The Cron of7ighteou/neff. 6oS in things fupernatural, is meetly and folely ofGod alone ; .á (or.3.5. Therefore we may well conclude, that whatfoever good works there are in us, they be none ofour own. Secondly, As they muff beour own; fo likewife are they, (in the fenfe ofthofe grand Impoftors ofthe Chriftian world) to beperfe&, as in which nothing is tobe founddefe&ive, nothing redundant; whereas all our righteoufnefs, as it is inhx- rent inns, Alas ! it is butas a defiled,nafty,and polluted menftruofity, 464.6. the highefl pitch, or ei,ge of perfe&ion, that ( whilft we are clad with the raggs of our m vile flefh ) we, the very beftofus all, can attain to inthis life, is (as I have fhewn nelfew here ) but to fee, and to acknowledge, our imperfe &ions; as inthe cleareft ferenityof the Firmament, force fpeckling cloud may be difcovered, fo in our molt accurate and exa& performances, either in the Matter, or in the Man- ner, or in the Degree, meafure or endofdoing, we all prove force way defe&ive; even the very heft things that we do, have enough in them to be pardoned, if the Lord Ihoulddifcufs them without mercy in a rigorous feverity, and be foextream as to o mark what in them is done amifs : To this effe& the forementioned School Divines have ftyled the greateft Saints, as they areyet Members but of the Church militant on earth, but Moores, walkers inthe way; whofemotion is but only pro- greffive, not Comprehenfors, till a&ually inflated Members of the ChurchTrium- phant above in glory, in the mean while, that maxime in Divinity is Orthodox and folic!, Succe/vorum non ¡tmul eft efe, & perficere, Thofe things which admit ofa fucceffion in theirmotion, or degreesofgrowth, their being andperfe&ion is not all at once, nor altogether ; wherefore our very Apoftle elfewhere, Phil. 3. 1a. 15. profeffeth, though he were perfe&, in regard of fincerity and uprightnefs, yet not fo, in regard of thefull meafure : He wasfo in refpe&ofParts, he wasnot fo in refpe& ofDegrees, therefore he faid,that he hadnot as yet fully apprehended, Fuit perfeEluu, .fe futuraglorificationis,, Fuie Imperfetltu, onere Corruptions; Fuit perfetfus, expeífatione muneris ; Fnit Imperfellus, fati azione certaminis, as molt appolitcly to our prefent:purpofe, p Fulgentiue : perfe& he was, in the Hope offuture Glorification: he was impeded, under the burthen of prefent cor- ruption; He was perfe&inahe expe&ation ofhis reward, but yet imperfe&being tried under the great confli&, andencounter that he had with the oppofers of the Gofpel of Truth ; compleat perfe&ion he profeffed not, much lefs mayothers, fo far inferiour unto fogreat,and moft illuflrious a Saint, asSaint Paul was. ;. Works meritorious, as they muff be our own and perfe&, fo all() (in their fenfe) Indebita, more than due, fuper-erogatory tranfcending the Command; whereas ( proud Catharifls and brittle pot -(herds as they are) they might obferve what the great Law-giver hath declared in that Cafe, Luke 17. ro. When we have done all that we are able todo, we remain ftill moft defe tive,;and moft unprofitable fervants,and have atthe utmoft,(ifwe could reach to that) done butduty. 4. Laftly, Works meritoriousmutt beproportionate admercedem, exa&ly pro- portionable unto the juftReward ; but (urely if (as they cannot) our Pallions, and gSufferings cannot equal the Reward, much lets can our A&ions, or our im- peded doings; fweetly fingeth the Pfalmift,;God Crowneth indeed,but it isin his own meer mercy, and loving kindnefs, not for any polfible defers in the primeft , Creature ; yea, it's á maxime in the very Schoolmen themfelves, That Principium meriti prim eft merito, and that principitim is Gods free Grace , Mercy ;. fa- vour. So then, yield all this: But, Row then it itfree, andyet p Reward ofjuffice. Anfw. Some anfwer thus, namely, by underftandingJuftice, in this Text, of Gods Fidelity, and faithfulnefs in keeping promife, as in that Text, r fohn a. 9. where mo,r dA,ea zt., are .joyned together, ifwe confefs our fins, God is faith- full and Juft to forgive us our fins; And in this fenfe, ( rightly apprehended) its true indeed, to fay that its Debits mercer,' A reward of Debt, becaufe God hath, after a fort , bound himfelf by his own promife to give it unto us ; Promittendo fe feels Debitorem , faith r Aquiline, he hath made himfelf a Debtor tohis Churchby promife, in which only regard it is, that we may geigere I i i i a Dominum, , Phil.;. s e. nSee my See- moo, Ilyled, The Remtdyof Schifete, preached at Paolo Lond. 0640 p. IS, t9. offal. a ;o. s. p Fafgeí,t. lib., a. ad Menta. om. R. t1. Mediummewn miferaaioDomi ni. Bern. Qer. Anfw. S. Aug. dc »cob. Apo(t. Seam. 16. DebitsDens {f fateseft, Non alignid2
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