The Saints, and People of God, are the Body of Christ; and every one a Member of that mystical Body, whereof our Lord Christ is the Head. Now (saith Luther) What man will cut off his Nose, because there is filth in it?1 yea, though the Nose be the sink of the Brain, yet because it is a Member, a man will not cut it off. And will Christ cut off one of his Members, because there is filth in him, or some weakness and infirmity in him? No surely. What Woman will cast away the Mortar, because it favours of the Onions, or Garlic which hath be•n beaten in i•? What Father will knock his Child on the Head, b•cau•e a Wart grows on his Forehead. These Infirmities in the Saints and People of God, are their Wa•ts,2 which grow in the Face of their Conversation: the blessed Martyrs themselves had these Warts: Hierom of Prague had a great Wart upon him, Cranmer another, Jewel another; yea (if ye look into that little Book of Chronicles, I mean the 11. Chapter of the Hebrews) what Saint is there mentioned upon Record, but had one Wart or another? Had not Abraham his Wart, in saying, that Sarah was his Sister? Had not Sarah hers, in laughing? Had not Jacob, Isaac, and Joseph theirs? Moses, Rahab, Sampson, Jephthah, and David theirs? Luther had his, and our Reformers theirs; yet God owned, used, and honoured them. Surely therefore, though there be much evil in a Sin of Infirmity, especially if a man fall into it again and again; yet Christ will not leave a man, or cast him off for it.
The Saints, and People of God, are the Body of Christ; and every one a Memb•r of that mystical Body, whereof our Lord Christ is the Head. Now (saith Luther) What man will cut off his Nose, because there is filth in it?1 yea, though the Nose be the sink of the Brain, yet because it is a Member, a man wil not cut it off. And wil Christ cut off one of his Members, because there is filth in him, or some weakness and infirmity in him? No surely. What Woman wil cast away the Morter, because it favors of the Onions, or Garlick which hath be•n beaten in i•? What Father wil knock his Child on the Head, b•cau•e a Wart grows on his Forehead. These Infirmiti•s in the Saints and People of God, are their Wa•ts,2 which grow in the Face of their Conversation: the blessed Martyrs themselves had these Warts: Hierom of Prague had a great Wart upon him, Cranmer another, Jewel another; yea (if ye look into that little Book of Chronicles, I mean the 11. Chapter of the Hebrews) what Saint is there mentioned upon Record, but had one Wart or another? Had not Abraham his Wart, in saying, that Sarah was his Sister? Had not Sarah hers, in laughing? Had not Jacob, Isaac, and Joseph theirs? Moses, Rahab, Sampson, Jepthah, and David theirs? Luther had his, and our Reformers theirs; yet God owned, used, and honored them. Surely therefore, though there be much evil in a Sin of Infirmity, especially if a man fal into it again and again; yet Christ wil not leave a man, or cast him off for it.
- 1Nemo nasum ideo abjicit quod impuro phlegmate abundat, et quasi cloaca cerebri, ita etiam i•firmi temporis infirmitatis sunt pa•s Regni Christi qui non ideo abjici•ndi sed so vendi sanandi et erigendi sunt Luther.
- 2Ego non possum excusare Patres ut multi faciunt nec volo, imo libenter audio lapsus et infirmitates sanctorum non quod laudem, &c. sicut non excuso Apostolos fugientes à Christo, Petrum negantem et alias eorum infirmitates, stultitias et ineptias, nec scribuntur ista propter duros superbos et obstinatos sed ut ratio Regni Christi ostendatur qui in grege suo pusillo habet pauperes et infirmas conscientias; est Rex fortium pariter et infirmorum, &c. in Gen. 26. Scio ego me saepe multa stulte et temere admodum egisse adeo ut cogitatem cur Deus, vocavit me ad predicandum &c. in Cap. 27. Gen. Luth.
