100 Cafes ofConfcience. the vfe offome mcatesi A•f. He doth.But by A hzs commaundcment hcc takes not away thli: l1berry that wee haue m the vfe of things in• d1tferem, but doth onclyn1oderatc idorrhc commongood 1 whichhc may doelawfully. lll. Tnertur1 r:afon. Some ofthem are out et thepower and ability o! him that vow– cth 1 as the vow of p<rpetuallchafiitiein lin– gle l1te. For our SauJour(airh,A//mencAnnot reame thU word, but thry to wbom1 it i! g;ucn, Matth. 1?·''·thatis, Continencic isa gift of God, whereor all men are not capable, but thofeoneiy to whome hcgJUcth ll,when, and as iongaSJt pleafcth him: ncithcns tt demed 'vnto fome,b<caufe they will not, but becaufe they arc not able, . B AgainII this the Papifi.obieCleth,that wee may receiue any good giftot God, 1fwe pray forir:for Chrill hathfaid,AJk<,andJ< f'hal/re– cei•e,Mat.].].Anj.Ir is lalfe.Gods g1fts are ol t.woforts.Somearecommon to al that beleeue, and,uctj]'iiry to faluation:as fa1th,repenrancc, obedicnce,rhe fcarcofGod.Some agaioc aro fpeciAII gifu, not giuen to all, norneedful/ tofai– uation,butpeculiar onely tofome: as health, weahh, contmencie, !ingle life, &c. Now the promife ofour Sauior, /lsk$,&Jejh:tfire~ciuc, is meant oftbings necelfary to faluarion,and notofpamcular and fpeciallgifts. For fume may pray for them,&yet neuer rcceiue them. Thus Paul prayed thrifc,that the pricke inhi~ tle!h, the me!fcnger of Satan, might beer<- C rnooucd fromh1m, yet he wasnot heard, nor his petition granted.And why 1 becaufe that wh1ch he prayed for,wasnota commtJn gi}int– ct/JA'] roialuation, bot"fPccia/1 grAce, tor the titHe of the rempratJon, wherewith hcc was prefently alfaul;ed: whereupon Anfwerwas giw~o,il1J gt-au t~{ufficientfor thu. And hence wee learne in what manner to aske things at the hands of God, when wee pray. Such as are necclfarie to faluation,wee may aske abfolute!y and limply; but things that are lclfe nece!Tarie, with thiocondition: If it may fiand'with the good will and plca– fureofGod. giuenonelyto fome. PaultoTimothie,wil– leth younger wgmen, not to cndeauout to for.. beare,when they haue not thegift,burinwant thereoftomm?], 1.Tim.s.14Whereherakes 11 for graunted, that they had noCuchpower giuen them of God,ro liue in perpetual! cha– Lhry,though they would. I V. Thefourrhreafon.PopiO•vowesdo aboh01 thatorder,wh1ch God bath fer in the fociery of mankinde, to wit, that men !hould not onely ferue him mthe duties of thehrfi Table,but m rhe duttes of thefecond, by ler– Uingofmen,Gal.s.i3.BJ IoH~jerueoneanorhcr. Aga•nr,Rom.13. 10, Loueiscalledti" Juifiiimgif the law: becaufcthelawol God is pra– dlf<d,notapart by it fcife, but in and with the Jouc ofour nc1gbbour.From thiS order it fol· Jowcth, rhat euery man belide the senerall callmgot aChnfi1an,mufi haue (ome parti cular kmd ut hfe,m the whichhemufi walkc, and therem doe feruice to men: which if bee rctUfc to doe,h~mnft ntJt ~au,according tothe ApoUJes ruic 1 :.Thdf.3.10, Now rhefevowes make aleparati"O!J betwixt , thefe two: lorrhey bring men into agcnerall caiJmg, but they vtterly fruflrate and make void the particular,and the duticsoftt:foas a man keeping them, cannot bee feruiceable roman, either 1n Church orcommonwealth. Be!ides,by thevow ofpoucrry, the Apo{!Jes rule is difanulled,1,Tim.s.16,whichts,thatif a man be ablero maimainchimfelfe, or haue anykmred able to do it,he !hould norbechargeable to the Church: and fo theremight be lilffic1ent almes to them that aretruly poer<; V. The tift reafon. They bring in againe Iudaifi11e: for lewifi1 Religion by Gods ap– poimmenr,fiood in bodilyrites, and outward ceremonits,adiOns,and gefiures,yea in out– ward things,asgarments,meares,drinks.And rhe11 rulewas,lluchnot,Mjlenot:fromall whic.h weatewhollyfreedby Chri!t. , A£aine,the PapHlalleadgeth an example of two married perfons; the one whereofbee· ingfmitren by thehandofGod,with the dead p~llic,theother mufl needes pray for the gift ol conrincncie. An['RI, In this cafe a married partie mayaske it, and by Gods mercy ob– t~inc ir,becaufenow there rcmaines vnto him or her no other remcdie. But it is notfo \Vlth fingleperfons, conCidering that they hauea– nothcr remcdie,which is marriage:and there– fore they may notlooke, or-hope to obraine fuchagift. V I. S1xtly, thcfe Voweo are idolatrou• and luperfiitious: tor they are made andob– ferued wirh an opinion of Gods wor01ip, ol ment,and ofthe fiateof perfedion, whereas nothingcan be made Godswor!hip,but that D wh1ch h1mfeife commaundcth. And bodily exerc1Ccs are vnprofitable,as Paul fanh, and therefore they cannot bemeritorious. And furrher,to drcame of a flare ofperlcd1on be– yondrheLawof Goo, isto make the Law it felte1mpe.-ted:wbereas conrranwife,theLaw of the Lord is pe!led> righteous,andpure, Pfal.•9,7,8. · Thirdly,thcy fay God hathgiuen toal men fufficienra~de and Orengrh,thar iftheywil vfe the meancs_,they may hauc the gifr of chafli– ty. -Fer fuflic•cnr grace is giuen to all, though not elfdluall. Anf. ltJs talfe:rhere is ncirbcr furfic1 ~-"'· nor clfcCluaiJ grace giuen to all, to ltue atmgleltfe: bm 1r 1s ararciand[pcctal gift V 11. La(!Jy, thefe vowes areagainfithe preferuarion !Jf nature: for by·thcm, fpeci· ally that of perpcmall chalhtie, men are brought to def.lroy euen their owne bodies and liues, which rbey are bound to prderue andmaantamc,Eph.s.z9. No man mrryet ha~ ted hU owneflefh> but nourtjheth1mli ch~rt/l:tth it. TheApo(tlc, euenin hisdaics, noted it as a fault in avoluntarie Relrgion, that was then takenYpby fome, that for the maintenance thereof;
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