MY Text is the beginning of a Sermon, endited by Him, who at his Ascension inspired the Holy Ghost, preached by that great Apostle & glorious Mar­tyr of Iesus Christ S^t Peter, deli­vered at Caesarea a garison town by the Sea-coast of Palaestina, occasioned by the strange and wonderfull conversi­on of Cornelius an Italian Centurion; and is an Evan­gelicall Speech, well suiting so blest an occasion, so divine a Speaker. Wherein I obserue,

1 The Speaker of the Speech; Peter.

2 The Maner of his Speech; which was, not by letters, but by words, not by writing, but by preaching, not by substitution or deputation, but by teaching himselfe in his owne person.

[Page 2] 3 The truth of his Speech, and asseveration thereof; [...], In veritate comperio.

4 His confidency, and apodeicticall knowledge of what he taught; [...], I plainely perceaue, or, am constantly perswaded.

5 The Speech it selfe; God is no accepter of persons, &c. Wherein we may see (as in the Vision of the Prophet Ezechiel) rotam in rotâ, two propositions, one linked within the other, which cary with them much weight, and a glorious lustre of God's vnparti­all Iustice and Majesty.

The first is negatiue and generall; God is no accep­ter, &c.

The second is affirmatiue, with a particular excep­tion out of the generall negatiue. But in every nati­on, &c.

In the first God's Iustice overpoiseth his Mercy: in the second his Mercy is transcendent over his Iustice. In the first hee appeares a terrible Iudge to spare none: in the second a mercifull Father to spare all, that feare him, and worke righteousnes. For they are ac­cepted of him, not by merit, but by favour, not by workes, ex condigno, but by mercy, and ex dono. These are the parts of my Text; of which in their order.

Peter] What Christ elsewhere promised here hee performed, & makes a poore Fisher-man, to become a fisher of men. The Sea wherin he fished is the Oceā of this World, swelling with pride, livid and blew with envy, boiling with wrath, deepe with covetousnes, foa­ming with luxury, swallowing all by oppression, dange­rous [Page 3] for rockes of presumption and desperation, rising with waues of passion, ebbing and flowing with incon­stancie, and last of all, Mare amarum, bitter with all kind of misery. The chiefe fish, which at this time came to his net, was Cornelius an Italian Centurion, and with him many other Gentiles. The Net, wherewith he fi­shed and caught him and them, was the glad tidings of the Gospell, and Faith in Iesus Christ: which is com­pared in Scripture to a Net, and consisteth of manic Articles, as a Net of many threds. The casting of this net, was the vnfolding of the Word: Then Peter opened his mouth. The plummets that keepe such downe, as are taken in the Net, from presumptiō, are the threatnings of the Law, and the severe Iustice of God: God is no ac­cepter of persons. The Corkes, that beare them vp in all the surges of this world, that they sinke not downe into the depth of despaire, are the promises of the Gos­pell, and the sweete mercies of Almighty God: But in every nation, &c.

This great Fisher of men S^t Peter, was naturâ Ho­mo, gratiâ Christianus, abundantiore gratiâ vnus idem (que) primus Apostolus. He was by nature, saith S^t Austin, but a man, by grace a Christian man, by abundant grace not only one, but a cheife Apostle. He was the first, that confessed Christ to bee consubstantiall with his Father; he was the first, that preacht Christ; the first, that bapti­zeà in his name; and stil the forwardst man, in the ex­ecution of his Apostoli (que) function. He was with Christ, whil'st he liu'd on earth most familiar & conversant, with his secret counsailes best acquainted, most ob­servant [Page 4] of his words and precepts: and because, saith Cyprian, vnit as ab exordio dependet, to preserue order & to avoid schisme amongst the guides of the Church, he was by Christ set before the rest, vnto whom all the rest of the same ranke and order in religious mat­ters of importāce should haue recourse, as to a persō more honorable then the rest. Iohn indeed was that Apostle, whom Christ lou'd aboue the rest; but S^t Pe­ter was he, that lou'd Christ, more then Iohn or any of the Apostles. Ille melior qui plus diligit Christum; il­lefeiicior, quem plus diligit Christus. In that S. Iohn was best belou'd of Christ, he was the happier man; but in that S. Peter lou'd Christ better then they all, he was the better man. Better, not in commission, but in place, and order; he was before him or the rest, not aboue him or any of the rest; he was a chiefe Pecre of the Apo­stles, not their Prince; he was in order their Superiour, not their Soueraigne; he had a Primacy amongst them not a Supremacy ouer them; he was not [...], but [...], not a prince of the Apostles, but a fellow Elder, as he himselfe termes himselfe, 1. Pet. 5. 1.

There is, saith Almaine (in his Tracte de Potestate Ecclesiasticâ) a double Primacy; there is Primatus Ordi­nis, and Primatus Iurisdictionis, a Primacy of Order, & a Primacy of Power and Iurisdictiō; the former is pro­perly Primatus, the other Potestas. The first wee yeeld vnto Peter, & giue him [...], the first place, the first and best imployment, the sitting and speaking first, the moderation & direction of other mens spee­ches, [Page 5] the publishing and pronouncing of the Conclusi­on agreed vpon by the Synode of the Apostles: but Primatum Potestatis, a power to doe any ministeriall Act, which another hath not, a power to restraine o­thers in the performance of their Acts of Ministery, such a Primacy wee denie vnto Peter; th' Apostles all being, (as Cyprian saith) pari consortio praediti Potesta­tis, all ioynt Commissioners endued with equal pow­er. This Primacy of Order, which wee ascribe vnto Pe­ter, is the originall of all the Superioritie, that Arch­bishops & Metropolitans haue over the Bishops of their Provinces; and the foundation, vpon which is built all the fabricke of Ecclesiasticke discipline, whereby the vnitie of the Church at this day remaines preser­ved.

If I were to dispute with a Papist, I would not be so troublesome vnto him, as to cause him to proue that Peter was ever at Rome, that hee sate Bishop there, that he died there, or that the Pope is his lineall Succes­sour, (which some of our Divines haue denied; and to proue them all, it is impossible) but yeelding that, yet tanquam datum, non concessum, nothing thence can be inferd, for the support of the Romane Suprema­cie, more then may be concluded for the Sea of Anti­och, or the Bishop of Ierusalem. For at Antioch Peter first sate Bishop, & afterwards gouerned it by Evodi­us; at Antioch the Professours of the Gospell were first called Christians, and the place [...], the City of God. And if S^t Peter's death, or Martyrdome, could adde such Soveraigntie to the place, where hee died; [Page 6] then much juster claime may be laide to this Supremacie by the Bishop of Ierusalem, because Christ the great Pastor and Bishop of our soules did there suffer death for the Redemption of vniversall man. But nor the one, nor the other, is a sufficient foundation to raise vp this Edifice of the Popish Hierarchie. The Cō ­mission given to Peter was not singular, but to others common with him: the rest of the Apostles were au­thorized, as well as he, and that immediately from Christ; their preheminence of binding and loosing as ample; and as Christ was sent by his Father, so sent he them, & what he said to one, he said to all, Pasce oves, Feed my sheepe. For it was a thing in the Evangelicall story with Christ vsual, sometimes to direct his speech to one private man, and no more, as Arise and walke, Lazarus come forth; sometimes to direct his speech to one in the person of al, as Vade & noli ampliùs peccare, Goe and sinne no more, and to Peter, Pasce oves; Nam quod dicitur Petro, dicitur omnibus; What was said to Pe­ter, was said to all the Apostles, saith Austin, cap. 30. de Agone Christiano. Now the reasons, why Christ dire­cted his speech to Peter in the behalfe of them all, were these; vel quia aetate senior, vel charitate ardenti­or, velne videretur reliquis abiectior, quia negaver at Christum, saith Occham lib. 4. Dial. 1. Tract. 3. part. c. 3. Either because he was more ancient, or in charitie more ardent, then the rest, or else lest he should seeme to bee despised for the denyall of his Master. But the Pope (the pretended Successour of this Peter) will not content himselfe with this Prioritie; he will not only [Page 7] haue a Cheiftie of Order, but of command, and Power: and because (in all likelyhood) Christ would haue his Church gouerned in the best forme of regiment that is, and that of all States the Monarchie is best; hence Sanders, and after him Bellarmine lay it downe for a Praecognitum, that the Government of the Church must needs be Monarchicall; that this was committed vnto Peter, and continued in his Successours; whereby his Power is become illimited, his Iudgement infallible, and hee an Vniversall Bishop, whose Diocese is the whole World. The truth of this State-Maxime, on which they build the Pope so high a Throne, I will not dispute; but keepe my selfe within the sphaere of mine owne Pro­fession; and, for an vncontroll'd Answere to them all, adde that limitation, which I finde in the fore-cited Occham (3. Part. Dial. l. 3. Tr. 1. c. 30.) Status Monarchicus est omnium optimus populo simul moranti, non autem v­ni populo comprehendenti plures populos locis distantibus. That Government is best, where one beares Sove­raigntie, not many, but so, that it be over but one na­tion, & not manie, or if over many, yet not farre dis­joyned. Which limitatiō of Occham's I find strength­ned with the authoritie of great S^t Austin (lib. 4. de Civ. D. c. 15.) Feliciores essent res humanae, si omnia reg­na essent parva, & concordi vicinitate laetantia. The estate of worldly things would bee much more happy, if the whole world were divided out into small King­domes, then if all should be sway'd by one supreme Com­mander. That forme therefore of Gouernement is not so expedient for the whole, as for each part, for large [Page 8] and disioyned Circuits, as for narrow bounds: and as it is impossible for one temporall Monarch to weeld the Empire of the whole world, either long, or well, so much more impossible it is for one man to manage all Ecclesiastique affaires and dispatch the weighty busi­nesses of the Vniversall Church. Better therefore were it for Peter, or his Successours, to bee (as S^t Austin tearmes him Tract. 13. in Ioh.) Oculus in corpore, an Eye of the Church, then to be so vast a Head of a body so farre dissevered: lest that bee applied vnto him in the Comedy, Hic quidem fungino genere est, capite se totum tegit; The Church of Rome is become a mushrome, or like a Toad-stoole, all Head, and no bodie.

Yet hath the sweet desire of Ambition so enchan­ted the Chaire of the Scarlet Whore, that rather, then the Pope will loose this eminent Soveraigntie and command, he will become the Patrone and maintai­ner of most enormous offenders and their offences, thereby to procure support of his Antichristian Primacy. For the best stake in the Pope's hedge is his owne Authority, to maintaine his owne Infallibilitie, and is now become stript of all, saue the naked De­crees of Canonists, and the Dreames of wel-fed Monks: to which had he not of late annexed an omnipotent Power of Binding, and Loosing, of Approuing, and Dis­pensing with things repugnant to all Laws as wel Na­turall as Divine; I might by way of prediction say of the Pope's Arrogancie, that, which was said to the Tro­ians of the Grecian Horse,—haec in vestros fabricata est Machina muros; The Pope's Supremacy had long since [Page 9] beene the destruction of him, his Sea, and City. Hee is but a child and ignorant in the Histories of his owne times, that doth not know, that the cheefest proppe, whereon the Pope stands, and at this houre is sustai­ned, is his correspondency with the Spanish King, and the House of Austria; which hee first procured and now maintaineth by his dispensing and warranting of his incestuous and vnlawfull Mariages. So that if the Spaniard should revolt from the Sea of Rome, the Le­gitimation of his Successours would be questioned & his Signiories endangered. Which is the only reason of the consistencie of the Papacie, claimed vnder the title of S. Peter, which otherwise had ere this not beene at all, or else reduced into a narrowe Diocese.

Opened his mouth] S. Peter spake not rashly, or with­out meditation making his words to breake the pri­son of his lips, before the doore of his mouth was ope­ned; but he taketh the keyes of knowledge and Medita­tion in hand, and therewith opened his mouth, and then spake. When I mused (saith David) there was a fire kind­led, and then I spake. What was this Musing, but his Meditation? What was this fire, but the light of God's Spirit? What was the kindling therof, but the inflam­mation of his affections? that so he might speake Igni­ta Dei eloquia, with a tongue toucht with a cole of Me­ditation from Gods holy Altar.

For by opening of the mouth in this place is not to be vnderstood a bare dissevering of the lips, but a pre­paration of the heart, out of the abundance of which the tongue should speake, and is indeed a pleonasme, [Page 10] or redūdancy of the Hebrew tongue, signifying to be­gin to speak after long silence with Religiō; & in this sense our Church Liturgy prayeth, O Lord open thou our Lips. So that, as Moses first spake with God, before he spake to the people: so S^t Peter first speaketh with God's Spirit by Meditation, before hee delivered to Cornelius this Sermon, which is the subject of my Discourse. The greatest perfection of a man is his Wisedome, and the best herald to proclaime his wise­dome is his Speech, and the richest treasure to adorne his speach is Meditation. Meditatio est quasi mentis ditatio, (saith Bernard) it is the enriching of the soule with the treasures of Wisedome: nay it is the chew­ing of the food of the Soule, which maketh it taste sweeter in the mouth, & digest better in the stomack; and you know those beasts, that chewed not the cudde, are reckoned among the vncleane beasts in the Arke. I know no greater difference betweene a wise man and a foole, then that one speaketh all things rashly, the other all things maturely and advisedly: the one hath his tongue in his heart, the other hath his heart in his tongue, as the Wise man speaketh. For want of which serious consideration, of the Majestie of the person, of whom they speake, and of the holynes of the place, wherein they speake; many bold and vnworthy speakers, contrary to the Law both of God and the Church, start vp into the Pulpit, and being dull and heavy bodies, contrary to the Law of Nature, they ascend vp to fill a vacuitie. These empty vessels make the greatest sound in many places of this City; and [Page 11] like Vessels fill'd with new wine, they wil rather break then not vent, though it be but their owne Emptines and Ignorance; their words are full of winde, and like Aeolus Windes,

Their mouth, like the Cocke of a Conduit-pipe, if it be but once opened, will run out two Howre-glas­ses, and that twise or thrise a weeke. Before Ezechiel could haue his Commission to speake to the people, he was enioined, not to touch, to open, or to put in­to his mouth, but to eate the roule, Ezech. 3. 1. and to receiue the wordes into his heart, Ezech. 3. 10; but these men never doe so much as touch the Roule, or o­pen the booke. They ran from the Seminaries of lear­ning, like Lapwings from their nests, with their shels vpon their heads: the portion of learning they brought with them was like the bread & wine of the Gibeonites; their bread was hot that day they departed, & therefore it was moulded and dry; & their bottels because they were new, were rent, Iosh. 9. 13. These men need ne­ver feare to bee taken for Mercury with S^t Paule, be­cause they seeke to vent their wares by number, ne­ver weighing them. Of these too hasty Pulpit men S^t Bernard saith wittyly, Quia nimis properè, minùs pro­sperè rem peragunt.

When the Materiall Temple was built, there was not so much as the noise of a hammer heard there, all things were so prepared before: but in the building of the Immateriall Temple of God, and edifying of mens soules in the faith of Christ, whose Temples we are, there [Page 17] is oft times amongst these extemporary preachers, (who never prepare what to speake, but onely to open the mouth and speake) such a stammering and hamme­ring of words, such a rude noise of jarrings in sense, and construction; that I hold it farre better for the Church they shoulde looke grauely and say nothing, then make so many shallow, frivolous, inconse­quent discourses. And so I come from his Maner of speech, to his asseveration; which is, In truth.]

He was the Legate of the God of truth, the Apostle of him, in whose mouth there was found no guile; and being by Cornelius required to speak only that which God had commanded, (as it is in the verse before my text) he could not but speake the truth; and therefore doth adorne the forefront of his speech with this [...], Of a truth. This is the insoluble bond of A­mity, the safest refuge of Innocency, the surest warrant of Fidelity, the strongest sinew of humane Societie, the authenticall evidence of Iustice, the ensigne of Chri­stianity, the soveraigne influence of God, nay it is God himselfe, for God is truth.

Detestable therefore and more then Diabolicall is their doctrine and practise, who straine, and weaken this sinew, which holdeth peace and society together; who cancell this bond, which being made in earth is registred in the high court of heaven, subscribed and signed by God himselfe; who either vntie this ever­lasting knot of truth by cunning Aequivocation, or cut it asunder by Papall Dispensation. How can wee better argue, that the Pope is not Peters Successour, at [Page 13] least in doctrine, then by vrging this one argument here in my text? Peter beginnes his Plat-forme of speech, Of a truth: but the Pope adviseth his Disciples oft times in their speech to vse a Mentall Reservation, which is in plaine tearmes a Lye; and so to begin their speech, not with S^t Peter, Of a truth, but Of a lye. How could wee demonstrate the Pope to bee the man that exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God, if hee sate not in the Temple of God, as Iudge of God's law, nay as God of GOD himselfe; whose commands he controles, by adding to, taking from, and dispensing with them. Far be it therefore from vs to hold with him that breakes with God himselfe; to joine with them in truth of doctrine, that maintaine Equivoca­ting and forswearing; to partake of that Religion, which taketh away all religious obligation. Is that the faith of a Christian, which alloweth, and in some cases commendeth Perfidio usnesse, and vnnaturall trea­sons? Can their doctrine be truth, qui dogmatizant mendacium, who make an equivocating lye a doctrine, and that they may verifie this their lye, belie the truth it selfe, and make IESVS himselfe (I tremble to speake it) to become a Iesuite? teaching by many ar­guments, that Christ himselfe vsed this kinde of Equi­vocation, both vnto the High Prtest, and his Disciples, and that all his speeches were not like vnto this of Peter's, Of a truth.

Of all beasts we haue those in greatest detestatiō, which devour their own young. What are our Words [Page 14] & Promises, what are our Oaths, & Vowes, but the issue of our mind, which they that resume, and recall, what doe they else, but devoure and eate their owne of­spring? The first that brake this bond of truth in earth was the Divell Gē. 3. whose scholers they shew themselues, who teach, that Oathes, Vowes, and Promi­ses of truth are better broken then kept with Heretikes, & that they may lawfully violate them at their plea­sure; as Iulius 2. was not ashamed openly to pro­fesse, fides danda omnibus, servanda nemini. And of this profession was Alex. 6. and his son Borgias, of whom it is reported that the one would never speake what he meant to doe, nor the other ever doe, what hee spake. These were two of the greatest mōsters which nature ever yet produced. For what monster can there be in nature more prodigious, then a Liar, or E­quivocator, whose speech is not Of a truth? All other creatures in the world bring forth the same issue, which they conceaue; but a Lyar, or Equivocator brin­geth forth of his mouth, that which hee conceaueth not, or rather a contrary issue to that which he con­ceaueth. He conceaueth, or rather concealeth, the truth, and bringeth forth a lye, and so the issue of his mouth is contrary to the conception of his heart. The hea­then Philosopher Zeno rather then hee would be the Father to beger, or suffer his tongue to bee the Mo­ther to bring forth such a monster, bit of his tongue, and spit it in the face of the king of Cypres, who had a long time tortured him to tell a Lie. Pliny in his 37. Booke of Naturall History reporteth, that if a perjured [Page 15] person dip hand or foot into the river Olachas in Bi­thynia, hee feeleth as great torments, as if he were throwne into a fornace of melting lead. And Solinus seconds this relation with the like of a river in Sardi­nia, Periuros furto facto, quos lumine coecat.

And Philostratus telleth as strange a miracle of a ri­ver neere Tyara; in which, if a perfidious person, that hath forsworne himselfe, doe but bath, the water sin­keth into all parts of his body, and breedeth an incu­rable dropsie. But alas! what is Olachas in Bithynia, or any river in the earth, to that River of Brimstone in hel which boyles with a continuall fire, and much wood? In which, without long and bitter repentance they shall boyle for ever, who make no conscience of ma­king a lye, & breaking the truth. Great surely are the tortures, which Dives, and with him all the damned doe, and must suffer in hell; yet no part of Dives body was so much tortured, as his Tongue. He was prowd, and clad in fine linnen; hee was a Glutton, and fared deliciously every day, and therefore in all likelyhood a wanton too, Nam epulas comitatur voluptas; he was vncharitable to the poore, and denied Lazarus the crums that fell from his table: yet none of these sins were punished so severely as the sins hee committed with his tongue. Ex poena indicat culpā, quia illud mem­brum maximè omniū puniebatur; they are S^t Gregories words l. 1. Mor. c. 5. and may teach vs to put a watche before our lips, & to make a conscience of breaking the truth, which should be the cognizance of euery Christiā mans speech; as here it is placed in the fronti­spice [Page 16] of S^t Peters, Of a truth.

I Perceaue] S^t Peter was not till this time ignorant of God's vnpartiall Iustice to vniversal man; but now he doth see that truth cōfirmed in particulars, which before he knewe in generall; hee knewe it before, and now his knowledge was by a sensible probatiō more confirmed. Iob in his prosperity knewe, that God would not punish the innocent, yet hee would never acknowledge so much, till he had a sensible experience of it, Iob, 9. 28. The sincere affection, and filiall obe­dience of Abraham to God, could not bee hid from God himselfe, yet there was no evidence of it expres­sed by God, till he refused not to sacrifice his Sonne. Gen. 22. 12. And although the Apostle before this time had a notion of this truth, which here hee preacheth; yet a manifest & experimentall overture he never lear­ned, till he saw the gate of the Church now opened to the Gentiles also. The Mistresse of truth is Experiēce, & the best knowledge hath it's assurance frō particulars. By a Generall knowledge we know, as he that had bin blind saw, confusedly, Men like trees: but by a collection of Particulars which are obvious to the sense (especi­ally in matters practike, & morall) our mind rests as­sured without hesitation. The one I may call Notitia, th' other Fiducia, the one resides in the vnderstanding th' other in the will, th' one is Theoricall, th' other Pra­cticall, the one consists in General notions, the other in Particular Experiments; the one is [...], the other [...], by the one wee may knowe Good from Bad, by the other Better from Good. In the knowledge there­fore [Page 17] of divine verities we must not cōtent our selues with the first operations of the Spirit, which are but generall, but we must striue for particular directions, and assurances; we must not only haue our harts dis­posed, but informed; not only ploughed vp, but sow­en. For as all other Sciences and Professions must needs savour of much rawnesse and imperfection, if they be studied only in passage, [...], to gaine popular estimation, or to content the state in which we liue: So, & much more, is it with religious know­ledge, if a man professe it only with relation, and fa­shion superficially, not syncerely, and exactly.

For though that a weake faith and confused know­ledge of Divine things be of that admirable and wor­king nature, that the very least corne and graine of it, is able to effect the salvation of him in whom it is, & to lift him vp to heaven, were he as grosse and heavy as a mountaine: yet neverthelesse this must not con­tent a Christian man; but hee must make a continuall progresse from faith to faith, from knowledge to knowledge, till at length he be not only able in grosse to knowe, but evidently to perceaue the mysteries of religion and properties of God himselfe; whereof this is one, [...], that hee is No accep­ter of persons.]

God is an agent infinite, whose will is nothing else, but Deus volens, as S^t Austin saith, essentially God himselfe, without whom there is no mouing or effi­cient cause of his operations: but his will is a law to himselfe, and to all things else whatsoever, & the on­ly [Page 18] cause of what, and why he worketh. It was his plea­sure to create this goodly fabricke of the world wee see in time, and not before. It was his pleasure to per­mit the lapse of the first created man, and his posteri­tie, and being fallen, to sequester out of the corrupt­ed masse some few, to bee the inheritors of his king­dome, and to leaue the major part in their deserved perdition. Beyond his pleasure to make a Quaere of his actions were saucie curiositie, and yet to thinke his will to be without reason were indigne blasphe­my. It is not the prescience of faith, or prevision of workes, that can moue the will of God, to choose one, and refuse the other, because they are not, (saith Aquinas part. 1. q. 23. a. 4.) the cause, but the effects of Gods loue. Praedestinatio est gratiae praeparatio, gratia verò praedestinationis effectus. Aug. c. 10. de praedestina­tione sanctorū. Predestinatiō is the harbinger of grace and grace the effect of Gods loue. He first created all things, and then saw they were good: the foresight of their goodnesse was no inducement to the worke of their creation, but his creation gaue them this e­loge, Quaecun (que) fecit erant valdè bona. God chooseth none, because they are good, but men are good, be­cause they are chosen. Gratia Dei non invenit eligēdos, sed facit. Therefore S^t Paul (saith Austin) compared together the sonnes of Isaac, twins, vno etiam concu­bitu fusos in vtero, both yet vnborne, neither of them hauing done well or ill; Quod referendum est (saith the same Father) non ad dispensatoris iniustitiam, sed ad do­nantis misericordiam; which wee must not impute to [Page 19] Gods Iniustice, or partialitie, but to his good will and pleasure: which must be the last resolution of our inqui­ries; and whatsoever the event is, we must still say, as our Saviour did, Mat. 11. 25. Naepater, quia sic placuit tibi; Even so father, for it seemed good in thy sight. Could the master of the vineyard say, Annon possum facere de meo, quod volo? Is it not lawfull for me to doe with my owne, what I will? And shall wee deny to God the supreme cause of all things, the free dispo­sition of any thing after his pleasure? Whose will is not only iust and full of equitie, but, as S^t Basil calls it, [...], the very oracle and rule of iustice, who doth make things iust and right, because he wils them. There is no man reiected by God without iust cause and demerit, nor any saved but by his mercy & free pleasure. Now if it be asked, why God should thus be an accepter of persōs, & affoord this mercy to some, and not to all: we must with a religious ignorance cō ­tent our selues, and stand amazed at the secret and in­explicable greatnesse of God, and satisfie our selues with this, [...], it was his pleasure so to dispose of his kingdome. This is the Nonvltrà, be­yond which wee must not wade, but hither being come, wee must make a stand, and with the blessed Apostle cry out, O altitudo divitiarum! O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God! how vnsearchable are his iudgements, and his waies past fin­ding out! Rom. 11. 33.

But here we may not be so injurious to the Deitie, as to conceaue God in his Decrees to be tyrannicall, as to say, [Page 20] ‘Sic volo, sic iubeo, stat pro ratione voluntas;’ or that the will of God is moued [...], without rea­son: for although neither beautie of face, feature of body, honourable descent, wisdome, and the endow­ments of the mind, or any thing else without God, cā moue his will to Election, or make him to accept of one person before another; yet is there never wan­ting a most iust cause, and sufficient reason of his pur­poses and Decrees. For although God worketh all things according to his will and pleasure; yet whatsoe­ver he doth, he doth it [...] with counsell and wise resolution. Eph. 1. 11. God doth order all things sweetly and profitably. Sap. 8. 1. Omnia fecisti in sapientiâ Domi­ne. In wisdome hast thou done all thy workes ô God, Ps. 104. 24. And shall wee thinke that this wise-crea­ting God, who made all things for his glory, should without some proper reason determine of any thing which hee hath made? The doctrine therefore of S^t Peter in my Text remaines still true, & as firme as hea­ven, [...], God is no accepter of persons: because when hee determineth any thing hee hath a sufficient reason, besides his VVill and Pleasure to doe what he doth. Which reason (saith the divine Author of the Ecclesiastical Policie) because we are not worthy or, able to apprehend, we must humbly & meckely adore. This secret and vnknown reason of Gods purposes is like himselfe, Eternall, before the foundations of the world were layd, and hath so effectually moved his VVill, that now it can admit of no change or variati­on. That which God hath decreed, must still bee like [Page 21] God, without change, who can as well deny himselfe to be God, as not performe, what hee hath defined. Whom he loues, he loues vnto the end; & to whom he giues the earnest of his spirit, they haue a continual feeling in some measure more or lesse, of his gracious presence. For the loue of God, it is not [...] va­riable like the gifts of temporall men, which may bee granted to day and reversed to morrow, with a Non obstante priore concessione: but the loue of God and the gifts of his holy Spirit they are [...], and stand for ever without change, Rom. 11. 29. He is Triumpha­tor Israëlis, the glory and strength of Israel, and will neither lie nor repent, nor yet can hee in the meane time be tearmed injurious to any, or an accepter of persons (as Pelagius prophanely somtime did object:) because God in giuing his grace to some and denying it to others doth not proceed (sairh Alex-Hales) iuxta dignitatem humanam, sed secundùm dignationem divi­nam, it is a donation of bounty, not a dotation accor­ding to the rules of Iustice. As God is in heaven, so should Gods Vicegerents bee in earth; as they sit in his chaire, so should they walke in his paths of Iustice. They should without respect of persons, as well heare the cause of poore Bartimaeus, as rich Zachaeus, as well the small, as the great, Deut. 1. 17. Their eies must al­waies be shut, that they be not drawn by favour, their eares alwaies open, that they may heare both parties indifferently, & their hands must be fast clinched vp, least otherwise they be corrupted with bribes, quae ex­coecant prudentes, & subvertunt verba iustorum, which [Page 22] blind the wise, and subvert the words of the righte­ous, Exod. 23. 8. It was a provident law enacted in the time of Rich. 2. and afterwardes revived in the daies of the last Henry (and woulde God till this day it had still beene continued without violation) that no Iustice of Assize should ride his Circuit in that coun­try, where either he was borne, or did liue: that being vnknowne to all, they might accept of the persons of none, but be indifferent vnto al; that so they might the more freely administer justice, and the more liue­ly represent him, whose deputy Lieutenants they are; in being merciful, as he is mercifull, holy, as he is holie, no respecters of persons, because with God there is no respect of persons.

But in every nation] Cornelius an alien from the cō ­mon wealth of Israel is accepted with God, as well as Peter borne among God's owne people, and trained vp in Christs owne schoole; the poore Leper a Iew, as well as the rich Centurion that built his nation a Syna­gogue; as well old Simeon in the temple, as young Iohn in the womb; as wel those that watcht him vnder the Crosse, as the Theefe that hung with him on the Crosse: for in Christ there is neither Iew nor Grecian, neither bond nor free, Gal. 3. 28. but he that is Lord o­ver all, is rich vnto all, not onely to some of all nations, but to all of all nations, that feare him and worke righte­ousnes. And if any man be not accepted of him, the fault is not in the sufficiencie of God's grace, but in the defect of efficiencie in vs. Wherevpon saith Cal­vine Com. in 10. Act. v. 33. the words before my text, [Page 23] Maceriâ i am dirutâ, Deus aequali amore omnes gentes complexus est; the partition Wall being now broken downe, God embraceth all nations with an equall loue. For the will of God toward, mankinde is (if I may so speake) Orbicular, environing vniversall man, with Mercies and Iudgements, with Salvation, and Damnation: if with repentaunce and workes of righte­ousnesse we turne to the right hand, we shall finde a Mercifull Father, and be accepted of him; but if we re­maine obdurate in our sin, and turne to the left hand, we shall see an Angry Iudge and rue the punishments of his wrath. Which change and alteration is in vs, not in God; God doth not bow to man, but man doth come to God; nor doth God leaue any man of any na­tion, but man doth revolt frō his Creatour. Not onely the Schooles, but Expositors both Orthodoxe & Romish, stand at this day much distracted, with a diversity, or at least a divers conceit of the Will of God; of his An­tecedent, and Consequent, Hidden and Revealed will, of his Absolute, and Conditionall Will: whereas to speake properly, Gods Wil is one and the same, nor can he be said to haue two VVils, no more then to haue two Wise­domes, two Mercies, two Goodnesses, or a diversity of other his Essentiall Attributes. But as the Wisedome of God (to instance in that Attribute) is by S^t Paule tearmed [...], Eph. 3. 10. which some render Multiformis, others Multis modis varia, and our Eng­lish Manifold; which is yet but one: so the Will of God being one and the same in it selfe, may yet in respect of vs, and the diverse effectes thereof, bee tearmed [Page 24] [...], Manifold, and Divers. The ground of all these Distinctions is taken out of Damascene, and by Damascene out of Chrysostome, Hom. 1. in Epist. ad Eph. There is in God (saith hee) a two-fold VVill, [...]. There is in God a two­fold Will, a First and a Second; the first and principall will of God doth immediately proceede from God himselfe, whereby hee desireth to doe good vnto all, [...], & it is Voluntas simplicis com­placentiae, and may be tearmed Voluntas benefaciendi. His secondary will doth proceede from contingent causes without God, and is occasioned by vs, and it may be tearmed Voluntas Iustitiae, which doth arise from our sinnes, which God cannot but put in execution without prejudice to his Iustice. The first is the Will of God, wherein he taketh delight and pleasure, and is by the same Father tearmed [...] the principall will of God. That which hath beene spo­ken I thus bring home to my text. That it is the Will of God to leaue many of most nations in the corrupt masse of perdition, I well know: but that it is his prin­cipall VVill, his [...], or Voluntas simplicis complacen­tiae, to decree the absolute reprobatiō of any man of any nation, I vtterly deny. Deus non est priùs vltor, quàm ho­mo est peccator, saith Aug. ep. 105. Man deserues his punishment, before he hath it, & God makes no man a reprobate without just cause. The word Reprobation or Reprobate is in Scripture seldome vsed to this pur­pose, & the Greeke word [...] will hardly cary it, [Page 25] signifying as well Improbus, or Reprehensione dignus, as a Reprobate, and therefore should bee vsed more spa­ringly, and not so absolutely determined of. In the Fathers the opposite to Predestination to life eternal is Predestination to a second death; and to Election to grace, they oppose Dereliction in the Masse of perdi­tion, seldome Reprobation. In those parts of S^t Austin, which I haue read, I never met with the word Repro­bus as opposite to Elect, but once; & whosoever hath spent most houres in reading the works of that Iudi­cious Father, did never in that sense read it twise. I wil end this point (because I haue St Maries in Oxon. elsewhere spokē of it more at large) with that of the Prophet, Perditio tua ex te ô Israel; there is no man of any natiō that fals, but by his owne iniquitie. Stygias vltrò quaerimus vndas, we ferry our selues over vnto hell: and like the Ostrich in Pliny, Proprijs configimur pennis, wee pricke our selues with our owne feathers, & like desperate Marriners cause those ships to leake which should cary vs safe to the fortunate port of heauen.

He that feareth him] Feare is defined by the great Master of Art Aristotle, l. 2. Rhet. c. 11. to bee nothing else, but a perturbation of the mind through an opini­on of some imminent danger, threatning, if not the destruction, yet the annoyance of our nature, which to shunne it doth contract and deiect it selfe. For as the ob­iect of Hope is Bonum, something that is Good, so the obiect of Feare, Hopes opposite, must needs be Ma­lum, something being or apprehended to bee Evill. Yet not every evill, but [...], such an evil as threat­neth [Page 26] vs with destruction or vexation, and that such as we haue no abilitie to resist, nor yet are vtterly disena­bled to avoid. To feare that which we know our selues able to withstand were cowardise; to withstand that, which we knowe our selues vnable to differ or eschew, were extreame folly. The proper obiect therefore of Feare, is an Evill in our perswasion vnresistable when it comes, yet not vtterly impossible for a time, either in whole or in part, to be declined. [...]: Feare alwaies, saith the same Aristotle, hath some hope of escape annexed, & therefore doth cause vs to consult and deliberate; which in matters past hope to doe were meere madnesse. Neither doth our na­ture much shrinke and deiect it selfe, at such evils, except they be at the doore, ready to enter in & rush vpō vs, or hanging over our heads ready to oppresse vs. [...], dangers out of sight are sel­dome feared, nor, if they be neere, do we feare them ex­cept we thinke them to be neere. There is no man li­uing but is assured, that once hee must pay the tribute due vnto nature, Death: but because most men put death è longinquo, farre from them, and the eldest mā that is, doth thinke hee may liue yet, yet a day longer, there is nothing in time of health lesse thought on thē sicknesse, and throughout the whole course of our life lesse feared then death.

But when we apprehend a thing nociue, as nociue, a danger as a danger, ready at hand, for to assault vs; then doth our dastard bloud retire to the fountaine of heate, and what we cannot forcibly withstand, that we [Page 27] seeke warily to decline. Which eschewing of evill be­ing a thing naturall, and ingrafted in the heart of eve­ry man, as he is a man, is in it selfe neither good nor bad, but good or bad according to the cause for which, or the measure by which it is entertained. Now because in diverse Texts of Scripture we read this passion of Feare commended and enioyned, and else where forbid­den and reprooued: to reconcile this seeming opposi­tion, we must knowe, that on the one side is commen­ded a godly and religious feare, on the other is reproued a diffident and perplexed feare; the one is a remedie a­gainst desperation, the other against presumption; the one against diffidencie, the other against securitie; the one reprooues an anxious torturing feare, which is without hope, the other commends a cautelous and sol­licitous feare, in every man that stands, to take heed, lest he fall.

And if here any Auditour should demand, how God can be feared, being not only good, but essentially Goodnesse it selfe; and that nothing can bee feared but that which is evill or apprehended so to be? I answere with Aquinas 2^a. 2. q. 19. a. 1. that as hope hath it's double obiect, the one the good we pursue in expecta­tion, and the other the auxiliarie helpe, by which wee hope to obtaine this good: so feare hath it's double ob­iect, the one is the evill which it eschewes and dreads, the other is something from which this evill may pro­ceed. Now although God everlasting and blest for e­ver, cannot in the first sense be said to bee feared, or to be the obiect of feare; yet in the second he may. For [Page 28] although he be goodnesse it selfe, yet something may be feared to proceed from him, which is evill; evill, not in it's owne nature, but evil in respect of him that feares; which is indeed malum poenae, not culpae, an evill of pu­nishment, not of offence.

And for our direction in this point, giue me leaue to note vnto you (out of Aquinas) a fourefold feare, A Naturall, a Worldly, a Servile, and a Filiall feare. A naturall feare is nothing else but a providēt shunning of those dangers and mischeefes, with which wee are not able to encounter. Which passion is entayled to all the sonnes of Adam, and made hereditary; nor from it was our Saviour himselfe freed, but as hee was a man he feared, and therefore prayed, and that often, Father, if it be possible, let this cup passe from me.

The second is a worldly feare, when, for the safety of things temporall, we sticke not to admit of things excluding from eternall; when we more feare them, that can kill the body only, then him that can cast both body and soule into eternall fire; when we startle at the least bluster of persecution, when wee contract our selues at the touch of a pins point, being ready at the least assault to leaue Christ for the loue of the world.

The servile feare is a slavish dread of the iudgements of God, and his punishments for sinne; when not for the loue of heaven, but for feare of hell, we retaine our selues within the circle of Gods Commandements.

The last & best feare, is a filial, chast, & loving feare, when we feare to commit sinne, because it is sinne, & doe embrace vertue, as it is vertue; cùm non delectaret [Page 29] iniquitas, quamvis proponeretur impunitas, saith Am­brose. Which feare is proper to Christs flocke; which who so hath is accepted with God and may bee assured to liue for ever. S^t Austin in his 120. Epist. ad Hono­ratum doth truely expresse and liuely effigiate the na­ture and difference of these two feares, by the example of the two maried women, th'one an adulteresse, the o­ther a chaste matrone. These both feare their husbands, but after a different manner. The one feares the pre­sence of her husband, least comming home hee take her tardè, the other feares the absence of her husband, lest by his departure shee be deprived of his much de­sired company. The one feares to commit adultery least her husband catch her, her minde neverthelesse is adul­terous, & quod deest operi inest voluntati (saith Austin) what shee wants in deed shee perfourmes in desire: th'other feares her husband, but t'is chastly & loving­ly, nothing but his displeasure or absence; Nam aman­ti etiam absentia molesta est. So the wicked feare God with a base, servile feare, they feare him as a Iudge; the godly as a Father. The servile feare makes men to a­voide sinne, quia nocivum, the filiall, quia prohibitum, onely because it is forbidden, saith Almaine in his Mo­rals. He who hath a chast, filtall feare, doth not only a­voide the act of sinne, but a desire to commit the act: but the servile feare restraines men only ab actu execu­torio (saith Aquinas,) and leaues behinde, velle compla­centiae, a desire to sinne. In a word, the servile feare doth tie vs vnto God with clampers of yron and fet­ters of brasse, the filiall with bracelets of needle worke [Page 30] and chaines of gold; by the one we receiue the spirit of adoption and cry Abba father; by the other the spirit of bōdage againe vnto feare. The servile feare (saith Hales part. 3. q. 06.) respicit poenam aeternam, vt destructivam subiecti; the fil [...]al, tanquam separativam et privativam à Deo. By the one we feare the Iudgements of God and the paines of he [...], by the other the losse of his grace & the ioies of heaven. The one is not Timor, but Terror, a passion mixt of horror and dismay; the other sweetly composed of loue and an awfull regard. The one is ti­mor poenae, th'other culpae; the one the feare of the pu­nishment, the other of the offence: th'one is the badge and brand of the reprobate; the other the proper and inseparable character of the elect; insomuch that Ia­cob the religious Father of the Patriarcks did cal God nothing else, but the feare of his father Isaac. Gen. 31. 42.

This feare of God should binde vs hand and foote from sinne, & make vs thinke of that heavenly Vow of S^t Anselmes, Si hinc peccatum & illinc infernum viderem, ac vni eorum necessariò immergi deberem, pri­ùs me in infernum immergerem quàm peccatum cōmit­terem. If sinne (saith he) were on th'one side and hell on the other, I had rather plunge my soule into the depth of hell, then commit a voluntary sinne. This feare of God and losse of his loue, should serue, as a strong curbe to retaine vs from sinne; whensoever ei­ther by the corruption of our nature or allurements of the Devill we are tempted therevnto. When Io­seph was by his wanton mistresse tempted to adulte­ry, it was not the feare of temporall punishments, the [Page 31] losse of his service, or the discovery of the fact, that kept him from yeelding to hir vnlawfull desire, but the feare of offending God; How can I doe this so great wickednesse & sin against God? Gen. 39. 9. But now sin hath clambred vp to that heigth of impiety; that nei­ther the feare of God (whose wrath is a cōsuming fire) nor the terrour of punishment can restraine many from the frequent practise, scarce from the open pro­fession of sin. There was a time, when Tamar was vay­led and covered hir face: but now she boldly walks vn­maskt in the broad eye of the multitude, enters the presence of the best, walkes through the midst of the citie, and makes publike profession of her lust; & quod solet esse publicum incipit esse licitum, that which is done commonly by many, will ere long bee thought lawfull to be done by any. There was a time, when, those that were drunken, were drunken in the night, but now it is become a daie worke, or rather a dayly worke, and so obvious that a man can hardly balke it in the street. There was a time, when an eye required an eye, and bloud would call for bloud againe; but now murder is become the badge of manhood, and sinne is made a mockery. As Abner called fighting but a play or sport, 2. Sam. 2. which indeed procured a bloody bat­taile (for every man kild his fellow) so Monomachies are now become but recreations, and the least but sus­picion of disgrace is a iust cause of a single combate. But this is madnesse not manlinesse; this kinde of courage is in the head, not in the heart, it is not hardy valour, but a soft and moist enthusiasme of Bacchus, qui ad prae­lia [Page 32] trudit inermes. And therefore men should as well consider of the beginning, as feare the end of such con­tentions.

But such men the feare of God in my Text cannot retaine, the goodnesse of God cannot allure; nothing but his Iudgements & terrours can prevaile with thē. Let the first call to minde the fearefull end of Zimbri and Cozbi in the very act of Incontinency; that God sent fire and brimstone, even Hell from Heaven, to cō ­sume the people for their vncleannesse; & that most times then punishment in this life is shame and penu­ry, and in the other perpetuall torments, and extrea­mest misery. Momentaneum est quod delectat, aeternum quod cruciat: an Oceā of torture for a drop of pleasure. Let the other knowe, that though the wine be red, & goeth downe pleasantly, yet in the ende it will bite like a Serpent and hurt like a Cockatrice: and wine in the con­veyance is most like the poyson of Serpents, whose teeth are hollow (saith Pliny) like pipes, that with more secret speed they may convey their poyson. Last of all, let the other knowe, that Clamitat in coelum vox sanguinis, the voice of bloud is loud, it pearceth the clouds, it knocks at heaven gates, and enters into the eares of the Lord of Hosts. And so I goe on.

And worketh righteousnesse] It is the note of Cal­vine vpon my Text; who by the feare of God vnder­standeth the observation of al the Commandements of the first Table, and by working of righteousnesse, all the Commandements of the second Table; by the one we are iust, and righteous before God, by the other be­fore [Page 33] men; the one is necessary, but not sufficient, the o­ther is acceptable, but not perfect. Which exposition of his will serue to strike off all the hold-fast of the Divines of Rome from this place; who hence inferre the Merit of Workes, and the favour they procure vs with God: for if by working of righteousnes be vnder­stood, only the observation of the Commādements of the second Table; then doubtlesse are they not suffi­ciently able to make vs acceptable with God. Yet Bel­larmine fals vpon this Text of Scripture, & hence in­fers an ability in man to make himselfe acceptable with God. I am in the Pulpit, not in the Schoole; and there­fore will not trouble you with the Subtilties of the Question: which as well in this, as other cases, are oft times made too common to the multitude.

The property of Faith is to receaue and apprehende; the nature of Charity is to diffuse & impart to others. Faith alone is the Iustifying instrument, whereby wee apprehend and apply Christ's merits vnto vs: but we cā ­not make any discovery or manifestation thereof vnto others, except there bee ioyned to our Faith the Workes of righteousnesse. So the inward worke of Iu­stification we ascribe to Faith onely, but the righteous­nesse of Sanctification, we ascribe vnto good Workes, which are by Iesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. For the more cleere vnderstanding whereof, we must obserue, that our Workes are of two sorts; ei­ther Intrinsecall and infus'd, as Faith, Hope, &c. or Ex­trinsecall and acquisite; such are Almes-deeds & Workes of Charity. Our intrinsecall Workes, they are, as it [Page 34] were, the Principall, and our Extrinsecall or outward workes they are the Interest, which God expects as due vnto him; as may well appeare by the Parable of the Servants in the Gospell, to whom the Talents were concredited.

Now we shalbe rewarded by God, not according to our intrinsecall Habits, but extrinsecall Workes; not because we had a strong faith, or great hope, but for re­leeving the poore, visiting the sicke, and performance of other workes of that quality, and nature. But the Church of Rome, proceedeth further, and doth not on­ly make them the rule according to which, but the cause for which we are iustified. They make them Merita, we Debita, they the Cause of our salvation, and à Priori, we the Consequent, and à Posteriori; as fruit makes not the tree to be good, but only shewes it to be so. Non praecedunt iustificandum, sed sequuntur iustificatū: they are the Signes of our Sanctification, not the Causes of our Iustification. For Faith doth not spring out of Cha­rity, (as Bellarmine falsely averres;) but true Charity is the ofspring of Faith; wherevpon it is by S^t Paule tear­med De Iust. l. 1. c. 4. [...], the ground of things hoped for, and the foundation on which all other Theolo­gicall vertues are erected. Credendo fundamur speran­do erigimur, diligendo perficimur. By Faith (saith Au­stin) we are ingrafted, by Hope we are improved, & by Charity we are made perfect, God working in vs, and with vs. For our righteousnesse is rather passiue then actiue: Iustitia nostra non est in nobis, sed extra nos, saith Doctor Luther. Yet although our Workes are not the [Page 35] cause of our iustification, yet are they the perfection of our faith and a demonstratiue assurance, that we are iu­stified. And although it be true that sola fides iustificat, faith onely iustifies, yet fides quae est sola non iustifi­cat, that faith which is alone doth not iustifie. And al­though it do iustify alone, yet doth it not saue alone; for it is one thing to be saved, and another thing to be iu­stified. They who expect to be the sons of God must be legitimate both by the Fathers & the Mothers side, and as they must be begotten of Abraham who was [...], the father of the faithfull, Rom. 4. 11. so they must haue Sarah the free woman to be their mo­ther, who was [...], the mother of all that doe well, 1. Pet. 3. 6. Besides the State in fide, there must be an Ambulate in dilectione: & although the crowne of glory be not given bonis operibus, yet is it given be­nè operantibus, not for the worke, yet to the workers, for Christs sake, in whose name the worke is done.

Aristotle (l. 2. Eth.) requires in his perfect Moralist, be­sides knowledge and a will to worke, an actuall practise, wherein consists the life of vertue: and in every scho­ler in Christs schoole, besides the theory of faith & spe­culation of theologicall verities, or with these a desire to doe good, there must be an actuall performance, we must worke out our salvation, and thereby make our e­lection sure. The fountaine of saving grace I know is set wide open vnto vs all by Christ; and by the hal­lowed waters of Baptisme, as by the waters of Iordan, we are cleansed from the leprosie of sinne. But yet this meanes alone without Workes and industrious la­bours, [Page 36] without fights, races, crosses, and strict examina­tion of Talents, will never present vs, as amiable spe­ctacles, in the sight of God and heavenly spirits. Wee must not thinke that it is the Churches office to absolue that the Spirit must cleanse, Christ must suffer, God must saue, and that We must either sit stil or sinne still, all the while relying vpon this, I beleeue, and therefore I shall liue. It is a reason without reason to infer, that sith God saues little ones because they cannot worke righteousnesse, therefore also hee must saue great ones without workes, because they will not worke. But this must be our rule for direction; that God hath pro­posed both himselfe and his kingdome vnto vs vnder a double title, the one of Inheritance, the other of Re­ward; an inheritance to sons, a reward to servants. For to inherit, it sufficeth to be sonnes; but reward presup­poseth service, which must expect it. Every man shall receiue his reward according to his labour. The first yeares of man, through the vnaptnesse of the reasona­ble powers of his soule for action, allow him not to ex­pect God or heauen as a reward, which yet as his in­heritance even Baptisme doth impart vnto him. But when yeares increase, and with yeares reason groweth actiue, it will not suffice to plead for our inheritance, as sonnes, except we also endeavour for our reward as servants. God will be Abrahams reward; but Abraham must walke for it: Ambula coram me, Walke before me. And it is not said, Euge fili bone! Well done good sonne (though none but good sonnes shall enter;) but they must be good servants too, Euge serve bone! intra; [Page 37] Well done good servant! enter into thy masters ioy.

It is therefore a slanderous imputation cast by Bellarmine vpon the Reformed Churches, that their Gospell is carnall, and the high way to Epicurisme; that they inveigh against Good Workes, and by a bare and naked faith doe expect to soare vp to heauen. To which my answere is, that of S^t Austins in another case Ep. 86. Nemo nos ita intelligit, nisi qui seipsum non intelli­git. There is no man that vnderstands himselfe, or a­ny thing else, that can so vnderstand vs. Wee make the one the tree, the other the fruit, and doe professe, with the same Father in another place, Inseparabilis est hona vita à fide, imò ea ipsa est bona vita: A good life is the inseparable companion of Faith, nay, a liuing Faith is it selfe a good life.

The preaching of which doctrine in our English Church warranted by the Word of God hath taken so deepe roote, and brought forth so good fruit, that since the first yeare of our late Soveraigne Queene of pious memory there haue beene more Hospitalls, Pub­like Schooles, Libraries, Colleges, and Places for learning, built, adorned, and now in building, then ever were be­fore in any one 60. yeares. Many of which publike Mo­numents of Religion haue receaued their first erection and chiefest endowments from the Heroicall liberality of those, whose Successours divers here present are in Office and Dignitie. Be not, I beseech you (R. H.) their successours onely in Place, but in Pietie; passe not through this world, like an arrowe in the ayre, or ship in the sea, that leaue no impression behind them. As [Page 38] God hath given you meanes and handes to effect, so should you haue hearts to affect that which is good; & if not to found, yet to further & finish Good works for publike benefit: whereby your righteousnesse shall be recorded in heauen, and your Names preserued from rottennes on earth.

And if your Charity wants a fit obiect for her pra­ctise, then cast your eyes vpon the bare Habitati­ons of the Muses: harken after the SCHOOLES of sciences and learning, which by the beneficency and prensation of many, especially of that worthy S^r Iohn Be­net. Knight the Patron of the work, (whose name shall for ever be to vs as a sweet oyntment powred out) haue crept out of the ground, and now deserue to be co­vered by the Charitie of all that loue either learning, or learned men. This is a worke in which the Elephant may wade, as wel as the Lambe, the rich mans gift shal be welcome, & the meaner mite not refused: & a cō ­currency of so many founders to a work of that incō ­parable benefit, wil doubtlesse make a glorious constel­lation of blessed starres, whereof some shalbe greater, others lesse, but al shining in the highest heavens. And if that be true which the Wise mā saith, Eccl. 40. 19. that the Building of a Citie will make a man immor­tall; then much more the erection of a Work of this infinite benefit which shall remaine longer, then a­ny Citty. For when the stones shall by time and long continuance be decayd, yet Iustitia manet in aeternum, the Founders & Benefactors (especially with vs of that Vniversitie) shall be in everlasting remembrance. ‘Sola (que) non nôrunt haec monumenta mori.’ [Page 39] Of this assured I am, that neither the Plantation of Vlster in Ireland, nor the Contribution to Prage in Bo­hemia may stand comparison with this Monument of all Arts and learning: of whose benefit, not only our owne nation, but the remotest kingdomes of the Chri­stian world shall haue a tast. It disquieted the Wisest man, that ever was to thinke, that he should leaue his goods he knewe not to whom, peradventure Homi­ni otioso, to one that would spend all, Eccles. 2. 19. And let it not be your sole care to leaue All to your riot­ous Executors, who peradventure in few yeares will consume that estate, which with much care & in ma­ny yeeres you haue gathered together. You must purchase something, Alteri seculo, for the world to come: you must make your eyes in this life the over­seers of some good workes; you must imitate Iacob, who to pacifie his brother Esau, sent a Present before, Gen. 32. 20. and before Cornelius could haue Peter sent vn­to him, hee sent his Almes deeds to vsher him vp the way into heaven. And therefore it is not said in my Text, he who hath, or hereafter will worke righteousnes, but [...], hee that actually doth worke righte­ousnesse.

That new convert Zacheus did not say [...], the halfe of my goods I wil giue vnto the poore whē I am dead: but [...], I now presently giue. Such as defer the performance of the workes of righteousnes, till the end of their daies, are like those that cary cādles in Lant­hornes behind them in a darke night; whereby they direct others, and themselues in the meane time fall in­to [Page 40] the ditch. It is not for men to bee like swine, good for nothing till they be dead; or like Christmas-boxes, that will afford nothing, till they be broken. Let vs ra­ther imitate the example of the forenamed Zacheus, who gaue in the present tense, and that no small drib­let, but [...], even the halfe of his goods and substance; and that not [...], but [...], not to one poore man, but to many; yea and maketh proclamation, that if by forged cavillation hee had wronged any man, he would restore him fourefold. Surely had Zacheus liu'd in these our daies, hee had beene an honest Master of the Custome house. For if this or the like proclamation should bee made among vs by all of his professiō, how many are there in this Ci­ty, now in great reputation and esteeme, that would haue scarce sufficient left them in this life to main­taine their families, and being dead to defray the ex­pense of an ordinary Funeral! And yet these men too to sweeten the mouth of the poore, and to stop the eares of the multitude will clad some few in frize, & when they die bequeath a solemne Potation to their adioyning friends, thinking by these petty posthume workes of righteousnesse to make themselues accepta­ble with God. Such men I can compare to nothing more fitly, then to the Lion, which Sampson killed; which in his life time was ravenous and devoured all, and being dead was found to haue some little hony in his mouth. Iudg. 14.

And as we are to worke righteousnes, whilest we haue time, or rather continually, so we must worke our own, [Page 41] not other mens; we must not like Simon of Cyrene ca­ry other mens crosses: we must not be busie Bishops in o­ther mens Diocesses, but stand in that station, wherevn­to we are called; and not thinke it sufficient in some respect to be good & in other bad, to bring forth with one branch sound fruit, and with the other rotten, but to worke righteousnes in every respect. It is not suffi­cient for the inferiour to be a good man, but to bee a good servingman, for the superiour to bee a good Master, but a good Magistrate. It is not sufficient to be a good Preacher, but a good Bishop; and not only a learned Lawyer, but an vpright Iudge. For vnlesse in all respects we be quadrate and perfect, we shall not bee accepted with God: which is the end of my Text, & shall be the end of my speech.

Is accepted with God] Not in strict legal rigour, but in Evangelicall mitigation, not, because we can per­forme exact obedience to the Law of God, or worke perfect righteousnes: but because we loue, purpose, desire, endeavour, and in some measure perfourme obedience to the Law of God; and where we are deficient we sigh and groane for our defects, which at the Chauncery barre of Gods mercy is acceptable performance. Accep­table, not for our observing what the law requires, but for our sincere desire to performe it: because, as Saint Paul saith, [...], the ready minde is accepted with God.

The benefits (saith Aristotle lib. 1. Eth. c. 14.) which men receiue from God & their Parents are of that in­finite worth and transcendent value, that wee are not [Page 42] able to returne for them any correspondency of de­sert, [...]. The reason is, because the gifts of God and his acceptation is infinite, but the a­ctions of man finite and determinate; the best where­of hath many staines and imperfections. For the imme­diate and next causes of our workes are not altogither spirituall, and totally regenerate, because there dwels yet the Iebusite in Ierusalem with the Israelites: the soule of man hath her inmates, the Old man coinhabi­ting with the New, the flesh with the spirit, the law of sinne, with the law of the mind. Insomuch that the best of men cannot climbe vp to heaven without Iacobs ladder, the merit of Christ, and the gift of God.

I haue wearied my selfe & am sure haue tyred you. I will therefore ende all with that devout praier of Arch-bishop Anselme; Recognosce Domine quod tuum est, & absterge quod meum, ne per dat mea iniquit as quod fecit tua bonitas. Accept (O God) of what is thine owne in vs; and let not our iniquity eclipse thy gra­cious mercy. Meritum no strum, miseratio Domint; our Merit is thy Mercy & gracious acceptation; in which we repose our whole assurance. We acknowledge our selues to be naked of all righteousnes, beseeching thee to cloath vs; to be lame and impotent in the per­formance of any Good worke, desiring thee to streng­then vs; to be blind in our vnderstanding, desiring thee to enlighten vs; to be servants to sinne desiring thee to free vs: and we ascribe all glory vnto thee in this world, praying to be glorified of thee in the world to come.