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
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
thing without which no love no approaching no comming to God possible Oportet accedentent credere He that comes must beleeve Which brings us on to the next gradation namely beleeving He that comes must beleeve saith St. Paul and it is no weake conclusion for no small necessity lyes in the connection of these two Hee must indeed whosoever intends to come to God unlesse hee will stand stock still and not put forward one foot in the way beleeve and submit his judgement to God before he can begin to come For faith is the first step of all possible motion to Godward faith Aquinas If our comming to God be a mentall comming not a corporall why beleefe is the very first act of the minds approaching the very first thing that the mind can doe about God is to beleeve For impossible the will or any other faculty should make towards God till the understanding have done his part And impossible the understanding should comprehend any thing concerning God unlesse beleeving leade the way Oportet discentem credere is the Philosophers Rule He that learnes any humane Science must take diverse things upon trust at first entrance and beleeve some principles before he sees reason for them And shall not God expect as much obedience at our hands in learning his divine Mysteries which so farre surpasse our Reason yes sure if the perfection of all our learning bee to know God good reason this great perfection should begin in in perfection that we should first beleeve what wee know not I will hearken what the Lord God will say concerning me saith David Teach me O Lord the way of thy Statutes O learne me true understanding and knowledge for I have believed thy Commandements Mark that there is the way to learn namely by beleeving Everyone therefore that hath heard and learned of my Father commeth unto me saith Christ How learned ye but by beleeving his Teacher Yea but Christ himselfe he learned without beleeving Yee will say And if beleeving were not necessary for Christ how is it for us yea but Christ was head of the body in which is the perfection of all Senses In Christ were bid all the treasures of wisâ—dome and knowledge In him dwelled the fulnesse of the God-head bodily He was the true light that lightens all men else no need therefore of his beleeving for beleeving is necessary for them that walke in darknesse but in Christ was no darknesse at all We wa'ke as in an obscure must we see through a Glasse darkely saith Saint Paul but so did not Christ He saw face to face And therefore he had more then beleefe of divine things hee had perfect knowledge and San light Nay he himselfe was the Sun light the Sonne of Righteousnesse which lightens every man that commeth into the World And when we shall come where Christ is and be united to the beames of his glory we shall then have Sun-light too But as yet wee have but Candle-light or Star-light as Saint Peter calls it The Word of Prophecy whereto you doe well to give heede saith he as to a light shining in a darke place till the day dawne and the day starre arise in your hearts Till that day dawne and the morning breake of eternity in the next life shine forth upon us well are we if we nay injoy this Candle light if we may be directed by the beames of divine Revelation and walke by faith not by sight Meane while let us not grudge that we have not so cleare a Vision of God and heavenly things as we would wish at first It is necessary wee should grow by degrees that the knowledge of divine things may grow the more pleasant with us the more wee are still inlightned Happy are we that we enjoy the least perception of God in any degree that wee have the smallest spark of his knowledge in the dimmest way For as the foolishnesse of God is wiser then men so the very darkenesse if I may so call it of Gods waâ—es is brighter then men Better is it to have an obscure beleefe of his Mysteries then the clearest knowledge the most perfect science of other matters and let us content our selves so to know our Maker as hee pleaseth to bee knowne not goe about to square his deepe Counsells to our shallow judgements sufficient to us to know that hee hath said without saith it is impossible to please God Whatsoever is not of faith is sin By saith we are justified and not by the workes of the Law Rom. 3. It is God that justifies the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith The life that I now live is by faith in the Sonne of God He that beleeveth and is Baptized shall bee saved but hee that beleeveth not shall be damned Yea but yet a reason though may be rendred one would thinke for Gods Counsell in this why he would tie all nâ—en that desire to bee saved to this one meanes of beleeving Reasons indeed may be rendred for this oportet many a one but still the best reason of all is Gods Will because he pleases to have it so oportet it is expedient that hee who comes to God should beleeve Why first for Huâ—â—lities sake such Estius because as by pride of our reason and thirst of knowledge we tooke then our fall so by submitting our knowledge to God and by denying our owne reason in the obedience of faith we night rise againe Expedient thus to make good our Saviours Doctrine Except yee become as lâ—le Children yee cannot enter into the Kingdome of God Expedient for Gods glory that we might owe all our knowledge of God to Gods own teaching by his Word revealing it to us according to that of the Prophet Every one shall be taught of God Expedient that thus the obedience of our faâ—th might be more glorious in the eyes of Infidels for what praise were it to doe any thing for Gods sake if wee were led to it by perfect knowledge There is no honour of faith saith Gregory where we have manifest reason to induce our good working And therefore that our love may be more apparant let our knowledge bee obscure Let us love what we see not Let us sustet and die for Gods Truth before wee have the perfect vision of it Herein is the miracle of faith that wee can forgoe things temporall before our eyes for the desire of things eternall as yet not knowne Thus the strength of God is perfected in weaknesse and thus the foolishnesse of our preaching goes beyond all the wiâ—edome of Philosophers that whereas they by all the shength of their reason could never perswade an unlearned man for vertues sake to part with his goods Divine faith as weake as it is will teach the simplest Christian for his beleefe â—ake to part with his life Thus also men are trained up to obedience before they know and attaine still to know more by their progresâ—e in obedience according to that
are not the rewards of his children these are not the things he hath taught us to build our faith upon it is not a Rewarder in this sense that the Apostle meanes him when hee saith He that comes must beleeve God a Rewarder for this is too unworthy a subject for faith to rest upon If faith be a divine and supernaturall thing saith Aquinas sure it must looke for more than earthly and naturall blessings And therefore though God be a Rewarder in this kind too as hee hath promised Reward to a cup of cold water yet this is not the principall reward in Saint Pauls intendment Not this for this way God rewards not those whom he loves best not those that seeke him most For who sees not how unequally temporall rewards are dealt The ungodly for his owne lust doth persecute the poore saith David they corrupt others and speake of wicked blasphemy and yet their eyes swell with faâ—nesse and they doe even what they list Lo these are the ungodly and these prosper in the world Psal 73. What shall wee say then If these were the rewards that faith looked after wee were in a poore case If in this life only we had hope in Christ we were of all men most miserable saith Saint Paul No it is the eternall and incomprehensible reward of the next life that is it wee are to look for and that is a thing worthy of our faith indeed and a thing alwayes rightly distributed None but those that seek God are so rewarded none are capable of that reward but such as come by a true faith to this Rewarder Such a Reward I say is worthy of our faith for this is no lesse nor no other than God himselfe As hunselfe saith to Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward The Lord is my pâ—râ—iun whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none on earth that I desire in comparison of thee Hee that gives the hire hee is himselfe the hire And that he is so appeares by the very last words of the Text for he is a Rewarder saith the Apostle of them that seeke him Seeke him why then he himselfe is the Reward they are to seeke for and so he is sure And that makes our faith truly divine that makes it a saving faith indeed for a saving faith is that that relyes upon God for our salvation saith Calvin Our salvation what is that or wherein lyes it but in God himselfe and the enjoying of him God is the end of our salvation and God is the meanes too for the very way to this salvation it is by God the Redeemer by him that is God and Man Christ Iesus And if we beleeve God a Rewarder and beleeve him so by faith we cannot leave Christ out saith Tena For he that hopes for reward from God must hope also for the removall of all impediments that make him uncapable of rewarding sin is the maine impediment and unlesse sin be removed no possible pleasing of God no possible expectation of reward Now sin it is taken away by none but God the Redeemer there is no other name given under heaven whereby wee may expect salvation but the name of Iesus Christ Consequently all that look for reward from God in and through him they must look for it and looking for it through him our faith taking Christ in thus it becomes a saving faith indeed thus it takes in the whole Creed both concerning the end and the means the Deitie and humanitie the essence and the providence of God the substance and the way of salvation And therefore no marvell the Apostle layes it downe for a strong conclusion that no comming to God but thus no arriving to him sure but by both these namely that by our faith we beleeve that God is and that hee is a Rewarder of them that seeke him And now to turne to a word of application and so conclude Three wayes we may make benefit of this Scripture toward a good life that is to say by way of admonition by way of reprehension and by way of consolation By way of admonition first here is a caveat for Hypocrites that boast only of their faith and have no care to shew it in their works The Apostle here in this Text aimes one would think at faith and faith only it is a kind of definition of faiths foundation this sentence and yet here in the very foundation of faith is an implication of good works For here is first Hee that comes to God and that comming is as I told you by charity and good life so beleefe is not enough there must be comming also And then here is seeking of God God is a Rewarder of none but them that seeke him it is not a Rewarder of them that beleeve in him only note that the reward belongs to seekers Seeke the Lord while he may be found Seeke the Lord and his strength Seeke his face for ever Psal 105. They seeke him that draw neare unto him in good life saith Anselme Nay it is more than seeking if yee note it The Translation hath it a Rewarder of them that diligently seeke him rightly answering the Originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifie properly a studious and earnest enquiring and searching him ouâ— a searching for him as Salomon wishes the young man to search for wisdome If thou seeke for her as for silver and search for her as for hid creasure Prov 2 4. Sure it must be a seeking him and him for himselfe saith Lapide not a seeking God and other things or God for by-respects for temporall ends to serve our own turnes joyne these together with ouâ— beleefe namely a comming to God a seeking him a diligent seeking him a seeking God himselfe for hin selfe and not other things with him and then yee are in a faire way to your Reward then you may beleeve the Reward belongs to you Secondly for them that presume too much on their good works here is an admonition likewise The Papists they catch hold of 〈◊〉 Text to bolster out their opinions of merit by works Mark sâ— they God is a Rewarder of them that seeke him yea and all that come to God are bound to beleeve this Ergâ— God is a Rewarder of merit For seeking implyes merit and reward is a thing so properly belonging to merit that no merit and no reward The Reward and Desert are Correlatives say they Nay not so may there not be a reward of grace as well as of desert as God sends his raine upon the just and unjust and rewards many wicked men with good for evill yes douâ—lesse wee know finding of God is properly the reward of seeking him And yet the Prophet saith I was found of them that sought me not I was made manifest unto them thaâ— asked not after me This was a Reward of grace sure and not of â—esert and so may the Reward of our seeking be May nâ—y so it must