and legall holinesse although not perfect in this life by his spirit Yet because the morall law was giuen for this end to shew man his vnrighteousnesse by commaunding inherent righteousnesse hence it is that by legall righteousnesse is vsually meant proper or inherent righteousnesse and so by legall faith is meant that faith which looketh for hapinesse by inherent righteousnesse the which may more fitlie be called naturall faith because it was ingrauen in the nature of man as the other kinde is supernaturall yet we call it legall faith because perfect inherent righteousnesse is nothing but the perfect keeping of the lawes and commaundementes of God as sinne is defined 1. Ioh. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sinne is the breaking of the law whether it be the morall lawe written Exod. 20. the which was ingrauen in the heart of Adam in his first creation or any other law yea euen of things in nature indifferent inioyned to man by God the transgression wherof is a transgression of the morall lawe for the creature sinneth whensoeuer he disobeyeth the voyce word lawe and commaundement of God whether in a thing in nature indiffereÌ„t or simply vnlawful Thus did Adam sinne and fall away from God by eating the fruite of a certaine tree which he was forbidden to touch So that by this legall faith none can trust in God for eternall happines but onely he who in his owne person fulfilleth the whole law of God and that in deed in word in thought in will and in affection yea in the vniuersall puritie of this nature being free from all curruption of sin The which thing forsomuch as it cannot possibly be performed by any of the sons of Adam all being stained with that originall impurity which cannot by any meanes in the world be shaken off Hence it followeth that this naturall faith cannot haue place in any of them onely the holy Angels which continue in their naturall purity holinesse are endued with it for they trust for happinesse by the meanes of their owne perfect righteousnesse Yet this their happinesse is not so to be attributed to their proper obedience as that it be wholly denied to the grace of God for where the Apostle saith Rom. 4. 4 If saluation bee by works it is not of grace he meaneth the meere fauour of God remitting sinne the which hath place iâ— the other kind of faith yet euen the holy Angels although they be saued by works that is by their owne perfect holines yet their holines coÌ„meth from the grace of God without the which supporting them in all temptations suggested by their own free minds and wils or by the reprobate Angels they coulde not stand Sect. 2. Of infidelitie THus much of faith Nowe we come to the first kinde of rebellion wherby man falleth away from God called infidelitie for that it is both in name and nature cleane contrarie to faith For by it man ceaseth to trust and depend vppon GOD renouncing his patronage and protection as being altogether vnable to bestow any good thing much lesse perfect happinesse vpon his clients and therefore he seeketh for another Lorde and king in whom to trust So that as faith is affiance on Gods promises so this kinde of rebellion may not vnfitlie be called defined defiance or distrust in Gods promises propounding happinesse to the holinesse of the creature and eternall miserie to his disobedience The first example of infidelitie is the diuell with his wicked Angels who not acknowledging God to be the giuer of happinesse did beginne to seeke for it else where in the which consultation he saw that as there was no creature more excellent then himselfe so there was no meanes of attaining happinesse so like as for to relie himselfe vpon himselfe vpon his owne strength power wit policies and inuentions by the which he did perswade himselfe that he should become far more happy then he could be by continuing in that obedience and alleagance which he did owe to God The second example of infidelitie was Adam who was by the deceit and perswasion of Sathan drawen away from trusting in God and on his worde to trust in the â—euill and in that meanes of attaining happinesse which he did shew vnto him In Adam all mankind fell from faith to infidelitie wherein it remaineth all men being bred â—orne brought vp without any affiance in God relying themselues for their happinesse onely on themselues their owne wit learâ—ing beauty strength friendes riches nobilâ—tie yea on sinne Sathan and this present world and no more depending vpon God tâ—en if there were no God For victorie they trust in chariots and horsemen for health in the phisition for life in meate and drinke for riches in their owne industrie or in their parents for glory honor in vvorldly preferments and dignities not once vpon any occasion acknovvledging God or looking vp to heauen This infidelitie or defiance of God commeth of vnbeliefe which is the blindnesse of the minde or the ignorance of man not seeing the euident trueth of Gods promises but beeing perswaded that his worde is altogether voyde of trueth and that his promises are nothing but faire pretences his feareful threatnings nothing but vaine skar-crowes terrifying and fraying none but religious fooles and that the whole course of the worlde is not ordered by his decrees will and prouidence but by nature chaunce fortune and the counsell oâ— man So we reade Ephe. 4. 18. The Gentiles haue their vnderstanding darkned and so are alienated or estraunged from God bâ— the ignoraunce which is in their mindes and 2. Tim. 3. 8. Men of corrupt mindes anâ— reprobate as touching faith Lastly this blindnesse of minde the companion and cause of infidelitie commeth by our naturall corruption from the fall of Adam for wheras once the light of his minde was darkned by the delusion of the Diuell insomuch that he thought euill to be good and the way leading to extreame misery to be the onely meanes of the greatest happinesse it could not be but that his will affections actions and all the faculties both of bodie and soule shoulde be corrupted for that one of them doth followe the disposition of an other so that a corrupt mind bringeth a peruerse will and a sinfull will and inordinate affections doe darken the minde as hath bene alreadie shewed Hereof it followeth that infidelitie doth both separate a man form God and also depriue him of all the partes of holynesse yea insteed thereof filleth all the parts and faculties of a mans soule and body with the corruption of sinne For man renouncing God is wholly separated frome him neither can any longer receiue any blessing from him for euen as a subiect or tennant discliaming his king and Lorde and relying himselfe vpon a newe master euen one who is a deadlie and professed enimy to his first maister doth incontinently depriue himselfe of all those farmes landes houses prefermentes and commodities whatsoeuer the
effectuall for happinesse Secondlie these giftes although they be partes of renewed holinesse in the beleeuer in whome they spring from the roote of a true faith yet in an vnbeleeuing vnregenerate man they are not spirituall graces but naturall giftes vnable eyther to sanctifie or to saue him that hath them Thus much of doing good Likewise in the committing of euil a naturall man hath freewill not onely to doe it but also to leaue it vndone for he may sinne if he will and he neede not except he list Of the first no man euer doubted but the second needeth to be explaned in this manner As good so also euill is of two kindes inward and outward the inward corruption of sin cannot be auoyded by any means for beside the originall sinne which is common to the regenerate and to the carnall man it is impossible that the inward faculties of a carnall man should be free from actuall sinfulnesse dulnesse ignorance obliuion and peruersenesse and therefore in regarde of this inward corruption of the faculties of the soule man hath no freewill but sinneth of necessity Againe his outward sinnes are of two sortes the one is of those which are sinnes not in their owne nature but as they come from the inward roote of infidelity as namely all the indifferent actions of a carnall man his eating drinking speaking working buying selling and all other of that kinde Yea his good actions as namely his hearing Gods word his praying his giuing of almes his temperate honest and iust actions all these are sinnes in the sight of God And therefore the carnall man hath not freewill in this kind of outward actions For whatsoeuer he doth it is a sinne and if he doe nothing yet that his doing nothing is sinfull yet in particulars he hath freewill or liberty of not sinning for although he cannot but sin in euery thing that he doth yet it is in his freewill whether he will doe that indifferent thing or no and so whether he will sinne in that particular or no as namely a carnall man purposeth to builde a house if he doe it he cannot choose but sinne because he cannot purge himselfe from infidelity yet he neede not sinne in that particular except he list because he neede not build the house except he list The second kinde of outward sinnes is of those which are sinnes in their owne nature as being directy forbidden in the moral law as idolatry periury murther adultery theft such other in the committing whereof a carnall man hath freewill it being not needfull that he should commit them as we see in many vnregenerate men whose outward liues are irreprouable for the inward force of originall corruption of corrupt desires enclining the will to sinne doth not make any necessitie of any particular sinne because they may be repressed by naturall strength and hindred although not from breaking foorth into any sinne yet from bringing forth this or that particular sin For whenas a man coÌ„mitteth adultery or murther he doth it of a free although a corrupt will and not of any force or necessitie Thus we see in how manie respects the freedome of will remaineth the which being not distinguished from a true and generall good consisting in holinesse and happinesse haue beene the occasion of manie errors in this point of doctrine whilst many haue thought that either a man hath freewil by nature or els he is able by learning and knowledge to get an artificiall freedome of will and that in the worke of regeneration the will worketh together which grace if not strongly yet weakly and faintly as we see a sicke man goeth about his businesse but the word of God teacheth vs to thinke the will of man not only weake but cleane dead in respect of true holines as hath beene declared and that an vnregenerate man is no more able of himselfe to enter and goe on in the way of godlynesse then a deade man is able to goe about the affaires of this temporall life Sect. 3. Of the renewed will of man WHen as that happie hower commeth wherein it pleaseth God of his infinite loue and mercie to call anie of his elect children out of the bondage and slauerie of Sathan into the glorious libertie of the kingdome of Christ he then sendeth downe his spirit into the heart of that man whome he purposeth to call and by the mightie operation thereof doth change him into a new creature taking from him the dulnesse and ignorance of his minde the vntowardnesse of his wil and affections and enduing him with the contrarie graces This change is wholly to be ascribed to this supernaturall working of the spirite and not in anie respect to the naturall force of mans will who howsoeuer perhappes he before his conuersion vsing the outward meanes of regeneration and saluation may after a soâ—â— desire holinesse and eternall life yet he is no more able to work it by himselfe then he was in his creation able to take to himselfe created holinesse before the same were inspired into him by God For the will of man as also all the rest of his faculties is not an agent or worker in this action but only doth suffer the worke of the holie spirit to whome it is as easie to sanctifie the will of that man who abhorreth and detesteth all the outward meanes of holinesse as of him that is so carefull and diligent in vsing them that he might seeme to haue chaunged his owne will from euill to good This we see in the conuersion of the Apostle Paul whose will being most spitefully bent against the Gospell was in one moment chaunged to the true loue of it But how is the will after this worke of regeneration Is it as idle and vnable to doe any thing as before Or is it now able of it selfe without the immediate worke of Gods spirite to choose and doe good We answere that although the holy spirite of God doth neuer forsake him whome he hath once renewed but doth to the ende of his life yea for euer accompanie and assist him yet there is a greate difference to be put betwixt the first act of regeneration and the continual course of renewed holynesse arising thereof For a carnall man is renewed by the sole worke of the spirite of God without any helpe action or motion of his owne will vnlesse we will say that it moueth in that it is moued but a faithfull man being already regenerated doth choose imbrace follow and do good and performe all the duties of renewed holinesse by the proper and inherent facultie and motion of his owne freewill That the renewed holinesse of the will and of all the other faculties of a faithfull man are proper and inherent in him no man can doubt for his knowledge of God and his inclination to good although it were wrought in them by the holy spirit yet it is not the proper holinesse of the holy spirite whose holinesse is
for any to enter who is not perfectly holy then it is for palpable darkenesse to be there whereas the sunne shineth clearely at noone day and therefore seeing holinesse is tyed to happinesse by such an vnspeakable bond it is needfull that wee do heere speake of holinesse wherewith as with a wedding garment euery one must be clothed who desireth to enter into Gods paradise Holinesse therfore is as hath beene before touched The spirituall coniunction of the reasonable creature with God as happinesse is his personall or locall coniunction with him For then eyther Angell or man is perfectly holy when as in his spirite or soule in his vnderstanding will affections and all the actions proceeding from them he cleaueth to God in perfect obedience knowing beleeuing choosing louing fearing and obeying him aboue all thinges so as not onely the outward actions but also the inward faculties yea the whole nature be pure in the sight of God without any spot or blemish of sinne Both which to wit the holinesse of the natural faculties and of the outward actions we will ioyne together in this treatise for the greater euidence of the doctrine This holinesse although it might be handled according to the order of the seuerall partes and faculties of mans soule yet we will rather distinguish it into these two parts Subiection to God and Conformity to God whereof the first containeth all those parts of mans holines which he oweth to God as to his superiour and which haue no resemblance to any part of Gods nature for that God is in no respect subiect to any the other those wherein man is like to God resembling some part of Gods nature so as that he may be said to haue those faculties in common with God although after a farre diuerse manner for man is then truely holy when as he is subiect to God in conformitie and like to God in due subiection For so it pleased God to put in man his owne image or the similitude and resemblance of his own nature yet not making him his mate or equall but euery way subiect and inferiour to him Mich. 6. 8. O man God sheweth thee what is good that is wherein thy holinesse doth consist namely in this that thou humble thy selfe to walke with thy God For the first the subiection which man oweth to God is not of one kind but generall containing in it all kindes of subiection whatsoeuer to wit that which the loyall subiect oweth to his prince the sonne to his father the seruant to his master the scholer to his teacher the creature to the creator in all which respectes man ought to be subiect to God performing all those dueties to him which any inferiour oweth to his superiour as in particular consideration will more plainly appeare Sect. 2. Of the sinfulnesse of man MAn by that one offence committed against God in eating the forbidden fruite did wholly loose both the iustice of his person and also the inherent purity of his nature For the first we knowe that disobedience and rebellion against God appeareth as well in one wilfull transgression as in many for no man is to be counted iust and innocent who is stained with any one grieuous crime and therefore as we read Iam. 2. 10. whosoeuer keeping the whole lawe beside transgresseth any one part or precept he is guilty of the breaking of the whole lawe But the resolution of the other question is much harder for it is not so easy to shew howe that one sinne did cleane take away the holynesse which was inherent infixed and euen ingrauen by the finger of God in the nature of man as we know that the transgression of Adā depriued both him and his posterity of that light of the minde of the actuall in clmation of his will to good onely and of whatsoeuer else was good in him For as the Poets doe fable of certaine men who by drinking a charmed potion were made of reasonable men brute and sauage beasts so we know that the eating of the forbidden fruite did make as great a metamorphosis or change in Adam who by this meanes was stript naked of all and euery parte of that holynesse wherewith he was before endued But whence came this wonderfull altertion whether from God spoling man of all those holy garmentes wherewith he had decked him before or from man himselfe makeing a totall apostasie from God Not from God whose giftes are without repentance and whose nature is farre from any such inconstancie but from man Yet not from any wilfull desire or purpose of renouncing God and all holynesse but by the craft of sathan and the nature of sinne which as leauen once getting place neuer resteth till that it soure the wholle lumpe be it neuer so great So man after that he had once inclined his will to disobey God and admitted vnbeleefe into his minde coulde not keepe his affections and actions from the contagion of sinne Adam perhaps thought that to eate the forbidden fruite was but a single and small offence but sathan knewe very well that it was a grieuous and an vniuersall Apostasie from God as it prooued in the euents For whilest the sweetnesse of the fruite was yet in the mouth of Adam the venim and poyson of it did pierce into the most secret partes of his soule leauing no part vncorrupted or free from the filthynesse of sinne For when as once the light of his minde was darkned by the delusion of the diuell in somuch that he thought euill to be good and the way leading to extreame miserie to be the onelie meanes of the greatest happinesse it coulde not be but that his will affections actions and all the faculties both of body and soule should be corrupted for that one of them doth followe the disposition of an other so that a corrupt minde bringeth a peruerse will and a sinnefull will maketh inordinate affections both which encrease the darkenesse of the minde and also defile all the outward actions Thus Adam lost the puritie of his nature by continuing in his sin whereinto he had fallen adding one measure of sinfulnesse to an other till at length he came to a constant habit naturall disposition of sinfullnesse And as he was himselfe sinfull so he left his sinfulnesse to his posteritie the which in respect of him is called originall corruption Ps. 51. 7. I was fashioned in sinne and in inquitie did my mother conceaue me This originall sinne is that corrupt estate of mans nature wherein all the faculties and powers of it are altogether vnapt and impotent to the doing of any good and wholly disposed and enclined to the committing of sin or more briefly the spiritual separation of man from God whereby it commeth to passe that he neither doth nor can either knowe or beleeue either loue or feare either obey or honour God or be in any respect so affected towards him as he ought to be This spirituall
fearefull panges of desperation such extreame sorrowe feare and humiliation that he may truely be saide to passe to heauen through the middest of hell Againe some of these new men are borne in so greate strength and perfection as if they were not babes but growen men in Christe As was the Apostle Paule who came into this spirituall world not onely a perfect man but also a mighty giant euen an notable apostle whereas others in the beginning of their regeneration are so weake in the performance of the actions of spirituall life that it may be greatly doubted whether they haue any life or no. Lastly the signes of regeneration are as many as are the seuerall partes and heads of sanctification and therefore whosoeuer desireth to knowe whether that this new man be begotten in himselfe or no let him consider diligently that which followeth in all the third sections of this treatise applying it to himselfe see whether that he finde this straunge change in his own soul or no whether that he be fully perswaded of the trueth of Gods worde which saieth that the dead shall one day be raised vp to life and that all those who did beleeue in Christ shall enioy eternall happinesse in heauen or doe secretly in his mind doubt of the trueth of these thinges whether that for his good estate in this world he depend on GOD or vpon his owne wisdome strength riches and friends whether that he feare God or man more whether that his chiefe delight be in seruing God in praising God in hearing reading meditating on the worde of God or in worldly pleasures in eating drinking sleeping in pastime in the pompe and outwarde shewe of the worlde whether that he haue the grace to pray dayly to God for all spirituall graces distinctly and seuerally one by one or that he prayeth seldome lightly and but for fashions sake whether that he loue those who feare God as he doth his owne brethren or children or else is effected to them no otherwise then to other men by these signes and many other which are hereafter to be declared at large this regeneration may easely and certainly be knowen And therefore it standeth euery man in hand who desireth to escape the second death to examine himselfe whether that he haue anie parte in this first resurrection as the Apostle doth exhort 2. Cor. 13. 5. saying Trie your selues whether ye be in the faith or no knowe ye not that Christ is in you except ye be reprobats Lastly as the happinesse so also the holynesse of this third estate excelleth the first holynesse of man in that it is perpetuall and cannot by any meanes be lost for whereas this seed of regeneration is once sowen by the hand of God there it remaineth for euer and bringeth foorth fruite to life euerlasting 1. Ioh. 3. 10. Euery one that is borne of God doth not sinne neither can sinne because the seed of God is in him Where by sin he meaneth a totall apostasie from God not a particular sinne the which the faithfull do often commit without indaungering their saluation Which doth not depend on their owne righteousnesse as Adams did but vpon the righteousnesse of Christ. This certainty of perseuerance in the faith cōmeth not of any strength of man but of the goodnesse of God who confirmeth vnto the end all those whom he doth once effectually call Chapter 4. Sect. 1. Of faith in generall and of legall faith THe first kind of subiection which man oweth to God is that which the subiect or tennant oweth to his king or liegelord of whom he holdeth his houses lands possessions by whose fauour procured by dutifull obedience he liueth in a good and happy state whose anger would be to him extreame miserie and euen death it selfe and may be called affiance or dependaunce Thus was man in his first creation affected to God on whom onely he did depende and relie himselfe for a happie estate This subiection is in holy scripture called faith because the obiect of it is the faithfulnesse of God and the trueth of his worde and promises For as in the latin phrase habere fidem is to giue credence to another so in diuinitie to haue faith is to attribute faithfulnesse to God or to acknowledge him to be faithfull in all his promises both by beleeuing them as also by depending on them Thus Sara is saide Hebr. 11. 11 To haue had faith in that she iudged God to be faithfull in his promises This faith is of two kindes the faith wherewith Adam was endued in his first creation and the faith which God giueth in regeneration the first is called vsually legall the other Euangelicall The which two kindes although they doe differ the one from the other yet they agree in substance being of the same nature in generall and therefore we wil first declare the generall doctrine which is common to both the kindes of faith and then see what is proper to each kind and wherein the one differeth from the other Fayth in generall is thus defined Affiance in Gods promises propounding eternall happinesse to the perfect holinesse of the reasonable creature or to man being perfectly holy Or thus Faith is the trust and confidence of a mans heart relying himselfe wholly on God for eternall happinesse to be had by perfect holynesse Or thus Faith is the affiance of the hearte arising of an effectuall perswasion of the trueth of Gods worde which promiseth happinesse to man being perfectly holy and threatneth eternall misery to him being polluted with sinne Iames. 1. 19. The diuels beleeue and tremble These definitions being in substance all one offer diuerse poyntes to be considered and first what part or facultie of mans soule is the Subiect and Seate of faith whether the minde the will or the affections whether one some or all of them For answere hereof in that we say that faith is affiance trust or confidence we doe plainly put it among the affections For so it seemeth to be of the same kinde with hope loue feare and the rest of the spirituall graces al which and especiallie faith although they spring from a former knowledge and are alwaies ioyned with it yet they are in nature to be distinguished from it As in this instance faith hath the originall and beginning in the minde for a man can neuer relie himselfe wholly on God for happinesse vnlesse he be perswaded that God both can and will make him happie Yet not the bare contemplation and perswasion of the mind but the affiance and affection of the heart is faith and yet for somuch as it is impossible that a man shoulde be fullie perswaded in his minde of the trueth of Gods promises and not together set his whole affiaunce and fayth on him or that he shoulde be by faith rightly affected towarde GOD vnlesse first he haue the knowledge of GOD and of his promises hence it is that fayth is often placed
the faithfull for that otherwise they could not be prepared and made fit for the enioying of eternall glory And that in these respects First in that the faithfull are left for a while in crosses troubles sorrow sinne and all manner of misery they haue time giuen vnto them to consider both their owne naturall estate howe wretched they are of themselues and also the excellencie of that glory which is prepared for them in heauen and so see and acknowledge the vnspeakable goodnesse of God who hath freed them from the one and will at the appointed time bring them to the other The which thing cannot be so duelie waied and considered by man when he is in the state eyther of extreeme misery or of absolute glory as it is by the faithfull in this present life the which is a mixt state consisting partly of sinne and misery and partly of holinesse and happinesse partly of life and partly of death so that as a man cannot at any time so well diâ—cerne a thing to be black or crooked as when he layeth it beside that which is white or straight so the faithfull doe more easely and truely conceiue their owne misery and Gods mercy in this life wherein they doe sensibly feele them both then eyther they did before regeneration in which time they knew neither themselues nor God or then they shall doe in the world to come wherein their naturall misery is not felt in their owne bodies and soules as it is in this life but onely remembred and beheld in the reprobate Wherein God dealeth with sinfull man as earthly kings deale sometimes with rebels malefactors whom although they purpose not onely to pardon their offence but also to receiue into fauour and loue and so doe restore them from death to life from shame to honour yet they doe not at the first admit them into the highest degree of their fauour to their secret counsell or to their personall presence Thus did King Dauid deale with Absolon 2. Sam. 14. 22. who after that he was pardoned and receiued into fauour was two yeares in IerusaleÌ„ before that he saw the kings face And thus doe the faithfull after that they are fully iustifyed from the guilt of their sinne they doe not forthwith rush into heauen but remaine heere on earth in the outward court of Gods palace waiting till they may be admitted into the glorious presence of God in heauen For we are not to thinke that there ought to be the same manner of the first creation of man of his regeneration that as in the first so also in the second birth man ought incontinently as soone as he doth existe to be made perfectly happy as if happinesse were a small and light matter which might be lost in one moment of an houre recouered in another And therefore we are to put a difference betwixt the first and the second happinesse of man the first beeing giuen immediately by God whereas the other is gotten although not by the helpe yet by the meanes of man who is in some sort to worke his owne saluation and must be endued in this life with some measure of grace whereby hee may be prepared for the fulnesse of it in the worlde to come the which thing cannot be done vnlesse his saluation be deferred for otherwise there woulde be no triall of his faith and loue yea no vse of hope patience praier and such other spirituall graces for the working whereof God doth defer the happinesse of his elect This the Apostle doth plainely teach vs Rom. 8. 24. 25. 26. saying If the thing hoped for be seene hope is no hope for how can a man hope for that he seeth but if we hope for that we see not then we doe with patience abide for it Likewise our hope being thus deferred the spirit helpeth our infirmities in praying for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed Thus we see how it commeth to passe that hope hath so necessary and great vse in this third estate Now we are to declare the nature of it more particularly by shewing first what it is secondly what relation it hath to faith thirdly what are the vses and commodities which it bringeth lastly what are the signes by the which it may be knowen For the first Renewed hope is an expectation of celestiall glory or of eternall glory in heauen This definition giueth vs to vnderstand that the obiect whereat this holy affection aimeth and looketh is not present but to come and yet not any future thing but that which is good for not onely hope but all other affections and the whole will of man yea euen when they are sanctified and in their purest and holiest estate doe abhorre and eschew all euill whether present or future and doe cleaue onely to that which is good for man And yet not any future good is the obiect of this hope but the chiefest good which indeed is all manner of good and euen happinesse it selfe For so we are to thinke that as faith trusteth in God for happinesse so hope waiteth for it And although both faith and hope sometimes take hold of a particular good as Abraham both trusted and hoped in God for Isaac and as the man sicke of the palsey did for bodily health yet neyther faith nor hope rest in a particular good but onely through it looke at the generall good vsing it as a meanes way token or pledge of the generall good and happinesse Yea further there is this difference that faith and hope doe for the most part apprehende a particular good whether it be a temporall blessing or a spirituall grace doubtingly vnlesse there be a special promise of it as was that which God made to Abraham of Isaac as not being absolutely needfull for their happinesse and therefore not needfull to be graunted by God but they lay holde on happinesse which is the vniuersall good without doubting or any exception whatsoeuer So that by hope we meane hope of eternall glory in the which sense this word is vsed throughout the writings of the Apostles Lastly the obiect of hope is not any terrestriall good or happinesse as was that wherein Adam was created but a celestiall happinesse as it hath beene in parte described heretofore In the second place we are to declare the nature of hope by comparing it with faith with the which it agreeth in these respectes First faith is the cause and as it were the mother of hope for a man cannot hope to come to heauen vnlesse he be first taught by faith the right way and true meanes of saluation Yea he is more then madde who thinketh once to enter into the glorious presence of God in heauen being not first cleansed by faith from the filthinesse of his sinne but whome faith iustifyeth him hope glorifyeth Againe as faith bringeth foorth hope so hope like a louing and gracious childe cherisheth and vpholdeth faith for how coulde any man rely himselfe
entisements in all things Lastly as touching supplication which we make the third filial duty man is so wholly alienated from God that what necessitie soeuer do pinche him he hath not either the minde or the will and as we vse to speake neither the heart nor the face once to go to God by humble prayer for helpe He flyeth to worldly meanes as to his own wisdome strength riches and friendes and if all faile yet he will rather seeke for helpe by sorcery and witchcraft at the hands of his newe father the diuell then he will by prayer call vpon the name of God Thus are all vnregenerate men affected howsoeuer in a shew of religion or as a common prouerbe they will somtimes say God helpe me or God be mercifull to me whereas in trueth they being destitute of faith haue no confidence in God neither any hope of obtaining any thing at his hand Neither is there any cause why they shoulde thinke otherwise for God doth not heare and helpe but detest and plague vnbeleeuers Sect. 3. Of filiall subiection renewed THus we see how man is altogether spoiled by the malice of Sathan of this excellent dignitie of being the sonne of God but by the mercie of God he recouereth it in the state of regeneration in as ample manner as he had it in his first creation For as all naturall men are in Adam vngratious bastardes so they become the sonnes of God in Christ not by partaking his eternall and essentiall filiation whereof no creature is capable but by being renewed and made conformable to the holinesse of his humaine nature For as man lost this dignitie by loosing the image of God to wit his perfect holinesse by vertue whereof he onely of all earthly creatures was the sonne of God so being nowe by the spirite of God restored to the saide image of God he is together restored to the dignitie of being the sonne of God Ioh. 1. 12. As many as beleeued in him to those he gaue power to be the sonnes of God For as we read 2. Pet. 1. 4. We are made partakers of his diuine nature that is of the image or resemblaunce of the diuine nature in that we fly the corruption of lust which is in the world From this prerogatiue of being the sonnes of God the scripture speaking to men according to the manner of men whose sonnes do in time enioy their fathers possessions stirreth vp the faithfull to an vndoubted expectation of eternall glory Gal. 4. 7. We are no more seruantes but sonnes and the heires of God through Christ Rom. 8. 17. If we be sonnes then are we heires the heires truly of God and the fellow heires of Christ and 1. Iohn 3. 2. We are nowe the sonnes of God although our inheritaunce doth not appeare till Christ appeare Nowe to proceed As the faithfull are restored to this dignitie so they are indued by the spirite of God with the disposition belonging to it being so affected to God as children ought to be to their naturall fathers They reuerence him aboue al thinges in the worlde in worde and deed in minde harte and in all their behauiour The great securitie and certainty which they haue of their owne good estate doth not make them any way presumptuous neither doth the familiarity which God vouchsafeth to haue with them as with freindes Ioh. 15 15. Breed in them any contempt of God but they stand continually in awe of him and of his glorious presence yeelding to him his due honour both in word deed and affection whensoeuer they haue any occasion to deale with him This we may obserue as in the other seruants of God so especially in Abraham who although he was the friend of God as he is called Iam. 2. 23. And had familiar conuersation and talke with God as one friende vseth to haue with another yet he durst not speake the second time to God in the behalfe of the Sodomites without vsing some preface of reuerence saying Gen. 18. 27. Behold I haue taken vpon me to speake to God who am but dust and ashes And againe Vers. 30 let not my lord be angrie if I speake for them This affection of the faithfull is described Psal. 123 As the eyes of the seruant are vpon his lord and as the handmaid doth modestly waite in presence of her mistris so are we affected to God Likewise for the second duty which is Imitation the faithfull man endeuoureth by all meanes to conforme himselfe to the absolute puritie and holinesse of God Whereof the Apostle hauing wise consideration vseth the examples of Christes death and resurrection as most forcible argumentes to enforce the mortification of sinne and the viuification of all holynesse in vs Rom. 6. and Eph. 5. 1. Be ye followers of God as beloued children Lastly As a sonne being pinched with any griefe or want doth straight way run to his father for reliefe so doe the faithfull in the manifolde miseries and crosses of this present life seeke for helpe at the handes of their heauenly father For the which purpose they are indued with a notable gift of God called the spirit of prayer that is the grace ability or faculty of praying wrought in them by the holy spirite This grace of God is diligently to be declared and considered for that of all the partes of mans holinesse none is a more vnfallible signe of true regeneration then is this gift of prayer whereby a man is made able willing and ready to pray aright vnto God as the present occasion doth require For this gifte consisteth of many particular graces of Gods spirit the which are needfull for the right performance of this duety and cannot be founde in any carnall man First there is required the true knowledge of those things which belong vnto the good happy state of man which is not attained but by the worke of the holy spirite Rom. 8. 26. We know not for what to pray as we ought but the spirit helpeth our infirmity For all men generally and naturally feele their temporall wants as pouerty sicknesse shame and whatsoeuer belongeth to the maintenance of this present life but as for spirituall graces as the knowledge and feare of God faith loue patience and the rest which concerne their eternall saluation they neuer trouble themselues in seeking them or are greeued for the want of them nay for the most part they neuer thinke of any such matter or knowe what these thinges meane Besides none can pray aright yea although he be enlightned with some knowledge of the spirituall state of man and haue a glimmering of the thinges belonging vnto it as a carnal man may haue vnlesse he haue true faith wherby he may be assured that god both loueth him and wil graunt his requests Rom. 10. 14. The Apostle maketh it impossible for him who doth not beleeue in God to call vpon him But the
Ideae or species engrauen in them by nature but being appointed by God to seeke for knowledge by some outward meanes and so to replenish these emptie roomes with all varietie of knowledge The which thing was done in this state farre more easely certainlie and sooner then any man can get knowledge in the sinfull state of man First for humaine knowledge it was to be gotten by the aforesaide meanes of sense experience obseruation and collection For the which purpose man had great subtilitie and quicknesse of outwarde senses arising of the exact temperament of his bodie and being able to receaue aright without errour the impression of any obiect And accordingly were the faculties of the minde disposed the which as it is commonly saide followe the temperature of the body and by the which man was able with great quicknesse facilitie certainety and trueth to conceaue and vnderstand to imagine and inuent to compounde and deuide to collect and inferre to reason and discourse to iudge and determine and in summe to performe all the duties actions and motions in any naturall and finite obiect without failing or erring in his worke Thus we see that man was to come to the knowledge of the creatures called humain knowledge not by immediate inspiration or any supernaturall reuelation from God but by the meanes of the naturall faculties of his body and minde for as it is in the corrupt estate so in the state of innocencie the outward senses of the body did let knowledge into the minde as light commeth into a house by the windowes of it Yet man did not gette knowledge onely by opening his eyes but by diligent vsing and imploying all the faculties of his minde in this worke Hereof we may inferre these things First that man knewe not any thing which might not be knowen by the aforesaid meanes of his naturall faculties As for example he could not giue any certaine iudgement of the effect where the causes were contingent as in his owne actions he coulde not foresee his owne fall whether he shoulde resist or giue place to temptation because the trueth hereof did depend on the extemporall motion of his freewill which might encline it selfe to eyther part Secondly that he knew not any particular thing which had not at any time beene apprehended by his outward senses and therefore he could not know the secret thoughtes of another man nor define the number of thinges infinite as to tell how many stones or fishes were in the sea these thinges he did not know neither was it needfull for him to know them Againe hereof it followeth that man in his innocency had not any perfection of knowledge till he were come to ripenesse of age for that during the time of his infancie and childehood the faculties of his bodie and minde were weake and therefore not able to performe their seuerall functions in any perfect manner Yea further that in his youth he was to be trained vp in learning and in vsing all the meanes of attaining knowledge Wherein we are not to thinke that he was so slow dull and vntoward as are the wittiest and most forward ones in this corrupt estate but that he did profite in knowledge farre more easely then any can doe in this sinfull time Lastly in that man was to get knowledge by the aforesaid meanes it appeareth that all men were not endued with the like measure of actual knowledge for howsoeuer the naturall faculties of the minde seruing for the getting of knowledge were much alike in all without any great differēce for it could not be but that there should be some difference as in the tēperament of the bodies so also in the minds or greater their actual knowledge was lesse of men yet as men did giue thēselues more or lesse to the vse of the meanes and to the searching out of the trueth of thinges Thus we see what was the meanes of mans humane knowledge but how shal we think that he came to the knowledge of god who is not subiect to sense therfore to be knowē by some other meanes For the answere hereof we are to distinguish the knowledge of God in to two parts The one is the knowledge of gods nature the other is the knowledge of his actions counsels decrees and will this latter part was altogether vnknowen to man but so farre foorth as it was extraordinarily reuealed to him by God otherwise no man yea no Angell in heauen knoweth the minde of God or is admitted into his secrete counsell as no Angell knoweth when the worlde shall haue an end Math. 24. 36. Thus man in his innocency was ignorant of his owne fall and of the whole worke of our redemption by Christ for these thinges were not reuealed vnto him neither had he any neede of this knowledge Yet God did from time to time reueale his counsels vnto man so farre foorth as was needfull and that by visions apparitions dreames ◠ectasies inspirations by the ministerie of Angels but most commonly by a created voyce as he spake to Adam in the garden This parte of diuine knowledge being reuealed by God might easely be attained to by man who was able to conceiue vnderstand and remember that God had decreed and would doe this or that thing But for the knowledge of Gods essence and nature which is euery way infinite howe shall we thinke it possible to be comprehended by man although the same were reuealed by God seeing that it is impossible for God himself to make a finite thing cōprehend that which is infinite Againe whatsoeuer man knoweth or conceaueth in his minde he conceiueth it by a similitude or image of the saide thing abstracted from it by his outwarde sense but whereunto shall man resemble or compare God who is not like to any thing eyther truely existing or which can be imagined We answere confessing all this to be true and agreeable to the worde of God for it is impossible for a man to knowe GOD fully as a man may knowe the whole nature forme force matter vertue and abilitie of a tree beast or any other creature But howe much soeuer we doe giue to God in our mindes yet there is more due vnto him And yet man may in some sort comprehend the nature of God euen by knowing it to be incomprehensible and get a likenesse or forme of it by knowing it to be incomparable to any thing and vnlike to all thinges Whereof ariseth this knowledge of God in the minde of man God is a certaine thing or nature incomprehensible and incomparable But this is nothing to the purpose for it is not sufficient for man in regarde eyther of his happinesse or of his holinesse to haue a generall and confused knowledge of God that he is a certaine thing or nature there being innumerable natures beside his in the worlde or to haue a priuatiue knowledge that God cannot be comprehended of any creature or resembled to any thing for this knowledge
Chap. 8. Sect. 1. For if we shoulde suppose that some one man in this state of innocency did liue solitarelie by himselfe not hauing the companie or helpe of any other yet we are not to thinke that he woulde haue bene ignorant of God but rather to be perswaded that howsoeuer he might want the knowledge of some particulars the which doth not make an imperfect knowledge also be inferiour to others in measure of knowledge yet he shoulde haue bene endued with the perfect knowledge of God For as hath bene said this state of happinesse is of the same kinde with the happinesse of the Angels in heauen although in degree of knowledge and all other graces it be farre inferiour to it For this is a certaine and generall rule that in all states of innocency whether they be in heauen or on earth whether in this world or in the worlde to come God doth reueale himselfe to his reasonable creatures face to face that is immediatlie without the mediation of any creature as God saieth Numb 12. 8. That he spake to Moses face to face mouth to mouth But he spake to the people by the mediation of Moses Thus 1. Cor. 13. 12. To see God face to face as the Godly shall in the worlde to come is opposed to the knowing of God by the ministerie of man as the faithfull doe in this life wherein God doth reueale himselfe to them by his ministers as one man speaketh to an other by an interpreter or messenger not in personall presence Yet this immediate teaching doth not hinder but that in this state of innocencie one man might haue his knowledge encreased by an other as God did reueale some particulars to one more then to another or that the weakenesse of mans infancie and childehood shoulde not be supported by teachers as hath bene declared Thus much of the potentiall knowledge called by philosophers the suffering vnderstanding or facultie of the minde the which in conceauing any thing doth suffer the impression of knowledge as waxe doth suffer when as any forme is imprinted in it Nowe we come to actuall knowledge called the agent facultie because knowledge being once gotten is not idle but working in the minde and doth not onely moue it selfe but also is the beginning of motion to all the other faculties of the bodie and soule As touching the measure of mans actuall knowledge in his innocencie the which poynt onely resteth to be considered it is to be defined by his happinesse and by comparison made with the knowledge of the faithfull in their regeneration For first man knewe whatsoeuer might any way make for his good and happie estate as namely he had the perfect knowledge of God which is a great parte of happinesse beholding him daily and continually although not in his essentiall forme which is incomprehensible yet in the cleare euidence of his glory Besides he had the knowledge of all the creatures whose formes kindes natures properties vertues qualities and commodities he did perfectly comprehend as appeareth in that Adam gaue to euery beast a name agreeable to his nature He knew howe to gouerne families and common-wealthes with meete orders and lawes and in generall whatsoeuer thing did any way belong to the necessitie vse pleasure or commoditie of humaine life Secondly we may gather the measure of the created knowledge by comparing it with renewed knowledge For if we should put together in one man the knowledge of the best most learned diuines politicians physitions logicians mathematicians philosophers and of all that are most excellent in any kinde yet it is not so great sound pure subtil perfect as the knowledge of mā in the state of innocencie And no maruel seing he had far more excellēt meanes of knowledge whether we regard his own nature therein the puritie and integritie of all his senses and faculties both outward and inwarde or yet his scholemaister and teacher who was Godhimselfe Sect. 2 Of the sinfulnesse of the mind or of the ignoraunce of man in his corrupt estate THus much of mans knowledge in his pure estate from the which we come to his corrupt state as out of the cleare sunne-shine into a darke dungeon for as before the fall of man his minde was enlightned with the perfect knowledg of God of al things in the world so since the fal it is ouercast euen wholly possessed with palpable darknesse being destitute not onely of all actuall knowledge but also of all abilitie of attaining the true knowledge of God by any facultie vertue industrie or any meanes inherent in himselfe the which in the former section we call potentiall knowledge for the first kinde of knowledge namelie actuall reall or that which is already gotten it is euident to the eyes of all that list to consider it that the naturall knowledge of man is mere darknesse and ignorance By naturall knowledge we meane that knowledge which is◠and may be seene in all vnregenerate men who are come to yeares of discretion and haue neither encreased nor decreased that knowledge which they haue of themselues Both which accidentes may happen to carnall men as we are to declare in the third part of this treatise Chap. 6. In this sorte of men we are to account all ignorant people who hauing beene brought vp in rudenesse and ignorance not vsing the meanes of getting knowledge as the heareing reading and learning of the worde of God haue no other opinion of God and of religion then those rudimentes and beginnings which they brought from their mothers wombes and which they haue gotten or rather which haue crept into their mindes by little and little they not seeking or looking after any knowledge not out of the bookes of the scripture but out of the creatures The which being dayly beheld felt and enioyed can not but leaue some impression of the knowledge of God in the mindes of those who haue any sparke of reason remaining in them Hence it is that man euen in this his corrupt estate thinketh that there is a God that this God is of great power and therefore to be feared that he is the giuer of all good thinges and therefore to be worshipped honored in way of thankfulnesse that he is iust and there fore will punishe sinners and rewarde good and innocent men Likewise he hath some knowledge of the second table yea more then of the first whereby he can decerne right from wrong honest thinges from vnhonest so that he condemneth theft oppression incest adulterie murther and such like grosse sinnes For although many doe diminishe this light of nature and become such detestable atheistes as to fay in their heartes that there is no God yet man naturally thinketh otherwise as appeareth plainely both by the word of God and by common experience For the first we haue this doctrine Rom. 1. 19. 20. that which is knowen of God that is so much as God hath made knowen to all
this is to be ascribed not to any natural impossibility of sinning which is not to be admitted or supposed in any creature no not in the humane nature of Christ to the which the sinne of mankind could not haue beene imputed if it had beene naturally vncapable of sin but to the loue and grace of God who doth continue vphold them in their holy state not by mangling their nature and detracting any natural faculty as potentiall will or any other but by cōfirming their actuall will in the natural inclination of it to good onelie Lastlie this natural impossibilitie of sinning would make man either a God as hath beene said or which is liker a senselesse stocke not hauing in himselfe perfect life the full power of mouing himself For how can we suppose that Adam shoulde haue been created a liuing and a reasonable creature not to haue beene able to will to eate the forbidden fruit or to do any other thing incident into his nature If it be saide that God might haue confirmed him with his grace We answere that that is true but he neither was bound to doe it neither did or could thinke man worthy of more grace who did abuse so many and so excellent graces as he had by nature Sect. 2. Of the sinfulnesse of the will AS there is nothing but horrible confusion in that cōmonwealth wherein neither the prince can rule nor the people obey the one wanting wisedome and counsell whereby he should make righteous lawes commaunding good and forbidding euill the other due moderation whereby they might be restrained from euill and so the raynes of licentiousnesse being let loose to the furious multitude all is filled with thefts murthers adulteries and all manner of hainous enormities that we may come nearer home making the sēsible misery of the body a type of the spirituall misery of the soule as when one blinde man leadeth another it cannot be but that both of them should fall into the ditch So the case standeth with the sinfull disorderly soule of man wherein the mind being voyd of knowledge is not able to direct the practicall faculties from euil to good And if happily there be some good motion suggested by the minde wherein there is a little light remaining since the first creation yet it is not followed and obeyed but frowardly reiected by the practicall faculties and so the vnderstanding faculties which are darkened blinded by the fall of man leading the practicall faculties which by their owne nature are blind and by sinfulnes peruerse cannot but lead man into the pit of sinne and of eternall destruction But let vs consider these practicall faculties in particular first the will then the affections As all the other faculties of man so also the will hath lost the created holines and what maruaile is it that the will it selfe is sinfull seeing by it all the other faculties of mans soule and body were made sinfull Yea it is more sinfull then the former faculties and so is iustly punished for being the cause of mans sinfulnesse for it doth more if more can be abhorre and refuse good then the minde is ignorant of it The meanes whereby the will became sinfull was the owne default for it being created by God actually onely good and potentially more good then euill did by refusing good and choosing euill make it selfe for euer vnable eyther to choose good or to refuse euill and that by continuing in that wrong way wherein it had made one step in choosing forbidden fruit and by adding one degree of peruersnesse to another till at length it became habituall and naturall to it The sinfulnesse of mans will in this his corrupt state is the actuall and potentiall inclination of it only to euill This definition needeth some explication and proofe it being greatly controuerted and oppugned by many who as if they were not of the progenie of Adam thinke that his fall doth not belong vnto them neither hath taken from them the created holinesse of will and therefore they affirme and defend that the will of man euen in this corrupt estate is if not actually inclined to good yet so free that it may of it selfe incline it selfe and the whole man either to euill whereof no man doubteth or yet to good wherein the whole controuersie standeth But this opinion is not to be receiued for it is an enimie both to gods glorie in that it taketh a way the supernaturall worke of his spirite in regenerating the faithfull and ascribeth the saluation of man not to the loue mercie and power of God but to the naturall faculties and inherent strength of man and also to the saluation of mē whome it deceaueth with a vaine shew of conuersion faith and holinesse And therefore that the truth of this matter may appeare We will first set downe the state of it by shewing what is good and euill and what it is to haue freewill in regard of both or rather either of good or euill Good therefore is to be defined by God who only is good therfore the only rule of goodnes for whatsoeuer in the creature is agreeable to the goodnesse of God that is straigth good as whatsoeuer is disagreeing frō it is crooked euill Yet this goodnesse of God is not that which is essentiall to his nature and cannot be comprehended by anie creature but a finite created and accidentall goodnesse which God hath put into euerie one of his creaturs as a shadow of his infinite goodnesse Now in man this goodnesse is his holinesse and happinesse not deuised by himselfe but appointed by God and reuealed in his word Contrarilie euill is the sinfullnesse and wretchednesse of man yea although it haue neuer so greate an appearance of goodnes holines happinesse yet if it be not that holinesse and happinesse which is agreeable to the will of God it is euil sin misery This goodnes is the obiect of mās wil or the thing wherevnto he enclineth himselfe who in the state of innocencie had power to will choose true goodnes yea he did actuallie choose it being in all his thoughtes wordes deedes faculties and in his whole nature and state made by his owne free-will conformable to the will of God But as touching the will or proper inclinatiō of man in this his corrupt state we do vtterly denie that he is able by any naturall facultie in himselfe by anie imagining inuenting or discoursing by anie wit wisdome learning reading or knowledge by any good education instruction and exercise or ingenerall by anie meanes that a naturall man can vse or that all the men or Angels in the world can vse in his behalfe without the supernaturall worke of Gods spirit changing his nature to incline himselfe to that which is good that is to that holinesse and happinesse which is agreeable to the will of God Or more plainly he cannot say thus with himselfe and doe accordingly This is the
For as he did cary about with himselfe the infirmity of humane nature consisting of flesh and bloud and was outwardly subiect to the temptations of Sathan so we cannot doubt but that by these meanes his faith and withall all the other partes of holines might receiue some wounde although not be cleane ouercome and mingled with doubting wauering although not wholly turned into it Likewise the loue of God and of his glory might be abated for some space of time by force of temptation and he made lesse zealous of Gods glory and lesse chearefull in seruing him yea dull and lumpish and without his wonted alacrity The trueth hereof appeareth in the example of Christ whose humane nature although it were endued with farre more firme and plentifull holinesse then was man in his innocency yet in that it was a humane that is a created and weake nature it could not be freed from this mutabilitie whereunto all creatures are subiect Whereof it came that the vnspeakable force of his last agony wherein he felt the infinite anger of God due to the sinne of mankinde did giue his faith a great blow yea it made an euident decrease of it for a short time insomuch that he burst foorth into these wordes My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Where we are not to thinke that his faith did faile which appeareth plainely in those wordes my God my God But as the most valiant champion receiuing a mighty blow is made to reele and stagger by the force of it so was the faith of Christ shaken by this temptation as is a strong house by a greate blast of winde yet without daunger of being ouerturned now to proceede As mans holinesse might haue beene diminished in regard of the measure of particular graces so it might also haue beene encreased in the same respect not that we suppose it to haue beene imperfect but for that that which is already perfect may become more perfect As namely that we may make instance in some particular the knowledge wherewith man was endued in his innocency was exceeding great as hath beene shewed yet no man can doubt but that the same would in processe of time haue beene continually encreased as God did reueale himselfe his word counsels and actions daily more and more This encrease of holinesse in the vnderstanding all the otheir faculties do follow for the more that man knoweth God the more he trusteth loueth feareth obeyeth worshippeth and honoreth him the oftner that man were deliuered from danger by the goodnesse and power of God the greater woulde be his affiance in God the more blessings that he doth receiue the greater is his thankfulnes So that the life both of man and of the Angels in their innocency being a continuall exercise of holinesse cannot but haue a continuall encrease of it Yea we may well thinke that both many of the Angels and all mankinde were so easelie drawen from God and brought to a fearefull ruine because they were tempted to this Apostasie in the beginning of their liues immediately after their creation before they could encrease and confirme their holinesse by obseruation and holy experience By the which meanes we are to thinke that euen the holy Angels themselues which doe continually behold the face of God in heauen haue since their first creation continually encreased their holinesse and so are a great deale further from falling and sinning against God then they were in the beginning being vpheld in all temptations suggested eyther by their owne thoughtes or by the wicked Angels although by the supernaturall grace of God yet not without the means of this naturall encrease of their created holinesse Againe this encrease of holinesse hath place as in particular men so also generally in the ages of this innocent state for as in this sinfull estate wherein we liue the latter ages are more sinful then the former because they partake the sins of all the former ages so if the state of innocency had continued the latter ages being taught by the first would haue exceeded them in knowlege in all other partes of holinesse Lastly this is to be noted that we do not here speake of that increase of holinesse which was in the childhood of man in his innocency during which time he did grow both in stature of body in holines of soule as it is said that Christ did in his innocency infancy Luke 2. 25. But of the progresse in holinesse after that he was come to ripenes of age the ordinary state measure and degree of holinesse to wit that wherein Adam the first and the last man of this innocent generation was created Chap. 3. Of the naturall decrease of sinfulnes IN the next place we are to consider the changes which happen in the sinfull state of man the which being the worst of all states ought not in constancy to excell all other First of the decrease then of the increase of sinne By the decrease of sinne we meane the increase of the reliques of Gods image and so consequently the decrease of the corruption of sinne which is contrary thereunto as namely when as the light and knowledge remaining in the minde of man after his fall is by any meanes encreased and so the contrary blindnesse and ignorance in part expelled This decrease may happen in al the parts of mans sinfulnesse for by it the dulnesse and ignorance of the minde the peruersenesse of the will and affections the wickednesse of life in outward actions may be diminished For the better vnderstanding of this point it is needfull that we set downe what is the naturall state and degree of sinfulnesse the which is sometimes diminished and sometimes augmented in men that by the mediocrity the extreames may be knowen It is hard to giue any real example of it because the nature of man being in continuall motion is alwaies either vnder or aboue this state of sinfulnesse yet it may be described after this manner Suppose a man of ripe yeares of a soft and simple disposition the which is to be founde in men whose bodies are of some cold complexion for hote and fierie natures haue strong quicke vehement and vnconstant motions able to change themselues without any outward meanes and therefore doe alwaies runne into the one or the other extreame hauing liued in some solitarie place not acquainted with the fashions corruptions and sinnes of the world not hauing giuen himselfe either to continuall meditation or beene instructed by others in the knowledge of religion looke what measure of sinfulnesse is in this man the same or there aboute is the naturall sinfulnesse which all men take from Adam and bring with them out of their mothers wombes into the world Againe suppose or rather beholde with your eyes for the liuing examples of the encrease of sinne are infinite one brought vp in the companie of lewde and wicked men and indued with wit beutie strength of nature riches