folly set all things Mala mens malus animus out of frame and doth not wisedome frame and order all things aright Doth darknesse cause men to stumble and fall Iohn 11. 9. Heb. 3. 12. and doth not light keepe men vpright and preserue them from falling Doth infidelity withdraw mens hearts from God and corrupt their wils and affections and doth not faith ioyne men neerely vnto God and sanctifie their wils and affections with all manner of diuine and heauenly graces Wherefore as all carnall Gospellers and loose Libertines so our Romane Catholikes are greatly deceiued in that they thinke that a sauing and iustifying faith may stand with raigning sinnes for then should the selfe-same persons at the selfe-same time be the children of God in respect of their mindes sanctified with the knowledge of the truth and with sauing faith and the children of the Deuill in their wils being polluted with dominering sins but where sauing faith getteth the sure and safe possession of the minde it not only expelleth infidelity out of the castle of the vnderstanding but also casteth out all sinne and iniquity out of the forts of the will and affections that they shall no longer rule and raigne there For sauing faith doth regenerate vs and make vs the sons of God Gal. 3. 26. as the Apostle affirmeth and so reneweth vs to his image in holinesse and crue righteousnesse and therefore will not suffer vs to giue place to wilfull and raigning sinnes and presumptuous transgressions Whosoeuer saith Saint Iohn is borne 1 Iohn 3. 9. of God sinneth not for his â—eed remaineth in him neither can he sinne because he is borne of God that is whosoeuer is borne of God committeth no such sinnes whereby the Word of God is choaked and extinguished in him because it is an immortall seed which liueth and indureth for euer where it is 1 Pet. 1. 23. once rooted and settled neither can hee sinne because hee is borne of God That is sinne which is the worke of the Deuill cannot so farre forth preuaile as to annihilate his regeneration which is the worke of God because God is stronger then the Deuill and will maintaine his owne proper worke in his owne children against the malice and mischiefe of Satan For let the Deuill set his chiefest instruments on worke to draw Gods children from their faith and obedience to God yet they shall not finally preuaile against them So Saint Iohn Little children ye are of God and haue ouercome them for 1 Iohn 4. 4. greater is he that is in you then he that is in the world For albeit they be little and weake in themselues yet they are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and are enabled thereby to stand against all the assaults of the Deuill Ephes 6. 10. And verily he that truly beholdeth and duly considereth what this great dignity is to be translated out of the bondage of Satan into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God he cannot with purpose of heart serue sinne any longer and enthrall himselfe againe vnto the tyranny of Satan but he will resigne himselfe wholly ouer to God How can we saith the Aposte Rom. 6. 2. that are dead to sinne liue any longer therein When Ioseph that of a poore slaue being made chiefe ruler ouer all Gen. 39. 9. Fixum eteniâ—… quicunque geret non hunc â—go nolle crediâ—…erim Christo cum mâ—ricate mori Coster that great estate which his master was possessed withall was tempted by his lewd mistrisse to defile his masters bed How can I said he doe this wickednesse and sinne against God How much more then will all such as are indued with true Christian faith resolue and say when they duly consider their great dignity in that of the bondslaues of Satan they are made the sonnes of God and inheritours of the kingdome of heauen How can we giue ouer our selues to wilfull and presumptuous sinnes to the great dishonour of our louing and most gracious God who hath aduanced vs to so great dignity and honor Vndoubtedly they cannot but thus resolue with themselues their sure beleefe of so great a fauour throughly settled in their hearts will not suffer them to giue themselues ouer to the seruice of sinne but will cause them fully to resolue to continue and perseuere in constant and continuall obedience vnto God And in this respect the estate of all such as are reconciled vnto God by Christ albeit it be subiect to many infirmities is farre more happy then Adams was in his absolute and perfect purity For as Saint Austine saith the first liberty was a Aug. de corrept grat cap. 2. possibility not to sinne but ours is much greater being such as that we cannot possibly sinne that is giue our selues ouer to be bondslaues to raigning sinnes For to Adam was giuen grace to persist in grace if he would but to vs it is giuen that we be made willing and that by our will we conquer our concupiscence to him was giuen ability if he himselfe would haue vsed it but to vs is giuen not only to be able but also to be willing to vse our ability For the will of the Saints is so forcibly mooued by the Spirit of God that therefore they are able because they will and therefore they will because it is God that worketh in them that they be willing For if in so great infirmity wherein perfect vertue was requisite for the suppressing of pride they were left to their owne will that by the helpe of God they might persist if they would themselues and that God himselfe did not worke in them the very will that they would among so many and so great tentations the will by reason of her weaknesse would soone râ—lent and giue ouer A remedy therefore was prouided for the infirmity of mans will that it should be so mooued by diuine grace that it should neuer decline or separate it selfe from the same and therefore albeit it were weake yet it should neuer vtterly faile Now that Saint Austine did not mistake herein it is manifest by the testimony of God himselfe set downe by the Prophet Ieremie in most direct words to that purpose I will Ier. 32. 40. saith the Lord make an euerlasting Couenant with them meaning his faithfull ones vnder the time of grace that I will not turne away from them to doe them good but I will put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from me So then now vnder the Couenant of grace diuine grace is not so offered to the faithfull that they may either chuse or refuse it if they will but thereby they are made both willing to receiue it at the first and resolute also to perseuere therein constantly euen to the end and therefore by the Spirit of God they are called trees which shall not cease from yeelding fruit Ier. 17. 8. Whereby it is manifest that grace
be iustified by reason but must be taken for truthes without such proofes as be without exception argueth a foolish and a blinde sophister rather then a wise and a sound discourser for to require and begge that things most controversed and wholly doubted of should be allowed of by the adversary and taken Petitio principij for vndoubted truthes is no better then to vse a grosse sophisticall fallacy It is reported prophane Gallen thus to haue censured our great Prophet Moses This man saith many things but proueth nothing As the Atheists of these our last and worst times haue beene bold to auouch that our Christian Faith is voide of all wisedome and reason For so they auouch that Ratio suadet fides fallet credere quam fidere prudens mallet But the truth is that there is more sound waighty reason in the very three first Chapters of the first booke of Moses then in all Gallen's large volumnes as there is more true wisedome and reason in the doctrines of the Christian Faith set downe in the bookes of the Prophets and Apostles then all the Atheists yea then all the very wisest men in the whole world are able to apprehend So that we may most truely auouch of our Christian Faith Ratio suadet fides compellet fidere quam vivere prudens vellet Sound reason doth perswade but true Faith will compell To such as hold faith fast lost life for it is well As it is euident in many thousand Martyres who by the most powerfull and prevailing reasons of the Gospell being setled in the Faith willingly endured the losse of their temporall goods and liues in defence of their holy and Christian profession Wherefore to conclude this quaestion seeing whatsoeuer things were written afore-time were written for our learning Rom. 15. 4. Deut. 29. 29. and are reuealed for vs and for our children for euer all wiâ—e hearted Christians may hence learne not onely to search out the bare and naked Doctrines of faith and godlinesse but also the reasons whereon they are grounded For they must not be still babes feeding vpon milke and standing in need to be Heb. 5. 12. taught the principles of the Catechisme but they must desire to be able to receiue meate meete for men and to digest strong foode They must not be still as Lambes wading in Ezek 47. 5. Psa 119. 129. the shallow places of the Riuer of the water of Life but they must be as Elephants endeauouring to diue into the deepest profundities thereof that so they may be rauished with the wonders of Gods Law For we may see an end of all perfection but the Lords Commandements are exceeding large For albeit we happily may so fully apprehend the learned discourses that be made by humane Authors that we may write nil ultra there is nothing in them that we haue not found out yet when we haue laboured to the vttermost of our power and that all the dayes of our liues to finde out the right sense of euery sentence of holy Scripture we may sit downe in the ende and write plus ultra that is that there is a farre deeper Ps 119. 96. profundity therein then the short Cables of our weake wits are any way able to reach to the bottome thereof Yea if it were possible that we had gained so much knowledge as the Apostle had which was rapt vp into the third heauen Phil. 3. â— yet if we will follow him we must labour still to know Christ and the vertue of his resurrection and the fellowship of his afflictions that thereby we may be more and more conformable vnto his death For vnto the fulnesse thereof we haue not as yet attained neither are we already perfect And therefore we must after a sort forget that which is past and endeauour our selues to that which is before follow hard towards the marke that at the last euen in the last end of our liues wee may apprehend that for whose sake we our selues were apprehended of Christ Iesus And thus haue we deliuered the means whereby Faith is begotten and confirmed now we are to proceed to the definition and description thereof CHAP. IIII. Saving Faith is Diuine wisedome or a certaine knowledge and a setled assent and adhaerence to all Diuine verities necessary to saluation and especially to the covenant of grace as to the meanes of our highest happinesse and our chiefest good FAith saith the Apostle is the full assurance of our vnderstanding Col. 2. 2. and knowledge in the mysterie of God euen the Father and of Christ which bringeth with it all spirituall riches and therefore causeth the faithfull to esteeme of it as of the meanes of their highest happinesse and chiefest good And againe Faith is such an excellent knowledge of Christ Iesus our Lord that maketh the faithfull to esteeme all other things as dung in respect thereof which giueth them such an assurance of their iustification glorification through Christ Phil. 3. 8. that the high price thereof is the marke that they aime at in all their indeauours This pretious Faith as Saint Peter calleth it hath two 2 Pet. 1. 1. singular effects issuing out of the same which are sanctification began in this life and an assurance of a full glorification in the life to come The which because they are the certaine signes and markes of a true faith therefore the Apostle in diuers places doth describe it by the same True Faith saith the Apostle is a gift proper to Gods Elect consisting in such Tit. 1. 1. a knowledge of the truth which is according to godlinesse And that we may know by what diuine truth in particular faith breedeth godlinesse the Apostle hath set it downe elsewhere saying We all behold as in a mirrour the glory of the 2 Cor. 3. 18. Lord with open face and are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. We all saith he that are indued with the eye of faith behold in Christ the mirrour and miracle of the Lords matchlesse mercy the glory of Gods goodnesse and loue he being neuer more glorious then in the same with open face in respect of the reuelation thereof made in former times vnder obscure types and shaddowes and by this cleere fight of the Lords most glorious loue in Christ we are renewed into his image in righteousnesse and true holinesse according as it pleaseth the Lord to begin the same by his Spirit and to inlarge it also Now concerning the other effect of faith the Apostle describeth true faith by it also saying faith is the ground of things hoped for and the euidence of things not seene That is faith is such a gracious gift as enableth the faithfull euidently to behold the inuisible things of God and especially his vnspeakable goodnesse and loue and giueth them also in him a sure ground-worke for the assurance of their full glorification which as
pledges and pawnes of Gods loue procured for vs by Christ Iesus and as the first fruites of that heauenly inheritance which he himselfe hath purchased for vs how can we but rest assured to be brought in the time appointed by the Lord to the possession of that whereof we haue so certaine an earnest and so sure a pledge In pasting ouer temporall Land from man to man we esteeme much of good securitie which highly commendeth euen an hard bargaine A sound title and a good conueyance from such and such persons to such and such other maketh the security to be sufficient The goodliest possession that can be passed ouer to any of the sonnes of men is the glorious manner of the coelestiall Paradise the true title thereunto is Christ and his righteousnesse the conueyance thereof is the Word and the Sacraments which giue Christ to all that beleeue and the sure and certaine earnest of the same is the first fruits of the Spirit But to our Romish Catholickes the righteousnesse of our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ performed for vs in his owne person and imputed vnto vs by the Lords most free and vndeserued mercy is a meere nullity and new no iustice and the apprehension thereof by faith is a phantasticall apprehension of that which is not a false faith and an vntrue imputation as our masters of Rhemes haue taught For their Rhem. in c. 3. ad Rom. title to the heauenly Paradise is the merit of that righteousnes which is wrought by themselues and their conueyances are the Popes Indulgences and Pardons and their Priests Absolutions and Masses and the deuotions of the men of their Religious orders But what is their securitie for all this verily nono at all for they are commanded to liue still in feare and doubtfulnesse because they know not how much they faile in the measure and manner of the fulfilling of this righteousnesse and whether or no they shall be enabled to perseuere And verily no maruaile that their security for their heauenly happinesse is so small or none at all seeing their pay for the same is in such light and clipt money yea in such base and counterfeit coyne and their conueyance thereof so feeble and weake The faith of our Romish Catholicks as they themselues teach is such a faith as may be in the deuils and therefore no maruaile but as the deuils beleeue and tremble so they doe beleeue and Iac. 2. 19. tremble also but wheras the pay made for the purchase of the coelestiall Paradise vnto all faithfull Christians is the absolute and perfect rigteousnesse of Christ performed for them and the conueyauce thereof vnto them is the Lords gracious grant thereof set downe in the bookes of the Prophets and Apostles and sealed with the seales of the holy Sacraments both of the Old and New Testament therefore the true faithfull Christian needeth not to feare and to doubt of his saluation seeing he hath so good euidence for the same For seeing Christ hath deliuered them out of the hands of their enemies that they should serue the Lord without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse Luke 1. 74. all the dayes of their liues why should they feare or doubt to enioy the fruit of this deliuerance wrought by such a person and by such meanes Assuredly they doe not as the Apostle testifieth speaking in the name of all the faithfull Yee saith he haue not receiued Rom. 8. 16. the spirit of bondage to feare againe but yee haue receiued the spirit of adoption where by we cry Abba Father the same spirit beareth witnesse with our spirit that we are the Sonnes of God if we be children wee bee also heires of God and heires annexed with Christ This ioyfull and comfortable security of all true and faithfull Christians Saint Cyprian setteth Cypr contra Demetriadem downe after this manner There is saith he with vs strength of hope and stedfastnesse of faith amidst the ruines of a decaying world a couragious minde and a constant vertue and a patience alwayes ioyfull and a soule alwayes secure of God to be our God Thus doth both Scripture and Fathers set forth that comfortable security which GOD by his Spirit hath setled in the hearts of his faithfull seruants The security then which they condemne is that whereby men are made either awlâ—sse of falling into temptations or carelesse of vsing the meanes appointed by God to withstand tentations or bold of their own strength in vsing the meanes and so negligent therby to craue continuall aide and assistance from the Lord for if we fearing to fall into tentations vse carefully the meanes appointed by God to withstand the same and distrusting our owne strength call continually to God for his aide then as the Apostle himselfe commandeth we ought in all things to be secure or without feare being Phil. 4. 6. throughly perswaded of this that the euent of all things shall be happy and that God will turne all to our good Rom. 8. 26. And verily the true Christian faith driueth away distrustfull feare out of the soule of euery true sincere Christian maketh manifest vnto him the soundnes vprightnes of his own heart seeing otherwise it could neuer leade him to true happinesse Yea as the most learned Dr. Fotherby our late most Reuerend and most louing Diocesan Lord Bishop of Sarum lib. 1. Cap. 12. Fol. 1 22. Hath shewed out of diuers of the bookes of the wisest among the Heathen true happinesse hath bin esteemed for a man to haue his soule free froÌ„ terror fearefulnesse nay without this freedome and security it is most certaine that it cannot enioy so much as a shadow of any foelicity or any sound comfort and true contentment seeing true contentment and sound comfort and ioy is founded in a couragious confidence of the heart and in the quiet security and tranquillity of the mind To be full of feare and terrour is a property belonging to a 1 Ioh. 4. 18. 〈◊〉 yea it is a 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 conâ—rary to true confidence and courage Feare saith the Apostle hath Cura quasi cor vrens painefulnesse and it brâ—edeth that care that burneth and scorcheth the heart and 〈◊〉 the soule and it hastneth those Apoc. 21. 8. that willingly entertaine it towards the horrours of hell and excludeth them from the ioyes of Heauen How then ought all the sincere Professors of the Gospell to be thankefull to God for that he hat sent his Gospell vnto them and hath opened theâ—… eyes thereby so to apprehend his vnspeakeable 〈◊〉 Christ reuealed therein that therby they are effectually stirred vp to loue God especially seeing as the Apostle saith there is no feare in loue but perfect loue 1 Ioh. 4. 18. casteth out feare For as a chast spouse is not iealous of her kind huâ—band and a dutiful sonne is not so fearefull as to think that his tender-hearted Father will withdraw his loue froÌ„