the power of sin but is still
the subiects or matters whereon it worketh for nothing is more common in the whole course of nature Let the sunne be an example for all which by one and the same shine of his beames doth not onely soften the waxe harden the claye but also most comfortably fur ther the sprout of the fruites of the earth and yet horribly encreaseth putrefaction in all other thinges that haue not the séed of life in them His next diuision framed against this doctrine that the holy Ghost meaneth him to be the seruant of sinne and of the diuel who willingly with delight committeth sin not misliking it nor striuing against it partly is answered as his place of Peter the rest is not worthie a word of answere in regard of the matter being nothing but a heape of friuolous words either quite from the question or els absurdly begging the question Onely for the simpler sort I will take some occasions that it offreth me to laye abroad some pointes which perhaps the Reader might wish to be instructed in for the further clearing of the controuersie First for the doctrine which hee putteth downe with that poysomous title according to his accustomed lewdnesse I graunt it to bee ours so it be rightly vnderstood Namely that by the words misliking and striuing be not vnderstood euerie light pricke or remorse of conscience which euen the wicked haue not by coÌ„trarie affection of their will for they sinne with all their heart but by the contradiction of their iudgement which they haue by the light of nature whereby they can inwardly controll themselues in committing the grosser sins but an vnfamed hatred and detestation of sinne which the loue of GOD hath wrought in our heartes whereby groweth that warre and spirituall battaile which Paule speaketh off and which none but the children of God haue in them As for his impudent insinuation which in euery place he offreth as though we exempted grosse continuing sinners according to his diuelish accusation euen such as make but an hipocritical profession of religion from the number of the seruants of sinne and of the diuel I will answere it no more supposing his booke doth now blush alreadie thereat But some will aske if the regenerat man do so hate sinne as I haue declared how it commeth to passe that he can fall into sinne at anie time I answere that it falleth out by reason of the vnregenerate condition that is in him sith as I haue aboundantly proued our inherent righteousnesse is in this life but begone in vs. And when I speake of a beginning of inherent righteousnesse I meane such a beginning as hath a dayly procéeding encrease euen as it is saide from strength to strength Which whosoeuer féeleth not in him selfe in some answerable measure to his graces receiued I except onely the afflicted conscience during the storme of affliction let him not flatter himselfe he is not yet in the state of the childe of God And in this exacting of holie life our preachers are so farre from being behind E.G. that he is not worthie to be named the same day they are For he reckoneth it sufficient or to be out of the compasse of daunger if we be able to abstaine from such grosse sins as hee babbleth off in euerie place as though there were no other sins to be spoken off els But they make in comparison small reckoning of him that hath but so farre preuailed for manie ciuile men for other respects then the reuerend loue of God are séene to absteine from those sinnes therefore do they also with all instancie pâ—â—test vnto vs that we must resist euen the first motions of sin and goe into the field with our affections euerie day And when they acknowledge the life of the regenerate not to bee without sinne they speake not that either to deny good works or that they thinke not the good workes of regenerate men to be pleasing vnto god wherby to dull our desier and weaken our members to labour after them but only to stoppe the way of presumption against vs and to make vs vnderstand and sée our vncleannes and impuritie to the perceauing wherreof we are blockish and more then blynd Here hence another question semeth to rise namely whether the regenerate man can possibly fall into anie of the grosser sins In a word the examples of Dauid and Peter do answere yea The euidence of which examples E.G. séeing so full against him deuised this most vnlearned and prophane shift to auoid it to wit that when such are ouercome of their corruption and so commit such sinnes they are destitute of the spirite of Christ and loose the grace of Gods children or of their new birth and regeneration vntil it be renewed againe in them by repentance This is that monster of often regeneration which he made shew off before in his second diuision An egge verie worthie the crow that laied it But let vs sée what he can say for it why we should suffer it to be hatched Peters example he subtilly ouerslippeth But Dauid he saith did therefore praye diligently when he was ouercome of murther and adulterie that God would renew a right spirite in him or giue vnto him a new a right spirite that he would not take his holie spirite from him to wit as he did for the time hee was ouercome of those two horrible sinnes And further he saith also he prayed that God would giue vnto him a new and cleane heart whereby we vnderstand that for the time the grace of his new birth was lost and the image of God was wholy defaced in him A heauie iudgement that you had no better vnderstanding How grosly he abuseth here the text with his 〈◊〉 glosses I hope there is none that either reading or hearing the text will not espy it For whereas Dauid prayeth God to renew a right or as the chiefest translate a firme spiâ—iâ—â— in him it is manifest he prayeth not there fâ—r the spirite of God first because in the next verse following he maketh petition concerning the holie Ghost Secondly the context and epithete leadeth that Dauid by these wordes required one speciall effect of the spirite to be wrought in his minde namely of strength firmitie to be stedfast in the obedience of the Lord hereafter The context I say sheweth it for the words are these Create in me O God a clean heart or as some translate a cleane mind and renew a firme spirite within me Nothing is more sutable then when as the affections are cleansed afiesh that in the next worke stablenesse and constancie be added vnto them But if there were no more saue onely the nature of the word renew it were inough to conuince this frensie of often regeneration for that argueth that Dauid prayed not for y e thing that hee was absolutely without The like shame receiueth his cause in the next verse Cast me not from thy presence and take not away
know he practiseth some proofes to the contrarie afterwarde but as one miserably ignoraunt of the difference of the two couenants 5. He accounteth discipline the ground-worke of the church in which doing you know he putteth it in y â— place of Christ himself whereby therefore it is become an Idoll vnto him 6. So far he procéedeth in seducing that he saith the wife ought to go away from her husband if he wil not go with her in y â— case of want of this discipline and which maketh his fault y â— worse he pretendeth ground for this in the 1. Cor. 7. 13 Which place giueth libertie onely against an vnbeléeuing partie which will not be persuaded to embrace the Gospell of Christ nor in anie wise to depart from Idolatrous worship Now what is this to enforce her going froÌ„ him only vpon want or bondage of the outward discipline where they dwell But of this mans absurdities hitherto his time commeth shortly to be better knowne I heare besides that there is one amoÌ„g you who whispereth alreadie in corners that we must not belieue in the holie Ghost Is this to encrease beloued and to abound more more in al iudgement according as the Apostle exhorteth vs Or is it not rather to go backward and to loose euen that you had attained vnto Now to the last point concerning your peace I mean not here the outward peace but I offer again to your view the peace of your conscience eueÌ„ the inward rest and repose of your soules with God in respect of this strange course you haue lately vndertaken Whereof because you are best priuie in your selues I refer it also most vnto your selues Only of those things that in this respect haue bin apparant to all mens eies I wil briefremember you This is easily granted of al that know God what course of life soeuer hath the approbation of Gods chearful countenance shining into the conscience of the practiser thereof it is such as being founded on the sure word of God is the more constantly held on and continued vnto the ende For the spirit within the word without ioyning to the testifying teaching of anie trueth vnto vs bring vs to such peace and comfort with the Lord in the practise of it as maketh vs more and more assured therof and so the firmelier to perseuere therein euen vnto the end Contrariwise that course or demeanour of life that hath any other foundation then this as it shall neuer be confirmed by that inward approbation so is it excéedingly subiect to continuall changes reuoltings If we shall therefore coniecture of your inward peace by the stedfastnes of your outward deporting and carying your selues in this your separat course I suppose we cannot deeme that y â— peace of God hath possessed your minds this while This as you know your great leader hath writ and not hitherto recanted that lodgick is an vnlawfull Art for Christians being forbidden by the scriptures so that hée calleth it a Heathenish fopperie and exhorteth to leaue and beware of it as though the end of it led vnto death Mean time himself vseth it as wel as he can in al his booke Of the life maners of true Christians And in his answere to M. Cartwrightes letter yea and of late admitted reasoning by Sillegismes in his own order put downe in writing before for the forme of the coÌ„ference Let him not here bleare your eies with this foolish saluing of the sore That where hee hath practised logicke himselfe anie way there he hath done it but to foile vs with our own weapons and as forced therevnto by our subtilties It dooth but declare his diuinitie to be pitifull for whatsoeuer is indéed vnlawfull and simply forbidden by the word of God y e same by no circumstance time nor occasion can be made tollerable while that word endureth Secondly whereas he once prouoked you all to flée out of England if you loued as he said your saluation and safetie and would not be guiltie of tempting God Of later time again by priuater writings and his owne practise hée hath counselled a resorting to our Sermons How many of you haue been distracted thereby I leaue it vnto your consciences whilest some perhaps receiued it othersome thought straunge and refused to giue eare vnto that counsell Looke also vpon his late subscribing by your selues Lastly that I excéede not my purpose in length be think your selues what glew he may haue to set these two togither No part of church discipline can be wanting but the church dooth straightway goe to ruine therby for he saith it is the life of the church And againe There may bee a true church of God without the presbyterie Now therefore beloued in Christ Jesu sith your going out with this man hath had so hard eueÌ„t in many of you as to bring you to the vnrecouerable rocks of E. G. and leadeth eueÌ„ the better sort whom Gods iudgement hath not as yet hunted foorth so far to a manifest decaie of true iudgement and vnderstanding ioyning therunto the fearful companion of vncertaintie and restlesse course of life forsake whilest yet there is time such accursed leading and returne to vs your brethren againe who whilest you hold firme the foundation with vs will neuer shrinke you And of this it standeth you in hand the rather to haue care as your contrarie dealing hitherto hath so apparantly damnified the iust cause of Christian discipline Men of anie iudgement and exercise in the scriptures may easily perceiue and doo report with what spirit Browne hath cride for discipline The greater number being of little iudgement condemne all for him O deep reach of Sathan the father of subuerting subtilties But hereof I meane not to make this my place of complaint Thus much therfore vnto those of whom there remaineth hope The rest I haue nothing to say vnto but this there will be a day wherein the Lord will make it manifest he neuer sent you require the blood of his saints which you haue caused to be spilt at your hands again and that most iustly PSAL. 8. 2. Out of the mouth of babes sucklings hast thou ordeined strength because of thine enemies that thou mightest still the enemie and auenger Praise and thanks bee vnto the Lord our God for euermore Faultes escaped Page 53. Line 30. for while read whie Page 93. Line 29. read abideth for Page 103. Line 3. for worke read word LONDON Printed by Iohn Wolfe 1586. 1. Cor. 9. 24. Hebr. 12. 1. Psalme 1. Zeph. â— Deut. 1â— 1. Cor 11. 1â— Math. 24. â—4 verse 25. Mat. 24. 12. Mat. 10. 24. Gen. 21. 9. Mat. 10. 25. Heb. 12. 6. 7. â— Ioh. 16. 20. verse 21. Rom. 8. 17. verse 18. Apoc. 2. 10. Mat. â—â— 4â— verse â—â— verse 43. Mat. 16. 24. Mat. 10. 37. 38. 2. Pet. 3. â— â— Gal. 5. 17. Prou. 14. 25. Prou. 15. 21. Verse 14. Rom.
or slip doth cut of election But some perhaps will vrge the former sense againe as to ouerthrowe my answere interpreting raigning sin by actuall sin betwixt which they discerne no difference If there be any so ignorant they must learne that euerie raigning sin is actuall sin but not coÌ„trariwise euerie actuall sin raigning sin Like as al wallowings in mire are defilings to a mans bodie but euery defiling is not wallowing in the mire To slip and fall in the dyrt to his defiling is incident to the carefullest man that walketh but to wallow in y â— myre is proper vnto swine So experience hath taught the dearest children of God that they are subiect to their defilements and falles but if any man loue to fall or lye stil our soules haue no pleasure in him And now to his question I answere thus far as hee would haue me that the elect are predestinat to a holie and vnblameable condition in this life and further to be gathered in Christ vnto God him selfe finally Which double end of election coÌ„cerning man if E. G. saw not he was blinde if he did sée it he had no good meaning to conceale â—â— But from the former end of election he supposeth he hath got a great aduantage and thus he reasoneth Those onely are praedestinate to life at a times that liue blamelesly before God at all time but no man liueth blamelesly before God at all time therefore no man is praedestinate to life at all times He knew his first proposition would be denieâ— and thus he prouided to proue it For it cannot be said that there is then or for that time anie praedestinatioÌ„ or electioÌ„ vnto life for the time when as there is no praedestinatioÌ„ or electioÌ„ vnto the sanctification of the spirit or vnto true repentaÌ„ce amendmeÌ„t of life O seducing Sophister How many pitfals hath he made here to catch y e simple soules withall First he snatcheth this as though it were giuen him that euerie fall or ceassing from holy actions is a cutting off of the sanctification that so he might conclude hée that is vnsanctified is not elect But now he must restore it again with shame to his setters on For euerie fall is not a falling away as I proued before and a sanctified man is reputed holie not in that he neuer falleth at any time but in the estimation of the coÌ„tinuall tenor and course of his life for the most part So was Dauid a holie man yea a man according to Gods owne heart And in this sense is Ezekiah said to haue cleaued vnto the Lord and not to haue departed from him Though his life was not without some blemishes of rashnes and grosse omissions Otherwise if there be no sanctification but when there is a holie action then sanctification shall be nothing els but an actuall holines now if there be no sanctification but actuall then which way is Christ our sanctification Wee must burie the righteousnes that comes to vs by imputation in the graue of forgetfulnes with the absurd Papist If a man would prosecute the absurdities that rise herehence he should finde no end For in these cases not to walke in the direct path is neuer to make an end of wandring Againe hée maketh his sanctificatioÌ„ which is as you heare altogither an actuall holines the proper adiunct and perpetuall vndeuided note of electioÌ„ which though it haue no ground of scripture yet agreeth it well with his conclusion that there is no election at all Thus you sée this clause at all times must be rased out in his proposition and so his mutable predestination prooueth but a dream If any maÌ„ vrge y â— place of Paul to y â— eph 1. 4. which it séemeth E. G. would haue done to infer y â— particle at all times by as because the Apostle saieth We are chosen to be holie and blamelesse before God therefore actually at all times vnderstanding that to bee spoken absolutely and simply for this life which is but in some sort and measure You sée that hee shall deale but deceitfully For the holie and blamelesse state there spoken of which the Saintes should be in through loue is indéed imputatiue and otherwise can intende but onelie a measure and dâ—â—pensation not a fulnes and exact perfection whiche is neuer to bee atteyned to till the day of the full redemption of our bodies as hath beene proued And so are all those places of scripture to bee vnderstood that exhort vs to perfection namely that it is the goâ—â—e which all the race of our life must tend vnto and the perfectest man can be saide but to gâ—e towardes When it is said as in this life a man to be perfect and instructed perfectly vnto euery good worke there is meant nothing els by a perfect man but suche a one as in regneration is grown to mans state like as it pleased the spirite of God to speake for our capacitie who is able by the worke of God to discerne betwixt thinges that differ and apply him selfe to euery right way farre aboue manie others who in comparison of him are but children in the faith of Christ Thus we sée how manie deceiptes were secretly couched in this argument to ouerthrow the certaintie of our election But I trust he hath left none behind him of so simple iudgement and gifts of vnderstanding as that knoweth not a decrée to be a stedfast thing such as can not faile Finallie to be accomplished what soeuer falleth out betwene especiallie the God of spirits that knoweth all things that can come to passe beforehand ordaining y e same Yet this miserable man procéedeth and saith God doth from the beginning predestinate and elect in Christ some to stand onely for a time in the state of true sactification and saluation and then giueth them ouer in iustice vnto themselues so wipeth them out of the booke of life That hipocrites euer attaine to true sanctification is false and followeth the forme of his old beggerly reasoning That they are predestinate to life is absurd and like himselfe That he gathereth it from some scriptures that make mention of a putting out of the booke of the liuing as the 32. of Exod. 33. verse and 69. Psal 29. verse vttereth his old ignorance childish vnderstanding of the scriptures First therefore let the Reader consider that God writeth no bookes of memorie but this is onely a speach borrowed from the manners of men and ascribed vnto God for our capacitie comfort whiles it imprinteth in the mindes of the childreÌ„ of God that not one of them can be forgotten in the day of the iust sith they are now from euerlasting as plainely set downe in the foreknowledge of God as if their names were registred in a booke written for that purpose Therfore saith the Apostle The foundation of God standeth sure the Lord knoweth who are his As for his places that mention a
wiping out of the booke in Exod. it is called The booke that thou hast written in the Psalme the booke of the liuing His iust answere might be that there is not meant the booke of predestination to life but the communicating of the couenant which God had made with Abraham and his séed whereby they were now as in a mustre rowle reckoned the onely people of God the Gentiles being excluded But if by way of concession we graunt him that place of the Psalme to respect the booke of life mentioned Apoc. 20. 12. as also anie such place of scripture reporting a racing out of the vngodlie yet he that is not wilfullie blind may sée that those places are not to be taken in a full and exquisite sense as though any such as the scripture thus speaketh of were euer writen in déed in the booke of life but onely according to the supposall of men and estimation that the hipocrite hath of him selfe so doth the scripture in such places answere home to his owne heart that he shall be wiped out of the number among which he thinketh himself so certainly registred and written Which is nothing els but to bee declared and laid open that howsoeuer he hath boastingly borne himselfe among the Saintes he was neuer in trueth of their number before God In likt sorte Iohn speaketh of those that fall away They went out from vs that it might be made manifest they were neuer of vs. And this is according likewise as I alledged before against the hipocrite to take from him euē that which he was supposed to haue This certainly is the vttermost that can bee concluded out of those places although it be graunted E. G. that in them is vnderstood the booke of predestination vnto life For that any in déed once written in the booke of life and predestinate to be saued can fall away or be crossed out of the number anie more is vntrue and vnpossible as I will proue 1. This is a certaine place that the elect cannot fall away God speaking by his Prophet of the new couenant saith I will put my law in their inner parts and I will write it in their hearts and wilbe their God they shalbe my people How farre this reacheth to the assurance I speake of appeareth by the opposition of the effectes of the two couenants touching which he saith first that the new should not be like that which was giuen vnto their fathers neither for the forme thereof for the new should be writen in their hearts arguing the old to be writen but in stone as Paule also speaketh neither yet for the effect for they brake y ◠couenant verse 32. But contrariewise touching the effect of the new he saith and I will be their God they shall be my people Which I say the necessitie of the contrariety enforceth as farre as if the wordes had béene They shall not breake this couenant nor be seperated from me for euer My second reason is from that place of Iohn If they had beene of vs they would haue remained with vs. Which hath this most apparant consequence that all those that are of the number of the elect shall euen so abide for euer For either the Apostle there maketh it a necessarie conclusion or els his reason must bee nothing worth 3. This chaine can neuer bee broken which the Lord himselfe hath made whom he hath knowne before those he hath predestinate whom he hath predestinate those he hath called whom he hath called those he hath iustified and whome he hath iustified those also he hath glorified So that what is clearer then that all that are written in the booke of Gods foreknowledge are predestinate to passe through all the midle meanes euen to glorification And Paule saith afterward nothing can seperate vs from this loue of God in Christ Iesus 4. It is written concerning that many headed beast which should so preuaile with the people of that age vnto Idolatrie Therefore all the inhabitants of the earth whose names are not written in the booke of life of that Lambe slaine from the foundations of the worlde shall worship that beast Now when we sée all those that are written in the booke of life to be vtterly exempted from perill of falling into Idolatrie euery man séeth it most equall that they be exempted from falling away from grace 5. If it were possible for those that are once written in the booke of life to be wiped out againe to what purpose did our Sauiour place all his Disciples ioy and reioycing in this life in this meditation aboue all other that their names were written in heauen Where anie doubtfulnesse is there is no solid ioy nor comfort Finally if it be true that E. G. hath hetherto stood in that euer as a man standeth firme he is predestinate to life and when he falleth he is predestinate to death then it followeth that he is euer anon written in and raced out of the booke of life which is y ◠foreknowledge of God and so it can not be said that predestination is from before the begining of the world when as this man maketh it but a dayly decrée for this life The inconuenience whereof I perceiue he saw not when he set downe that Dauid was predestinate from the beginning to be the child of the diuel when he sinned and againe the childe of God when he repented Wel now at length let vs heare his conclusion of this matter Lastly ◠E. G. we deny not but that God hath also predestinate some neuer to fall away but to be renewed alwaies by repentance and therein to perseuere euen to the day of their death But it can not be knowne who are of this number vntill we see this grace giuen vnto them of God euen to their last end O chaungeable cameleon Had he conclucluded a lite before that that no man is predestinate vnto life at all times And what is this that he now affirmeth Some are predestmate neuer to fall away but to perseuere vnto the end A lier they say had néed of a notable memorie Touching that he saith we can not know who are of this number till the end I sée well he was euen ouer head and eares in poperie But howsoeuer he or any other euil spirites call it impietie presumption and sawcines in the children of God to hold their election in assurance here in this life let vs neuer a whit be discouraged to walke so farre in this point also as we haue iust warrant by the word of God Concerning others we haue litle to say this businesse concerneth euerie mans selfe And if it did not greatly concerne euerie mans owne selfe the Apostle would neuer so vpbradingly haue bidden y ◠Corinthians enter into this examinatiō of themselues saying Try your own selues whether you be in the faith proue your own selues doe you not know your own selues to