he mortify the deeds of the body In a word to this end hath the grace of God appeared vnto all men and instructed vs that we denying all vngodlinesse and worldly lusts might liue soberly iustly godly in this preseÌ„t world By all which it is cleare that all our corrupt lusts affections must be denied if we will be disciples in the schoole of Grace yet is it further to be observed that wheÌ„ the Apost saith we must deny all worldly lusts he meaneth fleshly lusts as they haue reference vnto the world to the profits pleasures of this present life So that in comparison of Christ when they let and hinder vs from comming after him whatsoeuer in the world is most deare pretious vnto vs must be despised and trodâ—n vnder foot We must with the holy Apostles be content to forsake all and to follow him If wee loue father or mother or sonne or daughter more then him we are vnworthy of him Nay if any come vnto him and hate not his father and mother and wife and Children and brethren and sisters yea his owne life also or as some thinke it may not vnfitly be translated his owne soule he cannot be my Disciple Wherefore as Hierom saith if Father or Mother shall lye in the way to hinder thee from comming after Christ bee not afraid to tread vpon the gray beard of thy Father and to trample vpon the belly of her that bare thee rather then to be barred from coÌ„ming vnto him As therefore to conclude this point a young man in the iudgement of Aristotle is an vnfit auditor of Morall Philosophy even so the meere Animall man by the verdict of Iesus Christ is vtterly vnmeet to be scholler in Christian Philosophy If hee will make himselfe meet for Christs schoole hee must of necessity deny himselfe which is the first Counsell The second is let him take vp his crosse daily The Crosse properly is a tree or engine of wood framed into such a forme where vpon malefactors were wont to bee executed and put to death The manner was either with cords to bind them or which was more vsuall with nailes to fasten them hand and foot vnto it and there to suffer them to languish and pine away vnto death in regard whereof they were wont aunciently to call it vltimum supplicium the extremest and greatest punishment because the basest sort of people only and such as were servants or slaues were in this manner executed therefore was it also termed servile supplicium a servile punishment This cruell and slavish death did our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ suffer to free vs from eternall death and to procure vnto vs everlasting life Wherevpon those pressures tribulations afflictions persecutions that doe befall a man not for his wickednesse but for righteousnesse sake for the profession of the Gospell of Christ are in the language of Canaan called the Crosse because they are the remainders of the afflictions of Christ which he in his body that is the Church doth yet still suffer And this is the Crosse which is here meant But it is further said His crosse Not that Crosse which a man frameth vnto his owne selfe or rashly pulleth vpon himselfe as sundry Martyrs in the primitiue Church seemed to doe whom yet I dare not censure because I know not with what spirit they did it For we may not like Coecias draw stormes and clouds vpon our owne heads and our Saviour himselfe advizeth vs when they persecute vs in one Citty to fly into another Then only are we bound to beare the crosse when without denying the truth we cannot avoid it Our Crosse then is that which is imposed vpon vs by God whether it be poverty or ignominy or imprisonment or banishment or whipping or racking or torment or death of what kind soeuer For God layeth not the same crosse on all but one Crosse on one and another on another as hee in his wisdome thinketh best But whatsoever the crosse is which God appointeth vnto a man that is his crosse And this crosse saith Christ must be taken vp It was the manner that he that was cruciarius to bee crucified was to beare his crosse or some part thereof vnto the place of execution So did Christ vntill meeting with Simon of Cyrene they compelled him to beare his crosse But malefactors beare it against their wills our Saviour willingly which was the very forme of his suffering and he requireth all those that will come after him to doe so too For to take vp the crosse imports not only a patient bearing of it when it is laid vpon vs but also a ready and voluntary vndergoing of it And this also saith our Saviour must bee done daily that is at all times and continually Not but that the Church hath sometimes her lucida intervalla her good daies for the rod of the wicked resteth not alwaies vpon the lot of the righteous and after stormes and tempests God sendeth calme Halcionian times How then Thus. Whensoever God sendeth the crosse vnto any he must actually take it vp in the time of peace and when there is no crosse though actually he cannot yet must he take it vp in the preparation and disposition of the mind And this is the substance of the second Counsell Let him take vp his crosse daily The Necessity of it if wee will come after Christ is easie to be demonstrated What more manifest in the Scripture then this that the Crosse is an vnseparable companion of the Church The Church is Lilium inter spinas a lilie among thornes Christ without his crosse is but a Chimoera so is the Church also without afflictions Many are the troubles of the righteous saith David In the world yee shall haue tribulations saith our Saviour Christ. Through much tribulation must we enter into the kingdome of God saith Saint Paul and againe All that will liue Godly in Iesus Christ shall suffer persecution Search the records of all times from the beginning of the world downe to this present and you shall find that Persecution hath ever attended vpon the Church Not to speake of particular persons the bondage of Egypt the captivity of Babylon the tyranny of Antiochus the ten bloudy persecutions of heathen Emperours the barbarous cruelties of Antichrist finally the fire the sword the massacres of this last age wherein our Fathers lived and we our selues yet liue doe make it more then manifest And indeed as long as Satan continueth to be malitious against vs how can it be otherwise Knowing himselfe to be eternally reiected and without redemption he beareth an eternall hatred against God And because he cannot wreake his teene vpon him being out of his reach he turneth his malice against mankind and among them those principally who by Christ are conquered out of his hands For as the Panther raging vpon the picture of a man bewrayes the
the Church to Rome or Amsterdame or harden them in their prophanenesse and irreligion then turne them to righteousnesse Yet let vs not wrong the age wherein we liue nor slight the graces of God conferred on it I am confident wee may boldly affirme of it that God gaue the word and great is the company of the Preachers neuer any age before in this kingdōe nor at this present any kingdome or country in the world affording so many so able so faithfull Teachers and if many thereby be not turned to righteousnesse it is their owne fault nay it serues to aggravate both their offence and their punishment it takes away all colour from excuse and adds weight to their condemnation And so I passe from the persons rewardable to the reward it selfe the second maine branch of my Text. Though it be not lawfull to worke for the reward yet is it not vnlawfull in our working to cast an eye vpon the reward for the better supporting of our patience and the cheering vp of our faith and hope Thus our Saviour set before himselfe the ioy to come his Apostle the price of the high calling and Moses his servant the recompence of the reward Now in this reward we haue the condition the different degrees in that condition and the perpetuity of those degrees first then of the condition which is shining They shall shine The shining light was at leastwise of all the visible creatures the first that Almighty God made and among them all it is the most beautifull the most cheerefull the most vsefull Now it seemes requisite and suteable that they who shine in wisedome here in the mid'st of a crooked and perverse nation should likewise shine in glory hereafter that they who are filled with the light of knowledge and imparted their light to others in the Church militant should themselues be filled with the light of glory in the Church triumphant We shall then behold him face to face who is the light of the world who lightneth every man that commeth into the world who is the father of lights who is cloathed with light as with a garment and dwelleth in light that is inaccessable which no man can approach or attaine vnto and in his light shall we see light nay in his light shall we bee light They looked vnto him and were lightned Even in this pilgrimage and vally of teares with open face we behold as in a glasse the glory of God and thereby are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord 2. Cor. 3.18 much more then shall wee be changed into the same image when we behold him not in a glasse but as he is The path of the iust saith Solomon is as the shining light which shineth more and more vntill it be perfect day our shining then is begun here in this life but the perfect day the perfection of this shining is reserued for the next here it is that the day-starre ariseth in our hearts and neuer leaues vs till it turnes vs into starres In which regard the seaven Angels that is the seaven Pastors of the seaven Churches are named starres Rev. 1.16 And the twelue Apostles are represented by a crowne of twelue starres Rev. 12.1 but this was in regard of the present condition the future both of them and all those who by their teaching should be turned vnto righteousnesse our Saviour himselfe resembles to the shining of the Sunne Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sunne in the kingdome of my Father they shall shine and that as the Sunne they shall shine forth as the Sunne when hee darts his beames forth in their full strength at high noone All the shining all the glittering pompe and brauerie of the great Monarchs of this world at their highest festiualls or greatest solemnities is noe more to this future shining of the Saints then is the light of a dim candle to the brightest starre or the shining of a glowe-worme in the night to that of the Sunne when as a bride-groome he marcheth forth of his chamber and reioyceth as a mighty Gyant to run his course When Moses came downe from the mount and from talking with God his face shoone so bright as the Israelites could not behold the brightnesse of it but he was forced to couer it with a vaile that so he might talke with them and of S. Stephen it is said that all who sate in the counsell where he was conuented and arrained looking stedfastly on him saw his face as it had beene the face of an Angel now if it please God thus to conferre such a wonderfull measure of shining glory vpon his seruants here on earth what shall we conceaue he hath reserued for the glorified Saints in heauen at the transfiguration of our Sauiour we read that his face did shine as the Sunne and his very rayment was white as the light which Saint Peter standing by and beholding was so rauished as he talked of building tabernacles for Moses Elias not well knowing what he spake yet was all this but a tipe as it were or shadowe of that glory and Maiesty with which hee was afterward to be invested and to which we shall be conformed for when hee shall appeare wee shall be like him 1. Ioh 3.2 We shall be then like him for that he shall change our vile bodies and make them like his glorious body these vile bodies of ours sowne naturall shall be raised spirituall sowne in corruption shall be raised in immortality sowne in weaknesse shall be raised in power sowne in basenesse shall be raised againe in glory in shining glory answerable to the citty in which they shall be placed whose light is like to a stone most pretious euen to a Iasper stone cleare as Christall the streets thereof of pure gold as trāsparent glasse the foundations of the wall garnished with all manner of pretious stones the Saphyr the Emerald the Chrysolite the Iacinth the Almethyst and the like the 12 gates of 12 entire pearles such shall be the shining glory of the place and that of the inhabitants thereof euery way correspondent thereunto Here we dwell God knowes in a great deale of darknesse the darknesse of error and ignorance the darknesse of sinne the darknesse of misery but then he who brought light out of darknesse shall turne our darknesse into light the darknesse of ignorance into the light of knowledg for then shall we know him as we are knowne of him the darknesse of sin into the light of holinesse resembled by those long white robes spoken of in the 17 of the Reuel◠and lastly the darknesse of misery into the light of happinesse Then shall all teares be wiped of our eyes we shall rest from all our labours and not only so but enter into our masters ioy it is not said that our masters ioy shall enter into vs but we into it in regard of the fulnesse thereof for in his
expresly thus saith he we iudge that if one died for all thē were all dead that he died for all that they which liue should not henceforth liue vnto themselues but vnto him which died for them and rose againe You will say how are we to liue vnto Christ I answere as the body liueth vnto the Soule The Body liueth vnto the Soule when it is serviceable and obedient therevnto especially when it followeth not the sway of inordinate passion but the direction of right reason In like manner we liue vnto Christ when we serue and obey him not living after the flesh but after the spirit For not they that walke after the flesh are in Christ but they only who are lead by the spirit of Christ. S. Peter expresseth it by liuing not to the lusts of men but to the will of God And by and by setteth down the Iusts of men to be the will of the Gentiles namely lasciviousnesse lusts excesse of wine revellings banquetings abominable idolatries and the like Vnto all which he opposeth liuing according to God in the spirit Fourthly and lastly hence we may learne humility to ascribe nothing to our owne selues For what are wee in nature but stinking carkasses If we liue it is by the meere grace of Christ. Come vnto him of our selues to be quickned by him we could not It was his Father that drew vs vnto him Not vnto vs therefore not vnto vs but vnto the Father through Iesus Christ bee ascribed the whole praise and glory thereof for evermore And thus much of the second point Vnde whence this life is The third point is Quibus vpon whom it is conferred and bestowed Vpon those saith my Text and all those whom his Father hath giuen him Who are they For of them Christ very often speaketh All saith he that my father giueth me shall come vnto me And againe This is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which hee hath giuen me I should loose nothing And yet againe My Father which gaue them me is greater then all And so also sundry times in the sequele of this present Chapter For clearer vnderstanding hereof therefore we are to knowe that there is a double donation by which men are said to be giuen vnto Christ the one Common the other Singular The Common is that whereby the Father hauing given vnto the Sonne all power both in heauen and earth deliuereth all things also into his hand giuing as it were liverie and seizing of them that from thenceforth hee may dispose of them at his pleasure And thus all men whatsoeuer both elect and reprobate are giuen vnto him But this is not here meant as by and by shall appeare Another donation therefore there is more speciall and singular whereby the Father deliuereth vnto the Sonne some of the creatures as vnto a head to be his members or to persist in our present similitude giueth them as a body to the soule to be acted and quickned by him that is to be ruled and ordered not only by the Scepter of his Power but of his Grace and sanctifying Spirit Now who are these Surely not all flesh for all are not vnited to him and so liue not by him Who then They that are elected and chosen vnto life of whom it is said Multi vocati pauci verò electi many are called but few are chosen And that these are here meant plainely appeareth by and by where he saith I haue manifested thy name vnto the men which thou gauest me out of the world that is not to all but some only selected and culled from the rest And againe Thine they were and thou gauest them mee How thine By free election and now mine by speciall donation And yet againe I pray not for the world but for them that thou hast giuen me for they are thine Where you see the world distinguished from them that are given him and excluded from being the Fathers together with them Whence it followeth necessarily that the donation here meant is not of all but those only who in speciall sort are the Fathers namely his chosen and peculiar ones For the better vnderstanding hereof and that you may knowe how and in what order the Father is pleased to proceed in this gracious worke thus I take it you are to conceaue thereof First the Father seeing all mankind by the fall of Adam to bee corrupted and in the state of damnation out of his meere mercy and loue decreed not to loose the whole race of man but to renew and repaire againe his image in some of them to the praise of the glory of his grace prouided yet alwaies that his iustice for sinne be fully satisfied Secondly for the satisfaction of his iustice he further decreed to send his sonne into the world that taking our nature vpon him he might therein suffer whatsoeuer was due to sinne and so mediate a peace betweene God and vs. Then thirdly out of the corrupt Masse of mankinde he selecteth and chuseth some particulars even such as he pleaseth with a purpose infallibly to bring them to everlasting life And in regard of this act it is that our Saviour saith tui erant they were from al eternity thine and againe tui sunt by the constant continuation of the same purpose they are still thine In the fourth place those that are thus elected the Father giueth vnto the Sonne to accomplish his purpose vpon them and by vertue of the power and life giuen him to quicken them vnto eternall life Being thus giuen wee are now Christs Wherevpon also the Church is bold and saith My welbeloued is mine and I am his and S. Paul directly affirmeth that we are Christs And being Christs fiftly lastly he actually enliues quickens them raising them vp from the death of sinne and convaying into them the spirit of life in such sort as wee haue formerly declared But doth Christ bestow life vpon all them that are so given him yea verily my text expressely affirmeth it that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him This was the very end wherefore the Father gaue them to him And shall we thinke that the Father tooke not order sufficient for the attaining of his end God forbid For because he would not faile of his end therefore did he giue so great power vnto his Sonne Such power that nothing except he would could plucke them out of his hands and so much life that if hee would hee might giue it in abundance Shall we say that the Sonne though he hath power yet wants will Farre be such blasphemy from vs. For he testifieth of himselfe that hee came downe from heauen with this resolution not to doe his owne will but the will of him that sent him and now that he is come that he seeketh not his owne will but the will of the Father
hatred he beares vnto him so the divill to testifie how much hee hates God himselfe spends all his fury vpon him that beareth the image of God Hence is it that he is so wroth with the woman and from this Wrath is it that hee still persecutes her casts out floods of water to overwhelme her and maketh warre with the remnant of her seede which keepe the commandements of God and haue the testimony of Iesus Christ. As Satan so Satanicall and wicked men are deadly enimies vnto the Saints and holy members of Christ. Qui male agit odit lucem he that doth evill hates the light Now the whole world lyeth in wickednesse and therefore cannot endure the light either of Christs truth or their life If they were of the world the world would loue his owne but because they are not of the World but chosen out of the world therefore the world hateth them They thinke it strange that the Saints run not into the same excesse of riot with them What marvell then if hating them and being separated in life and conversation from them they continually stirre vp persecutions against them But it will bee said why doth not God hinder them being able Doth he not loue his Church yes he loues her as the apple of his eye and because her therefore he permits them For as our Saviour saith As many as I loue I rebuke and chasten the Apostle to the Hebrewes whom the Lord loueth he chastneth and scourgeth every sonne whom he receiueth Whereby it appeareth also that God not only permitteth but hath a hand in the afflictions of his children himselfe delivering them over vnto their adversaries to correct them Yea the Apostle S. Paul yet farther saith that wee are appointed to afflictions predestinated to be conformed vnto the image of the sonne of God as in other things so also to suffer with him that we may be glorified together The ends which God propounded to himselfe herein are partly his owne glory partly our good His owne glory in the manifestation of his iustice power and wisdome Iustice in that he beginnneth iudgement at his owne house not sparing them whom he loues most dearely nor suffering them to recover paradise so easily who had abandond it so wilfully Parvo parari tanta res non debuit it was not fit that such a peece should be won without striking any stroke His power in preseruing such earthen vessels notwithstanding all the knocks and blowes laid vpon them not suffering the bush to consume though flaming and all on fire yea multiplying his Church the more they are slaine and making the bloud of his Martyrs the seede of his Gospell and finally in her greatest distresses and extremities delivering her most miraculously His Wisdome in proportioning the body to the head for it was not fit that Christ should weare a crowne of thornes and we be clothed in purple and fine linnen and fare sumptuously every day but as he entred into glory by the crosse so should wee aspire to the same end by the same way As God in the afflictions of his Church respected his owne glory so also hee intended our good and benefit It is good for me saith David that I haue beene afflicted Hee chastneth vs for our benefit saith the Apostle to the Hebrewes First by the crosse he fanneth away from the church paleaâ— levis fidei the chaffe of those that are vnstable in the faith For the seede that falleth in the stony ground that is he that hath no root in himselfe dureth but for a while and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word by and by he is offended And so the chaffe flying away the heape of corne remaineth more cleane in the garner of God as Tertullian speaketh Againe by it are wee much bettered for as a Corrosiue it frets away our ranke flesh and as a fire it purgeth away the drosse of corruption and refines vs. It worketh repentance of sinnes past it preventeh future sinnes it quickneth the spirit of grace within vs and maketh vs more carefull to obserue Gods commandements Thirdly it honours vs greatly by making our vertues knowne vnto the world For as the valour of a souldier is best seene in the battle and the skill of a pilote in a tempest so is the fortitude and patience of a Christian best discerned in tribulation Spices brayed yeeld the sweetest smellâ— as the broaching of heresies tries how much we know of God so the fire of persecution discouereth how much we loue the truth of God Fourthly it weaneth vs from the loue of this world and worketh in vs a longing to be dissolued and to bee with Christ which otherwise wee would hardly doe even as children would hardly forbeare sucking vnlesse the teat bee striken with wormewood or some other bitter and distastfull iuyce Lastly si compatimur etiam conregnabimus if wee suffer with Christ wee shall also raigne with him Exceeding great shall be our reward in heaven saith Christ. Here on earth shall we reape the peaceable fruite of righteousnesse and in heaven an exceeding weight of glory wherewith our sufferings are no way to be compared Thus by Scripture experience malice of adversaries divine ordinance it plainly appeares that every one that will come after Christ must of necessity beare his crosse I adde farther he must not only beare it but hee must take it vp also and that Daily He must not only endure it with patience but also willingly ioyfully thankfully Willingly for so did Christ who foreseeing it and hauing power to avoide it yet would not Nothing that is forced pleaseth God but only that which is voluntarie Ioyfully so did the Apostles reioycing that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ and our Saviour commanded vs in the midst of persecutions to reioyce be exceeding glad Nor but that affliction is in it selfe and for the present greevous not ioyous but inasmuch as it is for Christs sake and to giue testimony vnto the truth Thankfully in regard of the benefit and reward we reape thereby So did Moses esteeme the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Aegypt And it is reason wee should thanke the Chirurgion that cures vs as well for his Corrosiues as his Lenitiues Neither must wee only take vp the crosse willingly ioyfully thankfully but also daily that is with constancy and perseverance He fighteth not the good fight that finisheth not his course It is not sufficient to beare out a brunt or two vnlesse hauing done all we stand God regardeth not so much the beginning as the end Finis coronat opus it is the end that crowneth the worke The reward is promised non pugnanti sed vincenti not to him that fighteth but to him that overcometh In a word he that continueth to the end
Body And wee are stedfastly to beleeue that the Humane nature was so assumpted by the Deity that although they both constitute but one Person yet they still remaine two distinct Natures and each of them retaineth its Essentiall Properties If then as the Apostle saith Christ be made like vnto vs in all things sinne only excepted and our Bodies cannot bee without Dimension of length breadth and depth together with circumscription proportion and Distinction of parts one from the other and the like then neither can the Manhood of Christ be without them Neverthelesse you fancy vnto Christ in the Eucharist such a Body as is vtterly deprived of them all For thus saith your Angelicall Doctor and what he saith is the generall Tenent of the Church of Rome In the Body of Christ in the Sacrament there is no distance of one part from another as of the eye from the eye or the head from the feete as it is in other organicall bodies For such distance of parts is in the true Body of Christ but not as it is in the Sacrament for so it hath not dimensiue quantity O miserable Christ that art driven into such narrow straits that the whole bulke of thy Body should be emprisond and as it were frapt together in every little crum and point of the hoste And more true and seasonable may the complaint now be then it was of old that the Sonne of man hath not so much as a place wherein to rest his head But seeing as Thomas saith The true body of Christ hath distance of parts and the Body of Christ in the Sacrament hath not distance of parts I marvaile what should let but that I may boldly inferre the conclusion Ergo the Body of Christ in the Sacrament is not his true body Againe it is an Article of the Faith that Christ being ascended into Heauen hath quitted the earth and now sitteth at the right hand of his Father This the Scriptures testifie The poore saith Christ yee shall haue alwaies with you but mee yee shall not alwaies haue And I leuae the world and goe vnto the Father And againe Now am I no more in the world but these are in the world and I come vnto thee Hence saith St Peter The heauens must containe him vntill the time that all things bee restored And then as the Angell said This Iesus that is taken vp from you into Heauen shall so come againe as you haue seene him goe into Heauen The Fathers saith the same Origen According to his divine nature he is not absent from vs but he is absent according to the dispensation of the Body which he tooke As man shall he be absent from vs who is every where in his divine nature For it is not the manhood of Christ that is there wheresoeuer two or three be gathered together in his name neither is it his manhood that is with vs at all times to the end of the world nor is his manhood present in every congregation of the faithfull but the Divine vertue that was in Iesus Tertullian In the very pallace of Heaven to this day sitteth Iesus at the right hand of his Father Man though also God flesh and bloud though purer then ours neverthelesse the same in substance and forme wherein he ascended Ambrose Neither on the earth nor in the earth nor after the flesh are wee to seeke thee if wee will find thee Augustine Mee shall you not alwaies haue He spake this of the presence of his Body For touching his Maiesty providence vnspeakable and invisible grace it is true that he said I am alwaies with you to the end of the world But as for the flesh which the word tooke which was borne of the virgin fastned to the crosse laid in the graue you shall not alwaies haue mee with you And why Because hee is ascended into heauen and is not here there hee sitteth at the right hand of the father Cyril of Alexandria He could not be conversant with his Apostles in the Flesh after hee was once ascended to his Father And Notwitstanding he be absent in the flesh yet by that only meanes the power of his Godhead he is able to saue his Finally Gregory the Great The word incarnate both remaineth and departeth he departeh in Body and remaineth in his divinity Thus the Fathers And hence is it that so often in their writings they exhort vs not to settle our thoughts here on earth but to send vp our Faith into heauen and thither to follow him in heart whither wee beleeue him to be ascenâ—â—d in body Now what you The cleane contrary that the Body of Christ is still present with vs here on earth and as ordinarily as he is aboue in heauen Nay more then so For there he is confined circumscribed to one place as also he was here in the daies of his Flesh when he liued among the Iewes but now by your Doctrine he may be and is in more then a thousand places at once even when and where you will For you haue power to reproduce him as often as you list then to keepe him with you as long as you please at least vntill the mouse devoure him or he begin to corrupt and putrifie But is it impossible will you say for the Manhood of Christ to be present in many places at once Impossible if we may beleeue the Fathers neither can you produce any one of them that saith the contrarie If the argument of the Fathers aboue quoted be good Hee is in heauen Ergo he is not in earth then can hee not at one time bee both here and there too And doth not St Cyril expresly say he could not be coÌ„versant with his disciples in the Flesh after he was once ascended to his Father St Augustine likewise Christ according to his bodily presence could not be at once in the Sunne and in the Moone and on the crosse And againe The Body of Christ in which he rose againe can bee but in one place but his truth is every where diffused Vigilius a blessed Martyr and Bishop of Trent The flesh of Christ when it was in the earth was not in Heaven and now because it is in hauen certainly it is not in earth And by and by Forsomuch as the word is every where and the flesh of Christ is not every where it is cleare that one and the same Christ is of both natures that is every where according to the nature of his divinity and contained in a place according to the nature of his humanity Finally Fulgentius One and the same sonne of God having in â—â—m the truth of the divine and humane nature lost not the properties of the true Godhead and tooke also the properties of the true Manhood one and the selfe same locall by that he tooke of Man aâ—d infinite by that he had of his Father
saith Let him deny himselfe Himselfe What meanes he by that There are two sorts of men for as S. Paul distinguisheth there is a Spirituall and there is a Naturall man The Spirituall man is he who is borne a new of water and the holy Ghost by grace is become a new creature a new man transformed into the image of Christ. The naturall man is he that is as yet vnregenerate hath nothing in him but nature the corruption thereof bearing only the image of the old Adam Must the spirituall man deny himselfe No verily so farre forth as he is spirituall for so doing he should disclaime and disesteeme the very grace of God by which hee is whatsoeuer he is It is the Naturall man then that must be denied Now in the Naturall man there is first Nature and then the corruption of nature By Nature I vnderstand the powers faculties of the soule such as are the Vnderstanding and the light of reason whose office is to discerne truth from falsehood and the Will vnder which also I comprehend Passions and Affections whose dutie is to pursue that which is good and to shun that which is evill The corruption of nature is that which in Scripture is called flesh concupiscence and is commonly known in the Church by the name of Originall sinne because it is traduced vnto vs from our parents and wee are polluted therewith in every part both of soule and body from our very conception and birth Now which of these two must be denied I answer both yet not both alike but the corruption of Nature simply and absolutely and Nature it selfe only in some respect First then Nature it selfe must bee denied What simply and absolutely as the corruption of Nature No by no meanes â—oâ— it is the good creature of God without it neither are we capable of blessednesse nor can bee schollers in the schoole of Christ. Nature is not opposite but subordinate vnto Grace and Grace destroyeth not nor abolisheth but healeth and perfecteth Nature Neither is it without cause that God spoiling man of his supernaturals for sinne only wounded him in his naturals and left vnto him both a light in his Vnderstanding and a liberty in his Will By the light of reason the invisible things of God euen his eternall Power and Godhead are clearely scene there is no nation so barbarous but partly by inbred principles partly by the booke of the creatures knowe him By the same light of reason doe we in part also know the will of God for the law morall is written in our hearts by nature and how many excellent precepts of moralitie doe we finde in the writings of meere naturall men Finally even in the matter of the Gospell reason seeth thus farre that it is not vnpossible if God will and vpon this ground Iustin Martyr Tertullian Arnobius Lactantius Athenagoras Augustin anciently and Aquinas Vives Mornay of late haue attempted to proue by reason the truenesse of Christian religion As for the Will it is yeelded of all hands that in matters morally good it hath free liberty and may of it selfe either chuse it or refuse it at pleasure So that hitherto Nature the power thereof is no way to bee denied or disclaimed Wherein then Surely in things meerely supernaturall For that which is aboue reason cannot be comprehended by reason and that which passeth the reach of nature caÌ„not be attained only by the power of nature The naturall man saith S. Paul perceaueth not the things of God nor can knowe them because they are spiritually discerned In these things reason is starke blinde and seeth nothing Search the writings of the subtilest and sharpest Naturalist and ye shall finde in them of Christ and his Gospell nor palme nor footstep Here therefore reason must bee denied and as a woman may not speake in the Church so must reason also be silent in things supernaturall In things not revealed it must be contented not to know docta ignorantia est it is a learned ignorance In things revealed it must beleeue without and aboue reason reason must bee captived vnto the obedience of faith And as where the naturall Philosopher endeth there the Physitian begins so where naturall reason stoppeth divine Faith must come in place Otherwise if reason will needs be prying into Gods arke and search into those mysteries that are aboue the reach thereof it is the corruption of reason and no marvaile if it become vaine and foolish in her imaginations Yea when men in their curiosity thinke themselues most wise then are they most infatuated And as Ixion in the fable embraceing a cloud insteed of Iuno begat Centaures thereon so they entertaining their owne fancies insteed of divine veritie bring forth nothing but monsters of errors and strange opinions What I say of reason must be vnderstood of the will also in spirituall matters the one wanteth light to see and the other strength to doe It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy for as we haue already demonstrated neither can we will of our selues without preventing grace nor doe when wee haue willed without pursuing grace So that if a man will be no more then the scholler of Nature he cannot be the scholler of Christ. For as nature is vnable both to know the mysteries which Christ teacheth and to doe the duties which he requireth so doth Christ command vs to renounce our naturall abilities to come as infants vnto the kingdome of heauen But if Nature it selfe must be denied much more the Corruption of Nature For as the Scripture saith Corruption cannot inherit vncorruption and without holinesse it is impossible to see God Now the leprosie of Originall Corruption not only infects the inferiour part of the soule as Papists dreame but spreads it selfe to every part even the superiour also For as for the mind it is not only blind and ignorant but Corrupt also and full of vanity it savoureth not the things of God but they seeme vnto it meere folly As for the will it is not only vnable to performe spirituall duties but full of hardnesse also and perversnesse and vntowardensse vnto any thing that is good Finally the inferiour part is but a shop of all turpitude outragiousnesse full of nothing else but tempestuous tumultuous vnruly and sinfull lusts These all as the Scripture saith must be crucified must be mortified must be killed that is must vtterly be renounced and denied if wee will bee the followers of Christ. And reason For the flesh lusteth and fighteth against the spirit by reason whereof the good wee would doe we cannot doe and the evill wee would not doe wee doe They that walke after the flesh saith St Paul are not in Christ but they that walke after the spirit And they that liue after the flesh shall die neither can any man liue vnlesse by the spirit