THE Church of God (in this like himselfe) is one and theCaietan. 2^a. 2^ae. qu. 39. same in all Ages, Credit vnum, Sperat vnum, Amat vnum, It be­leeueth one God, Hopeth one end, loueth one Truth; the vni­tie of the head is one, and one the collection of the members, all are Soldiers of one Armie, parts of one familie, Cittizens of the same Cittie, vnum Aquar. in 1. sent. dist. 24. non remouet multitudinem, nec multitudo vnum, vnitie excludes no multitude, nor multitude vnitie: there may be an vnity of Substance to cause Iden­titie; of qualitie to beget a likenesse; of quantitie [Page] to procure equalitie; and yet a pluralitie of per­sons in euery section.

The Apostle, hauing set downe a powerfull perswasion to Ecclesiasticke, vnitie; beseeching the Ephesians by his bonds and their vocations, v. 1. With all humblenesse of minde to keepe the vni­tie of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Setteth downe the reason, v. 4. Because they were but one body, had one Spirit, one Hope, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptisme, one God and Father, of all▪ which was aboue them all, through them all, and in them all; aboue them all by the altitude of his Diuini­tie; Aquin. in lo. through them all by the amplitude of his Power; in them all, by the largenesse of his Grace.

So the Spouse of Christ is One body, but com­pounded of many members; One, as hauing one Gouernour Christ; one Lawe, the Gospell; the same Ensignes, the Sacraments; the same end, Eternall glory: And yet distinguished within it selfe; the Head is more excellent then the Body, the face fairer then the foote: for to euery one of vs is giuen grace, according to the measure of the guift of Christ.

The parts are three: First, the guift giuen, Grace. Secondly the receauers of that Grace, Euery one. [Page] Thirdly, the proportion, According to the guift of Christ.

For the first: Christ to the Soule of a SainteBern. Ser. in Cant. 47. is as a Spouse; to the soule of a distressed sinner as a Phisition: yet commeth to both, not because they are, but because they might be louely, his loue hauing no cause, but being the cause of all things. Deus amat quia in se habet quod amet, It was before our beeings, therefore much more before our deseruings: whence it is well obser­ued by Panagorola that the Fathers say, our voca­tion was for our good workes, non in ratione causae meritoriae, sed finalis, that is, in the Scripture phrase, That we are called to doe the workes of Charitie, and predestinated that we might bee holy and vnblamable before him in loue: Bona mea instituta tua sunt, & dona tua, mala mea de­licta Confess. l. 10 cap 7. mea sunt, & iudicia tua, saith St. Augustine. Haue I any good things O Lord, they are thy bounties: haue I many euill, they are thy Iudge­ments, and mine iniquities Sinne being infinite, it were mpossible that men should rise from the faulte, but by the assistance of a power infinite: which made Bonauenture to conclude, that Crea­tiuum Breuiol. part. 5. principium was recreatiuum, and he that made vs must redeeme vs.

There be three things in the glorious worke of mans saluation, which God doth wholy chal­lendge to himselfe, and preuents copartners: our Predestination, our Creation, our Renouation. The first before all time, the second with time,Bern. in Can. Ser. 78. the last in time, Vbi & quando vult Deus, where and when himselfe best pleaseth: when the for­mer were, we were not; when the last is, we are indeed, but dead in sinne; wherefore that likewise is a part of his Mercie: whence it was a custome in the Primitiue Church, to giue Wine and Milke to the new baptized conuerts,Hieronymus in locum. because in Esay, 55. it is said Come buy of me Wine and Milke without money or exchange, insinuating by that Ceremonie, that God in his Sonne doth freely bestow both those and all other benefits, why he should predestinate this man rather then that: Hoc est profundum Crucis, saith St. Augustine, De verbis Apost. Ser. 7. and I am not ashamed to confesse that I knowe not the reason, why he should create vs Men ra­ther then Beasts, or cause vs to be borne of Christian rather then of Heathen Parentage: his owne will ioyned with goodnesse was the mo­tiue, why he should, Secundum propositum effe­ctually call the one Thiefe hanging vpon the Crosse, rather then Barrabas [...] or the other, is a [Page] Secret I may well, admire, but neuer reach to; for of the comparatiue will of God, no reason can be rendred; and it is determined that Grace is Habitus infusus non acquisitus, infused by mercy not gained by industrie, it alwayes preuenting both our will and vnderstanding, Nolentem prae­uenit vt velit, volentem subsequitur ne frustra velit, saith St. Augustine, No man comes to Grace exceptEnchiridi [...]. preuented by grace, nor no man to God except God comes first to him: for he conuerteth the vnrepentant, recalleth the wanderer, is found of them that seeke him not, and appeareth to them that neuer looke after him, as is by Bel­larmine himselfe confessed; Tu Domine benedicis De cloricis. lib. 1. c. 1. Confess. l. 10. cap. 2. iustum, sed prius eum iustificas impium, saith St. Au­gustine, O Lord thou alwayes blessest the right­eous Man, but thou first makest him of wicked, righteous: But the word here is of as large extent as are his benefits: when as Influxus generalis, that same vniuersall influence whereby we liue, we moue, & haue our being; when euery good, both Naturall and Diuine, Gratis datum, and Gratum faciens, as they speake, is a Guift vnto vs. To summe vp all, when by the Grace of God we are what we are, what is it that is not giuen? Or what is it that we haue not receiued? For it is [Page] an infallible consequence, Si Gracia est, Gratis data est, Gods Iustice (say Diuines) being alwaies distributiue, not communatiue: he giuing free­ly like a Prince, not exchanging like an Huckster: and therfore the ancient formes of Oblations in the Greeke Church was, thine owne of thine own O Lord we offer thee. It were meere ingra­titude,Rettorsh. in saluian. to draw water from Gods Ocean, and then say we had it from our owne Cisternes: Like the Moone borrowing her light, and then eclips the Sunne that lent it. Euery good gift, and euery perfect giuing is from aboue: euery donation is from his Grace, and euery Grace is his Dona­tion:Aquar. in 4. Sent. dist. 14 con. 9. All our abilities and vertues rising from thence, as powers from their Essence, or streames from their Fountaines: and therefore Fate, For­tune, Merit, which the World doth raue vpon, wise men doe deride, and the Ignorant may dayly see conuicted. For Destinie can haue no place, sithence God is a free Agent, bound to no Second Causes; giuing Man a Will voyde of coaction, and setteth downe Precepts negatiue and affirmatiue of acting and auoyding, as lines to liue by: Much lesse Chance or Fortune, a thing rather dreamed of, then in being; being nothing but the ignorance of the true Cause: [Page] whence wise Antiquity confounded or made one and the same, God and Prouidence: And the Stoicks placed her Pallace aboue the Moone; that is aboue all things mutable. Nor could the Heathen euer be perswaded that there was a God, except he could reserue things past, mode­rate the present, and fore-see the future. Least of all Desert, for the very word sauours of poy­son,4. Sent. dist. 43. sayes Lombard, sithence we are Gods Deb­tors ex commisso, by our foule offences; hee our Debtor only ex Promisso, by his gracious Promi­ses: he is not tied to any, though he hath giuen to all: For in euery Merit three things are required. First, that a man be in via, not in termino; that is, aliue, not dead: And therefore I wonder why the Cardinall should auerre, that the Soules of Paschatius and Seuerinus should mediate for o­thers,De Purga­torio lib. 2. cap. 15. euen in Purgatory; it being generally held that Purgatory (if any such place be) is appointed for satisfaction of mens selues, not of others. Se­condly, that he be master of his owne workes, which no man is; for from God we haue both the will and the deede. Thirdly, that there be a proportion betwixt the Worke and the wages: But alas, what correspondency is there betwixt our Endeauours and Heauens Glory? And [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] therefore to conclude this point, God hath fra­med the World vpon nothing, that the whole World should build it selfe vpon him, and his mercies. To ascribe Wisdome to Minerua, to Mercurie Eloquence, other endowments to o­ther imaginary Deities, were to erect Idolatrie in our hearts, and to rob the true God of his honor. What though there bee diuersity of Guiftes? Yet but one and the same Spirit, saith the Apostle: 1. Cor 12. 4. &c. diuersities of Administrations; but the same Lord, giuing all that all men haue: yet not all to all men: One hath the word of wisedome, another the word of know­ledge, a third the Guift of Faith, a fourth of wor­king of Miracles. Some, but not all Apostles, Prophets, Teachers; euery one hauing his pro­per guift of God; one after this manner, another after that. 1. Cor. 7. 7. Some fiue Talents, some haue fewer, but all some: For vnto euery one is giuen according to, &c. And so to the Se­cond part, The Receiuers, Euery one of vs.

The Beauty of the whole consisteth in the well composed variety of the parts; so altogether make an excellent Fabricke: thus the treble and the base, set with means and tenors, do not jarre, but make good Musicque: high and low meete [Page] together to make concord; each string hath its seuerall sound, each Instrument its perticuler praise; and all joyned in one, delight the hearer: And Quod harmonia in musica, concordia in ciuitate, saith St. Augustine, Heauen in our contemplation is more sweete, because of the distinct variety of Saints, and ineffable Hirarchie of holy Angels: And Hell more painfull, because in it is nothing but disorder and confusion. If the whole Body were an Eye, where were then the Hearing? If all were Hearing, where were then the Smelling? 1. Cor. 12 17. Parity hath bin alwayes the Nurse of Ruine: It was neuer good world since the Mi­ters justled Scepters for the Wall: and disconten­ted Faction would equall (I had almost said pulled downe) Prelacie. But the reason may be that of Rodolphus Caesar in Aenaeas Siluius, eueryComment. in dict. et fact. Alphon. Re­gis. lib. 2. man thinketh him a foole that cannot Gouerne, Nemo autem seipsum stultum iudicat, but no man thinks himselfe a foole; when as in truth of Iudgement, why should there bee Ambition? Whē as we are like men vpon a Stage, where, not he that plaieth the greatest part, but he that plaies his owne part best, is most applauded: Or as in a goodly Picture, darke shadowes may haue their praise aswell as brighter colours: yet not [Page] seperated from them, but in relation. The Hand and Foote may be commended, but if the one would be where the Arme is, and the other where the head is, both were monstrous. It was a factious speech of Crassus, that none should be his Consull, to whom he was not a Senator. And a wofull president in Adam, to presume aboue the end of his Creation: for Dum erexit se supra se, cecidit miserabiliter infra se, sayes Bonauenture. While he aspired aboue himselfe,Breuioloqui. he fell miserably belowe himselfe, from the state of Innocencie to the state of Sinne & misery: As in Vertues, so in States, and Churches, Descretion giueth order: Order, life and perpetuitie. God hauing giuen to euery man a seuerall guift, to honour him with, and to profit others. There is not that Plant, suruay them from the Cedar of Mount Libanon, to the Shrub that groweth vpon the Wall, but hath his vse and vertue; nor that Wretch, that can without the iust taxation of enuie, and ingratitude to God, and to his Neighbour, repine, as at an ouer scant hand of his Creator or Redeemer. O bone Omnipotens, qui sic curas vnum quem (que) nostrum, ac si solum cures, in Confess 3. 11 omnes, ac si singulos, saith St. Augustine, O good God, that so regardest euery particular man, as [Page] if thou caredst for him onely, and yet thou so carest for all men, as thou dost for any one: for Optimi est optima producere, the best must bring forth the best: which rule holds true saith A­quin: in 1. sent. dist. 47. although not absolutely, yet in the seuerall kindes of thinges, the world being so excellently composed, as that Plato durst presume to say,Aug. de ciui. lib. 11. c. 21 that God was transported with joy when hee had finished it▪ The same hand creating the mouing Orbes, and the creeping Wormes. Sure all things which God did create, he made themHooker ser. on Heb. 2. 4. at the first, true, good, and right: True, in respect of correspondence to that patterne of their being, which was eternally drawne in the Councell of Gods fore-knowledge: Good, in respect of the vse and benefit, which each thing yeeld­eth to other: Right, by an apt conformity of all parts, with that end that is proposed for each thing to tend to, as learned Hooker) like himselfe excellently. Thus his dixit and his benedixit, his Word and Blessing went together, nor euer would haue suffred, either Man or Angell to fall from that Integritie, except he had likewise seene, Quibus bonorum vsibus accommodaret, how hee could haue turned them to his owne honour: As the good Husbandman, that seeing the [Page] waters swell, and threaten danger, wisely cuts a Channell, and turnes them to his own benefit: that all ages might be as a neate Verse, where words of long and short Quantities might run together, Et quibusdem quasi antithetis honesta­retur, and Mercy and Truth might kisse each other.

Euery reasonable Creature hath these endsLomb. 2. sen. dist. 1. proposed vnto him; to praise God, to serue him, and to injoy him: and though his Grace bee transparent in euery Creature, yet in Men more then Beasts; and Saints more then Sinners: Se­cundum simplicem complacentiam, as we say, There is not that Entitie that he hath not loued, and graced, Secundum amorem efficacem: There is no Rebrobate so honoured; his loue is alike to all, in respect of the essentiall act; not so in respect of the consequent effect: Ab aeterno, non pro aeterno; from eternitie, not for eternitie, as Aquarius [...] 3. sent. dist. 32. speakes. His loue is like the Sun-beames, shi­ning vpon the meanest Dunghill, though not with such lustre and reflection, as vpon the Mar­ble pauement: his Eyes waite vpon the Hindes which bring forth young, but not with so strict regard as vpon man his own Image: nor so at­tendeth Saul, as he doth Dauid; or Esau as Iacob: [Page] and therefore the words (to euery one of vs) may haue a reference to the Church, or those that walke worthy of their vocations, as is insinua­ted. v 1.

The merrit of Christs Passion extendeth it selfe to vs as the head to the members, nor is his righteousnesse a curtailed coate, but a large robe of mercy; himselfe being the Rose of the com­mon feild, and the Lillie of the lower vallies; and such an one as imparteth his whitenesse euen to Thistles: being made sinne for vs, that euery one of vs should be made the righteousnes of God in him. 2. Cor. 5. 21. For he is the propi­tiation for our sinnes, and not for our onely, but for the sinnes of the whole world. 1. Iohn 2. 2. The Iewe cannot boast his prerogatiue ouer the Gentile, nor circumcision aboue vncircumcision, the Donatists opinion of Africkes Meridies is ridiculous; all places, and all ages are alike to him; Christ be­ing to the Fathers in the old lawe, by preuision, and acceptation although not corporallie exhi­bited: the onely difference betwixt them and vs, was onely in circumstance of time; they beleiued he should come, we beleeue he is come to saue vs: euen then sayes he, and sweares to it by the Prophet Ezechiel, as I liue I will not the death [Page] of a sinner, Nolo mortem peccatoris, qui mori volui pro peccatoribus, sayes Hector Pintus on the place: for then where were the efficacie of the operation of our head, the benefit of his intercession as our Mediator, the merit of his Passion as our Re­deemer? And yet all this is on his part in whom nothing is wanting; something is required of man to make him capable, namely Fides recta, & fidei Sacramentum, A right Faith and a true vse of the Sacraments; the first, is the hand to appre­hend it; the second, the Seale to confirme it: for want of the first, the Infidell & the Hereticke are not benefitted; for wāt of the second, the negligēt person is excluded. The shedding of the blood of the Paschall Lambe, was not sufficient, if not sprinckled vpon euery dore post. Exod. 12. 7. nor Christs blood efficient if not applied. As the ge­nerall Pardon of a Prince is auailable to them onely that sue it out, or a soueraigne Plaister to him onely that layes it on; the leaues of the Tree of life are beneficiall onely to them that gather them; the barren Elme, and the laden Vyne, are both a like to the lazie sluggard, that will not worke out his saluation with feare and trem­bling: for he that presumes because God is good, shall be sure to perish because God is Iust.

In which, me thinkes two conclusions arise necessarilie to be obserued. First, that his grace is aboue measure, that giueth ours by measure. Secondly, that mans is measured to him; euery man hath some, but not any all.

For the first, that which giueth being to ano­ther, it selfe is a more able being; for nothing gi­ueth what it selfe hath not, & therefore to preuent an obiection, where it is said, alluding to the birth of our blessed Sauiour, that a Starre there gaue light vnto the [...]unne, a branch moisture to the roote, that a Virgin bore her God in her Armes, and her Sauiour in her wombe, that the Sonne should be Father to his owne mother, and the mother daughter to her Sonne, Sine quo Pater nunquam fuit, sine quo Mater nunquan fuisset, Without whom the Father neuer was; without whom his Mother neuer had beene, maketh the Pagan indeed incredulous; but the Christian, de­uout and pious, as knowing that the fulnesse of mercy doth not lessen the fulnesse of power, but were it possible, augments it rather; as Maiestie is adorned with clemencie: thus, though Iohn baptized IESVS, yet IESVS gaue life both of grace and nature to Iohn the Baptist; because of his [Page] fulnesse we haue all receiued, who himselfe is full of grace and truth, Ioh. 1. or as the schoole­men distinguish, full of grace in his affections, of wisedome in his vnderstanding, of merit in [...]ombis. his actions.

From his first conception, whether wee con­sider the singularitie of his person, his head-ship ouer the Church, or his Diuine vnion, there was not a grace or vertue that he wanted, ex­cept wee say faith and hope, because hee was Simul viator & comprehensor, and that which succeedes them both in vs, he had in present, that is Cognitio & comprehensio rei, and that not in measure but in fulnesse: as the Deuills they say, whilest they suggest ease to vs, are them­selues tormented; so Christ and the blessed Angels whilest they labour here for Gods glory, enioy a happinesse. And that his perfection of wisedome was equall, Vidit se per se, & in se vidit omnia, he saw himselfe through himselfe, and in himselfe he sawe all things, either by the nature of his Diuinitie, or by the glorie of Comprehen­sion; and therefore that saying of him, Luke 2. 52. That hee encreased in wisedome, and stature, and fauour with God and man, is to be expounded, either extensiuely for the augmentation of cor­porall [Page] dimensions, or ostensiuely for the pu­blique manifestation of his grace and vertue, not intensiuely, as really encreased in perfection, for so he did not. And who did euer doubt thatDenijse. of Merit, if he remembreth either the Person, God and Man; or the time, from the Manger to the Crosse; or the meanes, the height of loue and charitie, not suffering one part onely, as Head, Hand, Foot or Side, but his whole body to be wounded; nor spilt his blood by drops, or ounces, but spilt it all, that plenteous might be our Redemption: the Lord became a seruant, that seruants might be Lords; Immortalitie put on mortalitie, that mortalitie might be clothed with immortalitie, not taking our bodies onely as if he would be incorporated, nor our Soules onely, as though he would be inanimated, but he wholie tooke vs wholy, that hee might be­stow Saluation on vs wholie: for what hee tooke not could not be cured. Or lastly, the thing Merited, heauen and its glorie. The Deuill was once Ambodexter, and foyled with both hands, leading vs, with one to sinne, and with the other haling vs to punishment; but thankes be to God through Iesus Christ our Lord, who hath quite cut off the one, and so lamed the [Page] other, that he cannot force vs: whence ariseth the position of the wiser Papists, that all mens Merits which are satisfactorie for sinne or meri­torious of life, cannot be radicated but in his ful­nesse, because no absolution from any absolute euill, nor consecution of an eternall good can come from any other, then his plenarie perfe­ction.

Now to come to the second: As this immense fulnesse of Christ is positiue in himselfe, not de­riued of others, so essentiall, as cannot be sepa­rated, yet is imparted daily to Gods seruants in such a quantitie; as Man too, hath a kinde of ful­nesse. First, because he is fully freed from Satan; Secondly, because he is fully reconciled to God; euery man hath as much as hee is capable of. Thus the new baptized Infant is full as well as the aged Saint; the little Cruise as the greater ves­sell; We haue the fulnesse of Grace of Redemption, and of Grace giuen; the fulnes of Grace of colla­tion, and of Grace giuing; wee call a tralucent peeceful of light, Sed aliter solem, aliter quod a Sole▪ The Sun full after one manner, and the Starres after another, Plenum mare aqua, plena ex mari flu­mina, In Iohn 1. 14. vide quantum intersit, sayes Maldonat, The Sea is full of water, so are the Riuers from the [Page] Sea, and yet a difference; Now againe in vs there is no equalitie, but in some more, in some lesse, according to the guift of Christ, for from that inex­hausted fulnesse of superinfluence, as Denise cals it, three others are deriued; the first the fulnesse of eminence, which may be assented vnto without superstition in the Virgin Marie, according to the Angels salutation, Aue Maria gratia plena: The second, of aboundance, as in Stephen, who full of faith and power, did great workes and miracles among the people, Acts 6. 8. And so likewise the rest of the Apostles: The third of Sufficiencie, euident in all the faithfull, my Grace is sufficient for thee. 2. Cor. 12. 9. And yet we are all in diuers manners, going from strength to strength; none like the Angels vpon Iacobs ladder, stand still, in Christianitie, Non progredi est regredi, He ceaseth to be good, that desireth not to be better, and beginneth to be euill, when he stayes to bee good: and the reason is, ours is but Plenitudo mensurata, and wee children growing to riper yeares, so that our Plenitudo viae, must emptie it selfe in Plenitudinem patriae, And our seuerall Graces, shall receaue seuerall Crownes.

Which distinction Biel presseth so farre, forLec. 32. in Can. Missae. [Page] the Saints in heauen, as to ascribe to particulars, particuler priuiledges and endowments; so as we must direct our prayers to them for particu­lar blessings and fauours, to mediate for vs; as to St. Peter for obedience, (and yet by the way he forswore his Master,) to St. Iohn for Charitie; to driue away Deuils Cyriacus the Deacon; to cure the eye sight, St. Laurence: for Cattell St Hierosme, or St. Blasuis: but he may enioy his speculation, without either enuy, or approbation of his Iudgement, although none denieth but that there is a difference of glorie in heauen, accor­ding to the workes of Confessors, and sufferings of Martyrs; yet not the essence but the accidents; not for them, but according to them: Thus the Church both Triumphant and Militant, ranked in an excellent order, as a rich Iewell, compo­sed of diuers gemmes and of seuerall lusters, in which the palest hath its praise and doth grace the whole, though but as a foile in comparison of some other brightnes; and all without enuie or detraction. The doore-keeper doth not ma­lice [...]emlect, 30 him that kneeleth at the Altar, nor the infe­riour the superiour order: heauen and earth make but one Quire for Gods glorie, singing one An­them, set for all sortes of voyces: wee that [Page] struggle here, and they that triumphe there, are still knit in one Communion; life and death can make no difference: they pray in generall to God for vs; we praise him for them; and both they and we laud him for himselfe, from whom we haue receaued not our seuerall guifts onely, but our selues also. A threefold corde is not easilie broken, but a fourefold is impossible; and such is our Communion with the Saints of God: First, we haue all one Head and Sauiour:Casaub. Resp ad Epist. Card. Perion obseru. Secondly, one truth and doctrine: Thirdly, one loue and Charitie: Fourthly, one hope and inheritance: and this hath continued in all ages, past, present, and to come. But in all these blessings conferred vpon the younger Iacob, is there not one left for the elder Esau? Was there a time when God did quite shut vp his louing kindenesse in displeasure, And suf­fered such palpable darkenesse in the land of Goshen, that he should deny to giue guifts to men; Neither graunting a Church to our Fa­thers liuing▪ nor saluation to them dead? Oh tell not thiis in Gath, nor publish it in the streetes of Ascalon, least the daughters of the [Page] Philistims reioyce, least the daughters of the vn­circumcised triumph.

Sure, with what I began I must conclude; the Church of God was one, and the same in all ages; the same in Luthers time that was before him, and the same before that now is: no man of iudgement that I can heare of, e­uer endeauoured to be of a new Church, but of one reformed; nor to create one of nothing, but to repaire one fowlie corrupted: as Naa­man the Assyrian was the same man after his cure that he was before, and Christ when he cured the blind man in the Gospell, did not nullifie his essence, but restored his sight: it were a strange kinde of Chirurgerie, to cut off the member, that way to cure the sore, and with our Ancestors trash to burne vp our Ancestors houses; abuse argueth there was once a lawfull vse, and corruption in­sinuateth some inward soundenesse, though ouer-spread and couered, and it is an argu­ment, that like a two edged sword, cuts on both sides, not easilie warded, that Antichrist must sit in the Temple of God. 2. Cor. 2. 4.

Sure our Fathers had the three things ne­cessarie to saluation: The first, in respect of the precept, they had the tenne Command­ments: The second, in respect of the condi­tion required, they had faith and repentance: The third, in respect of the meanes, they had Christ and his merits: although it cannot be denyed, but that they builded vpon this foundation, gold, siluer, pretious-stones, timber, hay, and stubble. 1. Cor. 3. 12. In a word, many errors, yet additions doe not take away the foundation, nor are wee so vncharitable to say, that these proceeded ei­ther from contempt, or malice, especially in the ignorant people, but meerely out of igno­rance, And I obtained mercie because I did it out of ignorance, saith the Apostle▪ 1. Tim. 1. 13. As those two hundred which went out of Hie­rusalem with Absalon being called, and they went out in the simplicitie of their hearts, knowing nothing. 2. Sam. 15. 11. Nor is it to be doubted, but when they dyed they had a sorrow, as Well for vnknowne sinnes as knowne▪ desiring with Dauid to be clean­sed from their secrets sinnes: and generall [Page] repentance is held the antidote against vn­willing and vnperceiued errors, of either life or opinion; and there are daily trespasses, (the heart of man being euill continually, and the iust man sinning seauen times a day) which either passion burieth in obliuion, or our weake memories neuer remember. And we should thinke that he did much infringe the extent of diuine mercie, that shold preach that euery one were damned, for these that had not particular recognition & repentance.

But see from this our filiall dutie, and Christian charitie, the Deuill hath raised a mishapen consequence: then saith euery wrangler, be reconciled to Rome, for there is a confessed certaintie, and you shall finde rest for your soules; how poore an inference? and yet how dangerous to the state of Heauen? for there is a large difference, betwixt those that would faine knowe, and could not; and those that can, and will not: and I ne­uer yet read, that affected ignorance was euer excused: for those that knowe their Masters will and doe it not, shall bee beaten with many stripes: neither is it all one to [Page] sucke error with their milke; and first to sucke the milke of Gods word, and then to turne Apostat' as. But diuine honour, ven­geance, and iudgement of secrets in case of mens saluation, are Gods peculiars; and so I leaue thē & the question. Yet as it was some glorie in former times to be borne men, not beasts, Grecians not Barbarians; and Philip would reioyce that his sonne was borne in such a time, as Aristotle might be his Ma­ster; so mee thinkes it is a great comfort for vs to liue in the time of Peace, and truth, and equall honour; to keepe the pile from vndermining, and our selues from falling. God hath giuen his grace in all ages, but in seuerall measures; truth in former time, being as Christ in the old Testament veiled ouer, to vs as in the newe openly reuealed; that which they say of Logicke and Rhetoricke may bee here applyed, the one is like the Fist shut, the other like the Hand open, all truths to them (such was the vncontroled height of error) were writ­ten in darke letters, but to vs in such large Characters, as hee that runnes may [Page] read them. The onely vse that I can make is this, to bee thankefull to God, and his meanes, and to shew our thankefulnesse in perseuerance accordingly. Which God for his mercies sake grant, through Iesus Christ our Lord, to whom with the holy Ghost, the blessed Trinitie in vnitie, bee ascribed all honour, &c.