A Divine Herbal Together with a Forest of Thorns, Part 4
4. Meet for them by whom he is dressed.
THe word By whom, may as well be translated For whom: foreign Two instructions are here necessarily offered vsus.
1. By whom this goodnesse comes.
2. For whom it must be intended.
1. By whom it is dressed.
GOD is the Husbandman that dresseth this ground, and causeth in it Fertillitie. It was the Pelagian errour. A Deo habemus qu…d homines sumus, a nobis ipsis autem quod iusti sumus. We are beholding to God that we are men,Aug. Tract. 81. in Ioh. to our selues that we are good men. But the contrary is here euident. God doth not onelyonly make the ground, but hee makes the ground fruitfull: he raines vponupon it, hee dresseth it, hee blesseth it. Christ sayd not,Ioh. 15. 5. Sine me parum potestis facere, sed sine me nihil. Without me ye can doe nothing, sayth our Sauiour, and to the best men, euen the Apostles: not a little, but nothing. If God had onelyonly made thee a man, and thou made thy selfe a good man, then is thy worke greater then Gods worke.August. For, Mel us est iustum esse, quam te hom… n…m esse. Our meere being is not so happie, as our better being. No, this Text conuinceth that lye. For, according to that distinction of grace. 1. Here is Gratia operans, God begins the worke; he makes the ground good. sanctifies the person. 2. Here is Gratia cooperans, God that begins, performes the worke; he raineth vponupon, he dresseth the heart, and so causeth it to produce herbes. 3. Here is Gratia saluans, whereby hee crowneth our will and worke in the day of our Lord IESVS. It receiueth blessing from God. So Qui viret in foliis, venit a radicibus humor.
The sappe of grace which appeares greene and flourishing in the branches and fruit, comes from the root. Now in all this Deus non necessitat, sed factl…tat: God induceth the good to good by alacritie, not enforceth against their wills. Quoniam probitate coacta, Prud.Gloria nulla venit. For God doth not worke vponupon vsus, as vponupon blockes and stones, in all and eueryevery respect passiue: but conuerts our wils to will our owne conuersion.August. Qui fecit te sine te, non iustificabit te sine te. Fecit nesc… entem, Iustificat volentem. Hee that made thee without thy selfe, will not iustifie thee without thy selfe. (without thy merite indeed, not without thine act). He created thee when thou knewest it not, he doth iustifie thee with the consent of thy owne will. Let this consideration lay vsus all prostrate before the foot-stoole of God, kissing the feete of his mercy,Heb. 5. 23: who is the Beginner and finisher of our faith. Who hath made the ground good, and encreased the number of herbes with his holy dewes from heauen; dressed it with his graces, and promised to reward it with his blessings. Thus By whom: now For whom.
Meete for them who dressed it.
AND is it possible, that man should produce herbes meete for the acceptation of God? Hath he not pure eyes, which see vncleannesse and imperfection in all our workes? Is there any man so happy, as to bee iustified in his sight? No; but it pleaseth him to looke vponupon our workes in the Crystall glasse, Christ; and because they are the effects of a true faith in him, to esteeme them meete. S. Peter sayth,1. Pet. 2. 19. This is thanke-worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure griefe, suffering wrongfully. Doe euen our sufferings then merite? foreign euen this is grace. To you it is giuen not only to beleeue in him, but euen to suffer for his sake. This was none of yours, but giuen you. And when you hauehave suffered,Rom. 8. 18. yet you must truely with Paul reckon, that the afflictions of this present world are not worthy of that high inestimable waight of glory. There are no workes acceptable (Quae praecedunt instificandum, sed quae sequuntur iustificatum) which goe before Iustification, but these that follow it. All of vsus, as Luther was wont to say, hauehave naturally a Pope bred in our bellies; a Mountebanke-opinion of our owne worth. Narcissus-like, wee dote vponupon our owne shadowes; and thinke our workes acceptable enough to God. If wee hauehave prayed, releeued, beleeued the history of the Gospell, or attentiuely heard the word, these are works meete for God. The Monke had but one hole in his Cell, and though it was in the toppe, vpward to heauen, yet the Diuell made a shift to creepe in there. The Serpent thrusts in his head often in some cracke of our good workes. Luther paradoxically. … …niustitiarum …ere sola causa …. Almost the only cause of all vnrighteousnesse, is (a too-well conceited) righteousnesse. We are easily induced to thinke our selues eueryevery one,Act▪ 8. 9. as Simon Magas, some great man. There must bee a deiection of this thought, an annihilation of our owne worth; that we can doe nothing meete for God, or worthy his iust acceptance. For Serdet in distincti…e Iudicis, quod fulget in opinione operantis. That is often foule in the sentence of the Iudge, which shines in the imagination of him that doth it.
But as Physitians say, no man dyes of an ague, or without it: so seldome any soule dyes of pride, or without pride; not meerly of pride, for (though that sicknesse were enough to kill it, yet) it is euer accompanied with som other disease and vicious wickednes; nor without it, for it is so inherent vntounto mans nature, that pride, if it doth not prouoke yet at lest holds the dore, whiles any iniquitie is doing. Hence flow so many errors, and factions, and singularities.
For as in the body, a raw stomach makes a rhumatick head, & a rhumatick head a raw stomach. So in the soule, an indigested conceit of some good thing in vsus, makes the head rume of some rheumaticke opinion, or madde factious singularitie: and this petulant rheume in the braine, keeps the conscience raw stil; that the physicke of repentance, or good diet of peaceable obedience cannot helpe it. Let vsus correct these exorbitant and superfluous conceits, which are like proude flesh vponupon vsus; and knowe, wee are able to doe nothing of our selues, but God is faine to put euen good thoughts in vsus. And if wee doe good from him, how good soeuer it be as from him, yet running through vsus it gets some pollution.
Neither let vsus run into the contrary errour, as if in a stupid willfullnesse, what good soeuer wee did, we could not hope that God in Iesus Christ would accept it. There is a thresholde of despaire below to stumble at, as wel as a post of high presumption to breake our heads at. There is a base deiection, a sordid humility. Bar…ena the Iesuite told another of his order; that when the deuill appeared to him one night, out of his profound humility hee rose vp to meete him, and prayed him to sitte downe in his chaire; for hee was more worthy to sitte there then he. This did appeare a strange kind of deiectednes. Surely I thinke, a man should by Gods word and warrant, take comfort in his wel doing, and be cheared in the testimonie which a good conscience, on good cause beareth to him. So Dauid hartned himselfe against all the malicious slanders of his his enemies; O Lord thou knowest mine innocence. Good workes are the necessary and inseparable effects of a true faith. We are by nature all dead in sinne, and by sinne concluded vnderunder death. Our Sauiour bore for vsus this death, and by his passion freed vsus from eternal damnation. It was not enough to scape hell, how shall wee get to heauen? Loe, we are cloathed with the garment of his righteousnesse, hung with the Iewels of his merits. So not onelyonly hell is escaped by his sufferings, but heauen got by his doings. Why should wee then worke? what need our gardens stand so full of herbes? Good reason. Shall God do so much for vsus, and shall we do nothing for him, for our selues? If the Lord of a Forrest giues me a Tree, it is fit I should be at the cost to cut it downe, and bring it home, if I will hauehave it. I cannot say that I deserued the tree; it was anothers gift: but my labours must lead me to enioy that, which was freely giuen me. Neither, can the conscience hauehave assurance of eternal life, so frankly bestowed in Christ, without a good conuersation. Faith doth iustifie, and workes do testifie that we are iustified. In a clocke, the finger of the dyall makes not the clocke to goe, but the clocke it: yet the finger without shewes how the clocke goes within. Our external obedience is caused by our inward faith; but that doth manifest how truly the clocke of our faith goes. As a mans corporall actions of sleeping, eating, digesting, walking, declare his recouery from sicknesse, and present health. So his life witnesseth by infallible Symptomes, that the disease and death of sinne is mortified in him, and that he hath taken certaine hold of eternall life. It is meet then that we should doe good workes: but all our works are made meete and worthy in him that bought vsus. I will conclude then with that Antheme, made by a sweet singer in our Israel. Pendemus ate, credimus in te, tendimus, ad te, non nisi per te, Optime Christe.
AMEN.