yet it is no less true thatb the constant and conscionable persisting in performance of such duties, notwithstanding that all good means used, the poor Christian soul cannot attain to that alacrity that fain it would, may make them no less acceptable, if not more acceptable to God, than if they were done even with the greatest delight. Suppose two persons attend the King in his hunting, or at his sports, the one that taketh much delight in the game, the other that hath little or no delight in it: or the one lusty and healthy, and that attendeth him therefore with ease; the other weak and faint, or lame, or having some hurt about him, in regard whereof he cannot follow him but with much pain and difficulty, and yet will not give over, but be hard at his heels still, as ready and forward as the former. Hisc will may be every whit as good as the other, and his Sovereign is no less, if not more, for such his service beholden to him, than to the other. Nor may the service of such a poor soul therefore be the less acceptable to God, because it cannot perform it with such alacrity and delight asd it desireth. And in like manner for Faith and dependence upon God. It is not an argument of no Faith, when a man cannot yet attain to a full persuasion and assurance of Gods special favour towards him, and of the free remission of his sins in Christ, that many other faithfule have had, and many doubtless also ordinarily have. This is a consequent rather of Faith, that asf Augustine saith of works, ⟨p. 250⟩rather followeth the person justified, than precedeth and goeth before Justification, as Faith beingg an instrumental cause of producing it as an effect doth. It is a consequent, I say, of it, deduced from it, as the same Father wellh showeth, by a Syllogism, wherein Faith is assumed, and this persuasion concluded from it: and that not simply and absolutely necessary neither, but such as is, by general consent, oft severed from it. But for a man, though he cannot yet attain to it, yea though he never should so long as he liveth, yet to resolvei to cleave unto God with full purpose of heart, to stick close unto him, to depend wholly upon him, and not to give over still seeking and suing to him for it, and the constant use of all good means to attain it;k
yet it is no lesse true thatb the constant and conscionable persisting in performance of such duties, notwithstanding that all good means used, the poore Christian soule cannot attaine to that alacrity that faine it would, may make them no lesse acceptable, if not more acceptable to God, than if they were done even with the greatest delight. Suppose two persons attend the King in his hunting, or at his sports, the one that taketh much delight in the game, the other that hath little or no delight in it: or the one lusty and healthy, and that attendeth him therefore with ease; the other weake and faint, or lame, or having some hurt about him, in regard whereof he cannot follow him but with much paine and difficulty, and yet will not give over, but be hard at his heeles still, as ready and forward as the former. Hisc will may bee every whit as good as the other, and his Soveraigne is no lesse, if not more, for such his service beholden to him, than to the other. Nor may the service of such a poore soule therefore be the lesse acceptable to God, because it cannot performe it with such alacrity and delight asd it desireth. And in like manner for Faith and dependance upon God. It is not an argument of no Faith, when a man cannot yet attaine to a full perswasion and assurance of Gods speciall favour towards him, and of the free remission of his sinnes in Christ, that many other faithfulle have had, and many doubtlesse also ordinarily have. This is a consequent rather of Faith, that asf Augustine saith of workes, ⟨p. 250⟩rather followeth the person justified, than precedeth and goeth before Iustification, as Faith beingg an instrumentall cause of producing it as an effect doth. It is a consequent, I say, of it, deduced from it, as the same Father wellh sheweth, by a Syllogisme, wherein Faith is assumed, and this perswasion concluded from it: and that not simply and absolutely necessary neither, but such as is, by generall consent, oft severed from it. But for a man, though he cannot yet attaine to it, yea though he never should so long as he liveth, yet to resolve
- bQuibusdam lac, quibusdam vinum apponitur. Lac suaviter bibitur, dulciter liquatur, sine laesione, sine amaritudine; vinum asperius est, & minus suave. Lac bibunt qui in sancto proposito suaviter incedunt, dulciter currunt, &c. Vinum bibunt, qui vias vitae aggressi, & ingressi, corporis animae que tribulationibus contorquentur, sed non cedunt, neque recedunt tamen. Sed quis horum tibi videtur vel ille qui in suavitate, vel ille qui in asperitate currit viam mandatorum Dei? primus foelicior, secundus fortior; uterque tamen justus, uterque pius, Bern. de conscient. c. 3.
- cVoluntas est, quae apud nos ponit officium. Senec. de benef. lib. 6. c. 12.
- dQuomodò de aegroto Aug. in Psal. 118. conc. 8. Aegrotus qui fastidio laborat, & vult evadere hoc malum, concupiscit defiderare cibum, dum concupiscit non habere fastidium. Et appetit animus, ut appetat corpus, quando appetit animus, nec appetit corpus.
- eGalat. 2.20. 1 John 3.14. & 5.19, 20.Galat. 2.20. 1 Iohn 3.14. & 5.19, 20.
- fNon praecedunt justificandum, sed sequuntur justificatum. Aug. de fid. & oper. c. 14.
- gRom. 3.28. & 3.1.
- hServator loquitur, Veritas pollicetur: Qui audit verba mea, & credit ei qui misit me, habet vitam aeternam, transiit de morte ad vitam, & in judicium non veniet. Ego audivi, credidi; infidelis cùm essem, factus sum fidelis: Transii ergò à morte ad vitam, & in judicium non veniam, non praesumptione mea, sed ipsius promissione. Aug. in Joan. 5.24.Servator loquitur, Veritas pollicetur: Qui audit verba mea, & credit ei qui misit me, habet vitam aeternam, transiit de morte ad vitam, & in judicium non veniet. Ego audivi, credidi; infidelis cùm essem, factus sum fidelis: Transii ergò à morte ad vitam, & in judicium non veniam, non praesumptione mea, sed ipsius promissione. Aug. in Ioan. 5.24.
