to passe in all ages that Errors springing vp haue bene paynted vvith goodly colours vvhereby manye haue bene sedused and deceyued But ignorance and blindnesse bred in man naturally is not altogether remoued out of his minde The reason therof is because in this life mans restitution is not perfected but attempted only and the disease of originall sinne remayneth after this spirituall Regeneration The olde nature or olde man remayneth albeit some mortification be begon For so the Apostle sayth We knowe in part we prophesie in part but vvhen that vvhiche is perfect is come that vvhich is vnperfect shal be done away And heereof it commeth to passe that ignorances of God and spirituall thinges not knovven vnto vs by nature do oftentimes exceedingly encomber and vnquiet euen the man regenerate So that lighte and darknes in mans minde doo contende and striue one with another as the Apostle moste grauely teacheth in these vvordes The fleshe coueteth agaynst the spirite and the spirite agaynst the fleshe these are contrarie one to another And nowe and then the ignorance darknes of the minde doth extinguish the small light kindled eyther vvith grosse securitie or curious philosophie or carnall reason as vve knowe it came to passe in Aaron Salomon and Hieroboam vvho vvilfully shooke of this diuine light and gaue them selues to the vvorshipping of Idols Let vs not maruell therfore that there is yet remayning suche great imbecilitie in those that be regenerate neither yet because some excellent men accompted lightes of the Church doo often times erre fall very grossely seeing the cause thereof is so apparant to vvitte first the sicknes of originall sinne remayning yet in the posteritie of Adam and secondly the craft furor and power of the diuell vvho vvithout gods especiall vvōderfull grace is able to doo muche agaynst seely and vveake man. As the minde hath receyued certayne seedes or nourishments of regeneratiō in this life by gods grace euen so vvill is partaker of some povver and abilitie to apprehende diuine and spiritual things to couet after them assent vnto them which promptnes facultie it had not before regeneration as the Apostle most excellently vvriteth after this maner It is God that worketh in vs the vvill and the deede according to his good will. And elsewhere he freely confesseth that he hath will in diuine thinges and as a spirituall man to be delighted with gods law But yet the vvill is not perfectly restored in this life For the filth dregges of originall sinne albeit they are forgiuen by Christe are yet abyding in vs and can not wholly bee rooted out of this our Nature First therefore let vs consider the vveakenes of Will euen in those that be regenerate vvithout Gods speciall and peculiar assistance as vve see dayly in the confessions afflictions and deathes of the godly Secondly our vvyll is by our ovvne malice and the subtiltie of Sathan bothe letted deformed and ouercommen Whiche imbecilitie and vveakenes so deepely and daungerously fastened vnto vs the godly doo both taste and feele and also bevvayle and lament praying still vvith earnest groning that they may bee ridde oute of this thraldome into blisse and peace euerlasting The voyce of the Apostle is vvorthy to bee hearde which sayth Wyll is ready vnto mee but I am not able to doo it For I doo not that good thinge vvhiche I vvoulde doo but that euill which I vvould not that I doo If I doo that which I vvoulde not it is not nowe I but sinne dwelling in mee And a little after I see annother Lawe in my members resisting the lawe of my Minde and leading mee captiue vnder the lawe of sinne vvhiche is in my members O vnhappie man that I am who shall deliuer mee from the body of this death I geue God thankes throughe Iesus Christe our Lorde Therefore in my minde I serue the lawe of God but in my fleshe the lawe of sinne In the vvhich vvords the Apostle affyrmeth that he had a good will stirred vp by the holy ghost But he addeth that the old Adam sticking in him did alwayes plucke him avvay to sinne and wickednes He further shevveth the author of regeneration in this life and the perfecter therof in the life to come euē Iesus Christ our sauiour redemer And yet God hath vvith his spirite of strength and fortitude assisted many thousandes of his martyres in giuing testimonie to the truth vvith vvonderfull patience and boldnesse vvhiche is the proper and peculiar worke of the holy ghost vvho is thereof called a Comforter And that voice of the Apostle is most sweete and delectable God is faythfull who vvill not suffer you to be tempted aboue that ye are able to beare but in the middle of your temptation he will prouide that you shall be able to beare it God is always present with his seruants in their agonies and doth most gratiously and plentifully giue them corage strength in cruell torments that they become victors and conquerors In thinges externall conioyned vvith vertue and honesty mannes will after regeneration is vvithout all doubt more pliable then it was before For the man regenerate hath the light of Gods word shining in his minde wherby he perceiueth and embraceth more readily both things diuine and humaine It is a great vertue in Scipio that hee conteyneth him selfe frō Endibilis But it was without the light of the liuing god his vvyll vvas therefore vntovvarde in spirituall thinges he was an idolator and in his accions onely respected externall honesty that hee might not doe any thing against comelynes But in Ioseph refusing vnlawfull company with his maisters wife there shineth a more excellent and diuine vertue For he had the knowledge of the lyuing god and a vvil regenerate whereby hee did more commodiously practise things externall he had the holy ghost his guide and leader hee feared God and was loth to deface his honor glory hee assuredly beleeued that God vvould be with him and comfort him in perilles and daungers There is also a greate difference betweene those that be not regenerate in thinges external for one excelleth another in vertue in discipline in exercises Moreouer there is often tymes seene great imbecilitie in the godly vvho doe horribly deforme thēselues in externall vices the cause is the sinne yet remayning in their nature which is no smal or light euill Wherevnto the diuill addeth his poyson and malice especially against the godly Whereby it commeth to passe that no man Christe excepted be he neuer so learned or godly is pure and cleane from foule spottes and offences And hereof come so many offences and faults of the best most excellent men in the church of God in their externall accions as Loth vvho defiled him selfe with dronkennesse and incest Dauid with adultery and murder Hely with negligence in the education of his children c. So
then by the vewe and contemplation of brute beastes that they had in the beginning and yet retayne that inclination vvhiche is apt and conuenient to their natures in procreating in cherishing and in defending them selues and their young ones The oxe the sheepe the henne vvith many other beastes and birdes doo knovve their peculier foster and frend they make nestes and dennes for them selues and their issue And if we beholde the nature or rather the cōmon wealth of Emets and Bees we shall without any great difficultie perceyue that god hath inspired into them a farre more excellent nature All vvhich thinges the Scripture oftentimes incultateth to our confusion shame sending vs to them that vve may the rather knovv our corruption and rebellion The Oxe sayth the Prophet knovveth his ovvner and the Asse his masters cribbe but my people hath not knovven mee And agayne The Storke and the Svvalovve haue knowen their tyme and goo thou sluggard vnto the Emmet By the comparison then of very brute beastes vnto vvhom God hath giuen in eche of their kindes an apte conueniencie to execute those qualities miraculously infused vnto thē by God we may in some part perceyue the heauenly and diuine nature of Man to bee muche more noble and excellent vnto whom the mighty God gaue power and dominion ouer all earthly creatures and made him lorde and ruler ouer the workes of his hands breathing into him a reasonable soule and fashioning him after his ovvne similitude and likenes These blessings so plentifully povvred vpon man by almightie god hath caused men vveerie of this vvorlde and greedie gaping after heauenly thinges to breake out into these vvordes Examine I hartily pray you vvhat is that image of God in man It is Gods good pleasure that mans mind should be as it vvere a glasse vvherein vve may beholde him His vvill is that man should bee like bookes vvherein he vvould vvrite his wisdome vvith his owne fingers These vvonderfull thinges vve learne and consider in the consideration of mans mind Neither is there any eloquence eyther of men or of Angels that is able condingly to expresse that great honor and dignity wherwith God hath adorned beautified vs in imparting to vs his owne similitude and likenesse Whereby he had power to thinke and vvill of all thinges especially of his creator which gods pleasure was to haue him vvill thinke hauing as Tertullian writeth the same senses motions which god himself had which things vvere so naturall in our firste parents as mans eye doth see behold obiects In the vvhich vvords albeit fewe short vve haue an euident and plaine description of perfitte nature vvhereof the philosophers did rather diuine and dreame then knovve any thing effectually to vvitte that it vvas the sincere eye of the soule alvvayes fixed vppon neuer dazeled or dimmed vvith errors but poynting vnto man alvvayes as it vvere vvith a finger both the maiestie of god and persvvading him to followe his precepts and commaundements The doctrine therfore of the image of god in mā is very needfull in the church of god both because it proposeth vnto vs euident testimonies of gods fauour loue tovvarde mankinde and declareth the excellent estate of mā before his fall in the which god did as it were stampe imprint the radiant beames of his wisedome rectitude and liberty of will that man might be his mancion place and temple Vnto vvhom as he purposed to cōmunicate blessednesse and felicitie so he required at his hands againe to be reuerenced and vvorshipped Moreouer it doth not onely describe the estate cōditiō of the first mā but it doth also expresse the abominablenes of sin how the image of god was corrupt in mans nature therwithall sheweth holsome remedies by the son of god who is the very perfect substantiall image of god the father restoring to those that be regenerate through the holy ghost the created Image of god blemished in thē Of the which image of god created I meane to write some thing at this present if not so much as the mater requireth yet so farre forth as in this imbecility of our nature we may by the helpe of gods spirit select out of the holy scriptures And for that through ignorance of words as Aristotle saith men often times erre in the truth of matters I vvill first examine the propertie of the vvorde that my Treatise may be lesse intricate for my Reader to conceyue and more facile for my selfe to prosecute 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imago in Englishe an Image signifieth generally a representation or purtrature of any thing which is made eyther by creation or cogitation or generation or propagatiō eyther in paynting or grauing or by any other meanes expressed after the example of an other matter Moses sayth that man was made after the image and similitude of god Almightie God then is the liuely example after whom man vvas created that he might in certayne properties of hys whole substance expresse him The sonne of God vvas not made after the image of his father as the auncient Fathers haue right well obserued but he was begotten of God the father and is the coessentiall the eternall Image of the euerlasting father The Hebrewes vse the worde Zelem for an Image and Demuth for a similitude the whiche the Grecians expresse in eikona kai omoiosin But the lerned Diuines doo vse these vvordes indifferently For in the same text where this worke of God is repeated Moses speaketh after this maner And God created man after c. And agayne he vseth onely one of the words God created man after his ovvne similitude By this repetition of one and the selfe same thing whiche is expressed onely in one vvorde one and the selfe same thing is described Notvvithstanding I will not hide from my louing Reader the difference whiche certayne notable and famous expositors of the holy Scriptures haue put betwene the vvordes Image and similitude Saint Augustine sayth The Soule is like vnto God for it is made immortall and indissoluble The worde Image therefore apperteyneth vnto the forme and similitude vnto nature And an excellent man of our time An Image is an outworde bodely forme or fashion expressing or representing any man but a similitude is a qualitie of the minde whiche we imitate and followe And that famous clarke Luther vvriteth thus Albeit almost all the learned doo take the wordes Image similitude for one thing yet in reading of things I haue noted some difference betvveene those vvordes For Zelim signifieth properly an image or figure As vvhen the scripture sayth destroy the aulters of your images In that place the word signifieth nothing els then pictures and images which were set vp But Demuth vvhich is a similitude is the perfection of the image as for example When vve speake of a deade image stamped in coyne or
his onely begotten sonne to take our nature vppon him to vvashe vs from our sinnes vvith his precious blood and to redeeme and deliuer vs from Satan For this inestimable benefite let vs continually vppon our knees geue moste hartie and earnest thankes vnto oure God euer and euer And although this great vvorke of God with many other things spirituall seeme ridiculous to the carnall man and humaine sence and prophane Nations accompt it but a deuise of phanaticall persons yet all those that are vnder the Insigne of Christ ought thākfully to acknowledge highly to esteme this holsome worke benefite of God This doctrine issueth out of the places of Repentance of Iustification and of Baptisme For Regeneration conioyneth and lynketh all these thinges together Regeneratiō signifieth not in this place to returne corporally into our mothērs womb to be borne againe as Nicodemus supposed but a spiritual renewing and the similitude is taken frō the corporall natiuitie For as man is conceiued borne of his natural mother in sinne euen so in this spiritual natiuitie by the efficacie of gods worde and sacramentes externall instrumentes he is regenerate and spiritually made cleane from sinne that is to say he receyueth remission of sinnes he is made the sonne of God the temple of the holy ghost and an heire of eternall life albeit the spottes of Originall sinne doo yet remayne in this body of his And vnder this generall worde Regeneration mans conuersion vnto God his iustification and the effectes thereof are comprehended and conteyned Regeneration of Christians in Gods inuisible accion plainly expressed by his holy worde and sacramentes annexed vnto the same whereby our mercifull God doth spiritually forme and fashion of a carnall man a newe iust and holy manne ingraffing him into his kingdome remouing from hym his sinnes cōmitted his wrath indignation and imparteth vnto him his iustice grace deliuereth him also from the power and kingdome of the Diuell and giueth him the holye ghost the earnest pledge of eternall lyfe and fynallye kindleth in him newe strength to begin newnes of life acceptable and pleasaunt vnto God in this world The groundes this definition are the words of the holy scripture Go teach all nations baptising thē in the name of the father the sonne and the holy ghost and he that beleeueth and is baptised shall bee saued This Renouation as I sayde before is a matter of the greatest moment and an especiall signe of Gods loue and mercy toward man For when godlesse man put vpon him the image of the diuell and was therby more then oppressed with many miseries and had cast away al hope of releefe the louing Lord vsed a wonderfull temperature of iustice and mercy and ministred medicines to man his sonne euen then beeing a Solliciter and intercessor for vs. This sonne of the eternall father our Lorde Iesus Christ was from the beginning appoynted to descend take mans nature vpon him and was subiect to all humaine infirmities sinne excepted He appeared to destroy the works of the diuell to seeke the lost grote wherin Gods image vvas stamped to bring home the lost sheepe to the folde of eternall life to th ende that he might florishe for euer there vvith al heauenly companies beeing here regenerated and there according to Gods image perfectly renevved For when man kinde had receiued most greeuous vvoundes and vvas bounde in strong chaynes not able to be brokē by mans strength this bruser of the Serpentes head came professed him selfe when the fulnesse of time should come to be our tender and faythfull Phisition to geue his flesh for the life of the world and that he woulde suffer suche punishements that by his stripes and vvoundes we should be healed and that through death he shoulde be destroyed that had povver of death to vvit the diuell that craftie serpent cruell dragen the enemie of man from the beginning This regeneration of mankinde vvas then done by none other but by Iesus Christ our Priest and euerlasting king who collecteth preserueth his church by the sound of his Gospell vvherein is written the decree of our recōciliation Which Gospell he beeing the eternall worde of the eternall father reueleth vnto vs Shevving the chearefull countenance of his father and powring the holy ghost into our harts that with perfect loue and heauenly ioy we might in obedience be vnited to our god Which propertie of his office speciall priuileges he hath made most manifest by his resurrection by the sending downe of the holy ghost vpon the Apostles that thereby vve might the better consider the inestimable price of that benefite The sonne of God together with the Prophets Apostles do exhort vs to repentance that we might be renued and clothed with that newe image and regenerate to a celestiall wisdome iustice And to th ende that we might know the deformitie of the olde Adam and be excited to seeke gods image in Christ who is the newe and heauenly Adam we must vse both the lavve and the Gospell The Lavve I saye that vvee stricken vvith feare and dread in respect of our sinnes might be enforced to seke after the true and perfect Phisition who is Christ whō the Gospell affyrmeth to be made vnto vs vvisedome redemption iustice and sanctification But wee muste also vnderstande that not onely that iustice which was gotten by Christes blood is transferred vnto vs through gods wōderfull grace mercy but in this regeneration there is a redeliuerie or restitution of certen powers or strengthes in mā out of the which certen accions issue flowe And yet this restitution is not so perfect as that vve are able eyther to fulfill the Lawe or to be accompted iust before God but it is the fruite of Iustice Imputatiue as they call it albeit in some places other respect it haue the name of Iustice as That I may be founde in him not hauing mine owne iustice which is of the lawe but that whiche is of fayth in Christ. I vvill therfore write somvvhat particularly of the powers restored to the godly in regeneration and aftervvarde I will speake of their accions and vvorkes And first of al mans mind hath certen powers or habilities restored by the holy ghost and a kinde of light kindled in thinges spirituall and diuine Be yee renewed sayth the Apostle in the spirite of your mindes And Renewe the newe man in the knowledge of God. And agayne We all vvith face reueled beholding the glory of the Lodre are transformed into the same image from brightnes to brightnes as it were by the spirite of the Lorde There is then restored some power abilitie vnto mans mind somewhat to vnderstand the diuine and heauenly mysteries and a certayne light to discerne the doctrine of God according to the rule of his worde from false doctrine and heresie For it hath vsually come
euerlasting paynes and tormentes And this doctrine is setled vppon these groundes or places of scripture Of the Gospell of Iustification of the rewardes of newe obedience of the resurrection and of eternall life The glorification of man in the life eternall is Gods accion vvorke wherin hee restoreth vnto all beleeuers after their resurrection his image perfectly that is to saye he will purifie and clense whole man as well in body as in soule from sinne And beautifying him with al integritie wisedome iustice will translate him into his kingdome to be a felowe and companion of the angels and blessed spirites throughout all eternitie For we learne by Gods vvord that when the godly are remoued hence by corporal death they lay aside al their vveights and burdens of sinne which now so greuously preasseth them in this worlde to the ende that man should not be molested therewith after his resurrection For there is not onely a dissolution of the body and soule but the dregges remnants of sinne are also swallowed vp out of our nature In so much that this temporall death is an effectuall remedy against that puysant and mighty enemy which so dayly and violently assaulteth vs in this corruption mortality When our bodies therfore are laid in the graue they reste in sure and certen hope of the glorious resurrectiō neither are they reteyned there to ignomie and shame but that they may rise and spring vp againe with excellent properties and qualities Whereof P. Martyr that excellent light of our tyme hath vvritten largely and learnedly out of whome I vvill borrow so much as seemeth conuenient for this discourse The schoole mē saith he do call those properties conditions or indumentes neither can I mislyke those whiche they number because I see that they drawe them out of the holy scripture Albeit I thinke they haue not collected all neither can any man doe that because vve cannot see or perceiue exactly in this life the heauenly glory of the celestiall company But the first qualitie or indument accompted of them is immortalitie And in deed whersoeuer any mention is made in the scripture of the lyfe to come the same is said to be eternall and euerlasting The Apostle sayth This mortall must put on immortalitie and this corruptible must put on incorruption And for that both rewardes and punishments which shall be geuen according to the proportion of vvorkes are eternall the subiect or nature vvhich shall susteyne the same must needes be also eternall Moreouer seeing Christe hath ouercome sinne and death it must of necessitie folovve that the lyfe of holy menne shall be immortall The Apostle also speaketh after this manner Christ rysing frō the deade dieth not any more neither hath death power ouer him any more And agayne Fleshe and blood shall not possesse the kingdome of God Whiche vvordes are not to be misconstrued of the very nature and substance of fleshe and blood For those that shall rise to glorie shall be clothed vvith them But the Apostle meaneth of corruption vvherevnto flesh and blood are subiect in this lyfe And therefore it folovveth there And this corruption shall put on incorruption c. Of this qualitie aryseth another vvhiche is that the glorified menne shall not neede meate drinke or anye other corporall sustentation in the lyfe to comme Christe hymselfe hathe taughte vs that they shal be lyke angels For whereas mention is often tymes made in the scripture of eating and drinking in heauen as I will prepare for you as my father hath prepared for me a kingdome that yee may eate and drinke vppon my table in my kingdome This and suche lyke speeches are nothing els but metaphors or translations whereby the holy ghost admonisheth rude and simple men of the ioyes and pleasures of another lyfe In the lyfe immortall then there shal be no neede neither of foode nor of procreation of children Which thinges serue onely the vse of this mortal life The reason of this is because bodely substances are not then worne or consumed there shall be no neede of reparation by meate and drinke And because there shal be no mortality mariage shall not be then needefull by new procreation to preserue and continue natures and substances Shining brightnes is also ascribed by the schoole men to glorified bodyes wherof the Apostle speaketh thus Christ shall chaunge our vile bodies and make them like to his glorious body c. Some signe token hereof was giuen by Christ in hys transfiguration when his face did shine like the sun the Euangelist saith The iust shall shine as the sunne in the sight of God. Whereof the prophet Daniell also maketh mention They ascribe also to glorified bodies nimblenes and agility For the body and all the members shall be subiecte to the soule And hereof it is written in the booke of wisdome of the sainctes That they shall be like sparkes running amongst the stubble And the Apostle We that shall be found alyue and the dead who shall be raysed shal be rapt to meete Christ in the ayre The body of Christe walking vppon the watér was indued vvith this agility vvhiche he lent also for a tyme to Peter to do the same The force or efficacy of this agility as I sayde before is that the soule shall haue absolute dominion ouer the body in so much that the weight and burden of the flesh shall not in any wise hinder or lette the operation thereof And also for that this qualitie apperteyneth to locall motion it maketh many men to meruell why the Vbiquaries are content to guyse this property in bodyes glorified and yet will not graunt any place at all vnto them as thoughe there coulde be a motion from place to place without any place at all The glorified bodyes also are impassible that is to say they shall not be corrupt or diminished with any passions dolors or diseases according as the Apostle writeth It is sowen in corruption it riseth againe in incorruption And for that I haue sayde that the glorified bodies shal not be molested with passions we must consider that passions are of two sortes For some are noysome and hurtefull to nature afflicting and consuming the body as hunger thirst sickenesse paine and such like From these kindes of passions the saintes shall be deliuered Againe there are some other passions which rather helpe and perfect nature then hurt the same Such are the notices of the senses The eye is not hurt with beholding of fayre colours nor the eare with sweete harmony and musike Nor yet is smelling hurt with good odours These and suche like good passions shall not be wanting to our bodyes glorified vvhē vve shal rest in our desired coūtrey They adde also subtilty to glorified bodyes vvhiche is not so to be taken as though these bodies shoulde be turned into spirites become ayery much like the winde