say with the Apostle It is not I but the grace of God which is with me and by his grace I am that I am The more lowly thou art the better are thy fruites The more and the better graines that an eare of corne hath in it the lower it will bowe downeward but the fewer and the worse graines it hath the higher and straighter will it stand vp Euen so the more good fruites for number and the sounder for qualitie that any man hath the more lowly and humble will he be The prouder he is and the more he insulteth ouer others the fewer worse be his gifts and fruits Therfore be lowly and humble not Arrogating to thy selfe but ascribing to God the glory of all thy fruites Not disdayning any for the small measure of their fuits but honoring them for their good beginning and praying to God that they may abound more and more And this I pray for you all as the Apostle did for the Phlippians that your loue may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all iudgement that yee may discerne things that differ that yee may be pure and without offence vntill the day of Christ filled with the fruites of righteousnes which are by IESUS CHRIST vnto the glorie and prayse of GOD. The Lorde graunt you all these things for his mercies sake in his beloued Sonne Amen A POSTSCRIPT to the Papists in Lancashire I Am not ignorant how hasty and rash manie of you bee in condemning all things spoken and written against the Doctrine of your moderne Priestes If you vouchsafe to reade our wrytings you commonly giue no more fauourable Censure of them then Iulian the Emperour gaue of the Ancient Fathers bookes who thus said of them I read I vnderstood I condemned And we might iustly answere you as Basil and other Learned Byshops answered him Thou hast read but not vnderstod For if thou hadst vnderstood thou wouldst not haue condemned Some of you are like those men whereof the Apostle Iude spake who condemne those things which they knowe not Others of you knowe and vnderstand more yet reiect all things as erronious and Hereticall which you knowe to be contradictorie to the positions of your popish priests Yea many of you be such vnequall iudges that although you cānot but approue almost all points in the booke yet if there bee but one only thing which you distaste you presently condemne all the rest for it And take it to bee as a leafe of Coloquyntis which marreth a whole messe of pottage and as a deade Flye that spoyleth a whole boxe of Oyntment In regard whereof I may iustly feare your sharpe and bitter censures of these my Sermons nowe put foorth to open sight I can expect no more indifferencie and fauour at your hands thē others my betters haue formerly found Notwithstāding as often hereto fore I haue laboured by many meanes to giue you satisfaction in your Doubtes and demaundes both by priuate Conference with diuers of the Layitie by seuerall Answeres made to the wrytings of the learned on your side and also by open disputations with your priests as some of you cannot denie if you would testifie truth So would I now giue you full contentment if any reasonable thing will content you for all such exceptions which I thinke you wil take against these Sermons Whereas the learned on your side doe charge vs that in our sermons and writings we interpret the Scriptures according to our owne fancies and priuate conceits and not according to the vniforme sense giuen by the Fathers and the common exposition of the Church and thervpon would perswade you not to heare or reade or belieue any thing which we proue by the scriptures I will make it apparant that in those points of cōtroucrsie touched in these sermons and confirmed by seuerall texts of scripture I haue the consent of the ancient Fathers and also of many of your owne late wryters Cardinall Bellarmine acknowledgeth that before the Pelagian heresie arose the Fathers did not exactly handle the questionof Praedestination by grace but onely when occasion was offered did briefly set down their opinions And that Chrysost did not plainly preach preuēting grace because at that time they were not risen vp which denyed it As if the Fathers did speake and write plainely fully of those poynts onely which were controuerted and impugned in those dayes Now is it certaine that few of those poyntes which I mentioned were called into question in their dayes There were many controuersies de eo quod creditur non de eo quo creditur as the M. of Sentences out of Augustine distinguisheth of the things to bee beleeued or of the obiect of faith yet not of the habite of faith or of the gift or qualitie whereby we beleeue And therefore the trueth is not to be gain-sayed though we could not produce very pregnant and plentifull testimonies out of their writings touching the nature and kindes of faith Notwithstanding they haue not left themselues without witnes in that they do vpon occasions declare their iudgements therein which serue to confirme the trueth on our side These testimonies of theirs and the testimonies of your owne Doctors I did forbeare to recite in the Pulpit or write in the copie of the Sermons that so I might auoyde tediousnes Yet hauing diligently perused them and hoping that they would be of force with some that duly consider them I thought good to set them apart by themselues and to adde them as a postscript after all SECT II. WHereas I taught that the word of God is the spirituall seede which must bee sowne in our hearts to make vs fruitfull in all good workes And that Preachers ought to teach and people ought to heare and receiue nothing but the word and did limit the word to the word written I know it crosieth the doctrine of some in your Church and therefore may perhaps be misliked by you First your countrey-man Doctor Stapleton writing a Postill for the instruction of Popish Preachers could not finde in all this Parable any poynt to be obserued against vs but onely this that the word is the seed And will haue not the word written but the word preached to be the seede Yea he maketh two words of God the one Now what is preaching but expounding of Scripture and deliuering the true sense of it As appeareth by the practise of Ezra and the Leuites who reade the Lawe of God distinctly and then gaue the sense and caused the people to vnderstand what was read Those then who in their Sermons deliuer the true sense of the word written according to those seuerall kindes of expositions must needes deliuer the word of GOD euen the selfe-same word that is written Againe not onely the things expresly set downe in the Scriptures but likewise such things as by sound and necessarie consequence bee collected thence are taken for written truthes and not
Mathew sets downe one propertie of them and Luke another Mathew saith They are such as heare and vnderstand not There be 2. sorts of hearers who vnderstaÌ„d not the word 1 Some through naturall infirmitie through defect of capacity conceipt vnderstaÌ„ding memorie If these naturall faculties be not perfit they cannot possibly vnderstand the word which they heare but of these Christ doth not heare speake this is rather an infirmitie then a fault rather a punishment of sin then sin it selfe God may beare with their weaknes especially if their mind and vnderstanding be as weak in apprehending worldly matters as it is in diume If they vnderstand the fundamentall grounds of Religion If they mislike this their infirmitie desire to haue it redressed If they haue a care according to their small capacity to encrease in knowledge And if they frame their liues according to the measure of knowledge which they haue receiued 2. Some vnderstand not the word through negligence carelesnes contempt who heare the word but heed it not regard it not marke it not care not much for it let it passe as it coÌ„meth and are thinking of some other matter while they should attend to it who are so farre from laying it deepe in their hearts as they will not suffer it long to continue in their heads Of these persons doth Christ heere speake for he noteth it as a great fault in them and opposeth them to those who receiue the word with ioy And fitly are they resembled to the high way as before was declared This kind of hearers is not wanting in these daies who marke and vnderstand little or nothing of that we speake though wee speake neuer so plainely If they heare a long discourse of worldly matters they giue attentiue eares can carry it away repeat it to others but let them heare a poynt of necessarie doctrine on an article of their faith discussed they conceiue little and afterwards can rehearse nothing at all So that in them is fulfilled that Prophecie of Esay applyed by Christ to the obstinate Iewes By hearing they heare vnderstand note by seing they see perceiue not Let them know that their hearing shall not profit them vnles they vnderstand Indeed there be some who vnderstand what they heare yet shall reape no benefit by it yet is there not any who shal haue any coÌ„modity by that which he heares and vnderstands not Wherefore we must say to them as Christ said to the multitude heare and vnderstand you loose your labour in hearing if you vnderstand not The Eunuch thought it impossible for him to vnderstand the scripture he reade without a guide yet thereby implyed that if he had a guide he could vnderstand Our people haue such guides and yet many of them vnderstand little If one aske them the meaning of a text which they heard lately and learnedly pithily and plainly expounded they cannot tell the sense of it If one aske their opinion touching a point of doctrine lately taught them they are not able to speake any thing of it which declareth that they vnderstood it not and so they proue themselues to be no good hearers Some say they are not learned they are of a dull capacitie yet they haue a good meaning and as good an heart as those who vnderstand most they hope God will beare with them and accept of their good meaning when as they should rather accuse themselues of negligence If they did duly prepare themselues and carefully attend they might vnderstaÌ„d much more then they do But let them first know that though they be not learned and cannot reade yet ought they and may be able to vnderstand for God hath furnished preachers with learning and appoynted them so to explane the word that the simple may vnderstand it Euen as Ezra and the Leuites reade the booke of the lawe distinctly and gaue the sense and caused the people to vnderstand it Though thou be not able to vnderstand the word of thy selfe yet may â—st thou be made able by them yea and shalt be made able to vnderstand the most necessatie points of saluation before thou canst be made fit for heauen yea many of the most necessarie points are so easie of themselues that thou may vnderstand them at the first hearing if thou wilt carefully marke them The entrance into Gods word sheweth light and giueth vnderstanding to the simple And therefore if thou vnderstand not thou should rather blame thy selfe for want of attention then for want of capacitie or learning Againe know this that God will neuer accept of thy good meaning nor of thy good heart vnles thou d oin some competent measure vnderstand his word for it is the word rightly vnderstood that must direct thy good meaning and correct thy heart thou maist thinke thy meaning is good and thy heart good when both be naught as indeed they are if thou vnderstand not the word aright And how should God accept of thy good meaning voyd of vnderstanding It is but the sacrifice of fooles blindnes was a blemish which made beastes vnfit for sacrifice And doest thou thinke God will accept thy blind deuotion deceiue not thy owne soule herein but seeke for vnderstanding There be some that be desirous to vnderstand what they heare and it may be would gladly knowe how they may be able I would aduise them to doe these 6. things 1. Let them prepare themselues before they come to heare As we must prepare our selues before we pray if we will not pray vainely and as we must prepare our selues before we come to the Sacrament if we will not receiue it vnworthily so must wee prepare our selues before we heare if we will not heare vnprofitably The husbandman prepares his ground by plowing it before he sowe it If thou goe rashly to heare without preparation thou shalt yeeld no more fruit then a field that is sowne before it be plowed Thou maist prepare thy selfe by considering before hand that the word which thou goest to heare is not the word of a mortall man but the word of the euerliuing God that not man onely speakes vnto thee but that God speaketh vnto thee in and by the man That the word is the power of God to saluation that one day thou must giue account to God for thy hearing If thou doest seriously consider these things before hand they will prepare thee to heare with more reuerence and vnderstanding Againe prepare thy selfe by vnfained humiliation for thy former sinnes least God for the punishment of them should blind thy vnderstanding when thou hearest Likewise prepare thy selfe by renewing thy faith in the truth of Gods word and of his promises knowing that the word will not profit the hearers vnles it be mixed with faith 2. Pray earnestly vnto the Lord that he would enlighten thy minde by his holy spirit for the naturall man perceiueth not the things of God neither can
preferment in the world As appeareth in those who sought out Christ and followed him from place to place not so much for the miracles which they had seene and doctrine which they had heard as for the loaues whereof they had eaten and wherwith they were filled There be others saith Bernard who deserue knowledge that they may sell it for money for honour and this is filthy lucre There be other two ends whercat some doe aime for some desire knowledge that they may edifie others and this is charitie some desire knowledge that themselues may be edified and this is wisedome And these are to be allowed but all other ends are to be condemned Those that professe Christ for worldly profit are not Christians but marchants of Christ as Ignatius tearmeth them And will professe his Gospell no longer then it may stand with worldly profit As may be seene in Demas who for a time was such a professour of the faith that S. Paul reckoned him in the Cathologue of the Saints which saluted the Colossians Yet Paul afterward thus wrote of him Demas hath forsaken me and hath embraced this present world As an house will fall if the foundation be remoued and fire will goe out of it selfe if fewell be withdrawne so these mens faith will faile if the Gospell bring no gaine but losse And seeing those temporizing professours haue these causes propounded to themselues in hearing and receiuing the word in beleeuing and professing it with ioy their faith cannot be sincere for nothing is sincerely done vnles it be done for Gods glory And if it be not sincere it cannot be sound and firme And both waies it differs from iustifying faith for as it doth all things of sinceritie for God himselfe for Christ himselfe for the spirituall and heauenly benefites of Christ as farre as humane infirmitie will permit so is it firme and constant being built on such grounds as will not shrinke Do not therefore content your selues with this temporary faith but seeke for â—hat which will abide for euer as well in persecution as in peace as well in time of tentation as out of tentation for if your faith faile Sathan will preuaile against you your hope is gone you loose the fauour of God and the saluation of your owne soules you must be faithfull vnto death if you will receiue the Crowne of life Did not Christ commend Mary for choosing the good part which should neuer be taken away from her Imitate her in your choyse of faith The one will faile you when you stand in most neede of it As in the time of tentation in the time of affliction and at the houre of death But the other will abide with you to comfort and strengthen you at all seasons and against all the enemies of your saluation If once you get it whether you liue long or die soone whether you be assaulted with many suggestions or be free from tentation whether you passe away your daies in peace or vnder the crosse you shal be able at your last end to say to the great comfort of your soules with the Apostle I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith henceforth is laid vp for me the crowne of righteousnes which the Lord the righteous iudge shall giue vnto me 〈◊〉 that day 4. The fourth and last propertie of these hearers is their reuolting which is here set forth by the time or occasion as also by the manner of it First by the time and occasion that is the time of tentation There is a double tentation that doth befall men the one is spirituall and inward the other is corporall and outward The spirituall and inward tentation is from the diuell And therefore he is often called the tempter and is said to tempt vs. And his suggestions and practises against vs are called tentations The corporall and outward tentation is from men who doe afflict vs who doe hurt and persecute vs. And so all outward crosses corporall afflictions and bloody persecutioÌ„s are called tentations that is trialls because they try what men are whether dissembling hypocrites or sincere Christians whether their faith be fained or vnfained wauering or stedfast little or great And of this tentation must this place be vnderstood for in Mathew and Marke it is called tribulation and persecution for the word Christ foresaw that the hearers and professours of the Gospell should afterward be graciously persecuted he therefore foretold what it should worke in this kind of hearers it would cause them to reuolt For the manner of it it is said in Mathew and Marke they are offended and that by and by and immediately but here they goe away they depart will not stand to it as men of courage but shrinke and fall away And this commeth to passe by reason of their owne hardnes as this parable declareth for as stony grounds mingled with some earth are commonly hotte and will cause the corne cast into them to sprout and come vp very speedily but will not suffer the rootes to goe any reasonable depth into the earth there to be fed with moysture therefore in the dry season of summer the blade of the corne will wither together with the rootes So these men though they haue some good motions and affections in their harts receiue the word with chearefulnes and seeme to be very forward for a time yet in time of persecution all their goodnes will be dried vp they will loose their first loue to the word and fall from their former profession They neuer did cleaue to Christ with their whole hearts and therefore are more easily drawne away Men may fall away from Faith eyther by errour and Heresie or by sinne and wickednesse By errour and heresie as did Hymeneus and Alexander who made ship-wracke of Faith As did Hymencus and Phyletus who erred concerning the Truth Saying that the Resurrection is already past and did destroy the faith of many As did Nicholas whom for his profession was chosen for a Deacon yet afterward became an Arch-hereticke first Founder of the heresies of the Niâ—â—laitanes And as those did of whom Saint Paul prophecyed that in the later times Men shall depart from the Faith and giue heede vnto spirites of Errors and doctrines of Diuels And as those that in former Ages fell from the Truth to the Heresies of Arrius Pelagius Nestorius and other damnable Heretickes And as those that in the dayes of Queene Mary did fall from the truth of the Gospell formerly professed to the Errours and Idolatrie of the Church of Rome Againe men may fall away by sinne and wickednes in their liues as those who put away a good Conscience As those who beginne in the spirite but ende in the flesh As those who turned backe after Satan As those who had escaped from the filthinesse of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Sauiour IESVS CHRIST
Yet vnto this faith assent of reason and the minde that it may be called a perfect faith there ought also to be adioyned a certaine sure and firme trust of the heart whereby the belieuing soule doth so stay vpon trust to the worde and truth of God that without all doubting whatsoeuer it is he hath it as sure as if he held it in his handes And hee further addeth that this is the Faith and not that assent of reason which the Lord euery where required of them whome hee vouchsafed to heale Of that he spake when he saide Daughter be of comfort thy Faith hath made thee whole And this is the same Faith which maketh prayer effectuall which Christ and Iames require in them that pray Didacus Stella hauing distinguished of faith that there is one to belieue whatsoeuer is to be belieued called a Theological vertue another is a Considence by which we belieue that the Lorde will giue whatsoeuer we aske He saith that without this faith 1. this Confidence our sinnes cannot be forgiuen For although a man belieue all thinges contained in holy Scriptures to be true and all things which the Church belieueth yet if he shuld not trust and most certainly belieue that they shall be forgiuen him they should neuer be forgiuen him And saint Iames saith Let him aske in faith nothing doubting To the like purpose doth he afterward distinguish of faith describe the later kinde saying Faith is taken two wayes One way for the habite of belieuing according to which we doe assent to the trueths of the Scripture And this is the Faith without which it is impossible to please God And this is one of the three Theologicall vertues 1. Cor. 13. And by this faith a belieuer differeth from an Infidell There is another faith which is called a Confidence whereby a man asketh of God confidently hoping and belieuing most certainly that he shall obtaine of the Lord that which he asketh Which faith is needefull for him that prayeth otherwise hee shall neuer obtaine any thing If this be the faith required of them that pray aright it is the faith of all Gods Saints and of them which are iustified for they pray often and are heard And if this man write truely then those who teach and haue no other faith then an assent to the truth of things reuealed can neuer obtaine pardon of their sinnes nor haue their petitions graunted Tollet taught and that out of Euthymius that Faith in many places of scripture is takeÌ„ Not for the assent of the minde but for the assuraÌ„ce of the will Iansenius also writeth the same Therfore most rightly as appeareth it may be saide that by the name of Faith in the Gospells wheÌ„ saluation or the obtaining of those things which wee desire is ascribed vnto it both these are comprehended both that firme assent in things to be belieued concerning God and Christ and also a Confidence conceyued from his goodnesse c. For these two doe so cleaue together that neyther can there be any Confidence without Credulitie neyther can Credulitie without Confidence obtayne any thing of God And to the same effect afterward thus These two to wit Credulity and Confidence seeme to be included together in the name Faith when it is set downe that the Lord saâ—d According to your Faith be it vnto you That the meaning may be As ye belieue that I can heale you and for this doe trust that I will heale you So be it vnto you If then by the testimonie of these Authors Faith bee often so taken in the Scriptures And if this be the only Faith whereby we obtaine such things at the handes of God Why should wee be condemned as Hereticks for teaching such a faith Ought not we to haue such a faith in Christ for the saluation of our soules that those men had in him for the curing of their bodyes Though Stapleton denie this speciall Considence yet hee acknowledgeth that for one and the same faith Christ gaue them both outward inward health Paulus Burgensis saith that Abraham by the Faith which was imputed to him for Righteousnes did not onely belieue that he should be the Father of many Nations but rather that he his seed should obtaine euerlasting life in heauen In Genes 15. Addit 2. The Diuines of Colone taught that through the faith of the word of God working in vs true Contrition and Repentance and other works of preuenting grace we are iustified as by a certaine cause preparing and disposing vs. But through the Faith whereby without doubting we doe firmely trust our sinnes are forgiuen vs through Christ wee are iustified as by a cause receiuing it And also adde further that the Righteousnes of Christ is the cause of our Iustification not as it is out of vs in him but as and when the same is imputed vnto vs for Righteousnes yet so that it be apprehended by faith Cassander who was so highly esteemed for learning and wisedome that two Romane Emperors Ferdinand and Maximilian 2. sent to him for his aduise howe to compound the controuersies in religion approueth their opinion saith that Booke was greatly commended of all the Learnedst diuines through Italy France as a Booke that excellently relateth the summe of the Ancients opinion touching religion out of whose writings the booke is as it were confirmed And with great approbation citeth these words out of it Wee confesse it to be true that it is altogether required for the iustifying of a man that a man doe certainly belieue not onely generally that for Christ sinnes be forgiuen to them that be truely penitent but also that they be forgiuen to the man himselfe for Christ by faith Hee also alledgeth out of the Ratisbone booke these words We call a liuely faith a motion of the holy Ghost whereby they who truely repent are lifted vp to God and doe truely apprehend mercie promised in Christ that now they truely perceiue that they haue through the free goodnes of God receiued remission of sinnes and reconciliation for the merits of Christ and doe crye Abba Fâ—ther And therevpon hee inferreth that rightly agreeably to the scriptures it is saide that this is the nature of a Iustifying Faith that it perceiue that feeling of Gods fauour which the holy Ghost worketh in vs. And further addeth that to obtaine Iustification Such a Faith is required whereby a man after the example of Abraham doth not doubt of the promise of God through distrust but aboue hope belieueth vnder hope that God will impute to him that belieueth in him who raised Iesus from the dead this Faith to his iustification and will not impute his sinnes to him An example whereof as he saith we haue in the cure of corporall diseases which beareth an image of the inward cure For there Christ required a Faith whereby a man did belieue that Christ
is nothing else but to trust to the free mercy of God he addeth further This is the true Faith whereby the iust man liueth But that which iustifieth not and is destitute of good works is tearmed a dead Faith by the Apostle Yea as the body is dead without the spirit so is faith dead without workes But the Rhemists Cardinall Bellarmine Coster the Iesuite and others doe answere that the Apostle doth not compare a dead faith with a dead man but with a dead body And therefore as a dead body is a true body so a dead faith is a true faith But they must knowe that although the Apostle compare a dead faith not to a dead man but to a dead body yet he compareth it to the dead body of a man which is no true humane body indeed because it wanteth the soule which is the forme of it The Philosopher will teach them That when the bodye is dead there is neyther foote nor hand but onely by equiuocation for all the parts of the body are defined by their office and facultie therefore when they lye dead they are not the same but onely retaine the shadow and shew of the name Though a dead body haue the earthly and materiall parts yet it is not the true body of a man nor the same body that it was before seeing it wanteth his forme life and actiuitâ—e operation and motion So a dead faith hath some materiall parts of a true faith as knowledge vnderstanding and assent yet it is not a true faith indeed because it wanteth speciall application which is the soule of faith It wanteth actiuitie charitie and obedience which are the life of it Didimus Alexandrinus did othâ—rwise take the words of S. Iames then these papists doe for thus he writeth It is to be marked that seeing faith is dead without good workes it is now no faith at all for a dead man is not a man at all Their owne friend Ferus is as peremptorie against them and for vs. Faith without charitie saith he hath indeed the tytle of faith but if thou wilt not speake obscurely of that matter it is not in that sort faith as a body without a soule is a man as a candle put out is light or as a tree cut downe is a tree What kind of light is that which doth not shine and giue light what kinde of fire is that which is not kindled what kinde of man is that which neyther seeth nor heareth nor feeleth nor moueth What kinde of tree is that which hath neyther rootes nor boughes nor bringeth forth fruite Such a kinde of faith is that which is without charitie namely a dead Faith as Iames nameth it How then can any man iustly say that these two are both one and the same faith Lastly they differ in their effects because the one procureth the saluation of our soules namely that liuely and speciall faith which worketh by loue for of that it is sayde Whosoeuer beleeueth in the Sonne hath euerlasting life And by grace wee are saued through faith and not of our selues But the other the Historical faith destitute of works cannot saue any man so teacheth the Apostle And that all those places cannot bee vnderstood of one the same faith all writers giue euidence Augustine said not that faith of the Diuels who beleeue and tremble and confesse Iesus to bee the Sonne of God is that foundation which suffereth none to perish but that faith which the Apostle saith worketh by loue Now what he took to be the faith of the Diuels I haue before shewed Credunt Deum credunt Deo they haue an historicall faith to beleeue all things to be true which hee hath reuealed Non credunt in Deum they put no confidence in him so want a speciall iustifying faith that should saue them So Bernard writeth He that beleeueth in God shall not be confounded And therevpon inferreth that the Diuels though they beleeue God yet they doe not beleeue in God in whom whosoeuer beleeueth shall not be confounded because they doe not put their hope in him Now who that hath any vnderstanding in Religion will say that the faith which is able to saue a mans soule and the faith which is not able to saue a mans soule are both one in kind in nature and substance And that those who are tormented in hell can truely say that while they were on earth they had the very same faith which brought the Saintes to the Kingdome of heauen By that which hath bene spoken touching this point you may vnderstand what a kinde of faith is taught by the greatest Doctors in the Romish church what is the best faith which they require of the people euen an hystoricall faith to giue assent to the truth of things reuealed Which faith as hath bene prooued may be in wicked men in Reprobates in men out of the state of grace in men that shall goe to hell Yea such a faith as is found in the very diuels of Hell What saluation can be obtained in that Church whose preachers teach no better faith Who would be ledde by such guydes I knowe that they would make a difference betwixt the faith of their right Catholickes and the faith of diuels because the one hath Charitie alwayes accompanying it the other wanteth Charity But they might consider that according to their doctrine this maketh no essentiall but a meere accidentall difference Seeing they teach that the same assent to the truth of things reuealed is in some with charitie and in others without charitie it euideÌ„tly appeareth that according to their doctrine Charitie is not a proper immediate necessary and essentiall propertie of it but meerely accidentall Indeed wee hold that Charitie is a proper necessary effect of a iustifying faith so as faith is no sooner wrought in the heart of any but forthwith hee is endued with loue He cannot but loue him in whom he belieueth and of whose loue and fauour he is perswaded And therefore charitie though it do not make yet it may declare the essentiall difference and the nature of this faith But seeing it is no such necessary effect of their assenting faith it can neyther make nor declare any essentiall difference of it And therefore he who wanteth charitie may haue the same faith in substance that hee hath who is endued with Charitie Bellarmine going about to proue that true faith meaning theyr assenting faith may bee separated from loue draweth one Argument from the proper reason nature of them both If they cannot be seuered saith he 46 It is eyther because the one is of the reason or being of the other or that the one doth necessarily arise from the other Not the first because Faith charitie are not one vertue but two And besides that haue diuers subiectes actes and obiectes For faith is in the vnderstanstanding Charitie in the will Faith belieueth
and of a professed Christian become an Infidell but he who hath a true Justifying faith cannot quite loose it he may fall in outward shew onely still retayning faith in his heart so did Peter in his fall as shall afterward appeare but he who falleth away indeed and in truth totally and finally neuer had this iustifying faith Marcellinus Bishop of Rome seemed to fall into infidelitie when he sacrificed to Idols did he then loose his faith was he then become an Infidell indeed Then may the Bishop of Rome not onely erre in matters of faith but likewise quite loose his faith and become an Infidell yea an Infidell then may be the head of the Romane Church To auoyd this inconuenience Bellarmine answereth that he was neither Hereâ—icke nor Infidell but onely in outward acte for feare of death did sacrifice to Idolls As if he kept faith in his heart when he performed the outward act of an Infidell And of Liberius another Bishop of Rome he likewise saith That though it be true that he subscribed to the Arian heresie yet hee was no Hereticke but onely sinned in outward acte as Marcellinus did Why then may we not say that a Iustified beleeuer though hee through feare fall to the outward act of Infidelitie yet still keepeth faith in his heart Moreouer the testimonies which I alleadged out of the Fathers are absolute generall as well against the losing of faith by infidelitie as against the losâ—oâ—g of it by sinne But if any did fall to Infidelitie not onely in outward act but also in hart totally in deed in truth they were iudged by the Fathers neuer to haue had this faith Augustine said that those who doe not perseuere but so fall away from Christian faith and conuersation that the end of this life finde them such out of doubt at that time when they liued well and godly were not to be reckoned in the number of the elect and of them who are called according to his purpose So hee writeth of the Discciples which forsooke Christ at Capernaum That they were called Disciples the Gospell so speaking and yet they were not Disciples in truth because they abode not in his word According to that which he saith If yee abide in my Worde yee are verily my Disciples Therefore because they had not perseuerance As they were not truely the Diseiples of Christ So neyther were they truely the sonnes of God Euen when they seemed to bee and were so called And if they were not truely the Sonnes of God they had no faith For by Faith are we made the Sonnes of God as the scripture teacheth Yea the same Father professedly expoundsng the place of Iohn where those Disciples are mentioned saith They were to be reckoned among vnbelieuers though they were called Disciples If any suspect that I wrest his wordes contrary to his meaning Let him reade Maldonatus a Papist who writeth that 52 the Disciples which beleeued not when they followed Christ were Iudas and the murmurers And that Augustine and Beda doe thinke that those which went backe neuer had faith no more then those which S. Paul said were turned backe after Satan But of what faith must this be vnderstoode What faith did those Disciples and othe Reuolters want when they were taken for Disciples and Christians Was it an Hystoricall or assenting faith The Iesuites will not yeeld that Castor holdeth that all in the Church haue such a faith yea though they be as Tares among wheat bad fish among good foolish virgins wanting oyle in their Lamps as the guest wanting a wedding-Garment and like the incestuous Corinthian Bellarmine auoucheth that all in the Church are such beleeuers though they be wicked ones and instanceth in the forenamed Parables as if all the persons noted therein had that faith though they wanted charity good works Those Disciples and other reuolters before their backe-sliding were in the Church and yet wanted faith As Christ himself Augustine and others haue taught And therefore seeing that by the doctrine of the Iesuites they could not want an historicall and assenting faith they must needs want another faith namely a true iustifying faith But of all others Michael Medina is most plaine and copious in this point as in parte I declared when I spake of a temporary faith yet more may be added to shew his resolute opinion that none haue true faith but they which keepe it to the end According to Christian veritie saith he onely that is to be iudged a true faith which hath the efficacy of obtayning saluation According to that Hee that beleeueth in mee hath eternal life And afterward he addeth That true faith indeede doth consist with true loue but that onely is called true loue by a moral truth which hath perseuerance and continuance And that the Scripture neuer called the faith of them who beleeue for a time to be true saith And that those who are damned neuer had true faith And in conclusion he asked Soto whether he is to be called faithfull or a friend who should be ioyned vnto him for an houre by frieÌ„dship and faith which if he will not say because continuance and constancie is of the nature and being of true faith and charitie then cannot such offenders be called true beleeuers in Christ. Cardinall Bellarmine holdeth against some who then liued that Christ did not onely pray that Peter might continue in faith and in the fauour of God vnto the end but that he also prayed a little after for the perseuerance of all the Apostles yea also of all the elect Ioh. 17. Holy Father keepe them in thy Name whom thou hast giuen me How then can the Faith of any of the Elect faile Shall wee thinke that Christs Prayer was not heard Doth not hee else-where acknowledge that the Father heard him alwayes Was his prayer effectuall against the losse of grace and faith by sinne not against the losse of them by Infidelitie Then was his prayer heard but in part How can they proue that difference SECT XIIII IN prosecuting this point I produced Peuer for an Example who though he denyed his master with an Oath yet still kept Faith in his heart And least any should thinke that this was a speciall priuiledge in Peter I shewed that Christ prayed for others as well as for him Now if there be any who imagine that Christ prayed for them after a different maner and to another end let them remember what I alleadged before out of Augustine touching Christs prayer for all the elect namelie That Christ praying for them that their Faith might not fayle without doubt it shall not fayle vnto the end and therefore shall continue vnto the end neyther shall the end of this life find it otherwise then remayning But because that Bellarmine and others doe teach that Peter did quite loose his faith and the righteousnes thereof I will
vnwritten traditions Alfonsus Uiruestus a Popish Bishop and a bitter enemie to Luther acknowledgeth so much For he saith That things may bee contayned in the Scripture eyther formally and expresly or materially being drawne by a necessary collection from the contents And this he saith is called Uirtualis continentia To denie this saith hee is not Christian wisedome but Iewish superstition And then teacheth that wee are as much bound to giue assent to those things that be materially conteyned and drawne thence by a lawfull collection as to those that be formerly and expresly conteyned Bellarmine cannot deny but that Scotus taught there was not any expresse place of Scripture to proue Transubstantiation without the declaration expositioÌ„ of the Church Neither dare the Cardinall reiect that assertion but saith that Transubstantiation belongeth to the Catholicke faith because it is collected out of the diuine Scripture In his iudgement then that is a written truth which is collected from the Scripture as well as that which is expressely set downe in the Scripture If therefore Preachers deliuer no other doctrines in their Sermons if they confute and condemne no other errors if they teach no other duties if they reproue no other sinnes if they minister no other consolations and if they vrge no other exhortations then they haue warrant in the written word of God eyther by expresse testimonies or by necessary collections the word which they preach is the very same in kind in nature and substance with the word written And so there is not one word written and another word preached as the Docter would beare men in hand but one and the same word diuersly vsed So absurd is this his obseruation so voyde of reason so destitute of proofe and so discreâ—ant from the doctrine of his owne Church that it may well be thought that rather malice against vs then any warrant from the text caused him to sâ—t it downe And heere behold how farre malice doth carry your teachers euen to forsake their owne companions and to ouerthrow the coÌ„mon and receiued doctrine of their owne Church that so they may crosse and condemne vs. And to conclude with him he that will regard what he writeth in the latter end of his obseruation may easily perceiue how hee ouerthroweth his owne note obserued in the beginning For he produceth the Apostle Peter as an in different witnes in this case who saith that the Word of God endureth for euer and this is the word which is preached among you whose testimonie doth euidently prooue that the word written and the word preached then by the Apostles and other Ecclesiasticall persons was the very same word For it is apparant by that verse which he alleadged that the word of God which endureth for euer and the word which then was preached were one and the selfe same word Now what was the word that endureth for euer was it not the word written If any will denye this let him reade the former verse in Peter and compare that verse and this with the words of the Prophet Isaiah and hee shall finde it to be the word written by the Prophet So as Peter maketh the word written by the Prophet and preached by the Apostles to be the same Againe this great Docter saith the Word is the Seede because it is vnchangeable in it owne nature and substance though diuers in explication and proueth it out of Basil and Uincentius Lyrenensâ—s who make that agreemeÌ„t betweene the word written and the word preached that they are both one in substance for they preached nothing but what was written yet the word writteÌ„ was made fruitfull by preaching SECT III. BVt to leaue the Doctor and his obseruation It may be some others will acknowledge contrarie to his minde that whosoeuer preacheth nothing but such doctrines as are either expresly taught or necessarily gathered from the scriptures preacheth nothing but the written word And yet will likewise contradict me because they hold that there is another word of God besides the written word Bellarmine saith there is verbuÌ„ Dei scriptuÌ„ verbum Dei non scriptum A word of God written namely the bookes of the old and new Testaments And a word of God not written namely the traditions of the Church which be not written in the scriptures Gregory de Ualentia holdeth it for a most certaine thing that the word of God is not onely conteyned in written letters as it pleaseth him to tearme the scriptures in way of disgrace but is also put in the voyce of the Church and there doth sound Coster the Iesuite speaketh more plainely and peremptorily That the consent of the Catholike Church and the consonant doctrine of all Christians throughout the world is the scripture And in many points excelleth the scriptures which the Apostles haue left vs in parchments And this he maketh the first and chiefest kinde of scripture which now wee haue vnder the Gospell and saith that is a scripture penned with their owne hands The scriptures penned by the Apostles and Euangelists he placeth in the second ranke And addeth that a scripture of the third kind is in the degrees of generall Councells The decrees whereof if a man respect truth if he respect the seale and confirmation of the holy Ghost or the presence of Christ haue the same waight and moment that the holy gospells of God haue And so whereas Bellarmine made but two words of God he maketh three and two of his three are neither of the Cardinalls two Now those who depend on such teachers as these wil hold that albeit the seede be the word of God and Preachers must teach nothing but the word yet they may preach the traditions of the Church and the canons of councells as well as the contents of the written word because these be the word of God as well as the written word Wherevnto I answere that if the Traditions of the Church the word put in the mouth of the Church and the decrees of Councells be eyther expresly taught in the written word or may be warranted thence by iust and lawfull consequence we will acknowledge them to be the word of God But if they be praeter verbum besides the word writteÌ„ hauing neither way any warrant thereby they are not to be preached as the word of God but to be taken as the word of man And if they be contrary to the word written they are so farre from being the word of God as they must rather bee reputed to be the word of the diuell I neede not to stand on the first and last kinde For we acknowledge the first as well as the papists and the papists doe in generall condemne the last as well as we though they iustifie some in particular All the doubt is whether such traditions and canons that bee praeter verbum are to be taught to the people as the true word of God and be the seede