\ 6o6 VI 7\eformed [atholi~. tinie ofour firll c~nuerfion,as I haue faid:Put A truly informed of their ellate. And thbugh cafe, a man that ncuer yet repented fal~ mto we .reach tllcrc is akinde' of implicire faith, I fome gneu~us fickneffc' aod then begrns to whrch rsthe btgmnrngoftrue and huely faith: be fOttched m conference for hisfinoes, and yet none mull hmupon rake an occafion to 'I tobe·truely humbled: hereupon he is cxhorcontent themfdues th<rewith but labour to ted ro beleeue his owne reconciliation with incrcafc and go one from faith ;o faith: and fo I God iu Chrill, and the pardon of his owne indecde will euery OJOC doe that bath any be· 1 finnes. And as he is exhorted, fo bee endeaginningsof true faith, tc th<y nener fo little. 1~oureth a~cording to rhe meafure of grace And h<e which rhinkes hee bath a defire to 1 rcceiued, ·to beleeue, yet after much llriuing beleeuc, and contents himfelfe therewith. r hecar\borrefolue himfclfe, that hee cloth dibath inde<de norrue dcfire tob<leeue. ' . lnfiit.lib. 'I;'·" Set\.f. fiinl'lly' and ccrtainely beleeue the pardOA ofhis 0wne finnes: onelyrhis he can fay, that he doth heartily defire to beloeue : this bee wilheth aboucall things inthe world:and hee elleemes all thinghs duRg for Chrilh & thus B hedies. I demand now, what lhall we fay of him? furely we may liy noth~ng, but that bee died the childe of God, and is vndowbtedly faued. For howfoeuer it were an happie thing if men could come to that fulneffe of faith which was inAbr•h•m, and many (eruanrs of God: yetcertaino it is,that God in fundry ca– fes accepts ofthis ddlreto beleeqe, for true faith indeede. And looke as it is in nature, fo irisin grace:innature fome die when they are children, fome in old age, and feme in full llrength,andyetalldiemen: foagaine, fome die babesinChrift,fome ofmore perfel'lfairh: & yet the weakeft hauing thefeedes ofgrace, is the childe ofGod; and faith in his infancie is faith. All this while,it mull be remembred, c I fay not,thereis atrue faith wirhouul appre• henfion, but without a dillinl'l apprehenfion for fomefpaceoftime: for this very defire,by faith to apprehend Chrill and his merits, is a kinde of apprcbenfion. And thus we fee the kinds ofimplicite or infolded faith· This dofhine is to bee learned for two caufes: firll ofall,it feruesto re<lifie the con• fciences ofweake ones, thatthey bee not de– ceiued touching'their ellate. For ifwe thinke that no faith canfaue, bbrafull perfwafion, fuchasthe faithofAbrahamwas, many trnely bearing the name of Chrill mull bee put out ofthe rolle ofthe children ·ofGod. Wee are therefore to know, thattherebe differen. ces and dcgrees·oftrue faith, and the Ieaft of D them all is this infoided faith. This in effel'l is the dotlriae of Maller C•luin : that when wee begia by faith to know famewhat, and haue addire t<>leame more,this may be rear– med an. vnexprcffcd faith. Secondly , this point ofdo£lrlne fcrues to retlifie and in part to expound fundry Carechifincs, in drat they feeme to prop(>und faithvnto men at fo high areach, as few can attainc voto it : defio·ing it to beacertaine and filii perfwa!ion ofGods loueand fauour in Chrift; whereas, though e– uery faith be for his-nature accrtaine p•rfwa· Cton, yet onely thefirong faith ..is the full per~ .tivafion. Therefore faidh is nownely in geneThe differenc.. The pillars of the Rotnane Church laic downe this ground: that fairhin his o\vne na– ture, is not a knowicdge of things to be bc– le<ued, but a reuerent affent vnto them, whe– ther they be knowne or vnknowne. Hereupcn they build: that ifaman know fome tJ<eelfary points ofreligion, as the dollrine of the gcd– head, ofthe Trinity, ofChrills incarnation and ofcur redemption , &c. it is needletfe t~ know the rellby aparticularor difiintlknow– i<dge, & it fufficethto giue hisconfcntto the Church , and to bcleeuc as the Pafiours be– ie<Ue. Behold a ruinous buildingvpon a rot– ten foundation : for faith conraines a know. ledge ofthingsto bebcleeued,and i<r.owledge is ofthenature offairh: and nothing is belee– ued that is not knowne, lf•·5l·"· The.,ow– ledgeufrr,y righteousferuant, JhaCiuj}ifi"''""Y· And lokn17-3- Thi< i<eternaBlife,ro k!l9tll thee themrnaa God, •nd wh<m thou h.jljint lefm Chri/f.ln thefe placcs,by knowledge is meant faith grcundedvpon knowledge, whereby we know, and are alfurcd thlt Chrifl and his be– nefits belong vnto vs. Secondly, thiskinde cf ' alknt is the mother of ignoratJCe. For when men lhall be taught, that for fundry poims of religion they may beleeue as the Church bcleeues : a that the lludy of the Scriptures is , Mol. notto be required ofthem: yea, that to their 1 rad +<· good they may be barr<d the readingofthem, l7.<on– lo beitthey llnow fome principalthings con- cluf,If. rained in the articlesof faith: that b common beleeuers are not bound exprdly to belecue ~~"'c"d all the articles ofthe Apollles Creede': <that , Ba~::,, it fufficeth them to telceue the artides by an a.q.un. implicitefaith, by beleeuing as the Ch:rch 7-~r";b" ~elceucth:few or r.onc will haue care to prcfit ~::~~ .. m knowledge. And ret Gods coinmande- GuLP•d mentis that wee fbould grow in knowler1ge, <nus,& and th~t his word fbould dwell plcnti60fiy in <o Aldfi– vs, Cofoff.3.16. Againc, the Papi!b fay, that odo«nfis the dcuGtion of the ignora<'~ 1 1> often fer. uice better accfpted then that whiCh is done vpon knowledge. S11ch (fay rr.q) .:ipfay.in Rh< m. f4tinetP'Y.AJ 1 WithiUgrMt etm[o~tion of jjurtt;wtth Tcfiam. aJ little tedicllfnefle, wit bmgreat Jen(ltionandaf. r.Cor.,.. ~e[fion; ttndoftmtimts Wore then the ether, tfnd lwaie.Jizore then any Jchifrnatic~ or herctic~e , nhUoaime litngHage. Toconclude, they teach Moi tutl hat fjjm~ ·articles ef fatth arc lieleeucd r·<·Jo. generally of the whole ct.>rch onely <6ciu£u ! rall tearmes tobedcfined,but alfothedegrees and rneafures thereofare to·b<!e expobrrded',: that wcake ones to their comfort may bee -~----- ·- -- ~· by
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