Fifty sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London, and elsewhere whereof twenty on the Lords Prayer / by ... Anthony Farindon ... ; the third and last volume, not till now printed ; to which is adjoyned two sermons preached by a friend of the authors, upon his being silenced.

The Tenth SERMON. (Book 10)

2 COR. VI. 1. We then as workers together with him, [or as helpers] beseech you also, that you receive not the grace of God in vain.

WE begin as the Church beginneth. And we cannot be∣gin better, nor chuse a more exact method then that we find in domo doctrinae (as the Chaldee Paraphrase calls the Church, upon the first of the Canticles) in the house of wisdome and learning. No method to the method of the Church, nor any language so delightful to the child as the language of the Mother. We need say no more. The autority of the Church makes good the choice of my Text. But yet we cannot but observe the wisdome of the Church in fitting the Text to the Time. For as it is one commendation of an Ora∣tor apta dicere, to fit his speech to the matter he speaks of, so is it also op∣portuna dicere, to level and apply it to the time. The Orator will tell us, Non idem signorum concentus procedente ad praelium exercitu, idem receptui carmen, An alarum and a retreat have different notes; nor is the sound of the Trumpet the same when we bid battel as when we leave it. This time of Lent, these thirty six dayes, which is Quadrage sima propriè dieta, as Bellarmine speaks, the whole time of our clean Lent, the Church of Christ hath cull'd out and set apart as the tith of our dayes, saith St. Bernard, as the tith of the year, saith Aquinas, as the tith of our life, saith Gerson; wherein she calls upon her children in a more especial manner not only 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Julian speaks, to wage war with their belly and appetite, by fasting and ab∣stinence, but to fight against themselves, their irregular desires and inor∣dinate lusts, to make a retreat from Sin, and to fight the battels of the Lord of hosts. I confess, as Clemens speaketh of a Christian mans life, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the whole term of it should be a feast, a holy day unto the Lord, wherein he should continually offer up the sweet-smelling sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving: so the Lent of a Christian man should take up not forty dayes only but all the dayes and hours of a Christian man. But since we are so willing to forget our selves, and suffer our souls to gather rust; since few men would faste at any time if there were not statum jejunium, an allot∣ted time of fasting; the Church calls upon us in the words of the Apostle, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Behold, now is the accepted time, now an occasi∣on worth the laying hold of, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, now is the day of salvation, a time of fasting, to prepare our selvs for the great Feast; a time of Lent, to pre∣pare us for Easter. And as it is prescribed the Jews Deut. 20. 2. that when they were come near unto the battel, the Priest should come forth to encourage the people: And in all ages Captains have had their Orations to their Soul∣diers, quibus animos addant, to make them bold and stout in the battel: So

doth the Church bring in St. Paul, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Nazianzene speaks, the Captain and Champion of all the faithful Souldiers of Christ Jesus, bespeaking the Corinthians, and in them the whole Christi∣an world throughout all Generations, now at this time to put on the armor of light; and, as they have given up their names unto Christ, so to receive regium characterem, the Imperial mark and character of Christ; to engrave it not on their arm, but on their heart; non desinere esse quod esse dicuntur, as the Imperial laws require of Governors and Guardians of Cities, not to leave off to be what they are said to be; to please him who hath chosen them to be * 1.1 Souldiers, to labor, but as good Souldiers; and in the words of my Text, To receive the grace of God; but that is not all; so to receive it, that they receive it not in vain.

I know this Text by Bellarmine and others is applyed to this time of Lent: And so it may very well. For by this we are taught the right use of Fasting, and how to improve this time, this short time, this fleeting time, these forty dayes to Aeternity it self. But being unwilling to draw the words from their native and primitive sense, and intending to make that the subject and work of the next day, and now only to glance at it by the way; I will take the words 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as they ly in St. Paul, and in that sense which he first intended. And then I may call my Text St. Pauls fidei-commissum, his Legacy, which he leaves as a feoffment in trust to all poste∣rity; Breviarium totius Evangelii, a Breviary of the whole Gospel; a short Catechisme for Christians, which whoso learns by heart is a true Gospeller indeed. Not to receive the grace of God in vain, is signaculum super brachi∣um, a signet upon the arm, and signaculum super cor, a seal upon the heart, the true seal and character of a Christian. Ecce panem; parate fauces, as St. Bernard saith, Behold, here is the bread of life! Take it down by attention, and digest it by meditation and practise: And with me consider first the Duty proposed by way of negation, shall I say? or caution, Receive not the grace of God in vain. For the Civilians will tell us, Vetita quadam ex∣ceptione corrigunt quae jubentur; A negative precept by a kind of cautelous exception doth restrain and correct a positive. To receive the grace of God is a Christians best Recipe: for with it he receiveth all things. It is his Wealth, to supply his poverty; his Strength, to establish his weakness; his Happiness, to sweaten all the misery of the world. It is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; a catholick remedy against all evil. But not to receive it in vain, is a restricti∣on, a direction how we should receive it. It is not in the gift, but in the hand; not in the meat, but in the stomach; not in the physick, but in the Recipiatis; not in the grace, but in the receiving of it. Volenti est salus, nolenti supplicium, saith St. Augustine, As I receive it, it may be my phy∣sick; and as I receive it, it may be my poyson. Great care then to be had to the Recipiatis, how we receive it. But then, in the second place, con∣sider St. Paul's Motive or Insinuation. He draws his argument ab officio, from his high calling and dignity; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, We as fellow-workers together with God exhort and beseech you; We who have obteined a dignity above the very Angels themselves, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, working together with God, as God by us, we from God, and God by us, beseech you. For this end we received our Commission, that you might not receive the grace of God in vain. So the Ne recipiatis is both an Exhortation and a Command. Potestas, cùm rogat, jubet; The Insinuations of Autority are Commands; their In∣treaties, Precepts. But this circumstance perhaps will be neither seasona∣ble, nor welcome. The dignity and high calling of a Priest is no argument now-adayes, but only then when Malice can draw it close to meet with our infirmities. We are never so high as Angels till we are lower than Men, e∣ven like to the Beasts that perish. Then argumentum à persona, an argument

from our person, from our office and dignity, is readily taken up; and we are very skilfull in these Topicks. Humanum aliquid patimur? Do we betray our selves to be men of the like passions and infirmities with you? Do we fall like other men? then, and then only, we are Angels. Then Lu∣cifer is fallen from heaven, the worker hath forgot his rule, and the helper is in the ditch. When we sow our spiritual things, we are not helpers: When we should reap your temporal things, we are not helpers: When we do not help our selves, then we are, and we hear it loud enough. When our mouth is open unto you, and our affections vehement and vocal, then our mouths are open against us, and our titles of honour accuse us: A main reason, I perswade my self, that the Nè recipiatis finds so hard an entrance into your hearts, and that so many receive the grace of God in vain.

But I will wave this circumstance, and in this spare you. And indeed the Duty here, the Nè recipiatis, is of such consequence that it commends its self without a Preface: Nor needs there any motive where the prescript is Salvation. Maltùm valet oratio remedio intenta, saith Seneea; That speech is powerful which is fixt and intentive and level'd on the good of the hear∣er. It is easie, one would think, to perswade a sick man to be well, a poor man to be rich, and a wretched man to be happy. Not to receive a gift in vain, what need there any art to commend it? We will therefore fix our meditations here, and carry them along by these steps or degrees. We will shew you 1. What this Grace of God is; 2. That received it must be. And these two will serve for an introduction to the last, and bring in the Caution, Nè recipiatis, which casts a kindly reflexion on, and sweetens and seasons both the other; For what is Grace, if it be not received? and what is the recipiatis, if it be in vain? Of these in their order.

There is nothing more talked of then Grace, nothing less understood, nothing more abused. Every man fills his mouth with it, justus ad aequita∣tem, perjurus ad fraudem; the upright man for honesty, the perjured man for deceit, the humble for piety, the proud for aemulation, Ebrius ad phialam, mendicus ad januam, the Drunkard at his cups, the Beggar at the gate. The Tradesman in his shop. The Schools are intricate, and the Fathers profuse in this argument. Totius mundi una vox Gratia est, Men mention nothing oftner; as if they had studied nothing else. By Grace we are good, by Grace we are rich, and by Grace we are honourable: and if we be evil, it is for want of Grace. But bring the greatest sort of men to a tryal, and we shall find them no better proficients in the study of Grace then Boethias's Scholar in Poetry, who having a long time studied Vir∣gil askt at length whether Aeneas was a man or woman. Not to trouble you with curious speculations, which commonly make things more obscure by interpretation, and the Commentary harder then the Text; the Grace of God is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, hath divers significations. It is taken for the favour of God, inherent in God himself; and it is taken for sanctifying Grace, in∣herent in the regenerate person, a gift flowing from the former: It is taken for Habitual Grace, and it is taken for Inherent Grace. In the language of the Schools it is auxilium speciale, that special and immediate furtherance by which God moves us to will and to do; a supernatural quality, which sweetly and readily directs us in our way unto the end, by illuminating our mind, by enflaming our love, by strengthning our hand, that we see how to work, and are willing and able to work; the three necessary re∣quisites to the performance of every good action. It works in us, without us; and it worketh in us, with us; It prevents, and it follows us. By it we begin, and by it we persevere, and by it we are brought unto glory. By it, saith St. Augustine, we are healed, and by it we are made active, by it we are called, and by it we are crowned. And this is that which St. Paul

mentioneth 1 Cor. 15. 10. By the grace of God I am that I am; and his grace was not in vain. For see the blessed and fruitful effects it wrought, in the next words, I laboured more abundantly then they all. Yet startling as it were, and afraid of the very mention of himself, he corrects himself, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Would you know what materials Grace had to work upon? He tells you ver. 9. that he was a per∣secutor of the Church of Christ. Strange materials to square an Apostle out of, and a statue of Christ. Primus pietatis aries Evangelii retusus est mucro, saith St. Hierome; He who was as a battering Ram or Engine to shake the Gospel, by the grace of God had his edge taken off and his force abated, and was made a pillar of that Truth which he sought to ruin. Thus can the Spirit of God work miraculously where it pleaseth, and, to sow the seed of grace, alter the complexion and nature of the soil. Though the heart be as hard as flint, and barren as the sand, he can make it as soft as wax, and as fertile as Canaan or the Paradise of God. Indeed no man can deny the operation of Grace but he that feels it not: and such a mans deny∣al can be no argument that there is no Grace: for his very want of Grace confutes it. Noctua non praejudicat aquilae, The Batt doth not prejudice the light which the Eagle sees: Nor would we credit a blind man that should tell us there were no Sun.

This Grace then we must acknowledge: But this is not the Grace meant in the Text; nor indeed (as we are made believe by some) can it be. For this Grace, say they, ideo datur ut non recipiatur in vanum, is therefore given that it may not be received in vain. When it is offered, it is recei∣ved; and when it is received, it is received to that end and purpose for which it was offered. No heart is stone enough to beat it back, no soul so stubborn as to resist it: neither height, nor depth, nor the Devil, nor Sin it self can evacuate it. The Recipiatis is unavoidable, and the in vanum impossible. And every man is a St. Paul, a priviledged person, not sweet∣ly water'd with abundance, but violently driven on with a torrent and inun∣dation of Grace. We must therefore find out another sense of the word: Although, for ought that can be said, the Exhortation may concern us in this sense also, and teach us to hear when God speaks, to open when he knocks, not to be deaf to his thunder, nor to hide our selves from his lightning, nor to quench the spirit, nor 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to resist and fall cross with * 1.2 the holy Ghost. But in the Scripture two words we find by which the Gra∣ces of God are expressed. There is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, here in the Text; and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, spiritual gifts. Plainly, there are more common and necessary Graces, which * 1.3 concur to sanctification of life, to uprightness and common honesty: And there are peculiar graces, as Quickness of Will, Depth of Understanding, Skill in languages; or supernatural, as gifts of Tongues, gifts of Healing, of Miracles, of Prophesie, and the like. These are not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, rather gifts then graces, and are distributed but to certain persons in such measure as seems best to Gods Wisdome. Why men are not as strong as Samson, or as learned as Solomon, why they prophesie not as Jeremy, and work not miracles as Paul, all this is from God. But why men are not righteous as Noah, devout as David, zealous as Elias, we must find the cause in our selves, and not lay the defect on God. Now the Grace in the Text is none of all these, but is that gratia Evangelii, the Grace of reconciliati∣on by Christ, the Doctrine of the Gospel, which Christ commanded to be preached to all Nations. And in this sense it is most frequently used in holy Scripture, in the Epistles of St. Paul, where we so often find it placed in opposition to the Works of the Law. This is it which he so oft commends unto us: This is it which he here exhorts us to receive. This is it for the propagation of which he was in afflictions, necessities, distresses, in stripes,

in prisons, in labors, in tumults; which are a part of the catalogue of his sufferings in this Chapter. And this is not only 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a grace, and a gift too, without which all other gifts and graces, aut nihil sunt, aut nihil prosunt, deserve not that name: Strength is but weakness, Learn∣ing is but folly, Prophesies are but dreams, Miracles are sluggish, all are not worth the receiving, or are received 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in vain. Shall I say it is a greater gift then that robe of Righteousness with which God clothed Adam in Paradise? It so far exceeds it that we dare not compare them. There is a MULTO MAGIS set upon it by St. Paul Rom. 5. 15. and a NON SIC, Not as the offense, so is the free gift; The Loss not so great as the Recovery. Nay, cui Angelorum? What speak we of Adam? To whom of the Angels did God give such a gift? What a glory would we count it out of Nothing to be made an Angel, a Seraphim? By this gift, by the Grace of Christ, we are raised from Sin, above the perfection and beauty of any created substance whatsoever, above the Hierarchy of Angels and Archangels. A Christian, as he is united to Christ, is above the Seraphims. For take the substance of a Seraphim by it self, and compare it to a Man re∣conciled to God by this Grace, and the difference will be as great as be∣tween a Picture and a Man. An Artificer may draw his own Picture: but he can only express his likeness, his color, his lineaments; he cannot re∣present his better part, his Soul, which constitutes and makes him what he is: Take all the creatures of the Universe, and they are but weak and faint shadows and adumbrations of Divine perfection. God is not so ex∣prest by an Angel as by a Christian, who is his lively image, as the Son is the image of his Father, by a kind of fellowship and communication of na∣ture. The Creature represents God as a Statue doth the Emperor; but a Christian, as the Son his Father, between whom there is not only likeness, but identity, and a participation of the same nature. For by this gift, by these promises, we are made partakers of the Divine nature, saith St. Peter. * 1.4 And as a Father takes more delight to look upon his Son then upon his Pi∣cture and Figure, so God looks more graciously upon a Christian then upon any created essence, then upon the nature of Angels. He that gave the Gift, he that was the Gift, pray for us John 17. 21, 22. that we may be all one; and as his Father is in him, and he in his Father, so we may be one in them, as they are one. This is the Gift by which God did 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith the Apostle, gather together and re-establish the decay'd nature of Man; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith St. Chrysostome, knit and joyn together, Heaven and Earth. And as Christ spake of John Baptist Matth. 11. 14. Hic est Elias, si vul∣tis recipere; He shall be Elias to you, if you will receive him; so, Haec est gratia Dei; The Gospel, the Reconciliation made by Christ, is the Grace of God, if we will receive it. Which is my next part.

And what is a Gift if it be not received? Like a mess of pottage on a dead mans grave, like Light to the blind, like musick to the deaf. The dead man feeds not, the blind man sees not, the deaf man hears not. What were all the beauty of the Firmament, if there were no eye to descry it? What is the Grace of God without Faith? The Receiving of it is it which makes it a Grace indeed, which makes it Gospel. If it be not received, it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in vain. An unbelieving heart turneth this bread into gravel, this honey into gall; and, as much as in him lyes, doth not only crucifie but an∣nihilate the Lord of Life. We usually compare Faith to a Hand, which is reached forth to receive this Gift. Without a Hand a Jewel is a trifle, and the treasure of both the Indies is nothing: and without Faith the Gospel is but Christus cum suâ fabulâ, as the Heathen spake in reproach, but a fable or relation. And therefore an absolute necessity there is that we receive it. For without this receipt all other receipts are not worth the casting

up. Our Understanding receives light, to mislead her; our Will power, to overthrow her; our Afflictions which are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, incorporeal hands, receive nothing but vanity. Our moral goodness makes us not good: our Philosophy is deceit. Our acquisite Habits lift us no further then the place where they grow, that is, Earth and Nature. But with this gift we receive all things; we receive the favor and gracious countenance of our Creator; who in Christ is well pleased, and in him looks upon us as the Emperor did behold wars and slaughter and ruine and desolation in a large Emerald, whose color temper'd the object, and made it appear less horri∣ble then it was. Unum est donum, & unius sunt omnia dona; It is but one gift, but it turns all things into it self, and makes them a gift. All the works of Nature, all the wonders of Grace, all the Saints are shut up in this Receit. All happiness, all misery, that which we long for, that which we run from, that which we roar under, with this Grace is a gift. Nay, our very Sins are made useful and beneficial to us by the light of the Gospel; as Light cast upon a dark body, which it cannot illuminate, is doubled by reflexion. And therefore every man in respect of Grace should be ad instar materiae, like as the Matter is to the Form, which Plato calls 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which comes from the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in the Text, the receptacle of the Form, should be so inclinable to receive it as if it could have no exsistence without it; should even labor and travel, as the Apostle speaks, till Christ be fully formed * 1.5 in him. For what though we receive the good things of this world? There is a Nuno autem follows them, Now art thou tormented in the end of that receipt. What if we receive Honor? Shame follows at the very heels of it. What if we receive those ornaments of the mind which Philosophy calls Virtues? They are but splendida peccata, but glorious sins, like Glo∣worms, which in the night cast some brightness, but will not warm us. Tell we receive this grace, we are nothing; we are worse then nothing, but Ne∣hustitan, a lump of brass, tell by this Grace we are reformed and transfi∣gured into a statue of Christ. I need not stand longer on this point; and I intended it but as an introduction. For I am sure all here have recei∣ved this Grace, at least profess they have. And there is as great danger in receiving it as in unbelief. For the Philosopher will tell us, Quicquid reci∣pitur, recipitur ad modum recipientis: All is not in the gift; the greatest mat∣ter is in the manner of receiving it. The Gospel is grace indeed; but it will not save a Devil, nor an obstinate offendor. Stomachus vitiatus, saith Se∣neca, alimentum in causam doloris trahit, A foul stomach corrupts all that it receives, and turns that meat, which should nourish the body into a disease: and a corrupt heart poysons the very water of life, ut evangelium Christi sit evangelium hominis, saith St. Augustine, it alters the very nature of the Gospel, and makes it not the Gospel of Christ but of Man. Judas receives a sop, and with it the Devil. The grand mistake of the world is in the manner of receiving Christ. For as in the dogmatical part of Chri∣stianity we find that in former times they could not agree in the manner of receiving Christ, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, but some would receive him after this manner, some after another, they knew not how themselves; some a created Christ, others a half-Christ, some through a conduit-Pipe, others less visible then in a type, in an aereal phantastical body, a Christ, and not a Christ; a Christ divided, and a Christ contracted; and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Nazianzene, many Christs, indeed as good none at all: So in the practical part we often erre, and dangerously, in our receiving him. We say Anathema to the Arians, and Manichees, and Anabaptists: and let them pass with the censure of the Church upon them: But how do we receive him? Our own conscience will tell us; with his cur∣led locks and spicy cheeks, with his flagons and his apples; to save sinners,

not to instruct them; with grace as much as he will, but with no command or law; a Physician, that should heal us, without a prescript; a King, with∣out a Scepter; a Son, that would be kistt, (we like that well) but not be angry. Nor can we now impute this to the Gospel and the Grace of God: for that is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of but one shape and hiew, and presents salvation to every receiver. The fault is not in the Grace, but in our receiving it: As we do not blame the Table for a rude piece that is drawn upon it, but the Painter, who forgot his art. The Stoicks conceive that every thing hath two handles, and as men take hold either of one or other, so they prove either de∣lightful or irksome. The truth is, the Gospel hath not two handles; but we rather have two hands, diverse manners of receiving it. To one it is the savor of life unto life; and to others, the savor of death unto death. Great care then must be taken how we receive it, that we may not receive it in vain. We must re∣ceive * 1.6 this grace of God to that end it was given. I know you will quickly say, that was to save us. For this end Christ came into the world: we have Scri∣pture for it. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all * 1.7 men. But doth it not follow; teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts? and that is Scripture too. We must receive it as Law as well as Physick. His, Do, ut des; & facio, ut facias: God gives us this gift, that we may give him our obedience; and he hath done this for us, that we may do something, even work out our salvation with fear and trembling; This Grace then we must receive both to save us and instruct us; as a royal Par∣don, * 1.8 and as a royal Law; To interline the Pardon, and despise the Law, makes a nullity: and this is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to receive in vain.

And in the first place, a Pardon we must not interline. For to mix and blend it with the law of Works, or our own Merits, is to disannul and make it void, and, in St. Paul's phrase, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to cast away the grace of God. By * 1.9 grace you are saved, and not by works, saith the Apostle. Works, though they be conditio justificandi, a condition required of a justified person, yet * 1.10 are not pars justificationis, cannot be brought in as a part or helping cause of our Justification. Satisfaction and Merits are but false interlineary glosses, and corrupt the Text: and to receive the grace of God with this mixture is in Tertullians phrase Galaticare, to be as foolish as the Galatians. For indeed a great folly it is, when God hath plainly revealed his will, when he hath concluded all under sin, and St. Paul proves both against Jew and Gentile that all have sinned; when God is pleased to justifie us freely by his Grace, then to bring in our inherent Righteousness to joyn with Grace, as * 1.11 if we were unwilling to be too far ingaged to God's Mercy. It is true in∣deed, every good act doth justifie a man so far as it is good, and God so far esteems them holy and good. He taketh notice of his own graces in his children: He registers the Patience of Job, the Zeal of Phinehas, the Devo∣tion of David. A Cup of cold water, a Mite flung into his treasury shall have its reward. But yet all the good works of all the Saints in the world cannot satisfie for the breach of the Law, no more then a Traytor can re∣deem his Treason against the King by giving an alms, or, which is more, by dying for his Country. The point is plain and easie, delivered in terminis in Scripture, urged, proved, and strongly confirmed by St. Paul almost in every Epistle, that all is from Grace: Et cum de voluntate Dei constat, omnis de merito quaestio vana est; When we know Gods will, what dispute we any longer of Merit? But such is our ingratitude and curiosity that we will not take Gods Grace as we find it: we will not take Gods gifts in the build∣ing, but we beat and work them out into what form we please: we come and stamp them; and be the piece what mettal it will, we set our image and superscription upon it. God in Scripture sets these two terms, Grace and Works, at extream opposition; but by a trick of wit we have learnt

to work them into one piece, making a good work meritorious because it is of Grace; as Pelagius of old confounded Nature and Grace, because even Nature it self is a Grace: A flat contradiction. For if it be of grace, how doth it merit? unless we will say that the Gift deserves something of the Giver, or that a charitable man is indebted to a beggar for the penny and almes which he gave him. I have said enough to clear the point, which hath been too much obscured with needless disputes. I will not say with Cal∣vine Diabolica illa ars quae Scholasticae nomen obtinet, that devilish art of wrangling, which we call School-Divinity, hath put out the light of this truth; nor with Martin Luther, Theologia Scholastica est mater ignorantiae, that Scholastical disputations are the mother of ignorance: but, as Pliny spake of the Graecians, Cùm gens ista literas suis dedisset, omnia corrupit, they have corrupted the Truth, and put her in such a dress, that we cannot know her: they have shut up this doctrine in perplexed obscurity, which before was plain and easie to the understanding. For what hath been observed of the study of Philosophy, is true also in the pursuit of Divine knowledge; When men made Wisdome the only aim and end of their studies, then was Philoso∣phy referred to its proper end: but when they used it only to fill up their time, or satisfie their ambition, or delight their will, then Philosophy lost her complexion and strength, and degenerated into folly: then Diogenes got him a tub, and Epicurus a swarm of Atomes: then the Stoicks brought in their Decrees and Paradoxes: then were there mille familiarum nomina & discrimina, so many sects that it is not easie to name them: and some there were who did shew the diversity of their opinions by outward signs alone, by Weeping and Laughing. So in Divinity we find it, that Truth never suffered tell she was made a matter of wit and ambition, tell out of private respects Policy was made a moderator and stater of questions; then for one Justification we had two, nay three: then meritum de condigno, and de congruo, Merits of Condignity and Congruity, of Worthiness and Fitness, were brought in to help at a dead lift: And, that they may appear more glorious, tinguntur sanguine Christi, pains have been taken to dye them over with the bloud of Christ: and in these red colours they are presented, which they borrowed from art, and not from Scripture. Sure I am, in St. Pauls phrase this is to cast away the grace of God, and to evacuate the death of Christ; this is against the nature of Grace, which blended with humane Satisfaction and Merit is no more Grace, this is against the evidence of the Prophet Habakkuk often repeated by St. Paul, The Just shall live by faith, or, as some render it, The Just by faith, shall live. And if their Divinity on their death-bed be not better then that in their Schools, I fear me, there will be a Frustrà. For thus to receive the grace of God, is to deny it, or rather to despise it: and to de∣spise it, I think I may boldly say, is to receive it in vain. Beloved, if it were but for this alone, for this derogation from the Grace of God, yet even for this alone might we justifie our separation from the Church of Rome, and send home the loud imputations of Heresie and Schism to her own gates, where first they were conceived. For where false conclusions are obtruded for truths, or truths corrupted with false additions there to consent were conspiracy; and open contestation is not faction or schism, but Christian animosity. They rather are guilty of the schism who made it necessary: It was a weak and foolish speech of Bosius in Tully, who professed that, if his friend Gracchus would bid, he would set fire on the Capitol. Chri∣stianity admits no such friendship. If that Church will commend to us works of piety, we will hear with reverence; if enjoyn us to faste on Friday, or observe Lent-fast, we condemn it not; we will faste with her, we will pray with her, we will be reverent in Gods house with her: but if she bid us set fire on the Capitol, on this main and capital point of

Religion, (for so I may call it, arcem & Capitolium religionis) here to obey were to be a Schismatick, to separate our selves from the truth and comforts of the Gospel, and from Christ himself.

Non tanti est, tibi ut placeam, perire.

Better it is that our opposers should be angry then we perish.

But we leave this vain receiving, and proceed to the other no less dange∣rous then this, when we receive the grace of God only as a Pardon, and not as a Law. For who is not willing to be justified by Christ? To be freed from the Law, to be delivered from the Law, to be dead to the Law, it is musick to every ear, and a continual feast. Evangelical righteousness we are glad to hear of; and we could wish perhaps that there were no other mentioned. Lex ligat; Enact a law, and we are in fetters. Nay, lex occidit; The Law is a killing letter in this sense also. Who would look to find the Law in the Gospel? But we must remember that there is Lex evangelica, an evangeli∣cal Law; that the grace of God, as it excludes the Law sub ratione foederis, as it is a covenant, so admits it sub ratione regulae, as it is a rule. The rigor of the covenant is abolisht, but the equity of the rule is as everlasting as the Lawgiver? It is our happiness by Grace to be freed from the covenant and curse of the Law; but it is our duty, and a great part of our Christianity, to square our lives by the rule of the Law. Therefore Religion was called in her purer times Christiana lex, the Christian Law; and the Bishops, E∣piscopi Christianae legis, Bishops of the Christian Law. Evangelium commen∣tum Divinitatis, saith Tertullian: The Gospel was the invention of the Deity. And God did not set up the Gospel to destroy, but to reform the Law. No, saith Nazianzene, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, The Gospel of Christ is more laborious then the Law. Pythagoras is reported to have command∣ed his Scholars, when they saw a man burdened, not to go about to ease him, but add rather unto his load: So our Saviour was so far from easing our bur∣den, that he seemeth rather to add weight, and make it much heavier then it was before. For whether he did advance and encrease the strictness of the Law, as the Ancients did conceive, or whether he did but only clear the Law from those corrupt glosses with which the Jewish Doctors had infected it, certainly in shew and appearance he leaves it much heavier then it had formerly been understood by the Jew. Innocency and obedience to the Law hath alwaies been the badge of a Christian. Look into our Prisons, saith Tertullian, you find no Christian there. If you find a Christian there, the fault that laid him there is but this, That he is a Christian. We sail with you, we traffick with you, we go to war with you. Plus nostra misericor∣dia insumit vicatìm quam religio vestra templariò; Our Charity spendeth more on the poor in our streets then your Superstition on your Gods in your Temples! Nihil Christiano foelicius, nihil laboriosius; Nothing is more hap∣py then a Christian, nothing more painful. Thus the grace of God presents us with two things quite contrary, with Comfort and Labor; that Comfort might not puff us up, nor abundance of pain deject and throw us down. For the Grace of God appeared not to enfeeble our hands; or, with a dispensati∣on from the works of Piety; nor to make us more indulgent to our selves; but that we might abound more and more in virtuous actions. I will not say with Socinus, that upon the very receiving of this Grace we receive also afflatum quendum Divinum, a kind of Divine inspiration, which toucheth the heart, and raiseth our hope, and warmeth our affections, and setteth our hands to work. For every one that receives this grace doth not work. Nor can I think that all the world is damned for infidelity. But a strange thing it may seem, that after we have given up our names unto Christ, after this certainty of knowledge and conscience of the truth, our ingratitude should kick with the heel, and despise these promises though an Angel from heaven

should perswade them. It is a good saying of St. Augustine's, Nemo sibi permittat quod non permittit Evangelium; Let no man make the promise lar∣ger then the Gospel hath made it, nor presume too much on the Grace of God. For such is the nature of Grace that it will not be fashioned to our actions, but we must proportion our actions to it. It is not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a bus∣kin, to be indifferently drawn on upon any design. It will not fit my Ambi∣tion in the eager pursuit of honor, nor my Covetousness in the grasping of wealth, nor my Luxury in doting on pleasures: But if I shape my actions to it, it is my honour, my wealth, my pleasure, my ALL. We are told by those who have written in the praise of Musick, that it holdeth great sympathy with the nature of Man; that it applies it self to all occasions, of Mirth, of Sorrow, of Company, of Solitude, of Sports, of Devotion. And such is the wonderful harmony of Grace that it fits it self to all estates, all degrees, all sexes, all ages, all actions whatsoever. It will labor with thee at the Plow, trade with thee in the Shop, study with thee in thy closet, fight with thee in the Field: and it keeps every man within the bounds of his calling and ho∣nesty. But if I make it a pandar to my Pleasure, a stirrop to my Ambiti∣on, a steward to my unbounded Avarice; if I make it my Parasite to flatter me, and not my Counsellor to lead and direct me, I am injurious to that Grace for the publication of which the Lord of life was crucified, I receive this grace, but in vain, and by my ungrateful receiving turn my antidote in∣to poyson.

We cannot better conclude then with that of St. Hierome in his Epistle to that noble Matron Celantia, Illi terrena sapiant qui coelestia promissa non habent; Let them grovel on the earth who have not received these exceeding great and precious promises. Let the Epicure be wanton, and the Atheist pro∣fane, * 1.12 and the Philosopher vain glorious. Let them perish to whom the Gospel is hid. But let Christians imitate their Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus; and as he was crucified for us, so let us crucifie our selves, even our lusts and affections, that we may receive him, and not receive him in vain; but as we receive him here, and with him his Grace, his Gospel, his glorious Promises, so we may receive him at the last day, when he shall come to judge the quick and the dead according to this Gospel, and with him glory, im∣mortality, and eternal life.

Notes

• * 1.1

  2 Tim. 2. 4.
• * 1.2

  Acts 7. 51.
• * 1.3

  1 Cor. 12.
• * 1.4

  •• Pet. 1. 4.
• * 1.5

  Gal. 4. 19.
• * 1.6

  2 Cor. ••. 16.
• * 1.7

  2 Tit 2. 11.
• * 1.8

  Jam. 2. 8.
• * 1.9

  Gal. 2. 21.
• * 1.10

  Ephes. 2. 8, 9.
• * 1.11

  Rom. 3. 24.
• * 1.12

  2 Pet. 1. 4.