that doth Charity Charity joynes us close to God unites us as it were and makes us one thing with him fixes upon God as God is in himselfe which neither Faith nor Hope in this life can doe For Faith fixes upon God indeed but as he is under the vaile of Revelation There lyes a cloud betwixt the eye of Faith and her Maker Hope fixed upon God as upon a thing at distance a thing that will be enjoyed heâ—caâ—er but is not yet There lyes an Intervallum a kind of long reach betwixt Hope and the object of it while we hope we have not yet attained But love fixeth immediately and totally and â—nâ—eâ—arably upon her object In my love God is present to me and with me and in me He in me and I in him and I am as it were in the joyes of Heaven already while I am in the act of love it twines about and imbraces and â—eaâ—es and unites us together with what wee love never to bee severed from it No wonder therefore that God and Charity are so nearely afsianced that one beareth the name of the other And much lesse wonder that Charity should be the greatest vertue drawing nearer to God then any perfection whatsoever Charity it is that makes us rightly Sonnes of God saith Haymo Sonnes of his love as God the Father of ours nay makes us as it were demy-Gods upon earth Light of Light Spirit of Spirit partakers in a manner of the divine nature saith St. Peter yea by the happy Incarnation of Christ Bone of his bone Flesh of his flesh the very Mysticall members of his Body saith Saint Paul For we are members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bone All this Charity makes us What Grace or Vertue in the World therefore to compare with Charity Yes Faith you will say justifies us and onely Faith If onely Faith then not Charity And Faith is as it were the hand that layes hold of our salvation It is our Armour our Shield against all temptations the Shield of Faith Saint Paul calls it It is our victory whereby wee overcome the world Haecest victoria saith St. Iohn even even your faith It is that which first adopts us Sonnes of God by which wee are Regenerated For Faith is the beginning of all acceptance the Baptisme of Baptisme it selfe without which it is impossible to please God saith the Apostle Moreover Faith is the foundation of Charity the very cause and roote of Love Adde to this that Faith is in the understanding part which is the more nobleâ— but Charity in the will and affections which are more ignoble And therefore in all these respects Faith may doe well to challenge place of Charity at least march even with it not come behind it in so unseemely ranke as it were the Mother behind the Daughter To all which Objections the Commentators frame diverse answers To goe backward with them Whereas it is alleadged Charity is in the affective part the VVill which is the more ignoble but Faith in the intellectuall part viz. the understanding which is more excellent Aquinas answers well that the understanding is indeed more excellent then the VVill because it inlightens and directs the will but yet it followes not for all that but that the will may have a more excellent perfection belonging to it then any the understanding can have To which purpose note that things are in the understanding in a spirituall and resined way but the VVill fixes upon things as they are in themselves Consequently earthly things sensible objects are in a more excellent way in our understanding then they are in their owne natures saith Saint Austine but Divine and Heavenly things are more excellently in their owne nature then they are in our understandings Whereupon it followes that the knowledge of earthly matters and things below us is better then the love of them as the knowledge of pleasure and honour and riches better then the love of these things c. but the love of Heavenly matters and things above us is better then the knowledge So then Faith and Charity being about the most excellent of heavenly things viz. God himselfe it followes Charity which containes the love of God must needs be better then Faith which containes the knowledge of him onely To the next that Faith is the Mother of Charity It is true and yet Charity may be Proles major parente a Daughter greater then the Mother As the fruite is more excellent then the bough that beares it and as the House excells the foundation so doth Charity excell Faith Faith is the beginning of all acceptance it is right and that which first initiates us to bee Sonnes of God But not Faith without love that is certaine For in our Baptisine wee not onely professe our Faith but enter into Covenant with God that wee will forsake the Devill and keepe his Commandements That is Charity and never are wee Sonnes indeed till we love our Faither Faith is the shield of a Christian against temptations we grant it Put Charity is the very arme that beares this shield when Love is once planted in the Soule it moves and commands all other powers And Faith is the hand that layes hold of Christ but Charity is the very heart that gives life to this hand As for the point of Iustification that requires some more exact decision let us heare therefore learned Divines of both sides discusse that Faith onely justifies ergo not Charity Stay there saith Genevensis the Adverb onely may sometimes meane principally as onely vertue is true nobility it excludes not other kinds of nobility but onely puts them behind One thing have I desired of the Lord saith David one thing above other though many other besides Against thee onely have I sinned saith the same Prophet that is against thee principally though he sinned also against Bâ—hshabe and Vrâ—ah as well as God So Faith onely justifies that is Faith principally rather Faith then Charity because Faith goes before Charity in our Justification though Charity comes after and justifies more perfectly Yee may perceive by the sound of his Doctrine of what straine this man is Saint Paul saith plainely By saith we are justified and not by the workes of the Law that is not by Charity for what is Charity but keeping the Law And this man saith yes by the worke of the Law and by Faith both is not this plainely to give the Apostle the lye Much better answers Calvine Faith though it bee lesse then Charity in most regards yet in some respects it may be greater As a more ignoble matter may be fitter for some uses then a more precious Gold is better then Iron and yet to make a weapon of Iron is better then Gold A King is better then a Mariner and yet to guide a Ship a Marriner is better then a King A man is better then a House and yet to run a Race a Horse is better then a man Thus though
Charity be better then Faith yet for this particular use of Justification Faith may bee better then Charity Upon this comes in Salmeron very much deriding Calvin and tells us the comparison is quite out of square for every thing is to bee taken in his owne kind A Mariner and a King be cleane of diverse kinds And though a King be never so excellent a King yet a Mariner shall still be a better Mariner that is fitter to rule a Ship though not to rule a Kingdome but the comparison is to hold in eodem genere Peter is a better footman then Iohn therefore Peter runs better Iohn a better Scribe then Peter therefore Iohn writes better So Faith is a better vertue then Charity therefore it justifies better it is a proper argument saith Salmeron for justifying is the proper work of vertue But here Heshusins very well unites the knot and states the matter beyond all further controversie replying againe upon Salmeron singularly well that he is deceived to say justification is the proper work of vertue True indeed if justification were by any merit of ours if it were possible to be justified by any workes of the Law then Charity might challenge the first place because Charity is the fulfilling of the Law But because no man is able to keepe the Law therefore in very truth no vertue justifies neither a small vertue nor a great vertue nor the greatest of all For by the worke of the Law no flesh shall be justified Rom. 3. But it is by applying the righteousnesse of another which hath fulfilled the Law for us that is our way of justifying now Being justified freely by his grace saith the Apostle through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ Rom. 3 24. This kind of justification depends not upon any vertue or any merit of man but onely upon the mercies of God and the merits of Jesus Christ Nor doth Faith justifie by any worth or efficacy of its owne but meerely as an instrument which God hath ordained for us to lay hold of his promises in Christ Jesus by as it were the hand stretched out whereby we draw to us the promises of the Gospell and the benefits of the Mediator like some Cord to keepe us from sinking It is not the length of our arme to reach to the banke nor the strength of this hand to lay hold but the mercy of God casting the Cord to us by which wee are saved but unlesse we take hold by this hand we sinke notwithstanding So Faith is the hand whereby we apprehend the meanes of our salvation and therefore it is the instrument of our justifying onely and not Charity But in the meane time Charity though it be not the hand may be as the necke or a nobler member that joynes the whole body together which though it cannot lay hold as the hand doth yet must of necessity partake of the salvation of the whole body Well then in this respect grant Charity inferiour to Faith because Faith rather justifies But then there follow other respects againe that set Faith as much behind Charity in which regard the Apostle preferres Charity As first that Faith benefits none but him that hath it but Charity extends to the whole Church and to the benefit of others Faith is like Seed hid in the ground it appeares not outwardly it is locked up in the heart But Charity shines ad extra it is appâ—ant it is beautifull in the eyes of men Faith is but an imperfect thing it is a beleeving of things which we doe not know so is Hope it is an expectation of things we doe not yet injoy But Charity is a kind of present injoying of what we love and so implyes perfection Adde to this that Faith distinguisheth and disjoynes us from Infidels So doth Hope likewise but Charity combines and unites us with all men In fine Charity and Hope though they doe abide yet is it but nunc for this present life and no further but Charity never faileth that abides for ever In the next World it shall accompany us no lesse then in this and bee far more perfect and more delightfull In this point Charity passeth all other vertues that can be named none that can abide for evermore as Charity doth therefore charity is doubtlesse the greatest Faith and Hope how great how comfortable soever here they have their period Beyond this life they cannot goe for they both imply absence of that thing they fixe upon when therefore wee shall come in presence of what we beleeve and hope for Faith and Hope shall vanish The Husbandman while hee ploweth ploweth in hope saith Musculus and by Hope he is sustained and held up till his fruiâ—es bee gathered into his Barne but when the Harvest is in his hands what should he further hope for The like it is of Faith He that hath heard of a gracious Prince but never seene him beleeves well but when hee comes to see and know perfectly his beleefe ceaseth Vision then takes up all in all And so it shall be hereafter when we shall come to see the great King of Heaven and earth in his glory which now onely wee beleeve and to injoy that happinesse in his presence which now wee hope for Faith and Hope shall then have an end and Vision and Fruition shall take up all in all In stead of beleeving and expecting we shall then see and injoy But even when we see and injoy we shall love never the lesse The lesse nay the more a great deale saith Catharinus if we loved so dearely that good we knew not how strong shall our affection be when we shall come to know and see what we love Never can the soule be wearied with that blessed sight never enough filled with that sweetest love For things eternall are much dearer belooved when we injoy them then while wee desire them saith he It is not so with temporall things These wee love dearely while we long after them but when we have once got them we grow quickly weary of them So shal it not be in heaven Those Celestiall joyes shall prove much sweeter in the injoying then now we can fancy in the desiring In them shall be the fulnesse of joy and pleasure for evermore such a fulnesse as shall never cloy us and yet such a one as shall alwaies content us such pleasures as shall ever more delight us and yet never weary us nor decay in the delighting The longer we enjoy them the more we shall be ravished with them the fuller wee are filled the more we shall still desire to be filled and yet feele no emptinesse at all O blessed and unspeakable happinesse to which that we may aspire beseech we him who is himselfe the way the truth and the life to direct our steps aright that following him in the paths of Faith of Hope and Charity while we abide here we may at length attaine that fulnesse of vision and fruition and
favour If his Charitie be gone if he have lost his first love his life is gone Of such an one it may be said Thou hast a name that thou livest but thou art dead If his hope be gone he is wrapt in despaire The ship hath lost her anchor and who shall save her from rocks or sands if hee have lost his faith the verie foundation of all is gone then Hee is somewhat worse than an Infidell because hee denies what once hee acknowledged So that as long as well live these three vertues must live in us or towards God wee live not and if these things bee in us they will make us wee shall not bee barren nor unfruitfull as Saint Peter saith For these are the substance of all Religion the ground and foundation of true righteousnesse saith Musculus both in the Old and New Testament without these all Ceremonies all Sacraments all outward worship is but dead Sacraments may vary and Ceremonies may vary but these thorowout all parts of our life and thorowout all ages of the world abide the same There is but one Faith one Hope one Baptisme saith St. Paul Ephes 4. consequently but one Charitie as there is but one God the maiâ—e object of Charity Not only abide then these three vertues doe but they abide still the same And abide now that is in the soules of the faithfull during the state of mortality for this Now points to our state of mortality as appeares by the verse afore our Text Now wee see thorow a glasse darkly but then face to face Now that is in the time of this life Then that is in the time of the next So now abide Faith Hope and Charity that is all the while we live here so doe not miracles so do not tongues and prophesie and the gifts spoken of before For these are neither common to all the Elect saith Musculus nor remaine to the end of our lives nor yet necessarily include Hope and Charity not common to all the Elect for many good men want those miraculous gifts nor abide to the end of life for they that have them oftentimes are at a losse the Prophets alway prophesie not neither do the divinely-inspired alwayes speake with tongues but at set times as the Spirit moves them Neither doe these include Charity for we may understand all Prophecy and speake with the tongues of men and Angels yea and have the gifts of Miracles too to move mountaines and yet for lack of Charity come to nothing Charity therefore and Faith and Hope they abide to the last so as none of the other doe They continue the whole Nunc of our life out to the end and we cannot be a moment without them that is without the habite of them As for the act wee doe not perhaps alwaies actually beleeve actually hope or actually love our weake frailty will not permit it but yet we must alwaies have these Graces in habit that is stand ever prepared for the act as occasion serves And thus they abide all three of them necessarily and joyntly and uninterruptedly while wee abide in this world abide they doe all three but one of the three hath the advantage of them for it not onely abides in this world but in the next too Nunc in saeculâ— saeculoriâ— That is Charity and that is the reason why it is preferred above the other The greatest of these is charity Which brings us to the second generall namely the comparative part wherein Charity carries the preheminence among the divine vertues themselves Major autem horum charitas c. For the proofe of which Proposition observe first how Charity beares the sway among the other It commands and moves and as it were enlivens the rest Our love stirres us up to beleeve more and more to hope more and more and the more we love the stronger wee beleeve the more earnestly we hope As it were the Soule over the members so Charity commands all other vertues All worke all doe their parts at Charities bidding so that very well by the Schoole-men she is termed the essentiall sorme of them all For take Faith without Charity and it is a cold and heartlesse thing no warmth no spirit in it we seele no joy in such a saith at all Take Hope without Charity and what is it but a withering â—erbe in cold of winter no sap no juyce in it there is neither delight nor feeling in either of them till Love breath upon them and give them a new life Then Faith is able to stand all encounters and Hope lifts up her head in the forest tryalls when Charity sweetens them all Charity therefore is the greatest and highest of all vertues so much better then Faith and Hope as the building is better then the foundation as the fruite is better than the stalke that beares it Nay Charity it is like the Sun among the lesser Plannets saith Lapide It gives light and vigour and soule to all other graces It is like the fire among the Elements like Gold among other metalls like the Empyraean Heaven above the lower Oâ—bâ—s like the Seraphims among the lesser Angels For Charity is indeed the 〈◊〉 Celestiall fire that inflames the hearts of Gods chosen Charity the true Gold wherewith in a sort we purchase heavenly Merchandise Charity the true Empyraean Heaven wherein dwells God and his Angels that Heaven which enlightens inspires and regulates all the rest Charity is the Seraphicall vertue indeed which makes the Seraphims themselves ardently burning from whence they have their name The same that the Sunne is in the World the Magistrate in his City the Mariner in his Vessell is Charity in the heart of a Christian Without the Mariner the Vessell slotes at randome and perisheth Without her Magistrate the City falls to confusion without the Sun the whole World were darke and without Charity our very life it selfe hath scarce any life in it For Love is the life of life Love is the soule of the World so that God himselfe is called by the name of love 1 Iohn 4. Nor wonder at Saint Iohn for it for of all the vertues in the World none so nearely joynes and unites us to God as love doth Consequently Charity must bee the greatest of all divine vertues as Aquinas notes well For among morall Vertues that is the greatest which comes nearest to the rule of all vertue to wit Right reason That doth Prudence which toucheth the rule as neare as neare may be being it selfe nothing but the view of right reason Consequently prudence is the greatest morall Vertue because it is next the Rule And by the same reason is Charity the greatest of all divine vertues and morall too for the Rule of divine vertues is not reason but God that made reason who is the Rule of reason it selfe Consequently that vertue which toucheth nearest upon God the prime Rule of Rules must needs be the greatest vertue that may be imagined and