Reprobation of sinners issues from the Sovereignty and Justice thereof The Reprobation of sin is universal and without any distinction of persons God hates sin where-ever it be be it in his own beloved Jedidiahs 't is an abominable thing such as his soul abhorrs but the Reprobation of sinners is particular Esau and not Jacob was hated Judas and not Peter was a Son of perdition Indeed he that denies particular Reprobation must by necessary consequence deny particular Election and he that asserts an Election of some individual persons doth in eodem rationis signo assert a Reprobation of others 2. What are they for Quality I answer in two particulars 1. Reprobation as to the first and second Acts thereof viz. Preterition and Permission of final sin respects them as lying in the corrupt Mass. This appears by those Names and Titles whereby Reprobation is set forth and described in Scripture there 't is hatred and God hates none but sinners 't is hardening and God hardens none but such as are in a corrupt estate 't is abjection or casting away and God doth not cast away an upright one or a man standing in integrity 't is not knowing and God knows and approves every sinless creature 't is not shewing mercy and that supposes men to lie in a state of misery or else they are not capable of mercy or the denial thereof Wherefore I conceive that in Preterition and Permission of final sin men are considered as lying in a corrupt and undone Condition 2. Reprobation as to its third Act viz. the decreeing of Damnation respects them as final sinners 'T is true every sin as sin is in it self intrinsecally meritorious of Damnation but through Gospel Grace in Jesus Christ no sin but such as is final doth actually produce Damnation God condemns none but for final sin and decrees to condemn none but for it Those vessels of wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fitted to destruction Rom. 9. 22. are as I take it final sinners only Great sinners may be vessels of Mercy and repent unto Life Eternal but final sinners are vessels of Wrath and fitted to destruction God swears by his life that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked Ezek. 33. 11. not unless he be a final sinner in whom there is no true turning or repenting not in such a way as to leave no place or room at all for Conversion for the sinners turn is in the Text opposed to his death and opposed as a thing more destrable to God than his death Should the Decree of Damnation objectively terminate on a sinner merely as a sinner there could be no place or room for Repentance but if it terminate on him as a final sinner there is no such obstruction at all Wherefore I conceive that as God condemns none but for final sin so he decrees to condemn none but for the same and by consequence that Decree respects them as final sinners that is they are first considered as final sinners and then the Decree of Damnation terminates on them Object But here an Objection meets me God condemns none but final sinners and decrees to condemn none but such yet hence it follows not that the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinners or that they were considered as such antecedently to that Decree for God saves none but final believers and decrees to save none but such yet from thence it follows not that the Decree of Salvation respects them as final Believers or that they were considered as such antecedently to that Decree for as hath been laid down before Faith and Salvation are comprized in one and the same Decree and therefore there is no antecedency of Faith to Salvation in the very Decree but only in the execution thereof Answ. To which Objection I answer That between the two Cases there is a triple difference which if considered will make it appear that the consequence which fails in the one case doth hold good in the other 1. These two Propositions God decrees to save none but final Believers and God decrees to damn none but final Sinners must be taken in a different meaning When we say God decrees to save none but final Believers the meaning is not final Believers so preconsidered antecedently to that Decree for Faith and Salvation are comprized in one Decree but final Believers so to be made by force of that Decree But when we say God decrees to damn none but final Sinners the meaning is not final Sinners so to be made by force of that Decree for God's Decree makes no man a final Sinner but final Sinners so preconsidered antecedently to that Decree Wherefore from that Proposition God decrees to save none but final Believers it cannot be concluded that the Decree of Salvation respects them as final Believers but because of the different meaning from that other Proposition God decrees to damn none but final Sinners it may be rightly concluded that the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinners 2. There is an immediate contact between Grace and Glory hence these two may very aptly be comprized in one Decree and if so final Faith is not preconsidered to the Decree of Salvation But between Preterition or Permission of sin and Damnation there is no immediate contact for the Act of the Creature even his final sin comes between hence Preterition or Permission and Damnation cannot according to our understanding be congruously comprized in one Decree but in distinct Decrees and if so final sin is preconsidered to the Decree of Damnation For no sooner doth the Decree of Preterition and Permission pass in the divine Will but therein as in a Glass there is a Prescience of final Sin and thereupon passes the Decree of Damnation But you 'l say Neither is there such an immediate contact between Grace and Glory as you assert for between the donation of Grace and Glory the act of the Creature viz. final Faith doth intervene I answer 'T is true it doth intervene but as a fruit or effect of that Donation it doth intervene but that Donation hath a Causal influence and attingency into the Creatures Act and its Perseverance wherefore it so intervenes as not to break the immediate contact in the least measure But between Preterition or Permission and Damnation the Creatures Act viz. final Sin doth intervene not as an effect of Preterition or Permission but as a fruit of man's corrupted and depraved Will and that intervention cannot stand with an immediate contact Wherefore there being distinct Decrees first Preterition and Permission are decreed and then upon the prescience of final Sin Damnation 3. The third difference is that of the Apostle The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 23. Eternal Life is a gift freely given therefore the consideration of final Faith is not a prerequisite to the Decree of Salvation But Death is wages exacted by the
intrinsecal merit of Sin and paid only to a final Sinner therefore the consideration of final sin is a prerequisite to the Decree of Damnation without that consideration I see not how it can be decreed as Wages But you 'l say Is not Eternal Life also a Reward of Faith and Holiness and how then can that be decreed as a Reward without a preconsideration of these I answer Eternal Life is a Reward but 't is a Reward of pure Grace 't is Grace upon Grace glorifying Grace upon sanctifying therefore to the Decreeing thereof as a Reward it suffices that it be decreed to Believers and Saints Not Believers and Saints so preconsidered to that Decree for Grace and Glory being both mere gifts and gifts of immediate contact are comprized in one Decree but Believers and Saints so to be made by force of that Decree and so to be made before they wear the Crown This is enough in the decreeing of a Reward so purely gratuitous But in Eternal Death there is nothing at all gratuitous all is mere wages and pay for Sin Sin doth really and intrinsecally merit it Wherefore Eternal death as such wages is decreed only to final Sinners Not final Sinners so to be made by force of God's Decree for that makes no man a final Sinner but final Sinners so preconsidered to the Decree of Damnation for without that preconsideration it is not as I conceive decreeable as wages or pay due unto them To shut up this point in a word Reprobation as to the Decree of Preterition and Permission respects men as lapsed Sinners and as to the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinnets 4. What is the Impulsive Cause of Reprobation To which I make answer 1. As for the Decree of Preterition and Permission of final Sin it is from God's Will as cloathed with supreme Sovereignty God passeth by and hardneth whom he will This appears in two particulars 1. First God doth not give so much as the Gospel-means unto some men He suffered all nations to walk in their own ways Acts 14. 16. Some sin and perish without Law or Gospel all the Law they have is the dark glimmering of Nature and all the Gospel they have is the patience and goodness of God leading to Repentance The Sun Moon and Stars are divided to all nations Dent. 4. 19. but Jesus Christ a Sun of infinite light and lustre shines in a narrower compass on the earth than the finite Sun the Moon is lesser than the Earth the visible Church than the World of Men. The Apostles those Stars of light must not shine in Asia and Bithynia Acts 16. 6 7. By what way is this Evangelical Light parted Surely by the divine Will alone the difference is not from the worthiness or unworthiness of men for those in Asia and Bithynia were as good as others Christ was manifested to a Thief and not to a Socrates or Plato Rebellious Israel hath the light of the Word in it and a more flexible Nation which would hearken thereunto wants it Ezek. 3. 6 7. Impenitent Corazin and Bethsaida have a visible Deity before them in Christ's Miracles when poor Tyre and Sidon much nearer to Repentance hath it not Matth. 11. 21. In all which the sovereign Will of God is to be adored for that is it which divideth between the Light and the Darkness 2. In the Visible Church the Orb of Gospel-light God doth not give saving Grace unto all 'T is true the mercy of God is so immense that all the sins of men are but as the drop of the bucket to it the Blood of God is so meritorious that all the crimson Crimes in the World are as nothing to it and the Spirit of God is so almighty that all the chains of hardness and unbelief fall off before his converting Grace Nevertheless this immense Mercy doth not pardon all this meritorious Blood doth not wash all nor this almighty Spirit doth not convert all unto God Oh the wonderful Abyss of the divine Counsel All men naturally lie in bloody pollution and God saith to one Live and not to another all are as it were one entire Rock of obstinacy against God and he calls Abraham's children out of one part of the Rock and leaves all the rest to be Rock still All are dead in sins and trespasses nay and sealed up in their Graves with a stone of hardness and unbelief and one Grave-stone is rolled away and the dead under it raised up by almighty Grace and not another External Revelation is all over the Church why is not the inward holy Unction so too The Gospel sounds in every Ear why do not all hear and learn of the Father The Gospel calls and knocks at every door why are not the Demonstrations of the Spirit and the drawings of the Father in every heart The Gospel says in general Whosoever will may take the Water of Life freely why doth not God work the Will in all Why are any dimissi libero arbitrio left to the miserable servitude of their own free Will Here there is no other resolution but that of the Apostle He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardneth and beyond this we can only wonder and in quodam mentis excessu cry out Oh the depth Cur hoc illi operetur saith St. Austin illi non operetur metuentem me trementem judicia ejus inscrutabilia incomprehensibilia nolo interroges quia quod lego ercdo revereor non autem discutio And Ne dicas Deo interrogando Quae est voluntas tua sed tremendo Fiat voluntas tua And again Posset Deus saith he of wicked men ipsorum voluntatem in bonum convertere quoniam Omnipotens est posset planè cur ergo non fecit quia noluit cur noluerit penès ipsum est If there were any thing extra Deum moving him to the Decree of Preterition and Permission it must needs be sin either Original or Actual or final Impenitency and Infidelity therein but none of all these moved God thereunto Not Original sin for this is the common blood wherein all men Elect as well as Reprobate lie by nature And this is St. Ambrose's Mirum touching Infants Ubi actio non offendit ubi arbitrium non resistit ubi eadem miseria similis imbecillitas causa communis est non unum esse de tanta parilitate judicem quales reprobat abdicatio tales adoptat Electio Indeed Original Sin makes all men reprobable for all are by nature Children of wrath Transgressors from the womb an unclean and corrupt Seed lying in bloody and abominable pollution fit and worthy to be put away from the holy One as dross and for ever to be cast out into utter darkness but it makes no man a Reprobate for the Elect are as deep in this filthy mire as others Nor yet doth Actual sin do it for Jacob was loved and Esau hated before they had
't was that he might succour the tempted Heb. 2. 18. Which way soever Satan turns himself still he is under God as the supreme Moderator But the spiritual world is not all the Material World is also under his dominions the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Wheel of Nature is all turned about by his counsel the Heavens with all their Luminaries rapid Wheelings spinnings of Time and hovering indulgent influences are under his Ordinance his immense hand spans them Isai. 48. 19. at once twirling them about with an indefatigable Motion and squeezing out their quickning influences into the lower World 't is he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 5. 45. raises up the Sun to rule the day and the Moon and Stars to rule the night the Air with all its Meteors is at his command he maketh the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth Psal. 135. 7. and forms them into Clouds in an admirable and exact proportion the airy and watery parts ballancing each other Job 37. 16. These are the Bottles of Heaven when he breaks a Bottle down comes a refreshing showre when he turns and tosses a Bottle 't is by his counsel Job 37. 12. The Winds are all in God's hand Prov. 30. 4. and when he lets out any of them 't is by weight Job 28. 25. just so much and no more and 't is to fulfil his will Psal. 148. 8. and when one command is done it returns by its circuits to execute another Eccl. 1. 6. Thunder is God's majestick Voice and Lightning his glittering Arrow both are at his beck and say to him Here we are Job 38. 35. The treasures of Snow and Hail he purses up in the Clouds and those pay them out again according to his pleasure The stupendious Sea is but a little Babe in his almighty Arms Clouds and darkness are its swadling-band Job 38. 9. and the hollow of the Earth its Cradle there he rocks and rules it as he pleaseth if it cry and roar he stills and rebukes it till he lull it fast asleep in a calm The vast Earth is but instar puncti before him at his command are all the living Creatures the greedy Ravens were Caterers for Elijah untrained Kine faithful carriers of the Ark the dumb Ass a reprover to the Prophet clamorous Dogs moved not their tongues at departing Israel Laban's Cattle change colour to pay Jacob's wages Peter's Fish brought Tribute-money in his mouth and when proud Pharaoh said Who is the Lord an answer was sent him by wonderful hosts of Frogs and Flies Lice and Locusts proclaiming the sovereignty of their great Maker and Master In summ Man is the Epitome of all the rest and in governing him God governs all Man hath an inward Principality of Reason and Will yet still he is under the Almighty and All-wise Moderator who rules and disposes the hearts of men as he pleaseth 'T was but his touch on their hearts and Saul had a band 1 Sam. 10. 26. 'T was but his turning the key in Lydia's heart and the Gospel had entrance Acts 16. 14. Titus went to the Corinthians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 8. 17. a word importing high liberty yet God put it into his heart Ver. 16. The King's heart and who can be freer than he is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of waters he turneth it whither he will Prov. 21. 1. he turneth it whither he will there is the sovereignty of Providence yet he turneth it as the Rivers of waters there is the salving of Humane Liberty For as when the Husbandman leads the Waters this and that way by Channels and Trenches they lose nothing of their natural fluency so when God turns the hearts of men to such and such Objects they part with nothing of their natural liberty God is infinitely greater than our hearts wiser than our reason and freer than our liberty therefore he is able and worthy to rule over us in our freest actions Lastly as his gubernative Providence is over all Creatures so 't is over all Events the greatest Events are not above it When Kingdoms are tossed and bandied up and down like a Tennis-ball Isai. 22. 18. not one Event can fly out of the bounds of Providence the smallest are not below it not a Sparrow falls to the ground without it not a hair but 't is numbred by it he is maximus in minimis the most natural Effects are but casual till his free concourse makes them certain The Iron with all its gravity is not sure to sink 2 Kings 6. 6. the Fire with all its fury is not sure to burn Dan. 3. 27. The most casual effects are not casual to him when the Lot is cast into the lap the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord Prov. 16. 33. When a Bow was drawn at a venture 1 Kings 22. 34. Providence sent it as a certain messenger of death to the King of Israel Thus far I have been surveying the hosts of Creatures and Events I now procede to demonstrate that God is the great and universal Governour over them all For 1. He hath an absolute Authority over all his just Title is King of kings and Lord of lords all the Sphere of Nature and World of Creatures was of his making he that ruled over Nullity it self in their Creation is worthy to rule over all Creatures by his Providence but because Authority is liveless without presence therefore 2. His presence is every where Creatures lie in the shell of Time and Place Angels have their definitive Ubi the Body of Christ which subsists in an infinite Person is circumscribed by a finite place but God is every where present he is higher than Heaven deeper than Hell longer than Time and greater than Place and who like him to be universal Governour If he were only on the Throne of Heaven how should the Footstool of the Earth be ordered If his hand only spanned the celestial Spheres what should the Sea do But he is every where where-ever any Creature is there is I AM supporting and governing it But because power is the Crown of presence therefore 3. He is Almighty the only potentate 1 Tim. 6. 15. power belongs to him nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 1. 19. a pleonasm of power such as can do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 3. 20. superexcessively above all thoughts of men No wonder then if the Omnipotent reign who should reign else he can call things that are not Rom. 4. 17. even a World of Creatures out of the barren Womb of Nullity and a Church of New-creatures out of the dead Womb of Nature He is a God doing wonders Exod. 15. 11. Wonders to us but none to himself for all things are easie to Omnipotence his Government can have no blemishes because his Power can have no obstacles But because Powers hands cannot be without Wisdoms eyes therefore 4. He is Infinite in Wisdom to manage all He is a God of knowledge 1
9. that is in the day of the Messiah Ver. 8. But how far will he remove it The Psalmist tells us as far as the East is from the West Psal. 103. 12. and so he did he removed it from us who were in occasu Adami as far as Christ who is oriens Sol Justitiae by this remove all our sins met upon him as the Prophet speaks Isai. 53. 6. Never such a concourse of Sins as here Sins of all weights Pence and Talents Sins of all magnitudes Gnats and Camels Sins of various degrees Frailties and Presumptions Sins of vast distances as far remote in place as the parts and quarters of the Earth and in time as the Morning and Evening of the World met all together upon him he is the Lamb of God that takes or bears away the sin of the world Joh. 1. 29. he saith not Sins but Sin because all the Sins of the World were as it were made up into one burthen and so laid upon him Sins past were present to him for there was a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Transmission of them unto him Rom. 3. 25. there was indeed an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Remission as to the faithful but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Transmission as to the Surety Sins future were all one to him as if already existent all our Sins met upon him Hence he cries out My iniquities have taken hold upon me Psal. 40. 12. My iniquities a strange word to drop from the holy one of God but the Apostle clears it God made him for us to be sin 2 Cor. 5. 21. there was no Sin in him by Inhesion but God made him Sin by Imputation not only a Sacrifice for Sin which yet includes that imputation but Sin it self the double Antithesis in the Text carries it this way he was made that Sin he knew not and that was Sin it self he was made that Sin which is opsite to Righteousness and that was Sin it self Hence Luther brings in the Father casting all our Sins on him with these words Tu sis Petrus ille negator Paulus ille persecutor David ille adulter peccator ille in paradiso latro ille in cruce person a illa quae fecerit omnium hominum peccata all our sins were imputed unto him But you 'l say How can these things be Can the righteous God who judges according to truth impute Sin to his holy one I answer As there are in the Apostle two distinct Comings of Christ in the first he bore our sins in the second he appears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without sin Heb. 9. 28. So in his first coming he susteined two distinct persons his own and ours as he was in his own person he was without sin but as he was our Surety and susteined our persons so our Sins were imputed to him and imputed to him according to truth because he was such The holy One was righteously made sin because first he was a Surety for sinners a World of Sins was justly cast on the innocent Lamb because he stood in the room of a World of sinners In eadem persona Christi saith Luther congrediuntur illa duo summum maximum peccatum summa maxima justitia this is one of the wonders in Theology Reason and Philosophy can shew Sin in the sinner but the sublimer Gospel shews Sin on a spotless Lamb here darkness seized upon the Sun here the abomination of iniquity stood where it ought not I say where it ought not because upon the holy place yet withal where it ought because of an holy Imputation God can by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. that is the guilty remaining such therefore he first translated the guilt upon Christ and then he justifies the ungodly through him Rom. 4. 5. Oh the glory of the divine Will It s Purity cannot but hate Sin yet its Power removes it its Justice cannot but punish Sin yet its Mercy translates it from the Sinner to the Surety that it may be condemned there where it was never committed even in the flesh of Christ Rom. 8. 3. 2. Our Sins being laid on him he suffered the same punishment for the main that was due to us for them for how doth the Scripture express the punishment of Sin 'T is death Gen. 2. 17. and he died for us 't is the second death Rev. 20. 14. or death unto death 2 Cor. 2. 16. and he suffered deaths Isai. 53. 9. not the death of the Body only but all the deaths in moriendo morieris as far as his holy Humanity was capable thereof 't is wrath Rom. 1. 18. and he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man set in the stroke of Gods wrath as the Septuagint hath it Isai. 53. 3. 't is a curse Deut. 27. 26. and he was made a curse Gal. 3. 13. not only a ceremonial but a real Curse even that which he redeems us from Tu Christe saith Luther es peccatum meum maledictum meum seu potius ego sum peccatum tuum maledictum tuum 't is hell Psal. 9. 17. and he descended thither though not by a local Motion yet by an immense Passion his Soul travelling under the wrath of God He began to descend into Hell when he sweat drops of Blood and he descended yet further into it when he cried out My God my God! why hast thou forsaken me There are two Essentials of punishment in Hell poena sensûs poena damni and he suffered both when the fire of God's Wrath melted him into a bloody sweat there was poena sensùs and when the great Eclipse of God's Favour made him cry out of forsaking there was poenadamni Christ suffered the same punishment for the main which we should have suffered the chief change was in the Person the just suffering for the unjust the Surety for the Sinner But you 'l say Christ did not suffer the same punishment for he neither suffered eternal Death nor yet the Worm of Conscience As to that of eternal Death I answer by two Distinctions 1. In eternal Death we must distinguish between the Immensity of the Sufferings and the Duration the Immensity is essential to it but the Duration is but mor a in Esse and accidental Christ suffered eternal Death as to the Immensity of his Sufferings though not as to the Duration of them he paid down the idem as to Essentials of punishment and the tantundem as to the Accidentals what was wanting in the Duration of his Sufferings was more than compensated by the Dignity of his Person for it was far more for God to suffer for a moment than for all Creatures to suffer to Eternity 2. We must distinguish between punishment as it stands in the Law absolutely and punishment as it stands there in relation to a finite Creature which cannot at once admit a punishment commensurate to its offence and so must ever suffer because it cannot satisfie to Eternity Punishment as
it stands in the Law absolutely is Death punishment as it stands there in relation to a finite Creature is eternal Death the first was really suffered by Christ and the second could not be justly exacted of him for he paid down the whole sum of Sufferings all at once and so swallowed up Death in victory As to that of the Worm I answer the Worm attends not Sin imputed but Sin inherent 't is bred out of the putrefaction of Conscience and that putrefaction is from the in-being of Sin Now Christ being withot spot suffered punishment not as it follows Sin inherent but as it follows Sin imputed and so he suffered the same punishment for the main as was due to us 3. Christ suffered this punishment in our stead he died 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for us Rom. 5. 8. and which is more emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in stead of many Matth. 20. 28. the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth sometimes in Scripture signifie only the utility or benefit of another but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly imports a Subrogation or Substitution of one in the Room of another and so Christ as our Surety died in our room or stead Hence the Apostle argues thus If one died for all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then all died 2 Cor. 5. 15. all died in the death of one in as much as that one died as the Surety of all Hence our Sins were condemned in his flesh Rom. 8. 3. and so condemned there that upon Gospel terms they are remitted to us But unless he had stood in our room divine Justice could neither have adjudged him to punishment nor yet have admitted us to an absolution from Sin 4. Suffering thus in our stead he satisfied both God's vindictive Justice and minatory Law 1. He satisfied God's vindictive Justice God is a righteous God a God that loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity nay he so perfectly hateth it that his pure eyes cannot look upon it and his righteous hands cannot but punish it he will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. not unless his Justice be satisfied for he is a righteous judge 2 Tim. 4. 8. so righteous that he cannot but do right Gen. 18. 25. his judgment is righteous judgment Rom. 3. 8. and every sin must have a righteous recompense Heb. 2. 2. and no wonder for Sin is an horrible Ataxy and God will not inordinatum dimittere the subjection of a rational Creature to its Creator is indispensable God whilest God must be above and the Creature whilest a Creature below and this dependance so far as it is broken off by Sin must be salved up by punishment or else God loses his dominion over his Creature This is that which the Apostle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the righteousness of God Rom. 1. 32. and this is so naturally in him that the very Heathens knew it by the light of Nature The Viper upon Paul's hand made the Barbarians cry out of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 28. 4. Now what doth this vindictive Justice require Not precisely that the Sinner himself should be punished for then Redemption should be impossible but that the Sin should be punished and so it was in Christ he for our debt was cast into Prison and paid every farthing of it The damned in Hell pay a little and a little and can never satisfie but he paid down the total sum of Sufferings all at once they are always striving with God's wrath but he wrastled with it and prevailed Hence in Isai. 49. Ver. 3. he is called Israel a Prince with God His Sufferings were so satisfactory to divine Justice that the pains of death could not hold him Acts 2. 24. neither could the Prison of Wrath detain him Isai. 53. 8. and all because there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a redemption of transgressions Heb. 9. 15. that is a compensation or satisfaction made to divine Justice for them I go to my Father saith he and ye shall see me no more Joh. 16. 10. Justice did not stop him in his passage to Heaven neither did his Father send him back again to mend his work You shall see me no more no more bleeding under the burthen of Sin no more paying down sufferings to divine Justice for all 's discharged and to assure us of it God who received the sum pawns Heaven and Earth in mortgage that he will forgive our Sins without any further satisfaction Jer. 31. 34 35 36. By all which it appears that Justice was fully satisfied But here 't will be objected That the innocent should suffer for the nocent is unjust that which is such cannot satisfie Justice I answer 'T is unjust if the innocent suffer compulsorily but not if he suffer freely 't is unjust if the innocent sink under his sufferings but not if he be able to bear them 't is unjust if there be no good in his sufferings commensurate to the evil but not if the evil be exceeded by the subsequent good 't is unjust if the innocent stand in no relation to the nocent for whom he suffers but not if he stand in relation to him Suppose a natural relation Saul's Sons were hanged up for Saul's sins 2 Sam. 21. 9. Suppose a political relation seventy thousand fall for David's sin 2 Sam. 24. 15. which makes him cry out Lo I have sinned but these sheep what have they done Suppose a voluntary relation Sureties must pay for their Principals and that not only in Money-matters but in Capital punishments thus the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 engaged life for life which the Apostle seems to insinuate in that passage Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die Rom. 5. 7. and why then may not Christ who by all these ways is conjoin'd to us naturally as a Man legally as a Surety and mystically as a Head justly suffer for us Especially seeing there was free Action in his Passion victorious Strength under his Burthen and the penal Evil crowned by such a grand Good as Redemption is why may not he justly suffer for us The Scriptures are positive in it Christ died for the ungodly Rom. 5. 6 the just for the unjust 1 Pet. 3. 18. and one for all 2 Cor. 5. 14. Wherefore if humane Reason will not subscribe it fights against God himself 2. He satisfied the Minatory Law for this is no other than the voice of vindictive Justice uttering Death and a Curse against Sinners and to satisfie this he died and died an accursed Death in their room But you 'l say though he died for us yet the Law is not satisfied because it requires that the Sinner himself should die thou shalt die the death Gen. 2. 17. and cursed is he that doth not all the words of this Law Deut. 27. 26. in which places he and thou relate to the person of the Sinner and therefore though Vindictive Justice as in it self might have been satisfied with punishing Sin
the same to their own destruction Oh! what rare Perfections did he set up in the Angels and yet he eternally foresaw a great part of them apostatizing and dropping to Hell What an excellent Image of Holiness did he stamp upon Adam and yet he eternally foresaw him falling and breaking all his Glory by the the Fall what waitings of Patience wooings of the Gospel and touches of the holy Spirit doth he dispense to such men as he eternally foresaw would abuse all these and yet in all this God's Wisdom suffers not The very same I may say of Christ's dying for such as abuse this great blessing neither is there here any failing in the efficacious Will of God for he wills that the Elect shall believe and be saved and he wills that the rest shall be saved if they believe and both these Wills are accomplished the first in the Event of Faith and Salvation and the latter in the Connexion between Faith and Salvation even as to all men God may be said to will the Salvation of men through Christ's Death two ways either because he wills that Christ's Death should be a Price infallibly procuring their Faith and Salvation or else because he wills that there should be in Christ's Death an aptness and sufficiency to save them on Gospel-terms the former Will points only at the Elect and is fulfilled in their Grace and Glory the latter extends to all men and is fulfilled in the aptness and sufficiency of Christ's Death to save them on Gospel-terms in both God's Will hath its effect Neither lastly is there any loss in Christ's purchase for what did he purchase As for the Elect he purchased Faith and Salvation and as for the rest he purchased Salvation on Gospel-terms in both he hath what he paid for for the Elect believe and are saved and the rest may be saved if they believe therefore when men by their Unbelief barr themselves of the benefit of Christ's Death and make him in that respect cry out I have laboured in vain yet he adds surely my judgment is with the Lord Isai. 49. 4. as if he had said For all this never a drop of my Blood is irrationally shed for God with whom my judgment is knows that I purchased Salvation for them on Gospel-terms although they by their Unbelief deprive themselves of the benefit of the Purchase If final Unbelievers should be saved Christ should have more than his Purchase but if they are not saved he hath no less for he purchased Salvation for them on Gospel-terms which they do not perform through their own voluntary Unbelief Object 6. If Christ died for all men then he loves all with the greatest degree of Love for greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends Joh. 15. 13. and this must needs be the greatest degree of love because it draws all other things after it If God gave his own Son for us how shall he not with him freely give us all things Rom. 8. 32 But Christ doth not love all with the greatest degree of love neither doth God give all things to them therefore Christ did not die for all I confess that Christ doth not love all men with the greatest degree of love neither doth God bestow all blessings on them wherefore we must examine these places from whence these Inferences are made As for the first place greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends it doth import one of these two things either it doth import that he that dieth for his friends hath the greatest degree or height of internal love towards them or else it imports that a mans death for his friends is the greatest external effect and proof of his love the first cannot be the meaning of the place for if it be the greatest and most intense degree of love to die for our friends what is it to die for our enemies as Christ did If it be the height and top of love to lay down our lives how can that be done without any love at all as the Apostle supposeth 1 Cor. 13. 3 The Apostle commands us to lay down our lives for the brethren 1 Joh. 3. 16. but when a man doth it he is not to have the same degree of love towards all the Brethren for he is to love those most in whom there is most of God and to whom he is nearest in Nature Jesus Christ laid down his life for all the Elect yet without doubt his love was greater to his Apostles than to ordinary Christians nay and among the Apostles there was one dearly beloved one who lay in his bosom Joh. 13. 23. Wherefore the meaning of the words is not that he that dieth for his friends hath the greatest degree or height of internal love towards them but that such a death is the greatest effect and proof of his love Christ in the 12. Verse exhorted his Disciples to love one another and in this 13. Verse he shews what is the greatest outward evidence of love viz. to die for our friends Now albeit Christ died for all men and that Death was a great and high proof of his Love nothing hinders but that Christ over and besides his common Philanthropy to all may bear a special affection to the Elect the Universality of his Death infers not a Parity in his Love If Jacob had died for all his Sons yet he might have loved Joseph and Benjamin above the rest and left them some special Legacies If Christ died for all men yet he may and doth love his Elect above others and leave some secret Love-tokens upon their hearts As for the second place If God delivered up his Son for us how shall he not with him freely give us all things Rom. 8. 32. the Key to unlock this Text is the word Us Who are the Us in the Text Who but the Elect of God Ver. 33. who according to Election are effectually called Ver. 28. and upon their Callings are justified and glorified Ver. 30 These are the Us in the Text wherefore the plain meaning of it is not that if God gave his Son for all men he would give them all things but that if God gave his Son for the Elect he would give them all things viz. all things necessary to Salvation the Text extends not to all men But you 'l say though the Text extend not to all men yet the Argument doth for if the Argument be good that if God gave his Son for the Elect he would give them all things then the Argument is as good that if God gave his Son for all men he would give them all things I answer that if God's Intention and Love in giving his Son for all were one and the same towards all the consequence were undeniable but seeing God in giving his Son had towards the Elect a special Love and Intention to bestow Grace and Glory on them
Flame or as it is in the Original the Flame of God Cant. 8. 6. kindles upon the heart and makes it burn with true love to Christ Oh! says the Soul this is he who made the Robe of Righteousness for me and how much love was there in every thread of it This is he who drunk off the Cup of trembling for me and how much wrath did my sins squeez into it When on Earth he bore my sins upon the Cross and now in Heaven he bears my name upon his heart his Person is all desires his Blood all preciousness his Righteousness all glory his Love all heights and depths and breadths surpassing knowledge and who can chuse but love him There is no high Priest or Sacrifice but himself no Balm or healing but in his Wounds no Intercessor above but his Blood and Righteousness no Beauty or Glory in all the visible World like that in his Cross and how can the heart refuse his Espousals This is a Principle of sweet closure with Christ this makes the Soul breathe after nay approach to Christ and when it hath a being in him such is the holy aspiration of this Principle that still it desires to be more perfectly and intimately in him no embraces near enough there 's too much distance in every union When the Soul is brother and sister and mother to him still 't would be nearer nothing less than one spirit 1 Cor. 6. 17. and when 't is so in some measure still it presses hard after more oneness with him Oh! that the Veil of darkness were quite off that the remnants of separating Corruption were quite out Oh! for more gales of Faith and Prayer to blow up this holy Fire for more effusions of the holy Unction to feed and enflame it Thus this Principle is hiatus Voluntatis the opening or thirsty gaping of the Will for more and more of Christ and all that it may dwell in God who is Love it self 3. Take him as a King this Principle sets the Heart right towards him Hence a man becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a fit posture towards the kingdom of God Luk. 9. 62. and that in a threefold respect 1. This Principle is a Principle of Faith God made Christ a King Faith owns him as such God gave him all the power in heaven and earth and Faith gives him all the power in the upper and lower Faculties of the Soul This Principle rests upon him as a King able to put all his enemies under his feet Are there strong holds of Sin in us this Principle rests on him as the power of God to cast them down Are there Armies of temptations round about us this Principle rests on him as the Captain of salvation to scatter them As soon as this Principle is in the Soul the Soul is no longer where it was but translated into the kingdom of Christ Col. 1. 13. Before it was in a region of Darkness but now in a place of marvellous Light its native soil was spiritual Sodom and Egypt where Sin is a Law but now it is in the Dominions of Christ where the Law of the Spirit frees from the Law of sin and because after the Law or Reign of Sin is broken the remnants or reliques of Corruption are still in us therefore this Principle doth in a wonderful manner rest upon Christ for a more thorough purging out thereof 2. This Principle is a Principle of Love disposing the Soul to love Christ as a Melchisedek a king of righteousness and to kiss his sceptre as a sceptre of righteousness This Principle desires and delights above all places to dwell in Immanuels land and by a holy acquiescence under his Law it sits down as it were in the kingdom of God Hence the Heart is willing that Christ should reign over it that all his Enemies should be made his footstool even those that dwell in its own bosom if he come search for darling Lusts there this Principle will open every fold and unlock every secret place of the Heart to discover them If he come and slay them with the Sword of his mouth this Principle will be consenting to their death and pray So let all thine enemies perish O Lord even all the remainders of Corruption lying in my Heart 3. This Principle is a Principle of Obedience and this is no other but the two former Principles of Faith and Love conspiring together to do the Will of Christ. Christ is at the right hand of God and the Soul by Faith and Love is at the right hand of Christ Psal. 45. 9. ready to hear and do all his pleasure Ver. 10. Faith hath two Eyes whilest one is upon the propitiatory Cross the other is upon the holy Crown of Jesus Love hath two Hands and whil'st one is thrust into his side and bleeding Wounds the other is busie in keeping his righteous Laws and Commands No sooner doth a Command drop down from him but Faith catches it up Oh! says Faith this comes from the King of Kings and must be done and this great King says Love obeyed for me even to the Cross and how can I do less than obey him His commandments are all right his yoke easie his service freedom and his love constraining 3. This Principle sets the Will into a right Frame in respect of that great Obstacle Sin Sin separates between God and the Soul but this Principle separates between the Soul and Sin and this in three respects 1. As it is a Principle of Evangelical Sorrow Sin is contracted with pleasure and must be dissolved with sorrow and this dissolution will not be kindly unless the Sorrow be Evangelical Legal Sorrow is a preparative to Conversion but Evangelical is an essential ingredient in it in Legal sorrow the Heart breaks under the Fears of Hell and Death but in Evangelical it thaws under the Beams of free Grace it melts for the exceeding sinfulness of Sin it bleeds over the bleeding Wounds of Christ it grieves at the grievings of the holy Spirit it blushes and shames it self for the stains cast upon Gods Glory it is offended full fraught with displicency at its many great offences of the divine Majesty This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sorrow according to God 2 Cor. 7. 10. Sorrow for Sin as Sin such as God would have This turns the sweet morsels of Sin into bitter herbs and the pleasant streams of lust into blood hereby Sin is in some degree loosened out of the Heart 2. As it is a Principle of hatred enclining the Will to hate every false way The Scripture sets out Sin as a very odious thing 't is the poyson of asps Rom. 3. 13. the dogs vomit 2 Pet. 2. 22. a menstruous cloth Isai. 30. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the superfluity or excrement of all evil Jam. 1. 21. enmity to God Rom. 8. 7. the abominable thing which God hates Jer. 44. 4. and that with great hatred