not onely of the Diuines but also of all the Bishops who were perswaded that their opinion was right that they had hit vpon the truth So that the Cardinall of St. Crosse saw that many had more neede of a bridle than of spurres and by frequent digressions from the purpose and passages to other questions he often would expresse his desire of putting an end to this controuersie It was twice propounded in the Synod of the Prelates to relinquish altogether this question as being ambiguous long and tedious yet affection bearing sway they fell backe vpon it againe Thus farre the History which though somewhat long yet I hope the Reader will not thinke it more tedious in the reading of it than I haue done in the inserting of it which I haue the rather done that it might the more appear how this point of certainty hauing on the one side euidence of truth to confirme it and on the other humane wit and affection to oppugne it did puzzle and perplexe the whole Synod and fill them full of vncertainties Wee see those reasons and authorities alledged by the aduerse faction who were for vncertainty very acutely and pregnantly answered by Catarinus and those with him Also whereas they catched here and there at some passages of the Fathers seeming to fauour their doctrine of vncertainty it is well noted by the History that the Fathers might sometimes by accommodating their exhortations to the people as the occasion required represse the insolency of such as were presumptuous and vainly confident in the assurance of their saluation howsoeuer they continued in sinne whereas the Fathers in their maine discourses of faith speake most clearely in the confirmation of the certainty of iustification as we shall see hereafter Come wee now to Vega's incounters with the certainty of faith he takes great paines to beate the ayre what with answering what with vrging arguments for his Pontifician Goddesse Vncertainty now an Article of Romes faith Hee vndertakes according to his rare dexterity to answer all opposites and to expound or moderate the meaning of such authorities as are alledged out of the Scriptures or Fathers making them by some pretty quaint distinction to speake iust as him listeth The first place he bringeth for his vncertainty is out of Iob 9. 20. If I iustifie my selfe mine owne mouth shall condemne mee if I say I am perfect it shall also proue me peruerse Vega makes much adoe about this place fending and prouing but the very sight of the Text is sufficient to confute his folly in applying it to his vncertainty of iustification when as this place doth giue such a deadly wound to their iustification it selfe by their inherent righteousnesse which holy Iob here vtterly disclaimeth But doth Iob here vtter one syllable of the vncertainty of his faith in God his Sauiour and Redeemer Nay doth he not protest the contrary Though he slay mee yet will I trust in him And vers 18. Behold now I haue ordered my cause I know that I shall be iustified Who is he that will pleade with mee What clearer testimony could this holy man giue of his strong confidence and assurance of his iustification by faith in God So that I maruaile Vega would at all meddle with the example of Iob who throughout his booke is such a cleare mirrour of a true beleeuer whose faith is fortified with all confidence and assurance sauing that hee can easily impute Iobs certainty to a speciall reuelation and not to the property of faith But let not Vega with his iugling by casting a false myst think so easily to eclipse the clear beames of truth With the like successe he is tampering with Dauid and Salomon He alledgeth that of Dauid Who can vnderstand his errors Hereupon he inferreth if a man doe not know his sins how can he be sure of his iustification To this allegation we neede vse no other answer but Bernards exposition which Vega himselfe both obiecteth and takes vpon him to answer that these words of Dauid are vnderstood onely of veniall sinnes not of mortall This Vega confessing to be verisimile very probable and likely to be true yet answereth that seeing mortall sinnes are more truely and properly sinnes and do more defile the soule than veniall sinnes why should these words bee restrained onely to veniall sinnes I will not now enter into a discussion of veniall and mortall sinnes a distinction most grosly and impiously abused by the Pontificians but this I say that according to the iudgement of Pontificians of veniall sinnes they must needes confesse that these words Dauid must bee meant onely of veniall sinnes that is such as the Pontificians call veniall The very word in the vulgar Latine will beare no other sense Delicta which signifieth slippes or errors or certaine defects and omissions such as the Pontificians ranke amongst their veniall sinnes But this place of Dauid makes nothing at all against certainty of faith For what if a man yea the holiest man if Dauid doe not know his sinnes his slippes and errors yet while he complaines hereof and confesseth them in generall vnto God praying O cleanse thou me from my secret faults what hindreth but that God cleansing him from all his faults should seale vnto him the certainty of the remission of all his sins apprehended by a liuely faith As Dauid saith in the 32. Psalme Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiuen and whose sinne is couered c. But how shall a man come to be certaine of this his blessednesse Dauid instanceth it in himselfe vers 5. I acknowledged my sinne vnto thee and mine iniquity haue I not hid I said I will confesse my transgressions vnto the Lord and thou forgauest the iniquity of my sinne How did Dauid know that God had forgiuen his sinnes seeing he saith peremptorily Thou forgauest the iniquity of my sinne Did not Dauid know this by the certainty of faith Vega I know hath his answer at his fingers ends and will say that Dauid came to know this eyther by speciall diuine reuelation or else by Nathans pronouncing Dauids absolution saying The Lord hath put away thy sinne Yea but Dauid tels vs in the next words that this was not his case alone but it was common to euery godly man in particular For this saith Dauid shall euery one that is godly pray vnto thee in a time when thou mayst be found that is Euery godly man should haue the like comfortable successe vpon his repentance as Dauid had and say with confidence as Dauid did Thou forgauest the transgression of my sinne But Vega suspecting the strength of the Father's authority he addes thereto the Sonnes to wit Salomons Pro. 20. 9. Who can say I haue made my heart cleane I am pure from my sin Quis Who That is few or none saith Vega sith interrogations in Scripture and in the Fathers are commonly taken for negations And he produceth Hieromes exposition vpon the second of Ioel
himselfe saith For their sakes I sanctifie my selfe that they also might be sanctified through the truth Ioh. 17. 19. So that the actiue obedience of Christ in his life his holinesse as of a seruant is also imputed to vs For how was hee a seruant in our person but that hee might free vs from the condition of seruants That as the passiue obedience of Christ in his death remoued away from vs the ragges of our sins the badge and band of our seruitude So Christs actiue obedience in his life hath put vpon vs the most glorious libertie of our infranchisement and freedome his death hath cleansed vs his life hath clothed vs. These two therefore are in no sort to be diuided vnlesse we would bee content to haue our deliuerance from hel separated from our inheritance in heauen and still to bee subiect to the punishment of losse though free from the punishment of sense like those infants who dying vnbaptized the Pontificians haue deuised to put them in a certain Limbus or Hell wherein they must suffer though not the punishment of sense yet the punishment of losse as they say But as this is a meere fiction and fable so is that other it being as impossible for a man â—uer to come to possesse the Kingdome of Heauen without the imputation of Christs actiue obedience and righteousnesse as without his passion imputed euer to escape hell fire So that Christ cannot be diuided wee must haue him whole or none For it was necessary that the actiue righteousnesse of Christ should both goe before and accompany his passiue obedience seeing without the actiue the passiue should haue been altogether vnprofitable therefore they are ioyned together Phil. 2. 7 8. that so his passiue might seale vnto vs his actiue and his actiue sanctifie vnto vs his passiue Nay was not his passiue obedience also actiue by a voluntary offering vp of himselfe Was hee not obedient vnto the death Saith not Christ himselfe Ioh. 10. 15. I lay downe my life for my sheepe and vers 17. Therefore doth my father loue me because I lay downe my life that I might take it againe and vers 18. No man taketh it from me but I lay it downe of my selfe I haue power to lay it downe and I haue power to take it againe Christs passiue obedience therefore being it selfe also actiue how can these two possibly bee separated and diuorced one from the other That as the passiue obedience of Christ hath freed vs from sinne hell death and condemnation so the actiue obedience of his life might restore vs vnto possesse vs in the perfect state of righteousnesse life saluation and the Kingdome of heauen Yea these two are so vnseparable as that the confluence of all the sweet streames of Christs actiue obedience in his life haue a most sweete and comfortable influence into the bitter sea of his passiue obedience in his death making it to bee a most perfect and intire sacrifice the holinesse of Christs life sanctifying his death and shewing him to bee that Lambe of God without spot or blemish So that we cannot be partakers of Christs passiue obedience without his actiue lest hee proue vnto vs a lame and imperfect sacrifice And therefore the Apostle doth infold the affirmatiue imputation in the negatiue saying Euen as Dauid also described the blessednesse of the man vnto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without workes saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sinne Here is imputation of righteousnesse without workes concurring with the not imputing of sinnes For euen the passiue obedience of Christ whereby our sinnes come not to bee imputed had in it the holinesse and vertue of his actiue obedience throughout his whole life hauing beene obedient vnto his death that so the righteousnesse of his life also might be imputed vnto vs. Stella vpon Luke saith Omnes passiones Christi potius actionis nomine appellandae sunt quam passiones Christi martyrium crucis eius tormentum nihil redemptioni nostrae prodessent nisi actionem habuissent quod est velle flageâ—â—ari velle crucifigi All the passions or sufferings of Christ are rather to bee called actions than passions The martyrdome of Christ and the torment of his Crosse had auailed nothing to our redemption if they had not had action which is to be willing to be scourged and willing to be crucified He therefore that separates the actiue obedience of Christ in his life from his passiue in his death is like the man in the Gospell whom when the vncleane spirit had cleane left returned and finding him as an house swept with whited wals but voide of the garnish of grace he takes seuen other spirits worse than himselfe makes with them his re-entry and dwels there so the last state of that man is worse than the first Such is he that seemes to be cleansed from his sinnes and all his vncleannesse like a new swept house by acknowledging the righteousnesse of Christs passiue obedience in his death imputed to him but neglecting yea reiecting the righteousnesse of Christs actiue obedience in his life as nothing pertaining to him in the point of iustification but as though hee must haue a selfe-garnish as of a whited wall inherent in him whereby to claime the kingdome of heauen he becometh seuen times more vncleane than he was before O neuer let Christs life and death be diuided his actiue obedience his passiue let euer go together lest if we let go the one we lose both Therefore giue me whole Christ or none both his death that I may not dye for euer from him and his life that I may liue for euer with him The learned and godly Cardinall Contarenus who liued in Luthers time and writ soundly of iustification saith well to this purpose Omnis Christi iustitia attribuitur nobis quicunque Christum induimus The whole righteousnesse of Christ is attributed or imputed to vs as many as haue put on Christ. For to conclude this in a word the redemption by Christ procureth two things vnto vs deliuerance from death and the purchase of life By his passiue obedience hee wrought the first by his actiue the second For properly the death of Christ was to free vs from death but the life of Christ to infeoffe vs in life The condition of the first Adams life was Doe this and liue the second Adam hath done it that we might liue eternally eternally not as Adam had the promise here on earth but in heauen Hence it is that as Iesus Christ descended into the state of death to redeeme vs thence by his death So hee came downe from heauen that in the humility and obedience of his life on earth he might exalt vs thither whither else not euen Adams best obedience could euer haue brought him much lesse ours Which may answer to a question that
here may be fitly moued Quest. Whether the obedience of the whole Law of God wrought by Christ for vs is auaileable as to redeeme vs from the punishment of sinne so to purchase vnto vs eternall life in heauen The reason of the question is because not the Law if it had beene for euer perfectly fulfilled by Adam had any promise of that eternall life and immediate vision in heauen but only of this life Heauen is not within the Couenant of workes Answ. True it is that the fulfilling of the Law in it selfe simply considered hath no proportion with that endlesse life aboue For the first Adam was of the earth earthly and all his happinesse promised vpon the condition of keeping the Law for ought is reuealed or can be demonstrated was terrestriall But now forasmuch as the Law is fulfilled by Christ this obedience reacheth to a higher reward because there is a higher promise made than that of the first Adam Because Christ the second Adam is the Lord from heauen the Eternal whose Kingdom is not of this world but of a better a heauenly whose house is not made with hands So that his obedience to the Law in regard of his person becomes a rich and inestimable purchase of that better Kingdome for vs. For as is the heauenly such are they that are heauenly to wit the generation of God in and by Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. 48. 49. 50. vide Iohn 3. 13. No man ascendeth vp to heauen but he c. Thus haue we proued out of the holy Scriptures how the formall cause of iustification or that which giues a perfect being to our iustification making vs perfectly iust in the sight of God is the imputation of Christs righteousnesse vnto vs and that euen of his whole righteousnesse actiue in his life and passiue in his death And that the formall cause of our iustification is not within vs but without vs not inherent but by imputation may easily appeare from the maine difference betweene the first Couenant and the second The first Couenant was that which was made with Adam in Paradise Doe this and liue the second that made with man after his fal Beleeue and liue So the first Couenant was of workes the second of faith the first of an inherent righteousnesse of our owne the second of a righteousnesse without vs not our owne simply but by relation namely made ours to wit Christs righteousnesse who of God is made vnto vs righteousnesse called in Scriptures the righteousnesse which is of faith Not to obserue and know this difference well is the ready way to leade men into all errour of this mysterie of God The Apostle doth notably set downe this difference between the first and second Couenant as termes infinitely opposite and admitting of no reconciliation Rom. 10. 3. when hee saith that the Iewes being ignorant of Gods righteousnesse and going about to establish their owne righteousnesse haue not submitted themselues to the vnrighteousnesse of God For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousnesse to euery one that beleeueth For Moses describeth the righteousnesse which is of the Law that the man which doth those things shall liue by them But the righteousnesse which is of Faith is to confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and to beleeue in thy heart that God raised him from the dead and thou shalt be saued Also Rom. 11. 6. If it be by grace it is no more of workes otherwise grace is no more grace but if it bee of workes then it is no more grace otherwise worke is no more worke Also Rom. 4. the Apostle setting downe this same opposition betweene the Couenant of workes and of faith saith on this wise v. 2. c. If Abraham were iustified by workes he hath whereof to glory but not before God For what saith the Scripture Abraham beleeued God and it was counted to him for righteousnesse Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt but to him that worketh not but beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse Euen as Dauid also describeth the blessednesse of the man vnto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without workes saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sinne What clearer Testimonies Yea this did God himselfe teach vs not obscurely by his own act Gen. 3. For when Adam had forfeited the first Couenant which was of workes made with him in Paradise before his fall and after his fall had made with him another Couenant to wit of faith in Christ the promised seede of the woman What doth God thereupon Hee shuts man out of Paradise and from the Tree of life lest putting forth his hand hee should take of it and liue for euer What is meant hereby Paradise was not only the place but also did signifie the happy condition of Adams blessednesse which he was to enioy in his innocencie the Tree of life was a sacrament and symbol of life appointed as a speciall meanes to preserue man from dying or decaying in his naturall strength so long as he continued in his obedience But by disobedience hee forfeited the Couenant brake the condition lost his former happinesse and was depriued of the meanes of that life wherein hee should haue liued for euer vpon earth Now God shutting him out from the earthly Paradise the place of earthly blisse and from the Tree of life the sacrament and symbol of immortalitie and hauing shewed vnto him another Tree of life in the middest of the Paradise of God to wit Iesus Christ who is very God and eternall life which whosoeuer by reaching out the hand of Faith eateth of shall liue for euer God I say doth hereby plainely teach vs that in attaining to the heauenly Paradise by the Tree of life Iesus Christ wee must not haue any more to doe with the things pertaining to the first Couenant now altogether forfeited and from which Adam and his posteritie is for euer banished neuer to returne or intermeddle there any more Gen. 3 22. 23. 24. Therefore to teach and beleeue the doctrine of an inherent righteousnesse whereby to attaine eternall life is euen as it were in despite of God and of his holy Angels the Cherubims keeping the way of the Tree of life to reuiue the old Couenant of workes againe and with the hand of the body to wit good workes reach out to take of the tree of life This is a Babylonish confounding of the two Couenants which stand vpon such irreconcileable termes of difference Is there no more difference betweene Do this and liue and Beleeue and liue betweene mans owne righteousnesse and Gods righteousnesse the establishing of the one being the abolishing of the other Nor is it to purpose that these Babylonians alledge that they ascribe their inherent righteousnesse to God as the author of it and by whom
remains for me no hope of saluation but in the sole mercy of Iesus Christ. So that the very Arch-Pontificians themselues in their death when their conscience is made their iudge renounce their own Doctrine seeme to desire to dye good Protestants like Balaam who wished he might dye the death of the righteous But I cānot see by what way such dubbling Wanderers can come to heauen because as in their life they denyed the doctrine of Faith so in their death they are for ought wee may deeme deuoyd of the duety of charity Dye they not in a most preposterous malice and enuy They would goe to Heauen but would pull the Ladder after them lest the simple people should follow them So the Hypocriticall Pharisees who shut vp the Kingdome of Heauen against men neither going in themselues nor suffering those that would to enter in Thus the Testimony of Romane Catholickes themselues may bee sufficient to conuince the vanitie and falshood of their iustification by their inherent righteousnesse But yet for more confirmation of the truth and confutation of this damnable doctrine of Popery let vs take a briefe view of the faith and opinion which the Saints of God from time to time haue had concerning their owne inherent righteousnesse Abraham the father and figure of the faithfull for all his workes yet was not iustified by them in the sight of God as the Apostle testifieth of him Rom. 4. 2. for if Abraham were iustified by workes he hath whereof to glory but not before God This onely testimony might stand for all to proue wherein the righteousnesse of all the faithfull consisteth whereby they stand iust in the sight of God to wit not in their inherent righteousnesse but in the onely righteousnesse of Christ imputed and by faith applied Thus Iob confessed he stood iustified Iob 9 2. How should man be iust with God if he will contend with him hee cannot answer him one of a thousand And ver 20. If I iustifie my selfe mine owne mouth shall condemne me if I say I am perfect it shall also proue me peruerse And Chapt. 25. 4. How can man bee iustified with God yea Chapt. 9. 15. whom saith he though I were righteous yet would I not answer but I would make supplication to my Iudge Indeede towards his friends he stands stoutly in the iustification of himselfe namely of his integrity and sincerity and that hee was no hypocrite as they no lesse vncharitably than vntruely charged him but towards God he beares himself farre otherwise before him he humbles himselfe he makes supplication to his Iudge saith Chap. 9. 30. If I wash my self with snow-water and make my hands neuer so cleane yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch and mine owne clothes shall abhorre me for he is not a man as I am that I should answer him and we should come together in iudgement And Chapt. 10. 14. If I sinne then thou markest mee and thou wilt not acquite me from mine iniquity If I bee wicked woe vnto me and if I be righteous yet will I not lift vp my head I am full of confusion c. But had Iob no good workes Yes looke vpon his life described in his 29. 30 31. Chapters Hee was an eye to the blinde and a foote to the lame a deliuerer of the poore fatherlesse and friendlesse from the oppressor breaking the iawes of the wicked and plucking the spoile out of his teeth He wept for him that was in trouble and his soule was grieued for the poore And though hee were a great man a wise man a Prince yet hee ate not his morcels alone but the poore and fatherlesse fed with him The naked limmes blessed him being warmed with the fleece of his sheepe What sinne was Iob addicted to and what actions of piety and mercy did he not abound in Insomuch as in respect of his sincerity and integrity of heart hee durst say If I haue walked with vanity or if my foote hath hasted to deceit let me be weighed in an euen ballance that God may know mine integrity And God knew his integrity giuing testimony vnto it that he was a man perfect and vpright and one that feared God and eschued euill Yet all this righteousnesse Iob renounceth when he comes to the strict tryall of Gods Tribunall For comming to stand in Gods presence he saith Chapt 42. 5. I haue heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now mine eye seeth thee wherefore I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes An admirable type of a faithfull man not trusting in his owne inherent righteousnesse but in the onely mercy of God through Christs merits whereby onely he stands iustified in the sight of God Was not Dauid also a holy man an honest hearted man after Gods owne heart yet he professeth Psal. 71. 15. c. My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousnesse and thy saluation all the day for I know not the numbers that is the perfections thereof I will goe in the strength of the Lord God and will make mention of thy righteousnesse euen of thine onely And in the beginning of the same Psalme In thee O Lord haue I put my trust let me neuer bee put to confusion deliuer me in thy righteousnesse And Psalme 89. 16. speaking in the name of all the faithfull he saith In thy name shall they reioyce all the day and in thy righteousnesse shall they make their boast And vpon the 32. Psalme Paul hath these words as a Commentary of Dauids words Rom. 4. 6. Euen as Dauid also describeth the blessednesse of the man vnto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without workes saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiuen and whose sinnes are couered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sinne But Dauid disclaimeth the iustification of all inherent righteousnesse in the sight of God Psal. 143. Heare my prayer O Lord giue eare to my supplication in thy faithfulnesse answer me and in thy righteousnesse And enter not into iudgement with thy seruant for in thy sight shall no man liuing be iustified And Psalme 30. If thou Lord shouldst marke iniquities O Lord who shall stand But there is forgiuenesse with thee that thou mayst be feared So Esay that Euangelicall Prophet aduanceth Gods righteousnesse and disauoweth mans righteousnesse Esay 54. 17. This is the heritage of the seruants of the Lord and their righteousnesse is of me saith the Lord. Yea say the Pontificians our inherent righteousnesse is of the Lord. Nay saith Esay chapt 64. 6. We are all as an vncleane thing and all our righteousnesse are as filthy rags Yea say the Pontificians before we be regenerate and be in Christ. But Esay speaketh of the Church of the Iewes of the circumcised to whom circumcision was a signe of regeneration and of Gods Couenant of grace and a seale of faith and Esay puts himselfe in the number Was Esay now vnregenerate And in the name of
wisedome Whereupon Augustine saith Quae incerta Quae occulta Quia Deus ignoscit talibus peccatoribus confitentibus punientibus sua peccata What vncertainty What hidden things Because God doth pardon such to wit sinners confessing and punishing or repenting of their sinnes And Augustine addes as Vega also alledgeth Nihil tam occultum nihil tam incertum Nothing so secret nothing so vncertaine And Vega here leaping ouer Augustines amplification and exposition of his meaning he onely addes Augustines conclusion Hoc incertum patefecerit Deus seruo suo Dauid c. This vncertaine thing God reuealed to his seruant Dauid For when standing and accusing himselfe hee said Peccaui I haue sinned forthwith hee heard of the Prophet that is of the Spirit of God which was in the Prophet The Lord hath put away thy sinne Well now let vs a little insist vpon these words of Augustine which Vega ingeniously confesseth doe most clearely fauour their cause of Pontifician vncertainty of all other that hee hath read in all Augustines workes First whereas Augustine taking the vulgar Latine for the onely Text which hee followeth vseth the word incerta I answer there is no such word in the Originall for incertum The words in the Originall are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is word for word And in the secret or in the hidden part as our last translation well renders it thou shalt make me to know wisedome Not a word of vncertainty Therefore Vega takes a very vncertaine ground yea rather a meere Boh◠or emptinesse whereon to build his vncertainty Besides sith Augustine going vpon an vnwarrantable ground taking that for Text which Gods Word knoweth not are we therefore bound presently to take his exposition for Gospell And whereas hee applies those vncertaine and hidden things to the remission of sinnes wee know Augustine oftentimes abounds with rare conceits but else how this application or exposition should result from the Text vnlesse raised vp by the strength of conceit the Text it selfe giues vs no euidence to see But that wee may not seeme too strait-laced in limiting the ouer-lauish liberty of the vulgar Latine if wee take downe both the Text and Augustines Glosse at one bit together it will not choake vs nor cause vs to surfeit especially if we take all the ingredients of it For it is with Scriptures and Fathers as with Physicke if the Dosis haue eyther moe or fewer ingredients than the wise Physitian prescribeth it may alter the whole nature of the Physicke and in stead of health procure more hurt to the body And here I must tell you that Vega deales with St. Augustine as eyther a negligent or rather malicious Apothecary who for some sinister respects leaues out some speciall ingredient out of the composition Or else to goe no further than the Scripture hee treades in the very steppes of the Tempter who craftily left out the most materiall word in all the Text which was In all thy wayes without which we haue no warrant of Gods protection and so Sathan by his false fingering would haue made the promise of God of none effect So playeth Vega. For as we noted euen now Vega in relating Augustines exposition leaues out the most materiall thing which Augustine noteth in his explaning and applying those Incerta or vncertaine things to remission of sinnes And that is the instance he giueth of the Niniuites That we may recollect all to one intire head which Vega hath so torne asunder wee will set downe Augustines words whole together Incerta occulta sapientiae tuae manifestasti mihi they be the words of his vulgar Text. Whereupon he inferreth Quae occulta Quae incerta Quia Deu◠ignoscit talibus id est poenitentibus Nihil tam occultum nihil tam incertum Ad hoc incertum Niniuitae poenitentiam egerunt dixerunt enim c. What hidden what vncertaine things Because God pardoneth euen such that is penitent persons Nothing so hidden nothing so vncertaine Vpon this certainty the Niniuites repented for they said though after the Prophet had threatned though after that voice Three dayes and Niniuie shall be destroyed they said among themselues that the mercy of God was to be intreated They said thus reasoning with themselues Who knoweth if God will returne and shew mercy It was vncertaine when they said Quis nouit Who knoweth But hauing once repented they reaped certaine mercy c. So Augustine Do we not see here a manifest difference between Augustines owne application of vncertainty Vega's strained application Vega would apply this vncertainty of the remission of sins to the time past vnderstanding it of sins already pardoned as if a man were altogether vncertaine that his sins are pardoned when they are already pardoned But Augustine tels vs plainly that he vnderstands this vncertainty of remission of sins in the future tense that is concerning the vncertainty of sins to be pardoned for which God denounceth expresse iudgments as in the example of the Niniuites God hath threatned peremptorily that within forty dayes Niniuie should be destroyed What should the Niniuites now doe in this case They beleeue God that hee was true in his word Yet they resolue to repent speedily But to what purpose when now the sentence was already pronounced of him that cannot lye Yes as knowing that such like threatnings are conditionall they would at least put it to an aduenture Who knoweth if God will returne and pardon It may be God will shew mercy No maruell if the Niniuites were doubtfull of the pardon of those sins which they knew they had committed but had not yet repented of But whence proceeded this their vncertainty From their faith No but Augustine tels vs the reason Quia peccata magna erant Niniuitarum dixerunt Quis nouit Because the Niniuites sins were great they said Who knoweth So that their vncertainty proceeded not from the defect of faith but from the excesse of their sins But as they were vncertaine before they repented after they had repented they found certam misericordiam certaine mercy saith Augustine witnesse the preseruation of themselues and their Citie As therefore the Niniuites were vncertaine in regard of the grieuousnesse of their sinnes and the greatnesse of Gods iudgement already peremptorily threatned whether they should finde God fauourable or no in reuersing his sentence and preseruing their Citie but afterwards vpon their repentance found the certainty of Gods mercy in sparing them whereof the sparing of their City was a certaine and infallible argument So sinnefull men burthened with the guilt and horrour of sinnes and borne downe with the terrour of Gods wrath threatned in his Word may well bee doubtfull and vncertaine how God may deale with them although they resolue with themselues to repent and humble themselues but after vpon their true repentance God being mercifull in pardoning their sins they finde now certam misericordiam certaine mercy the certainty whereof is the
himselfe and the whole Church of the Iewes hee renounceth all inherent righteousnesse as filthy rags in no sort to bee patched and pieced to that garment of saluation to that robe of righteousnesse namely Christs righteousnesse imputed and put vpon vs by the hand of faith wherein Esay and all the faithfull reioyce as hee saith Esa. 61. 10. I will greatly reioyce in the Lord my soule shall be ioyfull in my God for he hath clothed me with the garments of saluation he hath couered me with the robe of righteousnesse as a Bridegroome decketh himselfe with ornaments and as a Bride adorneth her selfe with her Iewels And in the 43. of Esay vers 25. 26. there is a flat opposition betweene Gods mercy and our workes in iustification I euen I am hee that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake and will not remember thy sins But may not our workes come in as sharers with Gods mercies What workes The Prophet addeth in Gods person Put me in remembrance let vs pleade together declare thou that thou mayst be iustified If God pleade with vs in iudgement we haue no euidence of any workes in vs whereby to be iustified in his sight But our workes and obedience to Gods lawes are called our righteousnesse As Matth. 5. 20. Except your righteousnesse exceede the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees yee cannot enter into the Kingdome of God I answer this place may well be vnderstood of Euangelicall righteousnesse opposite to that legall righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees and so Christ points vs to the righteousnesse of faith in him But admit our workes be called our righteousnesse what then doth it follow that this is our righteousnesse to iustifie vs in the sight of God Nothing lesse For Moses saith speaking of obedience to Gods commandements Deut. 9. Speake not thou in thy heart after that thou art come to possesse that good Land saying For my righteousnesse the Lord hath brought me in to possesse this Land No faith Moses vnderstand that the Lord thy God giueth thee not this good Land to possesse it for thy righteousnesse Now the Land of Canaan was a type of Gods Kingdome which wee cannot come to possesse by our own inherent righteousnesse Whereupon St Ambrose in his enarration vpon the 43. Psalme but according to our accompt 44. v. 3. They got not the Land in possession by their owne sword c. saith Patres nostri vtpote proximi haeredes Patriarcharum plantati in terra repromissionis non suis hoc meritis vindicabant Our fathers to wit the next successours and heires of the Patriarches beeing planted in the Land of promise did not claime this as due to their merits Ideo nec Moses cos induxit ne Legis hoc existimetur esse sed gratiae Lex enim merita examinat gratia fidem spectat Therefore saith he neither did Moses bring them in thither that it might not be reckoned as the worke of the Law but of Grace for the Law examineth workes or merits but Grace respecteth faith Therefore as not Moses but Iosua or Iesus forso was his Name was appointed to bring the children of Israel into the possession of Canaan the Land of promise which importeth also the Land of mercy or of grace So not the Law giuen by Moses but Iesus Christ by whom came grace and truth hee our true Ioshua bringeth his people into the possession of grace and glory Ergo qui non in brachio suo hoc est in sua operatione praesumit sed in Dei gratia credens quòd non facta sua vnumquemque iustificant sed fides prompta dicit Domino Tues ipse Rex meus Deus meus qui mandas salutes Iacob Therefore saith holy Ambrose he that presumeth not in his owne arme that is in his workes but in the grace of God beleeuing that not a mans workes but his prompt and cleare faith doth iustifie him this man saith vnto the Lord Thou art my King and my God that commandest saluation for Iacob True it is that the same Father in another place saith Sola fides non sufficit operari per dilectionem c. Sole faith is not sufficient it is necessary that faith worke by loue and conuerse worthy of God And a little after Festinemus c. Let vs hasten to enter into that rest because faith is not sufficient but a life beseeming faith must be added and great care vsed that faith bee not idle For it is necessary for euery one that would possesse Heauen to adorne his faith with good workes So he True a most pious and Christian speech but in all this he saith not that faith alone is not sufficient to iustifie vs in the sight of God and so to bring vs to the possession of Heauen for then hee should contradict himselfe elsewhere where hee saith Sublatis omnibus operibus legis sola fides posita est ad salutem All the workes of the law being remoued onely faith takes place in our saluation Marke he saith Sola fides onely faith And againe the same Father saith elsewhere Non operibus iustificamur sed fide quonâ—am carnalis infirmitas operibus impedimento est sed fidei claritas factorum obumbrat errorem quae meretur veniam delictorum We are not iustified saith he by workes but by faith because the infirmity of the flesh is an impediment to workes but the glory of faith doth couer the errour of our workes which faith obtaineth remission of sinnes And againe Infirmitas excludit à venia fides excusat à culpa Our infirmity excludeth vs from pardon and faith excuseth vs from blame And setting downe his peremptory iudgement grounded vpon Scripture he saith Arbitramur secundum Apostolum iustificari hominem per fidem sine operibus legis Iustificetur ergo ex fide Dauid qui per legem peccatum agnouit sed peccati veniam ex fide credidit Wee definitiuely conclude saith hee according to the Apostle that a man is iustified by faith without the workes of the law Therefore let Dauid be iustified by faith who by the law acknowledged his sinne and by faith beleeued the pardon of his sinne And againe elsewhere Deus clementia bonitatis suae semper homini procurans vt quod sine lege peccatum erat in lege posset deleri hoc decreuit vt solam fidem poneret per quam omnium peccata abolerentur That is God by the clemency of his goodnesse alwayes prouiding for man that both sinne committed without law and in the law might be blotted out hath made this decree to appoint sole faith whereby all mens sinnes might be abolished Now compare these iudicious sayings of this holy man with that hee said formerly that sole faith is not sufficient but a good life must be added and it will plainly appeare that he speakes of faith alone as sufficient to iustifie vs in the sight of God and to
angry Iudge within the conscience boyling without the world burning The righteous shall scareely be saued the sinner taken tardy where shall hee appeare To lurke shall be impossible to appeare intolerable Who shall aduise me Whence shall I expect saluation Who is he that is called the Angell of great counsell The same is Iesus The same is the Iudge betweene whose hands I tremble Pause awhile O sinner doe not despaire Hope in him whom thou fearest flye to him from whom thou hast fled O Iesus Christ for this thy name sake deale with mee according to this name looke vpon this wretch calling on thy name Therefore O Iesus bee my Iesus for thy names sake If thou shalt admit me into the large bosome of thy mercy it shall be neuer a whit the narrower for me True it is my conscience hath deserued damnation and my repentance sufficeth not for satisfaction but certaine it is that thy mercy surpasseth all misdeedes c. It is recorded of Edward the Confessor once King of this Island that lying on his death-bed his friends about him weeping he said If ye loued mee ye would forbeare weeping and reioyce rather because I goe to my Father with whom I shall receiue the ioyes promised to the faithfull not through my merits but by the free mercy of my Sauiour who sheweth mercy on whom he pleaseth Thus by these and such like testimonies of holy and deuout men not in their Rhetoricall declamations to winne applause with men but in their saddest meditations as standing in the presence yea before the dreadfull Tribunall of that iust God it may easily appeare what confidence is to be put in the best mans workes or inherent righteousnesse All these will proue but dry fewell and stubble when they come to that consuming fire to those euerlasting burnings It is an easie matter for a carnall man seduced with errour and possessed with the spirit of pride while hee is in his prosperitie and senslesse securitie as little considering as conceiuing the power of Gods wrath as Dauid speakes as little knowing the nature of sin as the terrour of Gods strict iustice to be pussed vp with an opinion of a few poore beggarly supposed good deeds Iust like our first Parents who when they had sinned and so incurred Gods eternall wrath got a few figge-leaues to couer their nakednesse and shame thinking themselues now safe and secure enough But no sooner did they heare the voyce of the Lord God comming as a Iudge towards them but for all their figge-leaues they runne and hide themselues among the Trees of the Garden Their figg-leaues quickly beganne to wither when once the fire of Gods iealousie beganne to approach But let now the brauest Pontifician of them all standing so much vpon the pantofles of inherent righteousnesse let him lav aside his carnall security his loue of the world his wilfull blindnesse hauing looked his face in the glasse of Gods Law and catechised himselfe according to the strict Canon thereof c. and let him now bethinke himselfe of an account he is to make and that presently before a most seuere and vnpartiall vncorrupt Iudge of all his thoughts words workes omissions commissions let him take into his consideration if hee haue so much grace and iudgement to consider the nature of sinne which is such as the least sinne is sufficient to damne him soule and body for euer for Hee that keepeth the whole Law and yet faileth in one point is guilty of all And the Law saith Cursed is euery one that continueth not in all things written in the Law to do them Mark In all things yea such is sin as it could not be purged nor mans soule redeemed from it nor Gods wrath appeased nor his iustice satisfied but by the only death of the only son of God Tel me what that iustice is which will not be satisfied Tell me what that sin is which will not be expiated but by the extreame humiliation bloud-shedding death passion of the deerest son of the eternall God Tell me how seuere is that iustice how implacable that indignation against sin which would not spare the most immaculate Lambe of God the pure spotlesse Sonne of righteousnes euen righteousnes holines innocency it selfe These things well weighed digested in thy more refined iudgment according to the standard of the Sanctuary come now Pontifician glittering in thy white linnen of thine inherent righteousness set thy self before Gods dreadful Tribunall to receiue thy eternal doom according to thine own deseruings bring with thee all thy merits number now before the iudge of heauen earth thy many pilgrimages thy many Prayers Pater-nosters Aue-Maries Canonicall houres Shrifts Shrines adored Saints inuoked and the like But thy conscience will giue thee that all these being but will-worship and humane inuentions of which God wil say Who required these things at your hands condemned also in Esay saying Their feare towards me was taught by the precept of men they will vanish into smoke when they are tryed in Gods Test. Therefore howsoeuer the Romane-Catholicke Church preferres these her own Rites and Ceremonies and Ecclesiasticall obseruances of her own inuention as beeing more holy and more meritorious than those duties of Christian holinesse commanded and prescribed in Gods Word yet in the more sober iudgement of thine vnpartiall Conscience know that if God respect any righteousnesse at all in vs it must be that especially which himselfe hath commanded If therefore thou hast any store of these bring them with thee If thou canst Tell this Iudge that thou hast dealt truely and iustly with all men that thou hast beene liberall to the poore giuen much Almes yea perhaps bequeathed all thy goods and possessions to pious vses euen in thy life time and that not to the maintenance of a Monasticall Society of lazie and lustfull Abbey-lubbers but vpon the truly poore indigent Brethren of Christ that thou hast dispossessed and diuested thy selfe of all earthly preferment and honor so become poore for Christs sake thou hast exercised thy self with watchings fastings not as man but as the Lord hath commanded and much more than all this if thou canst alledge for thy selfe Well But all these things must now bee weighed in a iust and euen ballance not of mans imagination but of Gods strict iudgement Now will not he finde thinkest thou an infinite lightnes in thy best works will not his most pure eyes easily discerne thy most pious actions to be fraught with many imperfections defiled with the mixture of manifold corruptions as water running through a puddly chānel he will discouer in all these works of thine besids infinite defects faylings in all thy many sinister ends the pride of thy heart thy self-loue the loue of vaine glory the loue of thine own felicity more than of the glory of God a thousand secret corruptions lurking in the secret corners of thy selfe-deceiuing heart Nay besides
vers Salomon did euill in the sight of the Lord and went not fully after the Lord as did Dauid his father Whence note first that it is said When Salomon was old Indeede old age when it comes to dotage is dangerous and very slippery but to dote vpon women yea many women wiues and concubines so many hundred of them and those also strange women of a strange Religion alas poore old Salomon how were his affections distracted and his thoughts euen pulled asunder as it were by so many Furies as there were fancies in his womens heads Well by this meanes the byas of his affections wheeling about his women as so many Mistresses caused his heart to decline from his direct course tending towards the maine marke which was God But this declination it was no flat Apostacy for now the worst was that he went not fully after the Lord his God his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as was the heart of Dauid his father His former single heart began now to double his vpright heart began now in victa aetate in his verging or stooping old age to grow crooked Yet for all this he kept him vpon his feete he still stood in the state of grace although with much staggering and though his left foote failed him yet his right foote remained firme though the left foote of his affection went after his strange women and so was drawne with them after their strange gods yet he had the right foot of his affection vpright to God-wards Which I speake not to excuse or mitigate his sinne for it was most fearefull and lamentable and to bee bewayled with sad repentance and a floud of teares But taking Gods Word for my warrant I affirme that though Salomons fall was fearfull yet it was not totall his heart had not quite forsaken his God Againe as Salomons fall was not totall so neyther was it finall For we haue his Ecclesiastes as an eternall monument of his intire repentance and conuersion from vanity to God And as an infallible token of a true penitent he stiles himselfe the Preacher He layes aside his royall Crowne diuests himselfe of all his Princely titles and ornaments and in stead thereof takes on him the humble but holy stile of a Preacher not onely to preach repentance vnto others but to perswade them by the strongest argument of his owne practice and the best euidence of his owne experience And the Wisedome of God shewes it selfe admirable in making choice of Salomon to be the Pen-man of that excellent Book of Ecclesiastes euery line whereof hee that runnes may reade in the face of wise Salomons owne experience in which mirrour euery naturall man may cleerly see his owne full proportion Salomon had no more strange wiues and concubines than the world hath minions of strange vanities which euery carnall man according to the variety of his fancy as his Idoll-Goddesse adoreth Now God in his mercy willing to admonish the vaine world and to reclaime vaine men from their sundry Idol-pleasures and withall the more strongly to allure them in his wisdome makes speciall choice of Salomon to be his Preacher Why so Salomon was the wisest man that euer was from the first Adam before the second Adam Christ and so of all men in the world could giue the exactest iudgement and truest censure of the nature of all things vnder the Sun Besides his incomparable wisdome he had a most aboundant experimentall knowledge of all earthly things whatsoeuer might seeme excellent in the eye and iudgement of flesh and bloud yea hee was most industrious and studious eagerly searching into the depth and height and all the dimensions of worldly excellency till I might see saith he what was that good for the sonnes of men which they should doe vnder the Heauen all the dayes of their life Wouldst thou then know thou worlds doting Louer what the true nature of the world and of all that is in the world as the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life is Hearken to the Preacher yea aske Salomon the wisest of men Aske him in any kinde he will resolue thee as he did the Queene of Sheba and other Princes that came to heare his wisedome whom he resolued in all their questions Trauaile not to any of the Philosophers to enquire of them wherein thy Summum bonum consisteth for when they haue told thee all they can thou wilt come as farre short of giuing them credit as they will doe in giuing thee true counsell If they tell thee that riches pleasures and honours are all vaine things and no felicity to be found in them thou wilt but laugh at them as men at least experimentally ignorant of the nature of those things whereof they neuer had the vse and possession Aske Diogenes of honour hee prefers his Tubbe before Great Alexanders Triumphes and tramples on Plato's pompous pride with a greater pride of pouerty And in a word thou wilt answer them all with ignoti nulla cupido they therefore despise these thing because they neuer tasted the sweetnesse that is in them at least in the worlds apprehension But come to Salomon who not onely knew the nature of these things better than all those Heathen wise men but also made it his study yea and his practice too to know them by an infallible experience and his iudgement will be found to bee aboue all exception And what is his iudgement of all these things what profit or what pleasure or what contentment found he in any or in all of them This is his definitiue sentence of them All is vanity and vexation of spirit Thou hadst better farre to beleeue him than goe about to trye Hee stands as a Sea-marke to warne all wordly Merchants yea the greatest Princes and Potentates of the earth to beware of those Rockes and Shelues and Syrtes whereon himselfe suffered wofull shipwracke But yet if vnheedily thou hast fallen vpon the same Rockes behold also Salomon standing as an example of penitency to all men For as hee teacheth all men to eschue the deceiptfull pleasures profits and preferments of the world so he inuiteth them to follow with him the true and souereigne good concluding his Booke thus Let vs heare the end of all Feare God and keepe his Commandements for this is whole man for God will bring euery worke to iudgement with euery secret thing whether it be good or euill A noble precedent of a penitent soule not onely to repent himselfe but to become a royall Preacher of repentance to others So did his father Dauid Psal. 51. where repenting of his sinne and hauing pleaded for Gods mercy and fauour to the 12. vers then as a speciall fruit of his reconciliation with God hee saith Then will I teach transgressors thy wayes and sinners shall be conuerted vnto thee So that this is the vp-shot of all this discourse of Salomon to giue God the glory in
Salomons repentance and in his choosing of him to bee both a Patterne and a Preacher of repentance to the world If I haue beene longer herein than perhaps may seeme sutable to the present purpose I must craue pardon although I shall not repent me if by this means I shall be any occasion of conuerting any young Alipius from the Circensian pleasures of this vaine world to the imitation of Salomons repentance as St. Augustine thanked God for hauing beene a meanes of conuerting Alipius from the Circensian games wherewith he had been so bewitched Which saith Augustine was vpon this occasion Alipius being present at one of my Rhetoricke Lectures in Carthage I tooke occasion being offered to delight my Auditory with a Simile taken from the Circensian games wherewith Alipius being taken Augustine confesseth Tu scis Deus noster quod tunc de Alipio de illa peste sanando non cogitauerim Thou knowest O God that at that time I did not so much as think of curing Alipius of that pestilentiall disease Or as the same Augustine contrary to his vsuall manner hauing made a digression besides his intention from his purpose was as it were by Gods all-directing prouident hand led out of his owne way to reduce a wanderer into the right way For by his digression hee was a meanes to conuert one Firmus a Merchant but a Manichee vnto the true Faith Possid in vita August cap. 15. But to returne to our purpose Notwithstanding the Book of Ecclesiastes bee a most cleere euidence of Salomons repentance sith it cannot be denied to be his both by the title of it and the whole passage of the booke yet Vega labours tooth and naile to make a Reprobate of him One of his reasons is because the Scripture makes no mention of his repentance as of Dauids But I hope the booke of Ecclesiastes he will allow to be Scripture But shall we take all those for Reprobates whose sinne the Scripture recordeth but makes no mention of their repentance What then shall become of holy Moses whose infidelity at Meribah in not honouring the Lord by his obedience and faith is recorded in Scripture yea so as there is not onely no mention of his repentance but as if his sinne remained vnpardoned and hee deceased in Gods displeasure he was not suffered to come into the land of Canaan for that very cause Did not therefore Moses repent him of his sinne or dyed he in Gods displeasure or must hee not come into the Kingdome of Heauen whereof Canaan was a type But Vega prosecuting the matter very eagerly alledgeth also his proofes not onely out of Ecclesiasticus to no purpose but not a word of Ecclesiastes but also out of St. Augustine Cyprian who indeed doe speake somewhat difficultly and doubtfully of Salomon as making his example a matter of terrour and so it is no doubt But there are also other Fathers to counterballance them for the Doctrine of finall falling away from grace we shall see their iudgements at large Yet at length Vega himselfe is willing to condescend so farre to indifferency herein as he is content to waue the matter so it be granted that though Salomon did repent whereof there are such pregnant proofes yet at least his example of falling may confute as hee saith Iouinian that denyed the iust could once fall away from the grace receiued Another example he brings of Iudas who saith hee had once grace and fell away from it For Iudas was in the state of grace at what time he was chosen to be an Apostle else he had not bin admitted to that dignity And that hee both had and lost this grace Christ proueth saying Of those whom thou gauest mee haue I lost none but the sonne of perdition So Vega. But tell mee Vega what grace had Iudas when he was chosen to be an Apostle Had hee the true grace of iustification whereby he was accepted with God Where proue you this You might remember your Schoole distinction which may well enough be admitted to wit of gratia gratis data and gratia gratum faciens the first a grace freely giuen to enable men to the worke of the Ministery and such like whereof Christ speaketh Freely you haue receiued freely giue but the other is that grace which makes a man accepted with God through Christ whereof the Apostle speaketh Ephes. 1. 6. where hauing spoken in the Verse before of Gods predestinating vs vnto the adoption of children by Iesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will he addeth To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made vs accepted in the beloued c. Now Iudas being made an Apostle had the former grace giuen vnto him to enable him to preach and doe miracles and to discharge the duety of an Apostle but the other grace to make him accepted in the Beloued according to Gods eternall purpose in predestination whereof the Apostle there speaketh we deny that euer Iudas had that grace Yea Vega himselfe confesseth that Iudas was not of the number of the predestinate to life eternall but that notwithstanding he had the grace of iustification Vnlesse Vega equiuocates in the word Grace meaning onely a certaine fauour of God towards Iudas in making choice of him to be an Apostle If Vega meane so we grant that it was a great fauour indeed but that Iudas was so in the grace and fauour of God as to be adopted for one of his Children and so accepted in his beloued Sonne we vtterly deny nor can Vega with all his Sophistry euer proue it Christ saith indeed Of them whom thou hast giuen mee I haue lost none but the sonne of perdition Was Iudas then giuen to Christ by his Father in such a speciall manner as the rest of the Apostles were who were also holy and elect vessels of mercy Gods giuing there vnto Christ is in a twofold respect to be considered First as all the Twelue were Apostles so God gaue them all to Christ without difference to serue him in the ministery of the Gospell For the wickedest Apostle or Minister of the Gospell hath as great power and authority giuen to him execute his function as the holiest of all The wicked Scribes and Pharisees must bee heard with all attention and reuerence sitting in Moses Chaire that is teaching Moses Doctrine But secondly the Twelue were giuen to Christ as men and so they were giuen in a most different respect and to a diuers end Our Sauiour saith Haue not I chosen you Twelue and one of you is a Deuill Iudas was a Deuill that is a deuillish man a Deuill incarnate as wd vse to say of a most wicked man when God gaue him to Christ and as a man a wicked man hee was giuen to Christ to be his Minister that he might also be his betrayer as the Scriptures had foretold But the rest of the Apostles were giuen to Christ as men elect and