Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	death_n	life_n	wage_n	10,497	5	10.9120	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12211	A friendly advertisement to the pretended Catholickes of Ireland declaring, for their satisfaction; that both the Kings supremacie, and the faith whereof his Majestie is the defender, are consonant to the doctrine delivered in the holy Scriptures, and writings of the ancient fathers. And consequently, that the lawes and statutes enacted in that behalfe, are dutifully to be observed by all his Majesties subjects within that kingdome. By Christopher Sibthorp, Knight, one of his Maiesties iustices of his court of chiefe place in Ireland. In the end whereof, is added an epistle written to the author, by the Reverend Father in God, Iames Vssher Bishop of Meath: wherein it is further manifested, that the religion anciently professed in Ireland is, for substance, the same with that, which at this day is by publick authoritie established therein.	Sibthorp, Christopher, Sir, d. 1632.; Ussher, James, 1581-1656.	1622 (1622)	STC 22522; ESTC S102408	494,750	610

aside The vvages of sinne saith S. Paul is death But the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Note that hee calleth Eternall l●fe not the wages or merit of Men but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The free gift of God bestowed gratis without anie purchase merit or desert of ours albeit Iesus Christ our Lord purchased it for us and paid a great price for it in our behalfe through vvhom and whose merits it is that we obtaine it Hearing saith S. Augustine that death is the vvages of sin vvhy goest thou about O Thou not Iustice of man but plaine pride under the name of Iustice vvhy goest thou about to lift up thy selfe and to demand Eternall life vvhich is contrarie to death as a vvages due Chrysostome also upon this place speaketh thus Hee saith not eternall life is the revvard of your good vvorkes but eternall life is the gift of God That he might shevv that they are delivered not by ●heir ovvne strength or vertues and that it is not a debt or vvages or a retribution of labours but that they have received all those things freely of the gift of God Theodoret likewise upon this place observeth that the Apostle saith not here revvard but gift or grace for eternall life is the gift of God for although a man could performe the highest and absolute Iustice yet eternall ioyes being vveighed vvith temporall labours there is no proportion And so saith S. Paul himselfe that The afflictions of this life non sunt Condignae are not vvorthy the glorie that shall be shevved unto us It is true that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 merces a revvard is promised to those that doe good workes but it is as before is shewed merces ex gratià non ex debito a revvard of grace or favour and not of debt or desert as even S. Paul himselfe distinguisheth So that God giveth the Crowne of righteousnesse not to the merit or worthines of our workes but to the Merit or Worthines of Christ and as due to us by his promise onely freely made unto us in Christ. The Crowne therefore of eternall life is of mercie and favour in respect of us but of Iustice and desert in respect of Christ who hath purchased it for us by his merits and worthines Wherefore S. Augustine saith well that fidelis dominus qui se nobis debitorem fecit non aliquid a nobis accipiendo sed omnia nobis promittendo The Lord is faithfull who hath made himselfe a debtor unto us not by receiving anie thing of us but by promising all things unto us Againe he saith Non dicimus Deo Domine redde quod accepisti sed redde quod promisisti VVee say not to God Render that O Lord vvhich thou hast received of us but render or give that vvhich thou hast promised Againe he saith That God crovvneth his ovvne gifts not our merits vvhen he crovvneth us What vvorthinesse soever then is in us it is by Gods acceptation and his accounting of us to bee such in through Christ not by reason or in respect of any of our owne personall merits or worthinesse For vvhat hast thou saith S. Paul that thou hast not received and if thou hast received it vvhy dost thou glorie as though thou hadst not received it The gifts and graces of God in a man should make him humble and thankefull and not make him proud as though he deserved them and a great deale more by reason of them If a man give another 100. l. which hee useth well doth hee thereby deserve or can hee therefore claime as of merit or dutie to have at that mans hand 100000. l. Men for good works and benefits done may deserve praise and thankes amongst men but what man by doing of his dutie deserveth praise or thankes at Gods hand or What Servant for doing his Masters service and commandement can thereupon claime to be his Masters heire VVhosoever glorieth should glorie in the Lord as S. Paul teacheth But if men doe merit then have they somewhat of their owne wherein to glorie But God alloweth no matter of glorie in men with him or in his sight neither have they indeed anie matter of glory in them because whatsoever graces or goodnes men have they have received it of God to whom they ought to bee thankefull and for which they stand bound to performe all manner of dutie unto him So that how much merit men take to themselves so much doe they detract from the merits of Christ and so much praise glorie and thankes doe they pull from God to whom all praise glorie honour and thankes rightly and properly belong and are to be rendred Yea the Kingdome of heaven is a reward infinitely above the value of all mens workes and therefore must needes bee given of grace and cannot be merited by men But against mens merits and their workes of satisfaction whereby they intend to satisfie Gods wrath and Iustice for sinnes which is onely satisfiable by the death and sufferings of that Immaculate Lambe Christ Iesus enough hath beene before spoken and therefore I here forbeare to speake anie further of them 4 But in this matter of vvorkes this is not to be passed over or omitted that they also hold workes of Supererogation as they call them whereby they say Men doe more then they are bound unto by Gods Commandements and so doe merit not onely their owne salvation but the salvation also of others or something toward it Can these be accounted good vvorkes or that be held for a good and right religion wherin such monstrous things be taught and maintained It is more then anie meere man is able to doe perfectly and exactly to keepe and performe the vvhole lavv and Commaundements of God for so S. Paul himselfe expreslie affirmeth it to be a thing impossible because of the vveakenesse that is in all sinnefull flesh and so have the ancient Fathers likewise before testified and taught Why then doe these men talke of doing all and more then all the Commaundements of God Indeed if anie thinke to come to heaven by Doeing as he in the Gospell did the Ansvvere which Christ gave in that case is right and fit for him that Hee must keepe the Commandements for Moses describing the righteousnesse vvhich is of the Lavv saith That the man vvhich Doth those things shall live by them But the righteousnesse vvhich is of faith speaketh as S. Paul sheweth on another fashion and consisteth in a firme beleeving in Christ For Christ who performed the law for us it being a thing impossible for us to doe is the End or accomplishment of the Lavv for righteousnesse to everie one that beleeveth as hee there againe affirmeth And yet must none therefore hereupon conclude God to bee Cruell Tyrannicall or uniust in giveing such a Law as is impossible for men to keepe for at the first

Secondly I must crave leave to say that I find not Popery how subtill or sophisticall soever it be to be of anie such puissance but that a man of meane learning armed with the strength of the divine Scriptures may easily ruinate and overturne it Thirdly those that oppugne the Religion His Majesties Supremacie what doe they else but oppugne therewithall as they must needs at least inclusively the Lawes and Statutes of the Kingdome whereby they are both established And what reason then can bee shewed why hee that is a Lawyer by profession may not defend and maintaine the Lawes and Statutes of the Realme in those two great points especially wherein they be so unjustly and causelessely oppugned But when I consider my selfe further to be a servant though unworthy to his most excellent Majestie and that in so high and eminent a Court as His Maiesties Bench is beside my profession the duetie of my place also tyeth mee to defend his Maiesties Supremacie as being a thing properly app●rtayning to his verie Crowne and Regall dignitie And doth not moreover the Oath of Supremacy to His Majestie which I have taken necessarily binde mee hereunto Yea even for this verie cause that I am a subiect to his Maiestie though there were no other reason doe I hold my selfe in duetie tyed to my power to uphold and maintain that his Regall Supremacie For if everie good childe will maintaine the right and Authoritie of his Father and everie good servant the right and Authoritie of his Lord and Master ought not everie good subiect to maintaine the right and Authoritie of his Soveraigne Lord and King And as touching the Religion if there were no other reason but this that I am a Christian by profession though no professed Divine doe I hold it for that verie cause not onely well beseeming mee but my duetie likewise according to such measure of knowledge and abilitie as God hath given mee to defend and maintaine the true and Christian Religion I professe against that which is untruly called the Christian and Catholike and is indeed the false erroneous and Antichristian For whereas some have a conceit that not Lay men at all but Clergie men only and such as be of the Ecclesiastical Ministerie should meddle with the Scriptures and matters of Religion it appeareth to be a verie vaine conceit and an untrue opinion because S. Paul directly requireth even of Lay Christians as well as of others that the Word of Christ should Dwell in them and that not poorely or in a small or slender measure but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is richly plentifully or abundantly Whereupon Primasius saith that Hence wee learne that the Lay people ought to have the knowledge of the Scriptures and to teach one another not onely sufficiently but also abundantly And therefore are they further expressely charged to admonish exhort and edifie one another yea to contend and not onely to contend but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earnestly to contend for that faith which was once given unto the Saints And doth not God himselfe also command thus Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart but Thou shalt in anie wise rebuke thy neighbour and not suffer sinne to be upon him Agreeably wherunto would not S. Iames likewise have all Christians to labour the conversion of such as be in error and goe astray telling them for their better encouragement in this matter that if any doe erre from the truth and another convert him let such a one know that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soule from death and cover a multitude of sinnes You see then what duties in respect of the good of others as well as of himselfe be required even of a lay person in matters concerning God and his religion And indeede verie strange it were if lay Christians should be tyed in charitie to take care of mens bodies and yet should in no sort be permitted to have anie care or to shew anie Christian charitie or affection in respect of their soules and the good and safetie of them It is true that no man may take upon him the office and function of Bishops Pastors or other Ministers of the Word without a lawfull calling or ordination first had and obtayned but although a lay man may not therfore preach minister the sacraments nor do anie such acts as be proper and peculiar to those that be Ecclesiasticall Ministers yet in such things as be not proper and peculiar unto them but be acts and duties common with them to other Christians a Lay man may lawfully intermeddle It is likewise true that the knowledge of Gods Word and consequently of Divinitie doth in a more exact and more plentiful and fuller maner and measure and chiefly belong to those that be professed Divines and of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery but thereupon it followeth not that therefore it belongeth onely to them As also although those of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery are to teach and instruct the Lay people out of the Scriptures and that the Lay people are to learne what they rightly teach from thence yet neither doth it thereupon follow nor is that anie argument or impediment but that the Lay people may neverthelesse reade and get knowledge in the Scriptures and thereout learne what good they can also even by their owne industry diligence and endevour We reade of Aquila and Priscilla his wife that they were by their Trade Tentmakers and that Apollos was a man eloquent and mightie in the Scripture● yet so skilfull learned expert were those two name●ly not onely Aquila but Priscilla also his wife in the Word of God as that they tooke unto them the same Apollos and expounded unto him The Way of God more perfectly All men know that Kings Princes and such like civill Magistrates be none of that Order of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery and yet of them it is specially required that they reade the Scriptures Book of God and that they be verie diligent and conversant in it For God expressely requireth of a King that When hee shall sit upon the Throne of his Kingdome He get him the Book of his Law and chargeth him to reade therein all the Dayes of his Life that he may learne to feare the Lord his God and to Keepe All his Words and ordinances not turning from them eyther to the right hand or to the left That so he may prolong his Dayes in his Kingdome Hee and his Sonnes after him And to Iosuah a civill Magi●●●ate hee likewise giveth this charge and commandement saying Let not This Booke of the Law depart out of thy mouth but Meditate therein Day and Night that thou maist Observe and Doe according to All that is written therein for then shalt thou make thy Way prosperous and then shalt thou have good successe Was not the Treasurer to Candace Queene of the Ethiopians also a Lay man and not

as good right and reason say that hee by the vertue and merit of his death and passion hath enabled men to be The Saviour and Redeemer of the VVorld in their owne persons or to be the Mediator betwixt God and them or challenge anie other right or prerogative whatsoever that properly belongeth to Christ Iesus For what may not men frame fancie or devise out of this if they be so disposed and care not to imagine things at their owne pleasure without anie warrant from God or his word Is it not then a most intolerable boldnesse for anie meere mortal and sinfull men to be so presumptuous as to dare to stand in Christ his place or to challenge to themselves anie part of that high incomparable and peculiar honour that properly belongeth to him who is both God and man and our whole onely and perfect Redeemer I pray tell me what imperfection doe you finde in his satisfaction that it should not content you Are your selves better able to make satisfaction to Gods Iustice for sinnes then hee or is his most precious bloud passion and obedience able to satisfie for eternall paines and punishments and not for temporall Shall he be able to satisfie the greater and not be able to satisfie the lesse or if ye grant him to be able to die doe yee doubt of his willingnesse in that behalfe And if hee were both willing and able neither of which yee can denie what question then should be made in this matter It is true that as touching the ungodly reprobates that be without Christ all calamities afflictions miseries and punishments of this life and even the bodily death it selfe remaine to them in their owne nature and be to them tokens of Gods wrath and of his curse and unappeased displeasure and forerunners of their future certaine and undoubted damnation But to the godly Elect that be in Christ Iesus and that have peace with God and with whom hee is reconciled through Christ no afflictions of this life have in them anie token at all of his irefull and revengefull displeasure or of his unsatisfied Iustice but they are contrariwise tokens of his great love and fatherly affection toward them as is before shewed and are to them forerunners of their future certaine and undoubted salvation For toward Gods children the nature of these things is changed through Christ having no Curse at all but blessednesse in them Insomuch that even death it selfe also which to flesh and bloud seemeth most bitter to them neverthelesse is a most welcome and blessed thing as having the sting of it which is sinne taken away in Christ their Saviour and as being the doore that openeth an immediate passage and entrance to an everlasting life in eternall happinesse For vvee know saith S. Paul in the person of all Gods children that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be destroyed vvee have a building given of God that is an house not made vvith hands but eternall in the heavens for therefore vvee sigh desiring to be clothed vvith our house which is from heaven And Christ Iesus himselfe speaketh likewise thus Verily verily I say unto you Hee that heareth my vvord and beleeveth him that sent mee hath everlasting life and commeth not into Iudgement but is passed from death into life If then which is a thing here evident assoone as this earthly Tabernacle of their bodies is dissolved all Gods children goe to an eternall heavenly habitation and againe if the godly and faithfull man after the death of the bodie doth in his soule immediatly passe to an eternall life which you likewise here see to be verie manifest for the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the preterperfect tense what is then become of your supposed Purgatorie Doe you not by these Texts perceive that even that also is to bee utterly banished and abolished as a thing fabulous impious and untrue and not to be beleeved 2 But your Church for all that striveth and strugleth to uphold it as being indeed one of the best fires that ever the Pope and his Clergie have had for the heating of their Kitchins and which in respect of the people who are miserably abused with it is not unfitly called Purgatory-Pickepurse inasmuch as it robbeth them of their wealth and substance But let us see what texts of Scripture they chiefelie alledge and relie upon for this purpose First they alledge Mat. 5.25 26 where Christ saith thus Agree with thine adversarie quickl●e whilst thou art in the way vvith him lest at anie time thine adversarie deliver thee to the Iudge the Iudg deliver thee to the officer then thou be cast into prison verily I say unto thee thou shalt not come out from thence until thou hast paid the uttermost farthing Howbeit this text is an exhortation perswasion to peace reconciliation concord agreement betwixt man and man in this life least for not observing of this concord agreement it so fall out as often it doth in the world that the debtor be cast into Prison and depart not from thence untill he have paide the utmost farthing But if by this Prison be meant as they would have it a place of punishment after death yet then is there no necessitie for all that to expound it of their Purgatorie for well may it then bee taken for Hell the place of the damned yea then it must needs be so taken inasmuch as there be but two sorts of people namely Elect and Reprobate and answerably to them there bee but two places after death viz. Heaven and Hell for that the soules of Gods Elect goe immediately after their death not into anie such tormenting place as your supposed Purgatorie but into Heaven is beside the former texts evident even by the president of the good Theefe that was crucified with Christ to whom Christ said thus This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise that is in Heaven the place of blessednesse for all Gods Saints and people That this Theefes soule went that verie day into Paradise is a thing expreslie apparant in the Text and that Paradise is Heaven even the Third and higest Heaven the place of glory is also verie manifest because S. Paul himselfe so declareth and expoundeth it What doubt then can there bee in this matter But it is yet further evident by the example of the Rich man and Lazarus For when the Rich man died hee went to Hell the place of Torments for the Reprobate when poore Lazarus dyed he was carried by Angells into Abrahams Bosome that is into Heaven the place of comfort ioy and happinesse for all God elect For that Abrahams bosome must be taken for Heaven and not for that fained place of Limbus Patrum which Papists make to be a part of hell is manifest by this that beside the solace ioy and comfort that is shewed to be in it it is further mentioned and set

in the Text it selfe as directlie opposite to Hell Now what is so directly opposite to Hell as Heaven is consequentlie what must Abrahams bosome bee but Heaven and no part of Hell against which in the Text it selfe it is so directlie opposed S. Augustine saith plainely it is no part of Hell I could never finde in the Scriptures saith he that Hell is taken for good And if it be never so reade in the Divine authoritie verily that bosome of Abraham that is an habitation of a certaine secret rest is not to bee beleeved to be anie part of Hell To the same effect hee speaketh in another place where he affirmeth Abrahams bosome expresly to bee Paradise that is Heaven Quanto magis c. How much more saith hee may the bosome of Abraham vvhich is after this life bee called Paradise S. Crysostome also against the conceite of such as supposed it to be Hell or a part of it saith that the Bosome of Abraham was the poore mans Paradise yea I say this that the Bosome of Abraham is the truth of Paradise yea I confesse it to bee the most holie Paradise But moreover considering that Christ is the slaine Lambe from the beginning of the world and that Hee vvas yesterday and to day and is the same for ever as the Scripture speaketh The force vertue of that his death must needs extend unto all times as touching the elect to redeeme and save them And consequently what doubt can there bee but that Abraham Isaac Iacob and all the rest of Gods people that lived and died before Christ his Incarnation and Passion went after their death as directly into Heaven as those godlie and faithfull people doe that have died since his Incarnation Passion and Ascention for as for that Text which yee alledge of Heb. 9.8 where it is said that The way of the Holies vvas not yet manifested or opened whilst as yet the first Tabernacle vvas standing The meaning and scope of that place is no more but that the way to Heaven was not opened by vertue of anie sacrifices of the first Tabernacle vnder the Law but by vertue of the Sacrifice and passion of Christ which those old sacrifices did prefigure the vertue of which Sacrifice and sufferings of Christ extending it selfe from the beginning of the world to the end thereof as touching all the faithfull to take away all their sinnes and to worke their full redemption is ever sufficient to give those olde godly Fathers rest and felicitie in Heaven in their soules after their bodilie death Yea where else doth Christ himselfe place Abraham Isaac and Iacob even before his Passion but in the kingdome of Heaven Your supposed Limbus Patrum therefore hath no ground to relie upon nor your supposed Purgatorie neither but are both to vanish as smoake being not onelie phantasticall but untrue and ungodlie conceits But to answer yet further to the text alledged for your imagined purgatorie Why should that Prison before mentioned being admitted to be a place of punishment for sinne after death be supposed your Purgatorie rather then Hell the place of the Damned For doe yee allow him to be sent to Purgatorie that is never reconciled to a man but dieth out of Charitie doth not such a one live and die in deadly sinne and consequently deserve hell fire and damnation Ye say that the words of the Text affirme that after hee is committed to the prison there mentioned he is not to come out from thence untill hee hath paid the utmost farthing This worde untill say you importeth that after payment once fullie made by him he is to come out againe and therefore that it is to be intended not a perpetuall and everlasting prison such as Hell is but a Temporarie prison such as you suppose your Purgatorie to bee But deceive not your selves with an argument drawne from this word untill in the Text for it necessarilie enforceth no such matter as you would deduce out of it For example in Matth. 1. vers 25. it is said that Ioseph knevv not Marie untill she had brought forth her first borne Sonne and called his name Iesus will you therefore with Helvidius because of this word untill inferre that therefore afterward Ioseph knew her I am sure ye will not and yet by force of that word if yee were so disposed might yee inferre aswell the one as the other But as that word untill in the last alledged place inferreth no such consequent but rather that hee never knew her so in the other place where it is said That he shall not goe out of that Prison untill he hath paid the utmost farthing is likewise meant that he shall never come out And so in verie deede doth Ferus the Iesuite expound it And the reason for it is verie good and apparant for seeing he is there to continue untill he paie the utmost farthing and that hee for his part after he is dead and committed to this Prison is never able to make payment how can it be shifted but that he must lie there perpetually For the conceite that one man may make payment and satisfaction for the sinnes of another when hee cannot so much as make payment and satisfaction to Gods Iustice for his owne sinnes is a most vaine and idle conceit Yea thus also doth S. Augustine expound this Prison of the place of the Damned namely of Hell and eternall paines Serm. Dom. in monte And so doth S. Hierome also expound it in Lamen lib. 1. cap. 1. and Eusebius Emissenus in Domi 6 p●st Pent. saying Carcer iste infernus est This prison is Hell And so Theophilus Antiochenus in Carcerem id est in Gehennam Into Prison that is Into Hell the place of the damned And Cromatius likewise upon this place and divers others But lastly what reason have they to suppose that anie faithfull godlie soule should after death bee cast into anie Prison for anie debt or sinne whatsoever there to continue for anie time at all when as all their debts or sinnes be fullie paid satisfied for and discharged by Iesus Christ their suertie Saviour and Redeemer in their behalfe How oft must they be told of these things 3 The next place they alledge to prove their Purgatorie is Matth. 12. vers 32. where because it is said that the Blasphemie or sinne against the holie Ghost shall not bee forgiven neither in this world nor in the vvorld to come Ergo say they some sinnes be forgiven in the world to come But first this is a non sequitur followeth not by the rules of Logicke as even Bellarmine himselfe confesseth And secondly admit that some sinnes be forgiven in the world to come yet doth it not follow that your Purgatorie is thereby proved for your Purgatorie is such a place and prison by your owne teaching not where anie forgivenesse of sinnes is to bee obtained but where

purpose intention Christ dyed not for the redemption of all in a generalitie but of the Elect only whom he so especially and entirely loved In like sort testifieth S. Iohn saying In this appeared the love of God toward us marke still that word Vs that God sent his onely begotten Sonne into the vvorld that vve might live through him And againe he saith Herein is love not that vve loved God but that he loved us and sent his Sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes Here you likewise see that the sending of his sonne is an effect and argument of his most deare and speciall love toward his Church and people If then this be as indeed it is an argument of such high speciall and incomparable love in Christ to give himselfe to death and likewise in God his Father to send him into the world to that end and that this special and incomparable love belongeth onely to the Elect it must needes be granted that Christ his death being an argument of such unspeakeable and especial love was only for the Elect in Gods intention and purpose for those onely be the men whom he so entirely and unspeakeably loved and not the other But consider what Saint Paul yet further writeth saying thus Blessed bee God even the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ vvhich hath blessed us vvith all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ as hee hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the vvorld that vvee should be holy and vvithout blame before him in love VVho hath predestinated us to be adopted through Iesus Christ in himselfe according to the good pleasure of his owne vvill to the praise of the glory of his grace vvhereby hee hath made us accepted in his bloud by vvhom vve have redemption through his bloud even the forgivenesse of sinnes according to his rich grace vvhereby he hath beene abounding toward us In which words you may againe perceive that those onely that were Elect before the foundation of the world be the men that be there said to have redemption through Christs bloud even the forgivenesse of sinnes and that for these two incomparable benefits namely of their Election before the foundations of the world and of their Redemption through the bloud of Christ they can never blesse God sufficiently nor yeeld him sufficient thankes Yea the Redemption which Christ by his bloud hath purchased for anie is an Eternall Redemption as the Epistle to the Hebrewes expressely affirmeth it and therefore if all in a generalitie aswel bad as good and Reproprobate aswell as Elect should have redemption by the death of Christ it should be an Eternall redemption as here you see even an everlasting discharge and forgivenesse of all their sinnes and so then should none be damned at all but all aswell one sort as another should be saved which if it be grosse and absurd false and untrue that also must be held grosse absurd and untrue whereupon this followeth But consider yet further that the bloud of Christ Iesus the Sonne of God is not dumbe dead vaine idle or ineffectual bloud but it is ever powerfull and effectuall to all those for whose benefit it was intended to be shed and therefore beside that it is called by S. Peter precious bloud or the bloud of price and value whereby Gods Church and people were bought and purchased it is further said in the Epistle to the Hebrews to be speaking blood and that it speaketh better things then that of Abel For indeed the bloud of Abel spake and cried for revenge against a Malefactor but contrariwise the bloud of Christ speaketh for mercie peace love reconciliation and attonement towards sinners and malefactors Yea the bloud of Christ hath these vertues attributed unto it namely to clense from all sinne to reconcile to iustifie to sanctifie and to save sinners Seeing then the bloud of Christ is of that great force vertue and efficacie and that none are cleansed from their sinnes reconciled iustified sanctified and saved but the elect onely it is apparant that that so precious prevalent powerfull and saving bloud of his was shed for the redemption of the Elect only and not of the Reprobate And therefore doe the Saints and elect people of God in the Revelation sing this Song unto that Immaculate Lamb Christ Iesus saying thus Thou art vvorthy to take the Booke and to open the seales thereof because thou vvast killed and hast redeemed us to God by thy bloud out of every kinred and tongue and people and nation Yea by the efficacie and vertue of Christ his death his buriall and his resurrection it is that Gods elect dye to sinne and burie sinne and be quickned and rise to newnesse of life which thing Reprobates cannot doe Againe it appeareth that Christ in his death suffering and satisfaction which hee made to the law and to Gods wrath and iustice bare the person only of the Elect to cleere and set them free insomuch that of them only it is said that they be In Christ and that they vvere circumcised ●n him or in his circumcision that they dyed together with him in his death that they rose together with him in his resurrection that they ascended with him into heaven and there sit vvith him in heavenly places By all which manner of speeches it is evident that the Elect and Elect onely be accounted his members and knit and conioined unto him Yea such is this neere coniunction and union betweene Christ the head and the Elect his members that considered together they be called verie Christ by S. Paul And therefore it is apparant that the Reprobates which are to bee damned were never In Christ Iesus nor made satisfaction to Gods Iustice in him for their sinnes nor died with him nor rose againe with him nor ascended with him into heaven nor have anie union or communion with him And this is further yet more evident by this that Christ Iesus himselfe doth directly disclaime all Reprobates in the praier which he maketh in the behalfe of all the Elect which his Father gave him saying thus I pray for them I pray not for the vvorld but for them vvhich thou hast given mee for they are thine Observe this well for here you see that Christ praieth and maketh intercession onely for the elect and utterly disclaymeth to pray for the world that is for the Reprobates of the world Sith then the Reprobates have no part nor portion in the praier and intercession of Christ by what right shall they have anie part or portion in his death or sacrificing himselfe upon the Crosse For the Priesthood of Christ consisteth chiefly in these two points namely in his oblation or sacrificing of himselfe upon the Crosse in his prayer or intercession and seeing the Reprobates never had nor have anie interest in the one neither can they have in the other And therefore also is Christ recorded

it So likewise is Antichrist described under the name figure of a Beast as is also confessed even by the adversaries themselves and therefore neither can hee be supposed one singular and particular person but a State and Dominion wherein a succession of sundrie persons one after another is admitted For whereas Bellarmine answereth that in the Prophecie of Daniel sometimes by Beasts are signified whole States and Kingdomes and sometimes particular persons as in the eighth chapter he saith that by the Ramme is understood one particular King namely Darius the last King of the Persians hee is much deceived and the Text it selfe directly confuteth him affirming this Ramme to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reges not one particular King but the Kings of the Medes and Persians So likewise by the Goate in Daniel is not meant one singular person namely Alexander as Bellarmine againe mistaketh but the verie Kingdome or kingly state of Grecia and the great horne betweene his eyes is in the Text it selfe expounded to be the first King of that Empire or Kingdome of Grecia which was Alexander which horne being broken off foure other stand up in the stead of it So that by every Beast in Daniel you see that not any one particular person but an whole State Empire Kingdome or Dominion is signified and intended and consequently Antichrist being in the Revelation of S. Iohn described under the name of a Beast must needs likewise be supposed not one singular and particular person but an whole State Kingdome or Dominion which admitteth manie persons to rule and raigne in it one after another in succession A third argument to prove this is the exposition and acknowledgement of the Rhemists themselves for touching the seven heads of the Beast that is of the Latin or Romane State the sixt head thereof is as themselves doe shew not one singular and particular person but a State Kingdome or Empire namely the Romane Empire wherin were divers that ruled and raigned in succession one after another Now then if the sixt head of the Beast be not one singular and particular man which themselves declare and affirme but a State and succession of men why should they not grant Antichrist whom themselves also affirme to be the seventh head of the Beast to be likewise not one singular and particular person but a State and succession of persons for they are both called Heads alike and there is no reason of difference that can be shewed more for the one then for the other A fourth argument is out of Revelation the 20 where the Divell being bound for a thousand yeares S. Iohn saw in Vision the soules of them that vvere beheaded for the vvitnesse of Iesus and for the vvord of God and vvhich had not vvorshipped the Beast nor his Image nor had taken his marke upon their foreheads nor in their hands and they lived and raigned vvith Christ those thousand yeares But the rest of the dead lived not againe untill the Thousand yeares vvere finished This is the first Resurrection Blessed and holy is hee that hath part in the first resurrection for on such the second Death hath no power c. In which wordes you see mention made of a Thousand yeares expressely in which this Antichristian Beast was in Esse some all that while lying dead in their sinnes and Antichristian Errors and othersome rising from their sinnes and errors to newnesse of life and to true Christianitie which is there called the first resurrection and these are said to live and not to be dead and to raigne with Christ subduing and getting victorie over themselves and over this Antichristian Beast like Kings Conquerors during all that time When therefore there is expresse mention made of a Thousand yeres in which this Antichristian Beast had to do who doth not perceive that Antichrist cannot be one singular and particular man that shall raigne onely three yeares and an halfe but that hee is and must needs be a State and succession of persons that is thus directly discovered to have had a continuance in the world for at least a Thousand yeares A fift argument is this that S. Iohn saith thus It is the last time and as ye have heard that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Antichrist commeth even now there be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many Antichrists whereby vvee Know that it is the last time Where you may easily observe that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Antichrist is not one particular person but manie and that manie Antichrists be this Antichrist for so the Text it selfe declareth In like sort he speaketh in his second Epistle Many Deceivers be entred into this vvorld which confesse not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the deceiver and the Antichrist Where againe you see that not onely One but many Deceivers be this Deceiver and the Antichrist Whereunto adde also the opinion of diverse of the ancient Fathers as of Irenaeus Origen Chrysostome Hierome Ruffinus Primasius Augustine expounding that place of Matt. 24. which speaketh of manie false Christs and false Prophets that should arise and shew great signes and wonders so that if it were possible they should deceive the verie Elect as spoken of Antichrist for thereby also they give us to understand that Antichrist is to be conceived to be manie and not one singular person A sixt argument is taken from the Apostasie it selfe which S. Paul speaketh of which Apostasie whether you expound it of the revolt and departure of so manie multitudes of people from the right faith and religion of Christ or of a revolt from the Romane Empire by the Kings and Princes of the earth or from both it cannot be otherwise intended then the worke of manie ages Bellarmine saith that thereby wee may rectissimè most rightly understand Antichrist himselfe and he cyteth diverse ancient Fathers for the proofe of that opinion Now then if by the Apostasie Antichrist himselfe be most rightly understood as Bellarmine teacheth and that this Apostasie cannot in reason be otherwise supposed then the Worke of Manie ages as hee also sheweth especially considering that the Mysterie of that Iniquity or Apostasie began to vvorke even in S. Pauls daies how can Antichrist bee rightly conceived to be one singular man that shall raigne onely three yeares and an halfe and no longer Yea it is manifest that even in the false teachers and heretickes which were in the Apostles daies and which were helpers and workers in this Apostasie and Mysterie of Iniquitie Antichrist was for so hath S. Iohn before assured us Neither indeed could he afterward have beene revealed disclosed detected or discovered unlesse he had bin in Esse before in som secret hidden close covert sort For which cause Theodoret also saith that Defectionem appellat A ntichristi praesentiam S. Paul calleth The Apostasie or defection the presence of

onely nor see at all so these two sayings likewise may stand well enough together that among all the vertues in the soule faith is the onely instrument whereby we lay hold upon Christ for our iustification and yet that faith being alone and disioyned from the societie of other graces is dead in it selfe as S. Iames speaketh and in that respect can neyther only iustifie nor iustifie at all So though Claudius doe teach as we doe that faith alone saveth us because by the workes of the law no man shall be justified yet hee addeth withall this caution Not as if the workes of the law should be contemned and without them a simple faith so hee calleth that solitarie faith whereof we spake which is a simple faith indeed should be desired but that the workes themselves should be adorned with the faith of Christ. For that sentence of the wise man is excellent that the faithfull man doth not live by righteousnesse but the righteous man by faith In like maner Sedulius acknowledgeth with us that God hath purposed by faith onely to forgive our sinnes freely and by faith onely to save the beleevers and that when men have fallen they are to be renewed onely by the faith of Christ which worketh by love intimating by this last clause that howsoever faith only be it which iustifieth the man yet the worke of love is necessarily required for all that to iustifie the faith And this faith saith he when it hath beene justified sticketh in the soyle of the soule like a root which hath received a showre that when it hath begun to be manured by the law of God it may rise up againe into bowes which may beare the fruit of workes Therefore the root of righteousnesse doth not grow out of workes but the fruit of workes out of the root of righteousnesse namely out of that roote of righteousnesse which God doth accept for righteousnesse without workes The conclusion is that saving faith is alwaies a fruitfull faith and though it never goe alone yet may there be some gift of God which it alone is able to reach unto as Columbanus also implieth in that verse Sola fides fidei dono ditabitur almo The greatest depressers of Gods grace and the advancers of mans abilities were Pelagius and Celestius the one borne in Brittaine as appeareth by Prosper Aquitanus the other in Scotland or Ireland as Mr. Persons doth gather out of those words of S. Hierome in one of the Prefaces of his commentaries not upon Ezechiel as he quoteth it but upon Ieremy Hee hath his off-spring from the Scottish nation neere to the Britans Against these Palladius and Patricius sent into these parts by Celestinus Bishop of Rome bent their forces by whose meanes the grounds of sound doctrine in these great points were well setled among the Scottish and Irish. And when the poyson of the contrarie heresie about two hundred yeares after that beganne to breake out among them againe the Clergie of Rome in the yeare of our Lord DCXXXIX during the vacancie of the See upon the death of Severinus directed their letters unto them for the preventing of this growing mischiefe Wherein among other things they put them in minde that it is both blasphemy and folly to say that a man is without sinne which none at all can say but that one mediator betwixt God and man the man Christ Iesus vvho was conceived and borne without sinne Which is agreeable partly to that of Claudius that it is manifest unto all wise men although it be contradicted by heretickes that there is none who can live upon earth without the touch of some sinne partly to that of Sedulius that there is none of the elect so great whom the Divell doth not dare to accuse but him alone who did no sinne and who said The Prince of this world commeth now and in me he findeth nothing For touching the imperfection of our sanctification in this life these men held the same that wee doe to wit that the Law cannot be fulfilled that there is none that doth good that is to say perfect and intire good that Gods elect shall be perfectly holy and immaculate in the life to come where the Church of Christ shall have no spot nor wrinkle whereas in this present life they are righteous holy and immaculate not wholy but in part only that the righteous shall then be without all kinde of sinne vvhen there shall bee no law in their members that shall resist the law of their mind that although sinne do not now raigne in their mortall body to obey the desires thereof yet sinne dwelleth in that mortall body the force of that natural custome being not yet extinguished which we have gotten by our originall and increased by our actuall transgressions And as for the matter of merit Sedulius doth resolve us out of S. Paul that wee are Saints by the calling of God not by the merit of our deed that God is able to doe exceeding aboundantly above all that we aske or thinke according to the power that worketh in us not according to our merits that whatsoever men have from God is grace because they have nothing of due and that nothing can be found worthy or to be compared with the glory to come The next point that offereth it selfe unto our consideration is that of Purgatory Whereof if anie man doe doubt Caesarius a Germane Monke of the Cistercian order adviseth him for his resolution to make a iourney into Scotland the greater Scotland he meaneth and there to enter into S. Patricks Purgatory and then he giveth him his word that he shall no more doubt of the paines of Purgatory If Doctor Terry who commendeth this unto us as the testimonie of a most famous author should chance to have a doubtfull thought hereafter of the paines of Purgatory I would wish his ghostly Father to injoine him no other penance but the undertaking of a pilgrimage unto S. Patricks purgatorie to see whether he would prove any wiser when he came from thence than when hee went thither In the meane time untill he hath made some further experiment of the matter he shall give me leave to beleeve him that hath beene there and hath cause to know the place as well as anie the Iland wherein it is seated being held by him as a part of the inheritance descended unto him from his ancestors and yet professeth that he found nothing therein which might afford him anie argument to thinke there was a Purgatorie I passe by that Nennius and Probus and all the elder writers of the life of S. Patrick that I have met withall speake not one word of anie such place and that Henry the monke of Saltrey in the dayes of king Stephen is the first in whom I could ever finde anie mention thereof this onely would I know

that being touched with remorse for some offence committed by him he fell at S. Colmes feet lamented bitterly and confessed his sinnes before all that were there present Whereupon the holy man weeping together with him is said to have returned this answer Rise up Sonne and be comforted thy sinnes which thou hast committed are forgiven because as it is written a contrite and an humbled heart God doth not despise Wee reade also of Adamanus that being verie much terrified with the remembrance of a grievous sinne committed by him in his youth he resorted unto a Priest by whom he hoped the way of salvation might be shewed unto him he confessed his guilt and intreated that hee would give him counsel whereby he might flee from the wrath of God that was to come Now the counfell commonly given unto the Penitent after Confession was that he should wipe away his sinnes by meet fruits of repentance which course Bede observeth to have beene usually prescribed by our Cuthbert For penances were then exacted as testimonies of the sinceritie of that inward repentance which was necessarily required for obtayning remission of the sinne and so had reference to the taking away of the guilt and not of the temporall punishment remayning after the forgivenesse of the guilt which is the new found use of penances invented by our later Romanists One old Penitentiall Canon we finde laid downe in a Synod held in this countrey about the yere of our Lord CCCCXL. by S. Patrick Auxilius and Isserninus which is as followeth A Christian who hath kild a man or committed fornication or gone unto a southsayer after the maner of the Gentiles for every of those crimes shall doe a yeare of Penance when his yeare of penance is accomplished he shall come with witnesses and afterward he shall be absolved by the Priest These Bishops did take order we see according to the discipline generally used in those times that the penance should first be performed and when long and good proofe had beene given by that meanes of the truth of the parties repentance they wished the Priest to impart unto him the benefit of Absolution whereas by the new devise of sacramental penance the matter is now far more easily transacted by vertue of the keyes the sinner is instantly of attrite made contrite and thereupon as soone as he hath made his Confession he presently receiveth his Absolution after this some sorie penance is imposed which upon better consideration may be converted into pence and so a quick end is made of manie a foule businesse But for the right use of the keyes wee fully accord with Claudius that the office of remitting and retayning sinnes which was given unto the Apostles is now in the Bishops and Priests committed unto every Church namely that having taken knowledge of the causes of such as have sinned as many as they shall behold humble and truely penitent those they may now vvith compassion absolve from the feare of everlasting death but such as they shall discerne to persist in the sinnes which they have committed those they may declare to be bound over unto never ending punishments And in thus absolving such as be truely penitent we willingly yeeld that the Pastors of Gods Church doe remit sinnes after their maner that is to say ministerially and improperly so that the priviledge of forgiving sinnes properly and absolutely be still reserved unto God alone Which is at large set out by the same Claudius where he expoundeth the historie of the man sicke of the palsey that was cured by our Saviour in the ninth of S. Matthew For following Bede upon that place he writeth thus The Scribes say true that none can forgive sinnes but God alone vvho also forgiveth by them to vvhom he hath given the power of forgiving And therefore is Christ proved to be truely God because hee forgiveth sinnes as God They render a true testimony unto God but in denying the person of Christ they are deceived and againe If it be God that according to the Psalmist removeth our sinnes as farre from us as the East is distant from the West and the Sonne of man hath power upon earth to forgive sinnes therefore hee himselfe is both God and the Sonne of man that both the man Christ might by the power of his divinitie forgive sinnes and the same Christ being God might by the frailtie of his humanitie dye for sinners and out of S. Hierome Christ sheweth himselfe to be God vvho can know the hidden things of the heart and after a sort holding his peace he speaketh By the same majestie power wherby I behold your thoughts I can also forgive sinnes unto men In like maner doth the author of the booke of the wonderfull things of the Scripture observe these divine workes in the same historie the forgiving of sinnes the present cure of the disease and the answering of the thoughts by the mouth of God who searcheth all things With whom for the propertie of beholding the secret thoughts Sedulius also doth concurre in those sentences God alone can know the hidden things of men To know the hearts of men and to discerne the secrets of the minde is the priviledge of God alone That the contract of Marriages was either unknown or neglected by the Irish before Malachias did institute the same anew among them as Bernard doth seeme to intimate is a thing almost incredible although Giraldus Cambrensis doth complaine that the case was little better with them after the time of Malachias also The licentiousnesse of those ●uder times I know was such as may easily induce us to beleeve that a great both neglect and abuse of Gods ordinance did get footing among this people Which enormities Malachias no doubt did labour to reforme and withall peradventure brought in some new matters not knowne here before as he was very desirous his countrymen should generally conforme themselves unto the traditions and customes of the Church of Rome But our purpose is here onely to deale with the doctrine and practise of the elder times in which first that Marriage was not held to be a sacrament may be collected from Sedulius who reckoneth it among those things which are gifts indeed but not spirituall Secondly for the degrees of Consanguinitie hindering marriage the Synod attributed unto S. Patrick seemeth to referre us wholly unto the Leviticall law prescribing therein neyther lesse nor more then the Law speaketh and particularly against matching with the wife of the deceased brother which was the point so much questioned in the case of King Henry the eight this Synodicall decree is there urged The brother may not ascend into the bed of his deceased brother the Lord having said They two shall be one flesh Therefore the wife of thy brother is thy sister Yet how farre this abuse prevayled afterward in this countrey and how foule a crime it was esteemed