23 By this inbred corruption our vnderstanding is so darkened that naturally we cannot perceiue the things which are of God no we count them foolishnesse our will is in such thraldome and slauerie vnto sinne that it cannot like of any thing spirituall and heauenly but is wholly caried vnto fleshly desires 24 If therefore we perceiue the things that are of God and doe like of them if our hearts be enclined to doe his will because this cannot come of our selues our nature bending a cleane contrarie way we acknowledge most willingly and vnfeinedly The good we doe is his it is not ours our beginning to doe and our continuance in dooing well proceedeth onely and wholly from him If any man receiue the grace of God offered it is because God hath framed his heart thereto If any man come when God calleth it is because his grace which calleth draweth If being brought vnto Christ we continue in him we haue no other reason to yeeld of our dooing but onely this he hath linked vs and fastened vs vnto himselfe We neither rise when we are fallen nor stand when we are risen by our owne strength When we are in distresse we are of our selues so far from abilitie to helpe our selues that we are not able to craue helpe of him vnlesse his spirite wrest out Abba Father from vs. We cannot mone our owne case vnlesse he doe grone and sigh for vs we are not able to name Iesus vnlesse by the speciall grace of his spirite our mouthes be opened no we cannot of our selues so much as think of naming him if to thinke of naming him be a good thought 25 When against our naturall inclination to euill his spirite which worketh all in all hath so preuailed that wee now beginne to hate the workes of the flesh hauing an earnest desire to abounde in loue ioie peace long suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meekenesse temperaunce and all other fruites of the spirite yet by reason of the strength of that bodie of sinne which euer fighteth against the spirite our inward man is so weakened that we cannot do the things which we would and the things which we do euen the best of them are so farre beneath that perfection which the Lawe of God requireth that if he should rigorously examine them in iustice no fleshe could euer be accounted righteous in his sight The loathsomest things that can be imagined the cloathes that be most vncleane are not so foule as our very righteousnes is vnrighteous Wherupon we conclude that whatsoeuer wee receiue by way of reward at Gods hand either in this life or in the life to come wee receiue it as a thing freely giuen by him without any merite or desert of ours we doe not say in our hearts The Lord hath giuen vs these good things to possesse for our righteousnesse For seeing it is he which giueth both to will and to doe he crowneth in deede his owne worke when he rewardeth ours and he neuer rewardeth any worke of his owne wherein there is not somwhat of ours which he pardoneth 26 Thus being naked and vtterly destitute in our selues we seeke all things in Christ Iesus Him onely we acknowledge to be our wisedome our iustification our sanctification our redemption our priest our sacrifice our king our head our mediator our phisition our waie our trueth our life In our selues we finde nothing but pouertie and weakenesse praise and honour and glorie wee giue to him The onely marke we ayme at is to set vp his throne to aduaunce his kingdome to make it knowne that in him the Father hath layde vp all the treasures of heauen to the ende that vnto him the thirstie may repaire for water the hungrie for bread the naked for cloathes and wee all for all things needeful to the safetie of our soules and bodies 27 This is not the scope which the Church of Rome proposeth They direct all things to an other end How can ye beleeue saith Christ to the Iewes which receiue honour one of an other and seeke not that honour which commeth of God alone And howe can the faith of the Church of Rome be sound sith they hold such doctrines as tend wholly to their owne glorie their owne gaine and not to the praise and honour of God 28 That they seeke not his glorie but their owne it may appeare vnto any man which throughly considereth of their doctrine First they will not acknowledge that pouertie and nakednesse those filthie garments of corruption and sinne wherein Adam hath wrapped his posteritie But in the pride of their hearts they dissemble it diminish it and make light of it For although they denie not but that mans nature is corrupted yet marke how they paire and lessen this corruption The Prophet Dauid doeth terme it wickednesse and sinne but they make it onely an inclination vnto sinning The Lorde himselfe doeth witnesse that by it all the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart are only euill they restraine it to the inferior part of the soule and make it onely a mother of some grosser desires The blessed Apostle prayed groned and wept against it as a thing which made him altogeher wearie of his life But after Baptisme they make no more account of those inward rebellious motions against the spirite than they doe of the beating of a mans pulse 29 And as they hide that weakenesse which indeede they haue so they boast of that strength which is not in them For being subiect vnto miserable bondage vnder sinne by reason of that corruption which hath spred it selfe ouer all flesh they bragge notwithstanding of the freedome of their wil as if sinne had not vtterly bereaued vs thereof but stil it were in vs to frame and fashion our owne hearts vnto good things For proofe whereof their maner is to make long discourses teaching that Gods foreknowledge doth not take away free will that men are not violently drawen to good or euill Which things we easily and willingly graunt neither doe we teache or euer did that the freedome of our wil is taken away by the eternall decree of his vnsearchable purpose but this we say and all that haue the trueth doe say the same that the will of man being free vnto naturall and ciuill actions hath of it selfe no freedome to desire things heauenly and spirituall not because the eternall purpose of God but because the corruption of our nature hath addicted vs only vnto euill We doe not teache or euer did that any man is the seruaunt either of sinne or of righteousnesie by constraint For whether we obey the one vnto death and condemnation or vnto life and saluation the other our obedience is alwayes voluntarie it is not wrested from vs against our wils But the question being how we are made willing vnto that which is good this is the difference betweene our aunswere and theirs We say onely by the grace of God
they say partly by grace but principally by the power and strength of their owne nature For being ashamed to affirme with Pelagius that a man may doe the workes of righteousnesse by nature without the grace of God they hold his grace to be a thing indeede necessarie But howe As a birde that is tyed or a man that is in fetters needeth onely to haue those incumberances remooued hauing then a naturall abilitie to flie and walke without any further helpe so man as they say hath in himselfe abilitie to doe good if the grace of God doe but remooue lets Is not this to make nature the principal cause of our well dooing whereas in trueth without the speciall motion of Gods spirite and that in euerie particular action wee are no more able to walke in the waies which GOD hath commaunded than a drunken man to goe without leading who staggereth euen in the plainest ground though all stumbling blockes be remooued though his waie lie neuer so smooth before him such is our weakenesse In consideration whereof the blessed Apostle sayth plainely It is not in him that willeth or in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie We dragge and are not able of our selues to set one foote before an other Drawe me saith the spouse in the Canticles and then we will runne after thee But these men litle considering of what fraile metall they are made perceiuing not how sinne hath weakened the faculties of the soule vaunt of freedome of strength of inward power and make their owne will the chiefest cause of their wel dooing 30 And when they haue doone any thing which to their seeming is wel doone they prise it so high and esteeme so much of it that God as they thinke should doe them iniurie if in iudgement he did not pronounce them iust and righteous for their workes sake If it were possible that God entering into iudgement should finde any so vpright and perfect that by their workes they might be iustified in his sight doubtlesse he should finde his owne seruaunts to be such or else none if any of his seruaunts surely his Prophets if any Prophet rather Dauid than any other But Dauid crieth out Enter not into iudgement no not with thy Seruaunt O Lord. For in thy sight shall none that liueth be iustified For whether we consider workes forbidden or commaunded by the Lawe what man is there liuing which can say in the one My heart is pure in the other I haue doone all that is enioyned me For if it were so that we knewe nothing wherein we had transgressed the lawes and statutes of the almightie yet herein could we in no wise be iustified because of secret sinnes hidden euen from our owne selues For which if God shal call vs to our reckoning and marke straitely what is doone amisse O Lord saith the Prophet who shall stand Againe if we had doone whatsoeuer wee could yet because we cannot doe so much as we should we ought to acknowledge our selues vnprofitable whereas we euen the best of vs are farre from dooing that which if we would we might doe 31 Nowe if God notwithstanding for his sonnes sake doe so allowe and accept the worke of our hands that he bountifully rewardeth our weake seruice with an excellent and an eternall waight of glorie how much are wee bound both to praise his mercie and to hate the insolencie of those men who besides al this swelling in the proude conceit of their workes will haue eternall life which is his gift to be their merite nor onely that but the worthinesse of their deserts to be so great that many of them dooing God more seruice than can bee sufficiently rewarded in their owne persons deserue heauen not onely for themselues but for others too These shipwracks of faith they haue made by reason of their inward pride 32 The excessiue desire of outward pompe hath furthermore caused them to disdaine the basenesse of Christ Iesus and of his Apostles to bee ashamed of the meane and lowe estate wherein they liued to make of their Deacons and Priests Cardinals exceeding the kings of the earth in glorie of their Bishop a Monarke vnder whose foote the Emperour himselfe hath beene a footestoole whose stirrop the greatest Soueraignes haue scarse beene deemed worthie to holde at whose bridle kings haue attended as seruaunts that the wordes of the Preacher might bee iustified Follie is set in great excellencie and the riche set in the lowe place I haue seene seruaunts on horses and Princes walking as seruants on the ground 33 This pompe cannot bee maintained with nothing it must haue strong sinnewes And therefore whatsoeuer mans wit might possibly deuise for gaine they haue both founde it out and put it in vre setting Offices Masses Prayers Pardons Sacramentes Heauen and Earth all the treasures of the house of GOD to sale if wee may terme it the house of God which they haue made a shoppe of so vile merchaundise It were infinite to recite what huge summes of money they haue heretofore by religious pretenses euerie yeere gathered within the compasse of this one Ilande What heapes then haue they raked out of other partes of Christendome Which offals and profites if once men beginne as here so in other kingdomes also to withholde from them if men leaue off buying their wares any more if things which are fatte and excellent depart doubtlesse that citie which nowe is cloathed in fine linnen and purple and skarlet which nowe is guilded with golde and decked with pretious stones and pearles shall in one houre be made desolate This they know and it maketh them carefull to maintaine whatsoeuer is commodious and gainefull to them As for the glorie of GOD it is the least part of their care nay they care not howe heynous sacrilege they commit in spoyling and robbing him of his honour 34 It is an honour vnto God when all men by faith point their fingers as it were at Christ Iesus naming him the onelie Lambe which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde when he is acknowledged the onely mediatour betweene God and vs when wee confesse that hee is that Priest according to the order of Melchisedech which hauing offered one sacrifice for sinnes hath therewith because it was a perfect sacrifice consecrated for euer them that are sanctified when our faith is so ascertained and grounded vppon his promises that we can bee bolde as Lyons assuring our selues that the eye of the Lorde is on them which trust in his mercie to deliuer their soules from death as the Prophet witnesseth But how doe they giue vnto him this honour who haue deuised so many waies to take away sinne besides the bloud of the Lambe of GOD who as though wee might not be bolde to enter into the holie place by the newe and liuely way which hee hath prepared for vs through the vaile which is his fleshe or as
to spare such as attempted the ouerthrowe of true religion or made the people to bowe themselues vnto strange gods In such cases the verie heads and princes of the people escaped not his iust hands Hee did wisely consider that as it is a point of mercie to pardon priuate wrongs so not to punish publike transgressors against God and the state were great iniustice it beeing in doubt whether their deedes were more pestilent or their example if it were strengthened by impunitie would be more pernicious The scepter of thy kingdome saith the Prophet is a scepter of righteousnesse And he prooueth it thus For thou louest righteousnesse and hatest iniquitie Wilt thou knowe what is good and what the Lord requireth of thee Surely saith the Prophet to doe iustice and to loue mercie The song of Dauid had these two parts Mercie and Iudgement Princes are Gods lieuetenants his person they beare and his image they must resemble In him both these are ioined together I am the Lord which shewe mercie iudgement and righteousnesse on earth Mercie without iustice is not mercie but follie saith S. Chrysostome And againe Mercie is then rightly termed mercie if it be shewed so that iustice be not thereby brought into contempt And S. Augustine saith that As it is mercie sometimes to punish so sometimes to spare is crueltie Concerning our selues thus much I can say that if care bee not had thereof in time to keepe backe the rage of sinne by repressing sinners it wil be too late when the Land doth flowe with bloud to thinke vpon it Moses so loued the safetie of his people that hee cried Lord spare them or wipe me out of the booke of life To haue a gouernour like to Moses milde and mercifull yet not carelesse to be zealous in Gods cause nor vnmindefull in iustice to punish great transgressors is a great a rare blessing Which if our God haue bestowed vpon vs for vnto him wee must acknowledge it although in this place I passe it ouer because my desire is not to please but to teache neither did I euer vse flattering woords as ye know but if God haue beene mercifull to vs heerein the Lorde make vs thankefull for it 7 Together with Moses God gaue his people Aaron the Priest which gift he accounteth also as a great blessing Yet Aaron was a man though of great vertue not altogether without blemish We see how for feare of the people more than of God in the absence of Moses he plaied the milkesop erected an Idol and with his bodie wheresoeuer his heart was become either committed Idolatrie or at least permitted it perswaded hereunto as some suppose by Marie the sister of Moses We haue too many followers of the steps of Aaron in this weakenesse Howbeit vnto some God hath giuen a greater measure of strength courage some there are more bold and constant in Gods cause and their duetie some that will not bowe their knees to Baal that wil not displease God for the pleasuring of man some whose libertie and liues are not so deere vnto them but that they can be contented not onely to bee bound but also to die for the testimonie of Christ. Of this better sort although in comparison of the woorse the number be not so great as good yet I suppose that fewe Nations vnder heauen haue moe faithfull and able ministers than this Land hath Beg we at the hands of the Lord of the haruest to send moe pastors and fewer hyrelings moe labourers and fewer loyterers For in respect of the greatnesse of the haruest these workemen though they be many yet are but fewe When God doth giue his people good gouernours and wise teachers when he maketh their men to excell in wisedome their princes to be as Moses and their Priests as Aaron and besides all this raiseth vp women like to Marie amongst them powring out his spirite not onely vpon their sonnes but vpon their daughters also choosing out of them notwithstanding their weakenesse mightie instruments of his power surely a benefite so rare and pretious should winne mens hearts vnto God for euer 8 But the Prophet goeth forward and maketh mention of a third thing which is that God did turne the cursings of Balaam into blessings Remember what Balak King of Moab had deuised and what Balaam the sonne of Peor aunswered him from Shittim to Gilgall that ye may knowe the righteousnesse of the Lord. It fretted the heart of that prophane king Balak to beholde the flourishing prosperitie of Gods people to see Og the king of Bashan and Sihon king of the Amorites conquered and slaine by them This multitude saith he will licke vp all that are about vs as an oxe licketh vp the grasse of the fielde Wherefore mistrusting his owne strength hauing feene trial of theirs he deuised to hire Balaam the wisard to curse them and thought by that meane without all peraduenture to preuaile ouer them But ye knowe Balaams answeres the first How shall I curse where God hath not cursed the second God hath blessed and I cannot alter it the third How goodly are thy tents O Iacob and thine habitations O Israel As the valleies are they stretched foorth as gardens by the riuers side as the Aloe trees which the Lord hath planted and as the cedars beside the waters When hee sawe that God would not suffer his tongue to curse Israel though it were hyred hee gaue Balak this aduise to cause the daughters of Moab to steale away their hearts by carnall pleasure and so to allure them vnto the sacrifice of their gods that they forsaking the true God he might also forsake them This practise was a stumbling block in their way whilest they abode in Shittim they committed fornication they coupled themselues vnto Baal Peor and ate of things sacrificed vnto Idols and diuels Wherefore God plagued them and laid his heauie hand vpon them Howbeit he withdrewe not his mercie and kindenesse wholly from them but in Gilgal tooke away this their shame and sealed againe the couenant of reconciled loue So that as there was no curse which could take away his blessing so there was no counsell that could hinder his good purpose towards his people Yee are not ignoraunt how the Balamite of Rome hath cursed vs our prince our prophets and our people euen as the Philistim cursed Dauid by his gods But we haue found the promise of Christ most true Blessed are yee when they shall reuile you Our God hath turned all his curses into blessings his name be blessed for it The Pope that Balaam hath bitterly cursed the ground whereon we goe and the whole Land wherein wee liue But hath there growen a brier or a thorne the more vpon it for all that mans curse Hee that shall surueie it and viewe it well and marke the plentifulnesse of these latter yeeres must needes confesse that God hath bestowed vpon