on the contrary Gods knowing or foreknowledge of his is to elect them This is the foundation of God which stands sure and hath this seale The Lord knoweth them that are his I could be more copious to illustrate this but this may suffice to satisfie those that be not quarrellous Babylonius But Sir howsoeuer you may conclude that Gods Election is absolute without any respectiue foreknowledge of any good or grace in vs in accepting grace offered yet the same cannot so well be sayd of reprebation that God should reprobate any but with a respect and foreknowledge of their disobedience and infidelitie For else God should bee vniust to cast away and condemne any without iust cause in themselues Orthodoxus Sir there is the same reason of reprobation that is of Election for both were out of the corrupt mafle wherein all men were equally condemned whereof some God called and chose out to life the rest hee left as hee found them guiltie of eternall death and vpon whom the sentence of death had now passed seazed Gen. 2. 17 So that for God to leaue some whom he would wallowing in their blood it is an act of his justice as to free others an act of his mercie Which Saint Augustine very pregnantly exemplifieth by a Creditor in whose power it is to acquit some of his Debtors and to exact of the rest to the vttermost as we noted afore This is setforth also in the types of the elect and reprobate Iacob and Esau who being yet in the wombe before they had done good or euill that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of workes but of him that calleth It was said to her the elder shall serue the yonger As it is written Iacob haue I loued but Esau haue I hated Yet both Iacob and Esau were equally culpable in the wombe of originall sinne and so were children of death as all were in the wombe of our first Parents but the election comes and that makes a separation and puts a difference mercifully louing one and justly hating another and that before they had actually done good or euill that the purpose of God might stand according to election not of workes but of him that calleth So that the disproportion alledged by the Appealer was not betweene the elect and reprobate before the act of election but the election caused the disproportion not through any foreknowledge or foresight of any good or euill actually to bee done of either as the Appealer would inferre but Gods meere mercie on the one side and his justice on the other caused the disproportion And euen that place quoted by the Appealer out of Ezechiell makes altogether against himselfe though otherwise rightly alledged for if wee were in our blood if cast out if loathed if dead and yet if in this contemptible condition God saide vnto vs liue yea when wee were in our blood it is twice repeated ver 6. he faide vnto vs liue where is then that praescience of any good in vs moouing God to pull vs out of this miserable estate I am sure no mention of it is in Ezechiel no not in the whole Booke of God but the contrary as we haue proved no nor yet doth his pretended Goddesse indeede his nothing in the world the Church of England any where teach the same so nakedly yet shamlesly peremptory is this assertion of the Appealer hauing none to father his opinion vpon but Pelagius and his Disciples So weake and windy are his aspersions which he casteth vpon Caluin or vpon those whom hee calls Puritans for maintaining nothing but what the Scriptures plainely teach against his groundlesse and gracelesse opinion so that he fighteth against God and his truth against Gods glory and his grace against his Church yea the Church of England also Babylonius But Sir if the act of Election and Reprobation be without any respectiue foreknowledge in God of any actuall good or euill in man then what place is left for freewill or how can God bee just in punnishing the rebellious seeing he hath reiected them and denied them grace Orthodoxus Of freewill I suppose occasion will be giuen anon to speake of it by it selfe For the rebellious reprobate as he is justly reiected for his sinne in Adam so he is neuer but justly condemned and punished for all his actuall sinnes springing from that cursed roote Nor doth his reiection necessitate him to rebell the more against Cod his rebellion is from his owne peruerse will Nor is God bound to giue him grace But against all contentious quarrellers at the Doctrine of God wee cannot shape nor are we bound to giue a better answer melius enim non invenimus saith St. August many times against such cauellers for we finde not a better then that of the Apostle vpon the very same occasion Thou wile say then why doth he yet complaine for who hath resisted his will Nay but o man who art thou that replyest against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus Hath not the Potter power ouer the clay of the same lumpe to make one vessel vnto honour and another to dishonour c. The comparison is very pregnant God is the Potter wee the lumpe of filthy and foule clay cast out as the clay in the streetes yet if the Potter will may hee not take some of the clay and make of it vessels of honour and make of the rest foule and filthy as he finds it to dishonour seeing it was in his power to put the whole lumpe and that justly to baser vses But as the Apostle saith God makes some vessels of his mercy to make knowne the riches of his glory leauing the rest to be vessels of wrath sitted for destruction to make knowne his iustice and power In a word if Gods election be an act of meere mercy then it excludes all respect to any good that hee could foresee to be in vs for as the Apostle saith There is at this present a remuant according to the election of grace And if by grace then it is no more of workes otherwise grace is no more grace But if it be of workes then it is no more grace otherwise worke is no more worke What then Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for but the election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded I will conclude with Saint Aug. Non solùm c. Therefore by the preaching of Pradestination the Elect is not onely not hindered from this worke to wit of sanctification but also is furthered thereunto that when he glorieth he may glory in the Lord. The Pelagians could say Siâ—â—â— c. If yee will not haue the obedience to which you incite and inflame vs to freeze in our hearts doe not preach vnto vs that grace of God which we confesse God is the giuer of and which you exhort vs vnto But Saint Aug. meetes with
side without remorse but a Samaritan seeing him comes to him takes compassion on him bindes vp his wounds powers in oyle and wine lifts him vp on his Beast and prouides all things necessary for him The case is ours Totum geuus humanum est homo ille qui iacet in via seminivus c. saith August All mankinde is that man which lyeth in the way halfe dead and though Christ the good Samaritan come and take compassion of vs and bring oyle and wine to heale our wounds yet vnlesse his compassion extend it selfe to apply them we should still be wallowing in our blood and so perish Yet as Saint Augustine saith Sunt homines iugrati gratiae multum tribuentes inopi sauciaeque naturae Men are vngratefull to grace attributing much to poore and wounded nature Verum est magnas arbitrij liberi vires homo cùm conderetur accepit sed peccando amisit True it is Man when he was created receaued a greater power of freewill but by sinning lost it And this doth St. Augustine apply to the man fallen among theeues helped and healed by the mercifull Samaritan Well how then come wee to bee made partakers of Christ Namely by the free gift of Christ. It is of Gods free fauour and mercy that Christ is giuen not onely for vs but to vs that Christ is not onely appointed of the Father to be a glorious garment to couer our shame but also the hand of faith is giuen vs by the same grace of God whereby we put him on as the Father in the Gospell commanded the best robe to be fecht and to bee put vpon his conuert prodigall sonne by the same grace our eyes are opened to behold the glorious sonne of righteousnesse risen in our horison bringing life and health vnto vs. And as Christ came vnto vs so wee must come vnto him But how by the same grace and mercy that he came vnto vs wee come vnto him So Christ saith No man can come vnto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and ver 45. And they shall all be taught of God Euery man therefore that hath board and hath learned of the Father commeth vnto me And ver 65. No man can come vnto me except it were giuen vnto him of my Father vpon which wordes St. Augustine saith Trahi a Patre ad Christum c. For a man to be drawne by the Father to Christ and to heare and learne of the Father that he may come to Christ is no other then to receiue a gift of the Father whereby he beleeueth in Christ. And againe Quando Pater intus anditur c. When the Father is inwardly heard and teacheth men to come to his Sonne he takes away their stony heart and giues them a heart of flesh For so he maketh the sonnes of promise and vessels of mercy which he hath prepared vnto glory Why then doth he not teach all that they may come to Christ but that because all whom he teacheth in mercy he teacheth and whom he teacheth not in iudgment he teacheth not because he sheweth mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardneth but he sheweth mercy bestowing that which is good he hardneth recompensing that which is due whereupon he concludes Hâ—nc est quòd verbum crucis pereuntibus stulitia est his autem qui salui flunt virtus Dei est Hence it is that the preaching of the Crosse is to them that perish folishnesse but to them which are saued it is the power of God This truth is so cleare it needes no further testimonie So that to ascribe part of our saluation to God and part to man is artificially to rob God of his glory and man of saluation seeing not onely for the Father to appoint his Sonnes to be the Mediatour and Redeemer of mankinde but also effectually to giue him to all his elect giuing them grace and faith whereby to receiue him are two noble inseparable branches growing from one and the same roote of Gods free mercy Neither can the one stand without the other for take away this latter act of Gods mercy inabling vs to receiue Christ and the former of appointing Christ to bee the deliuerer would be altogether frustrate as depending vpon mans will to receiue or reiect him as the Vniuersalists falsly affirme Therefore giue God his whole glory or else yee rob and strip him of all So that I may say of the Appealers dealing herein as our learned Master Hooker in his tract of Iustification saith of the Romish Church in the matter of our Redemption by Christ. They grant saith he that Christ alone hath performed the worke of Redemption sufficiently for the saluation of the whole world but in the application of this inestimable treasure that it may be effectuall to their saluation how demurely soeuer they confesse that they seeke remission of sins no otherwise then by the blood of Christ vsing humbly the meanes appointed by him to apply the benefit of holy blood they teach indeede so many things pernicious in Christian faith in setting downe the meanes whereof they speake that the very foundation of faith which they hold is thereby plainely ouerthrowne and the force of the blood of Iesus Christ extinguished So he The very like may be applyed to the Appealer For he with his Arminians howsoeuer they acknowledge the meere mercy of God in prouiding such an all-sufficient Sauiour to redeeme mankinde yet they marre all in their applying this plaister of mercy while they would doe it with the hand of freewill the foresight whereof was forsooth the first mouer of Gods meere mercy Sure if so they must needes abate no small part from meere mercy For how is it meere mercy if any good in vs foreseene first caused it that it should offer a Sauiour to vs Babylonius Now see you seeme to touch vpon the point of Freewill which my Authour treateth of in the next Chapters the 8 9 and 10. following in order that which hath hitherto beene discussed And to my simple vnderstanding that which he writes of it is very Catholicke and such as wherein he ascribeth the receiuing of grace offered not simply to Freewill but primarily to Gods grace preparing and stirring vp the will vnto it But I desire to heare your opinion of this point also as he hath handled it Orthodoxus With a good will But for as much as by the Authours owne words it is accounted a Question of perplexed obscurity I purpose not to tread the whole maze wherein the versatilous wit of man hath made infinite windings I will be very briefe omitting his various and copious allegations of Authours opinions So that passing by the eighth Chapter as empty the ninth also as full of quotations I will touch onely one or two passages in his tenth Chapter In the second page whereof whereas he saith that in Adam and through his fall we haue not
A PLEA TO AN APPEALE Trauersed Dialogue wise By H. B. August De Tempore Sermo 98. Idcirco Doctrinam Catholicam contradicentium obsidet impugnatio vt fides nostra non otio torpescat sed multis exercitationibus elimetur Ibid. There must be heresies euen among you that they which are approued may bee made manifest among you 1. Cor. 11. 19. Printed at London by W. I. 1626. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE CHARLES KING OF GREAT Britaine France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. Most gratious Soueraigne IF it be a mans glory to passe by an offence how much more a Kings who being armed with power to reuenge his pardon is the more glorious the more gratious This is Your Maiesties glory that You haue passed by the offence of Your seruant and Your glory how beautifully shall it shine forth if Your noble pardon shall be sealed with Your Royall Patronage of this poore Plea which if it passe not vnder the Priuiledge of the Caesarean Maiestie it is like to fare the worse for the Atturneys sake whom besides his many personall imperfections the very scarres of his late disgrace with so gracious a Maister expose with his Plea as no lesseridiculous to the Antagonists then Dauids sling was to Golia◠and his Philistims Who if they aske me vpon what hope I presumed to impleade an Appeale to Caesar I cannot answere with Solon vpon old age rather vpon pouerty rather vpon Caesars equity rather vpon the causes verity Yea my duty to God to your Maiestie to the sacred memory of your Royall Father to the Church of God to my Mother Church of England to the State to my Reuerend Fathers to my reproached Brethren all these summon me from my sweete safe Priuacy to runne a hazzard vpon the Theater of importune opposition And see also Dread Soueraigne how deeply You stand ingaged in this Plea Therein seuen Plaintifes sollicite Your Grace for justice First Truth she complaines of hard vsage how shee is driuen to seeke corners sith shee cannot passe the Presse Cum Priuilegio but must be silēced yea Gagged least while shee refuseth to subscribe to An Appeale she should by writing cleare her Doctrines from the infamous terme of Puritanisme and her selfe from being reproached for a Puritan The next Plaintife is Gods Glory Grace Gospell complaining they are vndermined ouerturned by an Appeale wherein Gods foundation of his free grace and mercy in electing vs in his Son to saluation is laid vpon the sandy ground of Mans freewill his eternall and vnrepentant loue to his Elect made to depend vpon the haire of humaine mutability standing on its owne vnsteddy bottome to fall totally finally The third Plaintife is the Sacred Ashes of Your Royall Father of famous memory complaining His honor is polluted prophaned in a high degree by An Appeale so much depressing the Synod of Dort which His Maiestie so much graced and exalting Arminianisme which His sacred Maiestie so much detested The fourth Plaintife is Gods Church especially our Mother Church of England iustly complaining how impiously she is abused and her Doctrines traduced by an Appeale as if in the very Fundamentalls as Praedestination Election Freewill Iustification Faith Perseuerance in sauing grace Certainty of saluation and the like shee iumped with the Apostatized Church of Rome and her confederate Arminians as if her Doctrines were not the same with the holy Scriptures as if they must be rated by a few priuate spirits ingrossing as by a Monopoly the name of the Church of England reducing Ecclesia Romana to Curia Romana as if her Doctrines were as mutable as their vniust Iudges who Cameleon like will change colour with euery obiect of time The fifth Plaintife is the State complaining of a ruefull distraction and rent it suffereth by a most factious and seditious Appeale which coming very vnseasonably like a disastrous Comet portendeth vniuersall ruine both to Church and State if the vast breach made thereby for the grand enemy to enter bee not all the sooner and surer if possible made vp againe The sixth Plaintife is the Ghost of some of the Reuerend forefathers of our Church as Doctor Bancroft once Bishop of London and Doctor Ouerall once Deane of Pauls and Bishop of Norwich complaining that their speeches in the Conference at Hampton Court Ianua 14. 1603. now lately printed the one about Praedestination the other Perseuerance in grace are pitifully and palpably peruerted in An Appeale to the great reproach of their owne Credits and in them the scandall of the Church of England The seuenth Plaintife is the Communion of Saints militant in this Church and elswhere yea some now Triumphant in heauen complaining that notwithstanding they striue both in faith and practise to come as neere as is possible for humaine frailtie to Christ and his Apostles yet for that very cause they are persecuted and reproached in An Appeale with the odious name of Puritan and what not Now all these Plaintifes most noble King do as by speciall interest craue iustice at Your Maiesties hands Truth claimes it as You are King of England Defender of the faith that as It makes You free so You would it with full priuiledge to plead its owne cause Gods glory claimes it of You as whom aboue all Princes in Christendome He hath put such a rich crowne of grace and glory vpon that thereby Your Maiestie might learne how highly to prize His infinite glory which the more You stand for against its enemies the more firmely it shall make You to stand against all Your Aduersaries The Sacred Ashes of Your royall Father of pious memory require justice of You not onely as you are a King but as the most pious Son of such a Father that as by An Appeale You are called to be an vmpire You would accordingly determine whither in Your judgement the Synod of Dort with the Decrees of it be rather to be reiected and set at nought for the Appealers vilifying and disclaming of it or religiously maintained by Your Maiestie at least for the incomparable judgement of King IAMES who both sent thither a learned select representatiue Church of England and Himselfe also gaue His royall assent to all the conclusions of it as being in all points consonant to the Doctrine of the Church of England The Church of England with the State like Hipocrates twinnes mutually affected with each others weale or woe both liuing together both dying together with one heart and voyce humbly craue justice of Your Maiestie as being next vnder Christ ouer both in all causes ouer all persons the onely supreme Gouernour that You would chastise their contumacious children who fasten reproaches and hasten ruines to both The fame of our Forefathers craveth justice of Your Maiestie to free them from the false aspersion of blasphemy and from the opinion of being Arminians All Gods children co-heires with Your Maiestie of the same Kingdome of glory implore Your iustice to rescue their innocency
them Ego autem nolo c. I will not exaggerate the matter with my words but I rather leaue it to them to consider that they may see what that is which they haue perswaded themselues that by the preaching of praedestination the hearers are possessed rather with desperation then with exhortation for this is all one as to say that then a man despaireth of his saluation when he hath learned to put his hope not in himselfe but in God Whereas the Prophet proclameth Cursed is euery one that putteth his hope in man Miror saith he homines infirmitatis suae se malle committere quà m firmitati promissionis Dei I wonder that men had rather commit themselues to their owne infirmity then to the stability of Gods promise Therefore we must not measure the wisdome of God in his word by the last or model of our owne braine Indeede mans reason when it stands alone seemeth very selfe-wise But if it bee compared and set by Gods wisdome then the folly of it is by and by discouered The Pontificians haue a plausible reason for their iustification by workes because say they it is a meanes to stirre vp men to good workes The Vniuersalists haue their plausible reason also for their vniuersality of grace as indifferenly offered to all men alike if they will but receiue it because say they all men may hereby bee won to imbrace the grace offered and so be saued But we know that neither the externall ordinary meanes are equally offered to all For many thousands haue not the meanes at all much lesse in an equall measure Againe the ordinary meanes doe of themselues worke no more but ordinary grace as illumination and temporary faith c. But the effectual sauing grace though it be not wrought simply by the ordinary meanes but by the especiall efworke of Gods Spirit in and by the meanes yet we know that the ordinary meanes are to bee diligently and reuerently attended of all men wheresoeuer God affordeth them Howsoeuer in all this generalitie Gods purpose and grace remaines firme to all the seede onely this is Gods wisdome Therefore if Gods worde satisfie not our carnall reason but crosse it rather shall wee presume by straining and wresting to fit it to our owne fancy and not rather submit all our humaine wisdome vnto it Euen Heathen Cato following Pompeis part against Caesar because he tooke it to be the juster and seeing Pompeis side declining and Pompey himselfe at last beaten out of the fielde hee looked vp to heauen and cryed In rebus diuinis magnam esse Caliginem that in diuine things there was a great deale of darknesse which mans wit could not discouer As St. Augustine in his answere to the Pelagians cauill in quarrelling the Scriptures about the imputation of sinne saith Quid si ego essem hebetior nec statim possem has rationes diluere an propterea minus deberem diuinae Scripturae credere Imò mullo magis conuenit vt ego ruditatem meam agnoscam quà m vt falsitatem sacris literis impingam What if my dulnesse were such as I could not by and by disproue these reasons must I therefore not beleeue the diuine Scripture Nay so much the rather ought I to acknowledge mine owne ignorance then to impute falshood to Gods holy word A rare humility and candid ingenuitie of this holy man captiuating all his carnall reason to Gods profound wisdome in the holy Scriptures Babylonius But Sir giue me leaue a little to apologise in the Appealers behalfe You say his opinion is impious as impugning the glory and mercy of God But doth he not say in expresse words that God did out of his mercy in his loue motu mero they be his owne wordes and not otherwise stretch out to mankinde lying in their blood in Adams corrupt loynes deliuerance in a Mediatour the Man Iesus Christ and drew them out that tooke hold of mercy c so that you see the Authour doth ascribe our deliuerance to the mercy and meere motion of Gods loue to mankinde Therefore this his opinion is not so impious as you would make it as if guilty of high sacriledge against Gods glory and grace Orthodoxus Indeede Sir you say something for him as he doth for himselfe but that is said is so far from acquiting as it doth deepely accuse the Authour of high treason against the Maiestie of God and the throne of his grace True it is indeede that it was Gods incomprehensible loue to mankinde to ordaine for him such a Redeemer as was his owne and onely Sonne to assume our base nature and therein to liue and dye contemtibly An exceding great fauour of God towards man to shape make and fit his Sonne Iesus Christ as a most glorious robe to couer our nakednesse as some of this Pelagian race teachers of vniuersall grace make the comparison All this is well thus farre But is this all If Gods mercy and grace stinte here and goe no further farewell deliuerance we may wallow in our blood still we may weare our filthy nakednesse as our best garment still In vaine Gods mercy in vaine Christs death while it is left to vs to receiue and accept this grace In vaine doth a man tell a blinde man of a glorious sunne in the firmament which he wanteth eyes to see or a maimed man without hands of a goodly garment made vp for him vpon condition that none but himselfe must put it on such is our condition by nature we perceiue not we receiue not the things of the Spirit of God concerning Christ. Tell vs of the glorious sunne of righteousnesse risen who hath healing vnder his wings we are blinde we apprehend it not we are not affected with it as not sensible of our spirituall diseases Tell vs of the Robe of Christs righteousnesse dipped and dyed in his blood wee want the hand of faith to put it on yea we cannot duely prize it we disesteeme it we count it no better then that poore coare of his which the Souldiers cast lots for yea wee hide our faces from him hee was despised and wee esteemed him not saith Esay Yea we are by nature like those Lâ—odiceans we say wee are rich and increased in goods and haue neede of nothing and know not that we are wretched miserable and poore and blind and naked Reu 3. 17. But as God is the good Physician who of his meere grace and fauour prepares and prouides a remedie for our dead-sicke soules so he alone out of his free mercy must apply this remedy else wee can reape no more benefit by it then a sicke Patient of a soueraigne Cordiall while it is close kept in the Apothecaries box whereof he seeth the inscription and title onely We haue a pregnant example hereof in that man that fell among theeues who stript wounded and left him halfe dead vnable to helpe himselfe whom the Priest and Leuite passe by on each