thousand times Luther in Gal. cap. 5. that he would become a better man yet after all his vowes he perceived no impreouement or bettering of himselfe Now in that he was not better he was imperfect but in as much as be desired carnestly and endeavoured to be a better man he was perfect Bern. uhi supro For as Saint Bernard saith Indefessum proficiendi studium jugis conatus ad perfectionens perfectio reputatur An indefatigable desire of profiting and continwall endeavouring to be perfect is perfection Wee desire to be vertuous holy and good but are not such as we desire to be and therefore St. Augustine saith Aug. 1. cp Ioan. ca. 3. Tota vita boni Christiani sanctum desiderium est the whole life of a Christian is an holy desire but if there be in us a desire a readie and willing mind God will accept of that from us which he himselfe hath wrought in us If through 〈…〉 of Christ sanctifying of us and renewâ—â—◠〈…〉 God 's image we bring forth the fruits of the Spirit Rom. 7.6 walking in newnesse of Spirit and not in the oldnesse of the Letter then are we perfect according to the state of this life If we walke in the Spirit Gal. 5.16 striving against sinne and the flesh wrastling with Satan and the world obeying the secret motions and sweet invitations of grace then are wee perfect Aug. de doct Christ 3.39 quanturn in hac vita as St. Augustine speakes with such a measure of perfection as is attaineable in this life If so be then we referre our whole life to God and his glorie if wee endeavour and studie to walke in the Spirit and to bring forth abundantly the fruits of the Spirit then are wee perfect for wee keepe the Law seeing the righteousnesse of the Law is fulfilled in them Rom. 8.3 who walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit And if wee doe this what is it but to doe the will of God but to please God but to hearken unto the voice of God speaking to Abraham the. Father of the faithfull and in him to all that be of the faith of Abraham Ger. 17.1 saying I am the almightie God walke thou before me and be thou prefect CHAP. XXXII Of Perseverance PErseverance is a stable and firme continuance in grace and righteousnesse And it is a singular gift of God not to be acquired by humane meanes or merits It is a rare and admirable vertue which the old Philosophers and Sages of the world could not well understand and no marvaile seeing Adam adorned with such ornaments of grace did not learne it in Paradise Now this singular gift and rare endowment is necessarily required to the consummating of our perfection by inherent righteousnesse This the first Adam wanted this the second Adam in whom is the fulnesse of all grace freely conferreth and bestoweth on us and therefore Fulgentius saith well Per illum amisimus priorem gratiam peristum recepimus ampliorem Fulg. ferm de dup nat By him the first Adam wee lost the former grace by this the second Adam we haue received more ample grace Although Adam was perfect and righteous in the day he was created yet for want of perseverance hee became imperfect and unrighteous whereupon St. Augustine noteth thus much Etsi peceatum in solo libero arbitrio erat constitutum Aug. Ench. ad Laur. cap. 106. 〈◊〉 temen retinen dae justitiaesufficieâ—at solum liberuâ—â— arbitrium nisi participatione immuâ—abilis boni divinam adintorium praberetur Although sinne stood in the free will alone yet the free will alone was not sufficient to retaine righteousnesse unlesse divine ayde was affâ—â—â—ded by partaking of the unchangeable good So that as without perseverance we cannot hold on our way and retaine righteousnesse so neither without it can wee be perfected and consummate in righteousnesse Hell is full of good purposes but no performances of good be there therefore now let us not be wearie of well-doing for in due season we shall reape an eternall reward Let us not be like to pope Eugenius to whom St. Bernard saith Bern. de consid ad Eug. li. cap. 1. Vbi incipis ibi desicis where thou beginnest there thou endest When we purpose to ascend up into the tabernacle of the Lord and climbe up the craggie rocke of vertue wee must not delay and conferre with flesh and bloud or stand to parley with the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is no fit time to sit downe and demurre for as St. Ambrose saith Dum cunctaris dubitas iter quod ingressus es perdidisti whilst thou delayest and doubtest Ambr. in sest Cathedrae S d Petri. thou hast lost thy journey which thou didst begin The traveller by holding on his way with patience at length commeth to his inne the little bird carrying at hee bill a little clay or straw and such like matter by little and little at length sinisheth her nest the Merchant patiently holding on his course amids many stornes and tempests and other dangers at Sea at length commeth to the Haven where he would be the painefull Mason by laying stone upon stone in continding his labour at length erects a stately and goodly building Now if diligent perseverance be able to doe these things being assisted by nature how much more powerfull shall he be in spirituall affaires being assisted by grace Oh let us be constant immoveable alwayes abounding in the workes of righteousnesse let us not faint nor fayle in doing well that we may obtaine an inheritance which faileth not let us by patient continuance in well doing seeke for honour and glorie and immortalitie Rom. 2.7 then shall God render unto us eternall life Christ is the forerunner Heb. 6.20 we must with the Apostle Philip. 3. ver 12. follow after and that with all diligence and constant perseverance Bern. ep 254. for as St. Bernard saith Quid prodest Christum sequi si non contingat rensequi What will it avaite us to follow after Christ if happily we overtake him not Though thou run never so if thou continuest not unto death saith he Bravium non apprehendis Bravium Christus est thou layest not hold on the prize the prize is Christ Wherefore if hee running on thou makest a stand thou commest not nearer unto him but setrest thy selfe further off from him Surely the faithfull and zealous follower will runne and not be wearie the righteous will hold on his way saith Iob Iob 17.9 and he that hath cleane hands shall be stronger and stronger But you haue neede of patience saith the Apostle that after you haue done the will of God you might receiue the promise Vt perseveret is in agonè Amb. in Heb. cap. 10. v. 36. do nec recipiatis coronam condignam labori vestro saith S. Ambrose you haue neede of patience that yee may persevere in the combat untill yee receine a
If they erre from this rule they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 transgressions evill workes if they accord with the rule and are conformable to the morall Law they are so farre forth to be judged good workes Now in a good worke two things are remarkeable first as it is a worke secondly as it is good for as it is a worke it is from nature as it is good it is from grace and as it is a good worke both from nature and grace and all from God who is the onely author of nature and doner of grace God doth not onely giue us our being and preserue us in it but supports and sustaineth us by his concurrence in all our actions For he as universall and supreme agent hath his influence into all the actions and operations of inferiour agents so that in him we both liue and moue and haue our being and without him wee neither mooue nor worke wee can doe nothing yet in that by his concurrence wee immediatly doe this or that worke it is said to be from us but if it betruely good the goodnesse of it is immediatly from Gods grace working in us both to will it and to doe it of his good pleasure We must alwayes lay this for a ground that good workes must flow from the fountaine of faith without which it is impossible to please GOD Omne etenim pietatis opus Prosp in Epigram nisi semine recto exoritur fidei peccatum est Everie pious worke is sinne if it grow not out of the right seede of faith In the next place wee are to consider that the goodnesse of a morall act depends of two things First the object secondly the circumstances Pet. Soto de instit sac part 2◠lect 4◠The object is some dutie of obedience commanded in the Law the circumstances are the end time place c. but the chiefest is the end intended for this according to Aquinas doth qualifie and specifie the act for actus exterior saith he informatur ex voluntate Aqui. in Rom. ca. 14. lect 2◠Rom. 2.14 the outward act is formed by the will that is intending such an end Now when the Gentiles which haue not the Law doe by nature the things conteined in the Law their works are morally good in respect of the object But because they intend not Gods glorie but their owne they faile in the circumstance their intention is evill and consequently their workes Whereupon St. Augustine considering that they neither proceeded of faith nor aimed at the right end remoues all goodnesse from them saying Aug. praesas in Psal 31. Vbi fides non erat bonum opus non erat bonum enim opus intentio facit intentionem fides dirigit where there was no faith there was no good worke for intention makes the worke good and faith directs the intention And after Non valde aspicias quid facit homo sed quid cum facit aspiciat Doe not greatly obserue what a man doth but what he aimeth at when he doth it And indeed heathens and hypocrites doe good works quoad genus operis but not quoad intentionem mandantis they doe the worke conteined in the Law but not according to the intention of the Commander who intendeth his owne glorie And so their workes although they seeme glorious and specious to men yet are they but like an earthen pot guilded over which seemes gold and is not or like grapes curiously painted on the wall which the birds flie to but cannot feede on them Sunt opera saith St. Augustine Aug. in Ioan. tract 25. quae videntur bona sine fide Christi non sunt bona quia non referuntur ad eum finem ex quo sunt bona there be workes which seeme good without faith in Christ and are not good because they are not referred to that end whereby they are good Hence is it that according to that trite and usuall distinction both the works of pagans and hypocrites are deemed good sesundùm substantiam actus non secundùm modum requisitum in regard of the substance of the act but not in regard of the manner requisite to such an act For to honour their parents to relieue the poore and such like may be good in the substance of the act and yet come short in the circumstance and faile in the manner Whereas we know that God lookes not so much to our doing as to our well-doing and as it hath beene observed by Divines Flor. Granat parte 6. ca. 4. Deus non tam remunerat verba quà m adverbia God doth not so much reward verbs as adverbs not so much doing as well-doing Rom. 2.7 for as the Apostle saith He will render to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seeke for honour and glorie and immortalitie eternall life Moses said unto the house of Israell Deut. 6.25 it shall be our righteousnesse if we obserue to doe all these Commandements before the Lord our God as he hath commanded Not onely that which he hath commanded us but in such manner as he hath commanded For that which is good loseth the beautie and glory of the goodnesse of it when it is not done after a good manner Men spend a part of their life idely doing nothing another part carelesly in doing that which concernes them not and another part wickedly in doing ill But wee that are Christians must endeavour to spend all our dayes in doing well and striue to imitate our gracious Saviour of whom it is said Mark 7.37 He hath done all things well The sonne of Amos exhorteth us to learne this lesson saying Cease to doe evill learne to doe well Esa 1.16 17. And the Lord God himselfe in the beginning of times said unto Cain the second man in the world If thou doest well shalt not thou be accepted Gen. 4.7 if thou doest not well sinne lieth at the doore O let us then be diligent in well-doing painfull labourers in Christs Vineyard let us be fruitfull in good workes committing the keeping of our soules unto God in well-doing as unto a faithfull creatour CHAP. XXVI That no man by his owne righteousnesse keepeth the Law and is without sinne THe morall Law is a rule of obedience telling us what we ought to doe not teaching us what we are able to doe As long as wee are in this bodie of death the remainder of the old Adam the part unregenerate Galat. 5.17 the flesh fighteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh So that wee cannot doe what we would and consequently wee cannot keepe the Law as we would Upon this unavoidable Supposition I may conclude that it is a vaine and needlesse speculation to dispute of mans possibilitie to keepe the Law and so to be without sinne if he will And thus much St. Hierome intimates Hieron li. 1o. adv Pelag. Posse hominem esse sine peccato si velit aut verum est aut
falsum si verum est ostende quis fuerit si falsum est quicquid falsum est nunquam fieri potest That is for a man to be able to be without sinne if he will is either true or false if it be true shew who it is if it be false what soever is false can never be done As if he had said to Critobulus either shew me a man that is without sinne and keepeth the Law or else your disputing is de impossibili of a thing impossible and therefore vaine and frivolous It is said of no man but the man Christ Iesus who is also God that he did all things well that he did no sinne Mar. 7.37 1 Pet. 2.22 in his mouth there was no guile It was his incomparable priviledge and unparalleled prerogatiue to be agnus immaculatus a Lambe without blemish and without spot as he is called by St. Peter 1 Pet. 1.19 As for us we haue all gone astray like sheepe wee all haue beene as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnesse is as filthy ragges and there is none just on earth that doth good and sinneth not God in the beginning inriched us with grace and enabled us to doe his will but wee by transgression are become bankrupts unable to performe our due obedience So that when we looke our selues in the glasse of the Law wee espie our manifold staines and spots of sinne wee see our miserable infirmity and disability to good which causeth us to implore the divine aide and assistance of grace And indeede to this end as St. Augustine notes The Law was given Aug. de Sp. lit ca. 19. that grace might be sought for and grace was given that the Law might be fulfilled for it was not through the fault of the Law that it was not kept but through the fault of the wisdome of the flesh which fault was to be revealed by the Law and healed by grace Whence wee gather that Rom. 8.3 that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. 8. vers 3. doth accrew unto it from us in quo infrim abatur per carnem in as much as it was weakened through the flesh So that during the combat of the Spirit and the flesh and the contrarietie of these two in us posito hoc our condition being this as the Apostle saith Wee cannot doe the things we would Gal. 5.17 but wee would keepe the Law Rom. 7.22 for we delight in the Law of God after the inner man Yet upon a new supposall of the impediment remooved St. Augustine grants a possibilitie of keeping the Law Aug. de Sp. lit ca. 3.5 saying Behold how that perfect righteousnesse is without example in men and yet it is not impossible for it might be if so great a will was applied as is sufficient to so great a thing And it would be so great if we were ignorant of none of those things which pertaine to righteousnesse and those things did so delight our minde that that delight did overcome whatsoever other impediment of pleasure or sorrow Which that it is not so it is not in respect of impossibilitie but Gods judgement So much St. Augustine grants upon a supposall which by the judgement of God shall not be and he said a little before Aug. ubi supra Neminem tam perfectae justitiae in hac vita fuisse velesse vel futurum esse that none in this life hath beene so perfectly righteous or is or shall be When God gaue the Law in Mount Sinai he knew mans weaknesse how unable he was to keepe it Bern. in Cant. serm 50. Nec latuit praeceptorem praecepti pondus hominum excedere vires Neither was the Commander ignorant that the waight of his commandement exceeds the powers of men But he did it to throw downe the wisedome of the flesh which is an enemie to God and his Law he did it to cause man to see his owne vilenesse his spirituall povertie and weaknesse Bern. ubi supra For Mandando impossibilia non praevaricatores homines fecit sed humiles by commanding things impossible he made not men sinners but humble saith St. Bernard He thought it behoouefull that man should be admonished of his insufficiency that so he might seeke and thirst after a Mediatour that he might more ardently defire grace by praying to him who is all-sufficient who is nigh to all that call upon him to all such as call upon him faithfully Gods commandements implie perfection and he commands us to be perfect but to this end that wee seeing and acknowledging our owne wants and imperfections may vehemently desire to be perfected by his grace And here wee are to obserue that golden rule of St. Prosper worthy to be observed of all In Omnibus menitis Dei atque mandatis Prosp ep ad Demet. ☜ una eademque ratio est divinae gratiae humanaae abedientiae nec ob aliud unquam datur praeceptum nisi ut quaeratur praecipientis auxilium In all Gods admonitions and commands there is one and the same reason both of Gods grace and of mans obedience neither is the commandement at any time given for any other thing but that the helpe of him that commandeth may be sought for So much obedience as the Law requireth of us so much grace wee stand in need of and this are wee to obtaine by prayer from him who is the fountaine of grace Wee and our Fathers haue done amisse wee haue turned aside every one to his owne way wee all haue sinned and come short of the glory of God and so all doe greatly stand in need of his grace Prov. 20.9 Iob 25.4 Who can say I haue made my heart cleane I am pure from my sinne or how can he be cleane that is borne of a woman We reade in holy Writ that there was one Lot in Sodome whose righteous soule they vexed with their uncleanenesse of two amongst all the thousands in Israel who were vouchsafed as worthy to enter into the land of Canaan the land flowing with milke and honey Iosuah the sonne of Nun and Caleb the sonne of Iephunnch yea wee reade of three who might deliver their owne soules from temporall judgements by their righteousnesse Noah Iob and Daniel These and many other we reade of in holy Writ who were righteous in mans judgement and in Gods gracious acceptation but we reade not that any one of them did perfectly keepe the Law and was without sinne Ambr. apol 1. David ca. 4. Whereupon St. Ambrose saith Da mihi aliquem sine prolapsione delicti Shew me any one without the fault of sinne Such an one would be a rare miracle worthily to be admired of all But alas such an one is like the mountaine of gold or the Philosophers stone or the second intentions in Logicke which haue no reall absolute existence and indeede are nothing saue onely in the theorie and operation of the understanding In scholasticall
crowne meete for your labour Perseverance immediately beginneth to attend on grace the mother of all vertues when it is first infused but is not compleate untill death untill the infusion of finall grace which perfectly extinguisheth all evill concupiscence and is the utter deletion or taking away of all sinne and sinfulnesse As the Crowne on the Kings head giveth an eminent splend our and luster to his royall robes and other 〈◊〉 ornaments so the grace of perseverance is the glorious complement crowne of all other vertues and is an infallible guide to leade us into the kingdome of glorie Therefore our Saviour saith not he that shall begin Math. 24.13 but he that shall endure unto the end shall be saved And to the Angell in the Church of Smyrna he saith Be thou faithfull unto death and I will giue thee a crowne of life Apoc. 2. â—0 We are now in our spirituall course and race we must so runne that we may obtaine wee are now in the combat we must so fight that we may over come Which that we may doe we are to implore and desire by fervent and incessant prayer that God would prevent and follow us with grace all the dayes of our life that so at the end of our dayes we may confidently and comfortably say with the chosen vessell of mercy I have fought a good fight 2 Tim. 4. v. 7 8. I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall giue me at that day and not unto me onely but unto them also which loue his appearing CHAP. XXXIII Of perfection in glorie SAint Paul the chosen vessell of mercy and trumpet of grace Rom. 8.30 uniteth and maketh up the golden chaine of our salvation with foure linkes First Predestination secondly Vocation thirdly Iustification fourthly Glorification Where hee expresseth not our sanctification as being included in our glorification according to the exposition of Aquinas Aquin. in cp ad Rom. cap. 8. saying Glorificamur in hac vita per prefectune virturis gratia in futura per exaltationem gloria We are glorified in this life by proficiency of vertue and grace in the life to come by exaltation of glory And indeed grace is glorie inchoate or begun glorie is grace consummate and perfected and our imperfect perfection by grace here is a previous preparing and disposing of us unto that absolute perfection which wee shall haue being cloathed and adorned with the stole of glorie For even in this life wee are freed in part from those foure evills which are maine impediments to our absolute perfection and this freedome is meerely from grace in Christ Iesus The first evill hindering our perfection is error in the understanding from which we are freed in part by the Spirit of grace leading of us into all truth and teaching us all things necessary unto salvation The second evill a let to perfection is sinne in the will from which wee are also partly freed by grace in Christ and that two wayes First Rom. 6.14 from the dominion of it For sinne shall not haue dominion over you because yee are not under the Law but under grace saith the Apostle secondly from the condemnation of sinne seeing Rom. 8.1 there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Iesus which walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit The third evill hindrance of our perfection is misery and afflictions from which by faith and spirituall fortitude we are freed in part that they may not swallow us up that the flouds of great waters the over-flowings of feare and despaire may never prevaile against us never over whelme us In the world you shall haue tribulation but be of good cheare saith Christ I haue overcome the world The last evill letting our perfection is death And from this also we are freed in part by grace not onely from spirituall and eternall death but even from corporall in two respects First from the sting thereof 1 Iohn 1. v. 7. which is sinne 1 Cor. 15.56 for by the bloud of Christ wee are cleansed from all sinne Secondly in regard of dominion for death shall not tyrannize over us for ever for in the resurrection at the sound of the Trumpet 1 Cor. 15.52 wee shall be raised incorruptible and never die any more Whereas the bodies of the unjust shall rise but from corporall to eternall death wherein they shall be ever dying but never dead which moved holy Bernard to cry out Bern. de consid li. 5. ca. 12. Alas saith he quis det illis semel mori ut non moriantur in aternum who might grant them once to die that so they might not die for ever Thus are we freed in part by grace from these foure evill impediments of perfection But in the stare of glorie we shall be wholy and entirely exempted from the in for then shall we be free from all darknesse of error obliquitie of sinne from all of stictive misery and destroying death Yea we shall be free from them after a more excellent mother than Adam was in Paradise in the state of innocency For it pleased the omnipotent goodnesse and wisedome who bringeth light out of darknesse life out of death and good out of evill even by the fall of man to raise him up in Christ to a more eminent and high state of perfection It is true that Adam in his integritie had power not to erre not to sinne not to suffer misery not to die but it is also true that he had power to erre to sinne to suffer misery to die which by wofull experiment he brought into act by disobeying the command of his creator Ever since the poison and contagion of disobedience hath tainted and corrupted all the veines of his rebellious children and miserable posteritie Now in the state of glory in that heavenly Paradise we shall obtaine such a transcendent degree of perfection as that we shall haue no power in our understanding to erre in our will to sinne no power to suffer misery and devouring death In that ineffable glorie wee being perfectly changed into the image of the Lord the knowledge of all things shall be seene of us not by parts but wholly and at once as St. Prosper saith Prosp de vita contemplat li. 1. cap. 6. We shall see all things clearely without error by beholding him who is all truth Now wee see through a glasse darkly that incomprehensible light we behold him now through a three-fold glasse First of the creatures secondly of his workes of justice and mercie thirdly of the holy Scriptures But then we shall see him perfectly clearely face to face with unspeakeable joy and delight and herein confists our essentiall alsufficient blessednesse therefore Philip said unto Christ Lord shew us the Father and it sufficeth Iohn 14.8 Now we know God but imperfectly