Touchstone to Determine the True Catholic Faith, Part 50 – Part 51
Concerning good workes, S. Paul teacheth all christians plainelie, that God hath ordained vsus to the adoption of sonnes, Ephes. 1.5.through Iesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his owne will, to the praise of the glorie of his grace. Hee hath not made vsus his sons for our workes sake: but according to his own good pleasure, when we were beggers, and void of all goodnesse, that we should be to the praise of his glorie: All the workes we can do should be to glorifie him; who hath bestowed such a great benefit vponupon vsus. And to the Galathians he … h,Gal. 4.30 that the sonne of the bondwoman shal not inherit with the sonne of the free woman: Ismaell, the bondwomans sonne is a figure of the law, Isaac the sonne of promise, is a figure of the gospell: In the inheritance of heauen, Ismaell and Isaac, the law and the gospell, faith and workes, shall not be ioined together. As Isaac; so his inheritance, must come of promise: it must come of faith, it must come of God. In this matter, Abraham must be deade, and Sarah barren. And Ferus of workes writes thus: A good worke is not to be esteemed by outward shew or cost: Fer…in 1. epist. Io. ca. 5.but by faith. And S. Paul saith, yt faith cōmeth by the word of God. And this is the true maner of teaching, that first faith be taught, & then works: and yet, that they againe be directed to faith, and trust in the merits of Christ. And after: Many of the simpler sort trust in their works, & so build on the sand. Thus far Ferus. And in that epistle of Christ to the faithfull soule wee may reade thus:A booke intituled the Epistle of Christ to the faithful soule, which ye papists hauehave put forth. Aske alwaies at my handes mercy and grace, not relying on any worke or merit of thine own: but trusting altogether, in that onelyonly worke of redemption which I hauehave finished for thee, and in that vnspeakeable mercy which I shewed towardes thee. And againe in the same Epistle they faine that Christ speakes thus to the faithfull soule: And yet notwithstanding I wil not hauehave thee serue me, or to suffer these things in hope of reward but onelyonly of meere louelove towards me: I know what reward I wil giuegive thee; I say I will, because I doe not owe it thee in any other sort, then for that it is my will to bestowe it vponupon thee: for all my giftes are of free grace. Thinke not thou therefore of any rewarde, be not so base minded: but thinke of mee with a more noble, louing, and faithfull heart, and submit thy selfe vntounto me, euen of meere louelove for mine own sake, to endure whatsoeuer my will is to lay vponupon thee. And againe, Referre all thinges to me alone, holde this with a resolute and assured minde, and for an infallible principle, that if I do grant thee any good gift, it is giuen meerely without desert, as to an vnfaithful and vnworthie creature. And direct thine eies to thine own vnworthines, (which art of thy selfe meerely nothing) and to thine own dishability, which art able to do nothing. And if thou doest any man good, thou maiest reioice in the good which I did by thee as my instrument: and thou maiest neuer ioyne together thy selfe and my benefit, except when thou comparest my infinite goodnesse, with thy vnspeakeable basenesse. And yet for all this, whereas master Beza vponupon the Pharisies bragging confession, on the 18 of Luke hath giuen this note; Although whatsoeuer we hauehave we confesse wee hauehave it of God, notwithstanding we are reiected of God as arrogant, if wee put neuer so little trust in our workes before God: Index expurgatorius, a booke which the Papistes hauehave made of late, and by which they controll all mens workes at their pleasure, giueth in charge that that note shall be blotted out quite. It is likelie they which made that book thought wee might lawfullie put some trust in our workes, or else they would not that that note should hauehave been blotted out.
De contempt… mundi. li. 2. c. 29Of good workes also Stella a Frier writeth thus: Yea if thou shalt depart from sinne, for this ende onelyonly or principally, that thou maiest obtaine eternal li…e, and not for God, thou shalt neuer obtain it. And if thou doest forsake the worlde for this ende onelyonly or principally, that thou maiest not go to hell; & not for God: without doubt, A shame for true christians that wil not do so much for louelove vntounto God, as these papists did for louelove vntounto thēseluesthou shalt go to hell. For this thy end which thou purposest, doth proceed from the louelove of thy selfe. If this be true, then it is likely almost all the Monasteries and Abbies here in England, were builded to a wrong end. They erected them principally for the saluation of their owne soules, because they would not go to hell; as appeareth by their foundations at this day: and then those could not profit them. They procéeded of selfe louelove, & not of the louelove of God; and therefore by Stella his iudgment without Gods great mercy they should go to hell. We must do all our workes for the glorie and louelove of God (as Stella by the force of the scriptures is forced to confesse.) But before the light of the scriptures came into ye world, their blinde guides, and wandring stars, taught men otherwise: That they might build Monasteries and Nunries, for the saluation of their soules. For thus I find recorded in an old booke, which belonged to the Abbey, of Kirksted of the foundation of it. Bee it knowen to all the faithfull, that I Hugh, the sonne of Eudone, hauehave giuen and granted to the Lord, and Saint Mary, and to the order of the Monkes of Chester, ground to build them an Abbey, in a place which is called Kirksted, &c. aProsalutemea.for my saluation, and the saluation of my wife, and all my heires, and for the soules of my father and mother, and all my parents. And this gift was made before Alexander Bishop of Lincolne, and others. Here this ende is onelie expressed, the health of their soules; and the glory of God is left out & forgotten: and thus their teachers taught them. For this was made before the Bishop of Lincolne. And so they hauehave made them shoot at a wrong mark, and derogate from that great glorie of Iesus Christ, as though he had not sufficiently saued them: and so while they would saue their soules, they endanger their soules. This one point, by a Papists owne iudgment ouerthroweth all Papistes workes.
And hauehave compassion of some in putting difference: Text. Verse 22.23.and other saue with feare pulling them out of the fire, and hate euen the garments spotted by the flesh. Mat. 24.12.] In the end of the world iniquitie shall hauehave the vpper hand (as our sauiour prophesieth) and heresie shall preuaile, that if it were possible, the verie elect should be seduced. False Christs & false prophets shall arise; such Christs as the gospell teacheth not; which teach another waie of saluation, then is therein contained: and false prophets,Rom. 1.1. 1. Cor. 15. v. 5.6. which shall preach false doctrine (not according to the scriptures) as the Apostle often addeth, as a sure testimony to his doctrine; shal come into the world, and shall shew great signes and wonders, not so much in doing anie externall miracles (which none take vponupon them to doe at this day) as in their manner of liuing, verie straite and austere: like frogs (as S. Iohn in his Reuelation prophesieth of them) in venturing their liues for their errors,Reu. 16.13. in vsing all manner of meanes to confirme their opinions, in all counterfeit holinesse and deuotion: so that if it were possible, the very elect should bee seduced. After the drying of E…phrates, that great riuer and streame of selling pardons, which enriched Babylon: there came frogs out of the mouth of the beast, to do wonders before the kings of the earth. Frogs liue hardly in the water, leape here & there, and hauehave a kinde of voice: They may resemble their Seminaries of late founded by ye Pope, and their preaching and hypocrisie. Out of this generall fire, which shal burne in all places, and from this great heresie & superstition, which now shall cary a zeale with it, like fire; the Apostle here willeth all true christians, that as they hauehave a care of their owne saluations: so to hauehave a care of others, as much as in them lieth, and to saue them. And he maketh two sortes: the one to be dealt more gentlie withall, to be pitied; the other with feare, to be pulled out of the fire: of both which sortes, we hauehave plenty at this day. There are a great many simple soules seduced by the vaine perswasions of others, which themselues are not able to defend their opinions: but are led by others. Such surely are to be pitied, and with al curtesie, to be perswaded, that seeing they are men & hauehave reason, that they would not stop their eares,Psal. 56.4. like the deafe adder, and that they would vouchsafe to heare, that which should doe their soules good: That they would not in their faith, hange on other mens sléeues, knowing,Heb. 10 38. Mat. 9.22.29. Mat. 10.52. Ier. 31.32. Heb. 8.11. Esay 11.9. Hab. 2.14. that the iust man must liue by his owne faith. They shal all know me (saith God) from the greatest to the smallest. And speaking of the kingdome of Christ, the prophets Esay and Habacucke do affirme, that the earth shalbe filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters couer the sea. Why then, who will nowe bee without knowledge? which the Lord here giueth so plenteously. It shall couer the earth, who will not stoupe downe to put his hand to it?Reu. 21.8. The fearefull soule, God will exclude out of his kingdome. Let no man be affraid to read the scriptures, to pray as the saints of God heretofore hauehave praied, to hope to be saued as they were. Those thinges that came in since, as Latine praiers, pardons, agnus dei, images and such like: what neede we care for? the former saints of God were saued without them.