6 Tempter, that they fall from thence where there was no Salvation? It feemed to St. Jerom a good argument which is taken from admonitions; St. John exhorteth, little Children, keep your felves from Idols; whence the Father, If every one who is born of God, doth not Sin, nor can be tempted of the Devil, how is it that he exhorteth them to take heed that they be not tempted?

The answer that fome reft in, viz. that exhortations, precepts, and promifes are the means whereby Perfeverance is upheld, is against themselves, unless these were infallible means; for feeing the obedience to exhortations and precepts is in Man who faileth, thefe means do often fail. The fixth and seventh Commandments were known to David, as means to hold him back from his two Sins, but they failed through him. So Peter's warning of his denyal, was a means to humble his confidence in himself, and to have perfuaded him to beware of putting himself into danger, but he took not warning.

Neither is that answer to purpose, that in regard of our Weakness we may easily fall, and means must be used for our fupport, but in regard of God's EleEtion, and Chrift's interceffion, we cannot but stand faft: for we now treat of thofe, whom whether the Election of God hath embraced or no is yet uncertain. Or howsoever if one or two means be infallible, we may be fecure, all other fupplies are fuperfluous: If two pillars be ftrong and fure to bear up fuch an Houle as Sampfon was in with the Philistines, what need of other fupporters befide?

The fecond Text of Scripture is that of the Ezek. 18, Prophet; When a righteous Man turneth away from 26. 27. his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done, fhall he die.

Contr. Jovin, Lib. 2.

5. 6.

20.

Again, when the wicked Man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doth that which is lawful and right, he fall fave his Seul alive; The force of this Paffage, no evafion can avoid, if the comparifon between a righteous Man and a wicked be well observed: for deny you any-wife that a righteous Man can turn away from his righteoufnefs, and dye; and I will deny likewife that a wicked Man can turn from his wickedness, and Live; and fo we fhall make void the holy word of God. If a fuppofition putteth nothing in the one, it putteth nothing in the other: if the wicked there, whom the Text fpeaketh of, be truly and legally a wicked Man, then the righteous there is truly and Evangelically a rightcous Man, for legally righteous the Scripture knows but one. If it be ever feen, that a wicked Man turneth from his wickedness and lives; then it may as well be, that a righteous Man turneth from his righteousness and dyes.

To thefe places I find no anfwer made by our Heb. 6. 4, Divines at Dort, from whom I hoped for fatisfaction in all things; but to divers others, viz. for it is impoffible for those who were once enlightned, and have tafted of the heavenly Gift, and were made partakers of the holy Ghost, and have tafted the Good word of God, and the Power of the World to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again to Repentance, &c. And, 2. Pet. 2. for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the World, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, they are again entangled therein, and overcome; the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. to fuch as thefe, they frame this answer; that thefe places fpeak of initial and precedaneal degrees of Faith, not of true juftifying Faith; Men but entred a little may go back, but not they that have attained unto true Faith: yet fuch beginners, fay they, are to be counted in the vifible Church for true believers, and justified Persons. Of thefe Re

verend Doctors give me leave to demand; First, If they are to be taken for justified Perfons, by what fhall we know these things mentioned in the Texts, to be only the beginnings, and precedent difpofitions to Faith, not true Faith? Secondly, if thefe be but beginnings, what have they more or better to give to a true believer, than to have tafted of the good Word of God, and of the Powers of the World to come, and to be purged from his old Sins; to have escaped the pollutions of the World; to have the Strong Man armed that kept the House, to be caft out by a stronger; Luk.11.22. If these be the lowest and first gifts of the Spirit, what are the higheft and laft? Metaphors taken Job. 34.3. from our fenfes, as Tafting, Hearing, Seeing, are not Pfal. 34. ufed in Scripture to exprefs a little fuperficial con- 8. ceit of things Spiritual, but rather the full, clear, certain, deep apprehenfion of them. From hence &c. it is, that the renewing of thefe Men again by Repentance is fo hard, or impoffible, that fell from fo great an height, whereas to be renewed after leffer faults is ordinary. How will thofe Divines of the Schole fatisfy weak ones, and our common Chriftians of the Country, in whom they fhall not find fo much as thefe things which they call Initials? How will they perfuade them, that they are in the ftate of Regeneration, and have that juftifying Faith, whereof they fay believers may be affured, or will they exclude them out of the rank of believers.

Thirdly, I oppofe St. Augustine's judgment in this, which our Antagonists must not refufe; † It is to be wondered at, and very marvellous, that God should • not give Perfeverance to some of his Children, whom he hath Regenerated in Chrift, and to whom he hath given Faith, Hope and Love; when as he forgives fo great wickedness to other ftrange Children and makes them

Joh. 6.40.

-8.47

his Sons by conferring his Grace upon them, &c. The thing that St. Augustine admireth, is, why God should not Snatch away thofe his Children, who have "lived Faithfully and Godlily, out of the danger of this "prefent Life, left their Evil Inclinations fhould work

a change in their minds &c. And he refers this to the infcrutable Judgments of God, most wifely, and holily. But his Opinion is, that if thefe Men had died in that time when they lived juftly and pioufly, they had been faved; therefore their Faith was more than begun, they were more than feeming Chriftians, they were truly juftifyed and fanctified, and then fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.

6

Lastly, I maintain and affert this to be the Publick Doctrine of the Church of England, by Law eftablished. Firft, let us hear the judgment of our Divines in King Henry's Book before-mentioned; in the Article of Juftification: If after our Baptifm • it chance us by our Spiritual Enemies to be overthrown, and caft into mortal Sin; then is there no remedy, but for the recovery of our former eftate of Justification, which we have loft, to arife by Penance; wherein proceeding in Sorrow and much Lamentation for our Sins, • &c. We must have a fure trust and confidence in the Mercy of God, that for his Son our Saviour Chrift's fake, he will yet forgive us our Sins, and receive us into his favour again,and fo being thus restored to our Fuftification, we must go forward in our battle aforesaid. Again a little after; And it is no doubt, but altho' we be once juftified, yet we may fall therefrom by our own Free-will, and confenting to Sin, and following the defires thereof. For albeit the house of our confcience be once made clean, and the foul Spirit be expelled from us in Baptifm or Penance, yet if we wax Idle, and take not heed, he will return with feven worfe Spirits, and poffefs us again.

This I alledge not for it felf, but for the affinity our fixteenth Article made under Edward the

fixth, hath unto it, as a Child of the fame Fathers.

Article 16. Of Sin after Baptifm.

*

Not every deadly Sin willingly committed after Baptim is Sin against the holy Ghost and unpardonable. Wherefore the place for Penitents is not to be denyed to fuch as fall into Sin after Baptifm. After we have received the holy Ghost, we may depart from Grace given, and fall into Sin, and by the Grace of God we may rife again, and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned which fay, they can no more Sin, as long as they live here, or deny to fuch as truly repent the place for Penitents.

t

My Opponents would be Glad if this Article had nought against them, though it were not for them; but I hope to evince it to be fo far against them, that while it ftandeth they must needs be Heterodox in the Church of England, that preach or publish that Opinion which is now fo prevalent every where; this I fhall do three ways;

1. By the conceffion and confeffion of their own Friends that have complained of this Article. 2. By analyfing the Propofitions, and scanning the literal and grammatical Senfe, to which we are bound to keep us, both by the Law of Learning, and by the Declaration of King Charles prefixed to our Articles.

3. By paralleling our fixteenth with the twelfth of the Auguftan Confeffion, from whence it was taken, and with other doctrines of our Church in the Book of Homilies.

For the first: the Authors of the Second admo- Ed. 13. nition to the Parliament, do accufe fome Bishops then Eliz.

The Grant of Repentance Artic. Eliz.

giveness Art. Eliz.

+ Place of for

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