salvation for when the soul springeth and culminateth in the contemplation of such a love unless it be doomed to the left-hand distribution that man must needs abhor vice when he knoweth it is so displeasing to so loving a father And it will also forcibly allure him to the love of virtue and piety because he remembreth the indulgence of his God doth require it of and expect it from him Lastly he will continually endeavour to be holy innocent and just because he knoweth his God and his Saviour is holy pure innocent and just Nor doth the objected security hinder at all the jouâ—ney of piety but may rather be accounted the life of good actions and a happy being but such a condition of life cannot possibly be espoused to a perpetual fear of evil and torment Neither doe I understand and mean by security that carnal habit which ariseth from a contempt of Gods laws and an incogitancy of the day of judgement but a privation of anxiety and a tranquillity of spirit germinating and budding from a confidence of the Divine goodness to mankind which our Lord and his Apostles have called Peace In this security and affiance I say felicity is placed and I term it the fountain of holiness and good works What good things can he imagine what laudable action can he meditate or what great matters worthy of a Christian resolution can he perform that alwayes doubts his own salvation that thinketh God is angry with the greater part of mankind and entertaineth such narrow conceptions of the kingdom of Christ as if it were open but to some few men I know not who in some angle and nook of the World This is not to extol his Majesty but to obscure it this is not to advance his glorie but to diminish it not to magnifie his goodness but to disparage it not to admire his wisdom but to despise it not to stand amazed at his omnipotence but to mock it whereas they who think highly and Honourably as it is meet they should of the Largeness of his Kingdom their contemplations are devout pious and the more congruous to the essence of God Of which most blessed kingdom what my conceptions are I shall comprehend in two books or Dialogues in the last I shall variously and plainly demonstrate the largeness of this Kingdom having in the first cleared all those places of Scripture which seem to oppose the magnitude of it For distinction sake I name the Prolocutours Caelius and Maynardus and every attentive Reader may make himself a Moderatour Caelius I come accompanied my dear Maynardus with early desires to renew our last conference and if it be no interruption to your studies I should desire satisfaction in a scruple by some words of yours injected Maynardus I account it my Caelius the noblest end of my studies if by that advantage I can in any matter benefit a friend C. You may remember that after you had discoursed of the goodness and mercy of God to mankind in Christ you added that his kingdom which was built upon and established in mercy was set open to more men than many men have hitherto conjectured I have ruminated upon these words being doubtfull whither they might tend and many things coming to my rememberance I remain unresolved M. Speak I pray your thoughts C. First I thought of Oâ—igen who as it is said was of Opinion that not onely the damned Souls of men but also the Devils themselves at last should be received unto mercy I thought also upon their opinion who believed that although not all men yet such as were matriculated into Christ by Baptism and did eat of his mystical bread should obtain eternal life Lastly I pondered whether you might not insinuate that the number of the Elect was not inferiour to that of the Damned but rather greater M. And which of these did you find most agreeable C. The last but that the Scriptures teach us otherwise seems the more probable But because nothing falleth unadvisedly from you I expect the reason of your words and whether you intended them in any of these senses which I have delivered M. First I conceive that opinion to be falsly imposed upon Orig n and that it is an emulous invention of such men that would obscure his eminence which unworthy practice those times so well as these were very prone too For my part I conceive that most learned man to have advanced the Kingdom of Christ and the mercy of God by no reproveable or vulgar amplifications which saying being maliciously detorted through envy and perversly understood by ignorance that devout Father was slandered to affirm that the devil should be translated to glorious immortality But this opinion whether held by Origen or any other man is sufficiently refuted by Christ himself the Master of Truth The second opinion which doth invest all those with eternal happiness which are initiated by Baptism into and have participated the Body and Blood of Christ is utterly to be rejected and dis-allowed for that imputeth salvation to the efficacy of outward signs and elements but this is so super-abundantly overthrown by S. Paul that it were waste of time to urge any thing in confutation of it for it would follow by unavoidable consequence if that Opinion should be granted that Hymeneus and Philetus and Alexander of whom Paul makes mention that Ananias and Sapphira and Simon Magus that Julian the Apostatâ— nay that Sergius the Monk who by some hath been reputed Antichrist are now partakers of Beatitude But the third opinion that the City of God the Heavenly Jerusalem the Church Triumphant should be larger than the execrable synagogue of the devil doth not seem to my judgement to contain the least absurdity Wherefore I shall not conceal my preconceptions of it unless you otherwise conceive of it C. I should as I said before embrace this perswasion did not the word of God restrain my consent M. Doth neither the authority of the ancient Fathers nor the consent of former ages nor the newness and greatness of a matter then prevail with you C. Not at all For first in disputation not the authority of men but the power of reason should be of most importance Secondly the Fathers claim not the least assent to their writings further than they are confirmed by the testimonies of the Scriptures Then for the consent of many ages and customs what is it if it be not supported by reason and the authentical authority of Gods word but a decrepit and a blind errour For there is no novelty in Truth than which nothing is more ancient for she is the Daughter of the Most High But if there be a truth newly explorated the greatness and the newness of it should rather allure than affright me or any other man M. You would then did not the Scriptures over-rule you joyn your consent to this Opinion C. I would M. Verily I applaud your judgement as holy and worthy of a Christian But
would conclude that neither sin nor Law nor the powers of Hell should be able to condemn me As Paul in many places witnesseth We believe saith he that man is justified by faith not by the works of the Law David likewise in this placeth mans beatitude when God imputes righteousness to him without works Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven and whose iniquities are blotted out Blessed is that man to whom God hath not imputed sin Lastly I would conclude that from the appearance of works no infallible criterium could be grounded of our everlasting condition because we are not ignorant that those men that have been most dear to God have collapsed and continued in most presumptious and dangerous sins who afterwards upon repentance have been restored to eternal happiness Therefore we ought not to judge rashly of the final estate of others but leave them to their master either to stand or fall Rom. 14. C. I approve your answer brother Maynordus for it most rationally confutes the cavils of the adversaries and their mistaken expositions and solidly confirmeth our opinion And hereafter by the assistance of God I will thus repel the darts of the devil and elude the subtile arguments of some men M. The Lord teach thy hands to war that bows of steel may be broken by thine arms Psal 18. I conceive I have now sufficiently shewed the first hatching of this barbarous opinion and all its serpentine turnings and windings It remains now that we proceed to the confirmation of our most salutiferous perswasion C. You judge rightly otherwise you may incur the same censure with Lactantius who was said very soundly to confute the opinions of his adversaries but very weakly to maintain and prove his own assertions But in my judgement these men seem ignorant of the duty of a prudent Oratour neither do they fully understand the disposure uâ—ed by Lactantius in his Books of Divine Institutions For it is the part of a wise Oratour as Cicero teacheth us to endeavour all he can that that part of his Oration which consisteth in the refutation of his Opponent be more firm compact and pithy than that which concerns his own Defence to cast all our darts against him but if our own assertions be easier to be proved and his harder to be overthrown then it is an excellent course to endeavour to entice and withdraw the minds of men from the opposite defence and to convert them to the favouring of our own Which things being true I see no reason why it should be objected against him that he laboured more in refutation than in proof for such is the cause of Religion that it must not be supported by the infirmity of humane arguments and subministration of reason but must flourish in the embraces of an active Faith Go ye into all the world saith our great Master and preach the Gospel to every creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Paul also saith That a Bishop should be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and convince the gainsay rs Tit. 1. For there is no more required but the sincere and pure word of God which to them that are ordained to eternal beatitude is more sure firm and infallible than principles and demonstrations are to Geometricians And therefore if any man hath detected and confuted an erroneous opinion he hath well performed his undertaking I speak not this as though Lactantius had not confirmed true Religion as it was to be proved against them who were ignorant of the Scriptures or despised them For when in the first three Books he confuted the superstitious errours of his adversaries then he falls upon the proof of Christian Religion in the next three Books and in the seventh he sets down the true end of our Religion and sweetly invites men to pursue the reward of immortalitie M. What you speak of that Father is very true that he was to contend against such as denied the authority of the Scriptures neither did they admit of Proofs deduced from that authority But we who have to deal with such men as reverence the Sacred Monuments of Truth must proceed in a different manner I will therefore demonstrate the Amplitude and Largeness of the Church Triumphant fâ—om four most firm and most clear topick places and with as much brevity as the reason of the matter will allow First from the power of God Secondly from his wisdom Thirdly from his mercy and goodness and Lastly from Divine Testimonies To begin therefore with the first I say Caelius that if we should grant the Church and Kingdom of God to be narrower or less peopled than that miserable Commonwealth of the devil I fear we should derogate from the glory and majesty of our Creatour and King For the power and greatness of a King consisteth not so much in wealth and treasure as in the multitude of his people the largeness of his territories the extent of his provinces and the vast number of his Subjects who pay him tribute and are subject to his Dominion How did the people of Rome swell to that greatness but by the multitude of Kingdoms and variety of Nations which they subdued and governed from hence they were stiled the powerful Romanes and Lords of the world From hence their Senate was called the Haven of Nations the Refuge of Kings For what is greatness but an abundance of power and majesty and what is power but a facultie of protecting others defending themselves and a deliverance of the oppressed from the possession of an enemy but if the enemy of God and man be better provided of subjects than the King of Heaven he is then more powerfull and his greatness more wonderful But who was ever so prodigiously wicked as to affirm the devil to be more powerful than God the work than the workman the basest servant than the most wealthy Lord wherefore doth the Lord of Heaven delight himself in these Titles King of kings Lord of lords the Mighty God the Lord of Hosts Strong in battel and the like C. Although the current of your discourse doth very much affect me nor do I willingly hinder it yet I cannot forbear for a while to stop it Some man might here say this also is a great argument of the power of the King of Heaven in that he hath destinated the major part of mankind who were all his enemies to everlasting banishment M. This might be alledged of some Tyrant who leaves no means unattempted either through justice or oppression to enlarge his Empire and such a Tyrant is that old adversary the devil But to affirm this of our Heavenly King who is our most lawful Soveraign our common Father who made us and hath taken an everlasting care to preserve us were most injurious scandalous and blasphemous Neither is that any right demonstration of power that a Prince destroyeth the greater part of his people but on the contrary
feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of God because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and a good understanding have all they that keep his Commandments With this fear as with salt the Lord doth season their hearts and preserve from corruption even whilest they are ignorant of him those that he purposeth to call into his kingdom This inchoation of their liberty is afterwards perfected in the time of their vocation by the preaching of the Gospel and by Faith C. I have received full satisfaction and I hope hereafter that both my self and others will give greater credit to the Oracles of God then to the perverse opinions and interpretations of men M. Now that we may conclude this digression I say that wheresoever or whensoever such are found in that moment of time they have attained to this Sanctuary this propitious year of Jubilee Onely as it is written Let us call upon the name of the Lord and we shall not be disappointed Also Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall escape Joel 2. Also The name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous flyeth unto it and is safe Prov. 18. To this tower this sanctuary the Lord himself beckneth the poor the miserable the wretched the desperate sinners in this sweet invitation Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will ease you These are the wayes the secrets of holy state and the Divine Policies which our King useth for the Instanration of his kingdom And if the kingdoms of the earth are enlarged by such artifice how much more shall we think the kingdom of Heaven to be dilated which is far more capacious more firm and more easie of access C. Truly I suppose it will infinitely exceed the kingdom or rather the dungeon of the Devil even as much as there are more who wish and desire ease impunity Honour and Salvation then who are in love with labours punishments servitude ignominy and death eternal and certainly but few men will precipitate themselves into these calamities when they may with such facility redeem themselves from the fear of them And although a small industry onely seemeth necessarie to the prevention of these endles torments yet we see but few men that contend to get to this refuge this most pleasant Citie and what should be the cause of this slackness this dulness this indiligence is to me altogether unknown M. The cause is manifest First that which I named before to wit that the new reason of state which our King maketh use of in the administration of his affairs deceaveth those that with the judgement of men seek after this citie as gloriously visible and conspicuous Secondly the Church is congregated and constituted out of this holy Sanctuary by the preaching of the word and the administration of the Sacrament and these being concealed from the greater part of the World by this means this citie for a long time was kept hid and so little taken notice of that it was scarce discernable who were the true Citizens But as soon as the glad tidings of the Gospel have arrived then we see them flock to this citie as in the time of Christ and his Apostles For when Christ himself had said that the kingdom of God was at hand and after that he had exhorted men to bring forth fruit worthie of repentance he then called them all unto him with that joyful summons Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you ease Of this joyful invitation this liberal year the Prophet Isaiah foretold when speaking in the Person of Christ he saith I am endued with the Spirit of the Lord Jehovah hath Anointed me and sent me to declare joyful tidings to heal them of broken Spirits and to give liberty to them that are in bondage sight to the blind to deliver the oppressed out of their streights and to preach the joyful year of the Lord. The Apostles also those faithful Embassadours of Christ did invite all mortal men to this great benefit this most blessed kingdom Old things are past away behold all things are become new and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself in Christ Jesus and hath given to us the ministerie of reconciliation to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation Now then we are embassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God for he hath made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him But shortly after false Apostles and counterfeit Embassadours brought in humane traditions and began to lay upon mens shoulders the burthen and heavy yoak of the Law which things did deject not erect mens minds did terrifie them not allure them did wound them not heal them from whence 〈◊〉 came to pass that few made their approach to this kingdom or if they drew near they soon returned and departed For the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is not propagated and advanced by the sword but by preaching by the energie of the Spirit by good example patience charitie meekness justice temperance constancy goodness faith lenity long-suffering and all those blessed and peaceable fruits of the true Spirit of God So our Lord himself so his Disciples propagated the truth and sowed the Heavenly Doctrine of Christ in mens hearts For our Lord as Hilarie told Constantinus Augustus did rather teach than exact a knowledge and confession of himself and giving Authority to his precepts by the frequent attestation of miracles he despised a will that was any other way compelled to acknowledge him And full of truth are these words for nothing so free as the judgement in Religion For Religion flourisheth by sound reason and strong perswasion not by fear and threatnings It is defended preserved by dying not by killing by patience not by cruelty by justice not by butchery by faith not by fraud rotten policy For he that will establish Religion by imperious ordinances force doth not seek to defend it but to violate and pollute it But because we see the night approaching Caelius unless you have ought to interpose I shall descend to such places of Scripture as seem to favour this my opinion of the amplitude of the kingdome of God C. I have not the least doubt remaining and I earnestly intreat you before the night prevent us to hasten to those proofs as the chief end of our meeting M. In the first place therefore weigh diligently that magnificent promise of God made to Abraham so often repeated and inculcated God promiseth and confirmeth his promise with an oath that he will make his seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth then