Works, Part 4 · Religious instruction · Chapter 53
CHAP. LIII. Of Predestination, Perseuerance, and Presumption.
WHom the Lord hath appoynted for his glorie, to them he hath also appoynted meanes to attaine thereto.
2 We must not ioy so much for that which we hauehave done, as we ought to be carefull what hereafter we must doe: for many are called, but few are chosen, and many begin gloriously, which end ignominiously.
Perseuerance is called (Ephes. 6. 18.) Proskartéresis, 1. Cor. 16. 13. We are taught to watch, and 1. Thes. 5. 6. not to sleepe: we must not be like the foolish Virgins, Mark. 13. 3▪ and the drowsie Apostles for want of it are reproued, Matth. 16. 38. What could yee not watch with mee one houre? The law saith, EueryEvery good thing is worse than euill without it: because if men goe not with a through stitch, they hauehave afflicted their soules in vaine,Watchfulnes. Deut. 6. 7. Exod. 18. 24. Godlinesse is a iourney, there must be no fainting in it: and to leaue any good thing vndone euen for a moment is contrarie to perseuerance: indeede to begin, eueryevery thing is pleasant, therefore for varieties sake many begin, but for the crosse dealing of the world they soone leaue off, and all the proofe is in the end.
3 We must be followers of God, if not in euerlastingnes, yet in long lastinges. WhatDeus aeternus, aeterna. quid leuitati & aeternitati. Praemium aeternum aeternam requirit seruitutem. Iud. 7. …2. Christus perseuerauit pro te, tu ergo pro illo. difference betweene eternitie, and a day or two? If our reward be not lease-wise for one and twentie yeeres, but infinite, surely our seruice must not be by lease, it must not bee after the manner of Bethulia, a compositiō for fiue daies, but all the daies of our liues. Christ sweat euen blood. Oh he would not giuegive thee ouer in hel fire, and wilt thou giuegive him ouer in a fire of reedes?
4 When wee see good men get new distinctions, as though they had not beene well taught before, it is a dangerous thing, Non perseuerrae (I say) noxium tibi. Ezech. 33. 13. HaueHave yee suffered so many things in vaine, saith Paul, Gal 3. 4. 2. Pet. 2. 20. Remember what it is to hauehave one diuell goe out of one, and to hauehave seuen to come in for it. It is a principle in the Ciuill law: Commonly in all things we hauehave faire beginnings, Ministers in their first day of ordination,A principle in the Ciuill law. on those daies wherein we receiue the Sacrament, when we are fasting, in affliction, in sicknes, or such like goodly promises and fat, but slender performance and leane. Nay, some doe not onelyonly not perseuere, but they fall to worse: they will say one day, as a wretchNihil praesumitur fuisse actum, don… aliquid superest ad agendū. Baldeminists said, Monacho feruenti, abbati calido, Episcopo tepido, Archiepiscopo remisso. spake: Gloria patri, and another day, & filio, and the third, & Sp. S. but for that, sicut crat in principio, they fall to their old bias again. This is like to Nebuchadnezzars image, the head is of gold, the breast of baser mettall, and so neerer the end, the worst still. The Papists call them that shrinke, worse then cloth that shrinketh but when it is wet.
5 We must not bee like Snailes, which push out a long paire of hornes, which being touched neuer so little, in they goe againe: wee must not be like to Ionathan, that is, follow the chase orderly vntill they come where honnie is; wee must not be as Asa, 2. Chron. 15. carefull to doe good vntill the Goute take vsus; verse 16. and then bee so way ward that no man may speake a word to vsus; wee must not be such as can abide affliction for a while, but when skinne for skinne commeth, stand as though we were appalled: but wee must withSimile. Non perseuerare cultus est mutilus.Marie Magdalen sit at the Sepulcher, Ioh. 20. 11. Wee must with the Spouse, Cant. 3. 4. take hold, and not leaue off; we must follow the suite as the widdow, Luc. 18. we must not giuegive ouer no more then the Cananite, Matth. 15. 22. wee must keepe our holde as Iacob did in his wrestling: we are in a course, we must out-runne. So runne (saith the Apostle) moderately at the first, constantly in the middest, cheerefully in the ende. So runne not to hauehave a vaine shoute for your first start, but to attaine the crowne. Stirre vp your selues, looke not backe: the Lord will hauehave all, not so much as the tayle of the sacrifice was wanting, Leuit. 22. We must doe not for a time onelyonly, but euen our whole time. Somewhat Agrippa was perswaded of, but Paul woud hauehave it altogether done. Some would gladly saue a small portion with Saphyra: but that were to become Bethulians, termers for a time, and all hypocrites are loath to become simply and wholly, but they came with their so much, and so long: but let vsus keepe an equall Tenor still. Isaiah is as zealous in his 66. chapter, as he is in his first.
6 We must labour to perseuere in persecution, Math. 10. 22. and beware by the fallingquatenus & tantisper. away of many, Math. 24. 13. yea we must resist euen vntounto death, Heb. 12. 4. So saith the Angell vntounto the Church of Smirna. Apoc. 2. 10. We must keepe Gods name in our forheads, when Antipas is slaine before vsus: wee must ride to heauen in a fiery chariot, and learne that eueryevery mans worke shall be tried by fire. 1. Cor. 3. VponUpon this theame the Apostles spent manie of their sermons, Act. 11. 23. Act. 13. 43. Act. 12. 22. Heb. 3. 12. 2. Pet. 1. 20. 1. Ioh. 2. 24.Erricoménoi. Math. 7, Vbi incipis no…le fieri melior, ibi desinis esse bonus. The Apostles warneth vsus, 1. Cor. 15. 58. to be setled, not tottering: and Coloss, 1. 23. to be irremoueable: and Coloss. 2. 7. that we be rooted deepe, strongly built, and sticke closely vponupon CHRIST, for he is the rocke: so when tempests come, we shall not be once moued. There be many impediments of this perseuering: some inward, as desire of nouelties, and sticking too much to reason, which will goe no further than shee sees likelihood, and the conscience of our vnworthines, whereby we despaire: some outward things hinder vsus, as worldly cares: oppose here Gods prouidence: the multitude of back-sliders oppose theNon quid …geris sed quid supersit curand…, si d…xis… sulficit, defec…li. varietie of true beleeuers: the prosperitie of the wicked oppose, Psal. 37. Yet a little while and they are gone, and neuer seene againe. We must euer labour to grow from the greene tree of faith, to the maine tree of faith, that is, to the full assurance of faith.
7 There are two kindes of presuming, the one of Gods mercies, the other of our owneTwo wayes of presuming. merits: the one is in carnall Protestants, the other in bold & proud Papists. For the first, wee knowe that Gods qualities be not separable: Moses saith, the Lord is readie to shewe merciemercy, so hee saith hee will punish the transgressor. Dauid sung a song of two parts, not of merciemercy alone, or of iudgement alone, but of merciemercy and iudgement together. But I maruell how these wretches dare adde sinne to sinne, when no one sinne shall go vnpunished, and how they dare presume of Gods merciemercy, vnderunder many sinnes, when God hath shewed his iustice to the dearest of his children for committing some one sinne. The Angels that conceiued but an opinion of pride, as some write, though they were almost as Gods, were for it cast downe to hell. Man, with whom the Lord was conuersant, with whom he talked and walked, to whom hee gaue the Lordship and soueraigntie ouer all earthly creatures, and with whom hee was familiar, for eating of the forbidden fruite was cast out of Eden. Moses and Aaron (the mirrors and miracles of the world) falling into Gods displeasure, were denied to enter into the promised Canaan. Dauid, who was honoured with the title of being a man after Gods owne heart, falling into sinne, fell out of God his fauour. But that which is aboue all, and ought to moue any man, Christ himselfe (the glorie and image of his father) could not escape the most bitter cup which he drunke of, though he begged it three times at the hands of his Father, because he became sinne for vsus. And yet sinful men,2. Cor. 5. 21. bold sinners and presumptuous sinners, perswade themselues, that they shall escape the hand of God. But to leaue them, and come to the other, I marueile what they can challenge by workes, seeing whatsoeuer they doe, they are still debters, and therefore no deseruers. Let them therefore learne of their learned Doctors to know that they hauehave no merits but Christs mercies: and let them say with the ancient Fathers: This is our merite, that wee hauehave no merit.