to move the Lord God to do them good Hence it is that Samuel saith to Israel (r) 1 Sam. 12.22 the Lord will not forsake his people and the reason he gives is this because it hath pleased him to make you his people Thus it is with God upon the account of any mercy he bestoweth upon the Creature of any nature whatsoever David declareth the same (i) Psal 44.3 for they got not the land in possession by their own sword neither did their own arm save them but thy right hand and thine arm and the light of thy countenance because thou hadst a favour unto them Thus we read in the Gospel when the Lord Jesus worked a Cure of any bodily or spiritual Disease he made it wholly depend upon his will as in the Miracle upon the Leper he said (k) Matth. 8.3 I will be thou clean and in the case of working Faith (l) chap 11.27 neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him So (m) Joh 5.21 the Son quickneth whom he will Thus as of our Election so of our Regeneration and Conversion there is no other cause but the will of God for (n) Jam. 1.18 of his own will begat he us with the word of truth In few words the whole work of Salvation is an effect of his free-grace (o) Ephes 2 â— ad vers 8. When we were dead in sin he hath quickned us the reason he giveth there is this by grace ye are saved in both verses for he repeats it three verses lower by grace ye are saved through faith and that not of our selves it is the gift of God We further say there was no foresight or consideration of any work faith or merit in us why God should Elect us (p) Ezck. 16.6 And when I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood live yea I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood live What sign of Faith or comeliness in that condition was there in us what ornaments in us there have been since they are the work of God in us whether repentance faith holiness or any other grace For after God said to us live he washed and anointed us clothed and decked us c. as may be seen in the following verses vers 8 9 10 11 12 13. We add that sin is the only cause of damnation as in St. Matthews (q) Matth 25.42 43. Gospel by me quoted already (r) Rom. 2.9 Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil In another place of Scripture he says positively (s) Rom. 6.23 the wages of sin is death But here by the by this I must take notice of how though Damnation be the reward for Sin it doth not follow that Salvation should be the reward of Faith or good Works the just reward of Sin is Death it is its due but the Apostle doth not say that Eternal Life is the wages of Faith or Righteousness as Death is of Sin (a) Ver. 23. but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is a great disparity between the rules and means of Justice and of Mercy as hereafter we shall have occasion to shew as also why God leaves and Elects one and not the other as in the ease of Esau and Jacob. (b) Malach. 1.2 3. I have loved you saith the Lord yet ye say wherein hast thou loved us Was not Esau Jacob's Brother yet I loved Jacob and I hated Esau of which no account but God's pleasure for St. Paul makes to the same purpose use of the place in Rom. 9. as already quoted But now we must come to the proof of our 3d. Article namely that the Elect do constantly obey God's call when the time is come when (c) Cant. 1.4 God draweth they follow nay they run draw me we will run after thee and (d) Lament 5.21 turn thou us unto thee and we shall be turned The Elect obey the call When St. Paul heard the voice from Heaven he said (e) Acts 9.6 Lord what wilt thou have me to do This inward call for St. Paul's was such as well as outward makes a great change in Man how willing how ready to obey (f) Gal. 1.16 he confered not with flesh and blood but submitted So did the Jailour he said to Paul and Silas (g) Act. 16 30. Sirs what must I do to be saved The new Converts willing to be directed said unto Peter and other Apostles * Acts. 2.37 men and brethren wha shall we do though at first all know not what to do ye are prepared to obey and desirous to be instructed when the Lord said unto Paul arise and go into the City and it shall be told thee what thou must do he complied and went So Samuel assoon as (h) 1 Sam. 3.4 6 8 10. the Lord called Samuel he answered Here I am and though he at first did not well know the nature of the voice nor whose it was yet he ran to the place whence he thought the voice came disposed to obey and when heat last was better informed then he said Speak Lord for thy servant heareth For though may be at first God's people do not distinctly understand the call yet God never gives over calling till we are come to him God makes known unto us the mystery of his will to this end saith St. Paul (i) Ephes 1.10 That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him But God is never disappointed of his ends he worketh effectually and unresistibly Ver. 19. wherefore this is called the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power Observe the Emphasis This dealing of God in and towards Believers is in one and the same verse called the working of Gods power yea his Mighty Power and in the beginning of the verse not only his Power but the greatness and the exceeding greatness of his Power The effectual preaching of the Gospel to People or Persons is an effect of their Election as the Cause is known by the effect so a posteriori Election is by a powerful preaching of the Gospel (k) 1 Thes 1.4 5. Knowing beloved your election of God saith St. Paul for our Gospel came not you unto in word only but also in power and in the holy Ghost and in much assurance c. to the Elect ever it comes so in the due time and by its coming so they may judge themselves to be Elect for he saith also in much assurance We add further that the Elect neither do nor can finally and totally resist the inward powerful and effectually calling of God's spirit in the very
God doth intervene without which no Man should be reprobate for sin for notwithstanding sin God without doing his justice wrong could have decreed Salvation to all for by means of his Son he could fully have satisfied his justice This as to the first question The second is why God hath decreed for sin to damn these or such and such Men rather than others no other cause can be assigned but the good-will and pleasure of God Sin cannot be the cause for all Men considered in themselves are all equally sinners the following example will illustrate the thing Let there be many guilty Men convicted of Rebellion the Prince commands some to suffer and others he gives a pardon to if the question be put why out of many only some are punished The reason is good because they are Rebels for the Prince being just he puts none to Death without a just cause but if again the question be put why out of many these rather than those do suffer Rebellion cannot be said to be the cause for they all are equally guilty Some Schoolemen in matters of Reprobation do distinguish between the negative act called Preterition or passing by or the will not to give eternal life and the positive or affirmative or the will of damning The first say they is Absolute The second not so but Relative to sin as a necessary antecedent But every act may in a different respect be called Absolute and not Absolute if the question be made Absolute or Comparative The Matter or Object of Reprobation are they whose names are not written in the Book of life of the Lamb Rev. 13.8 c. they be the greatest part of sinful Men in the sight of God considered as fallen and corrupted with sin wherefore they are called (a) Rom. 9.22 Vessels of wrath fitted for destruction Now God is angry against none but sinners and appointed to destruction none but the guilty Out of Scripture 't is clear that the greatest part of Men are Reprobate for (b) Matth. 20.16 few are chosen which doth exclude the rest therefore Reprobates are more in number and greater is the number of those that are damned than of those that be saved (c) Matth. 7.13 14. Some say against this a just Judge doth Decree equal things for those that are equal wherefore since God is a just Judge having elected some sinners he hath not reprobated others which are not worse but this rule is meant only of a Judge who by Law is bound equally to distribute rewards and pains but if there be no such obligation without acting contrary to justice he is free to make an unequal distribution to those that are equal Now God is not bound by any Law and hath a most just cause of his Decrees and (d) Matth. 20.15 with his own may do what he pleases Secondly It is argued if the number of Reprobates be greater than of the Elect then the justice of God will be greater than his mercy which seemeth to be contrary to that place of Scripture (e) Psal 145.9 His mercies are over all his works The answer is the Mercy and Justice of God are considered either in themselves and as they are in God or in relation to their Effects and Objects upon the first account they are equal upon the last it may be said that the universal Mercy of God upon all men is greater than his Justice but in relation to his special Mercy about Salvation 't is lesser or of a less extent than his Justice The end of Reprobation is that the Justice of God may be made known in the punishment of sin according to Scripture God said to Pharaoh (a) Rom. â— 17 Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up that I might shew my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth Ver. 22 And in a verse lower God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction God doth not appoint or destinate them to sin for he found them in it but to the pains of sin 'T is a slander in our Adversaries to say we attribute to God a decree of Reprobation without any relation at all to sin As we said of the Decree of Election that Eternity and Unchangableness are inseparably joyned to it the same we must say of Reprobation there is the same reason for the Eternity of Reprobation as for that of Election for if God from Eternity elected some he also from Eternity hath passed by others for there can be no Election without Reprobation Besides what I said before more than once nothing is done in Time but what from Eternity hath been decreed to be done Hence God is said to act (b) Rom. 9 1â— according to his purpose as may be seen in several places of Scripture As to the Immutability of Reprobation 't is proved out of God's Unchangeableness for as he is Unchangeable so are all his Decrees (c) Isai 46.10 My counsel shall stand and I will do all pleasure If it be thus will some say then 't is in vain for Reprobates to repent for they cannot change their doom yet Scripture promiseth forgiveness of sins to penitent sinners I answer in reprobates there is no such thing as true Repentance as we see in the case of Judas who repented not (d) 2 Cor. 7.9 10. of that repentance to salvation not to be repented of as St. Peter's was but of Repentance to Death for he went and out of despair hanged himself he saw his crime which appeared horrid to his mind but no change in the heart Yet if reprobates could truly and sincerely repent they would not be damned hereupon our Adversaries lay at a catch and will say then the Decree of Reprobation is changeable and can be reversed but not so because reprobates neither do nor can truly repent but saith one they are commanded to repent 't is true but this Precept shews their duty what they ought not what they can do Frecepts and Threatnings do sometimes make reprobates to abstain from some certain sins and though they cannot avoid eternal death yet they have this advantage that their condition (a) Matth. 11.24 shall be more tolerable than of those that give themselves to all manner of wickedness for as there are degrees of guilt so there will be of pains besides that this abstaining from some certain sins or having an outward shew of repentance of them puts off for a time those judgments which they are afraid of as befell wicked Ahab who sold himself to work wickedness for that heavy judgment which the Prophet Elijah by God's special command threatned him with and his house upon his outward shew of repentance (b) Kings 21. from 17. to 29. was put off till his Sons days Of Reprobation there are two Effects and Consequences First A desertion or God's
within ye are full of hypocrisie and iniquity and except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye cannot be saved Matth. 5.20 This Pharisaical righteousness was not really such but hypocritical only in shew and for ostentation men do sometimes fansie themselves to be righteous when they are not Thus Solomon adviseth be not righteous over much that is in thine own conceit such was the Angel of the Church of Laodicea Eccles 7.16 Rev. 3.17 who said I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing when he was wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Now to come just to the point God having declared unto the people their transgressions as the Cause of his Judgments he commandeth them to repent and turn from all their sins having shewed the distemper doth propose the remedy and presses the use of it herein God revealeth to them their duty what they ought but not what they can do they may not pretend ignorance for here is a warning and thereby they are acquainted with the Masters will and if they do not what they are commanded Death lies at their door and they are without excuse Here as Moses had done before are set before them life and death Deut. 30. â—â— but being like not to chuse well God expostulates with them why will ye die O house of Israel No Man but very few wretches whom God leaves under a fit of despair is willing to die of a natural death but would gladly live a day longer even those that are most submissive to God's Providence much less is any willing to die of eternal death wherefore we must observe that the question doth not directly tend to shew the house of Israel is willing to die but rather that the ways of the house of Israel tend to death Death it self is no good nor desirable thing 't is a deprivation of life the best thing in nature and destruction for a time of a strict union and of a noble Being but often that which men desire not befalls them because they fall into a way conducing to it 't is not the end they propose to themselves but 't is the event that happens unto them A man who is very prodigal of his Estate fallen into great excess of intemperance and debauchery may very well be asked Why will you ruin and kill your self though he intends no such thing but is engaged in a course of life that will lead him to it Thus upon such a bottom is grounded this expostulation of God with the house of Israel as if he had said the way ye are in shall bring you to death and destruction therefore turn from it if you will live and avoid judgments temporal as spiritual for we see the former are meant as out of Ezech. 33.21 A thing here chiefly to be taken notice of is that all this doth wholly run upon the Covenant of works the Law of Moses for 't is said Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness Ezech. 20. â—0 11. and gave them my statutes and shewed them my judgments which if a man do he shall live in them And consequently doth not reach our question about the Covenant of Grace and receiving of Christ when offered upon his own terms Now Christians do not or must not stand upon that old Covenant which was not faultless Heb. 8.6 7. or else no place should have been found out for the second which is a better covenant established upon better promises Now as Perfect Obedience the condition of the old Covenant was impossible for Men to perform so is Faith under the new Covenant a condition impossible for Men of themselves to attain unto 't is not found in Nature nor amongst Works but 't is a gift of God and none have it but those whom he is pleased to bestow it upon The house of Israel is willing to die and the reason is because naturally they are so inclined darkness ignorance and blindness are the natural portion of humane nature John 14 10.11 When he that was and is the life and light of men came into the world and that the light shined in dark ness yet darkness comprehended him not The world was made by him and the world knew him not He came to his own and his own received him not because Men loved darkness more than light This is the reason why people will die because they love not life there is a natural impossiblity 1 Cor. 2.14 How can Men naturally dead in trespasses and sins be willing to live What will is left in them tends not to spiritual life but for death if there be such strong inclinations in a good Man what must it be in the wicked Though the Angels had assured Lot they were come to destroy Sodom and hastned him out of it yet he lingered had no mind to come out till they to save him were forced to lay hold upon his hand and as it were force him out of it they certainly might have put to him the question why wilt thou die Seeing he staied as it were to be involved in the destruction of the place and his Wife how unwilling was she to leave it and contrary to the Angels order she must needs look behind either out of curiosity or a desire to go back So the Children of Israel had preferred to have continued under bondage in Egypt Genes 19. Numb 11.5 if they might but eat their Leeks Onions and Garlick than being in the Wilderness free from Slavery 'T is an amazement to think and see how averse Men are from their good and prone to their own mischief we must conclude those Men to be willing to die that are unwilling to live which will not turn from the paths of death There are in the world those that cannot cease from sin 2 Pet. 2.14 There are those that cannot recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 And who are bent upon and willing to die in whom is a repugnancy to their good and reluctancy to their happiness because born and bred under slavery I say a thing which to some will seem strange yet to my certain knowledge 't is very true how in some parts of Italy chiefly in the State of Venice there are those men who sell themselves to be Slaves in the Galleys some for a shorter some for a longer time and some for life and undergo the same Drudgery as do those who are put in there for great crimes Nay there be those who having as Malefactors continued there for a long time after their time was expired of their own accord returned thither This Paw I produce only thereby to judge of the Lyon how corrupt is man's nature and how willing and naturally inclined they are to ruine and destroy themselves
look upon any thing in the Creature when we seek amongst men that which we can find only with God this makes our Saviour say (d) Joh. 5 44. How can ye believe which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God only Thus we have done with this great Subject as much as relateth to our present purpose CHAP. XII Christ dyed not for All. WE are now come to another Point about the extent of our Saviours death This is a matter of very great importance both in it self and in the consequence thereof and because the deciding of a question doth sometimes much depend upon the right stating of it I will endeavour so to do in this in order to it in few words I here lay down what Papists and Arminians say 't is thus They teach that Christ by his death intended the universal redemption of all and every particular Man whether Elect or Reprobate without distinction that by his death he actually obtained for all the grace and favour of God That the application of these graces thus obtained dependeth only on the free-will of Man some according to their liberty making use of that purchased gift others to whom that Grace and Salvation was alike purchased and intended on God's part do by their own contempt and neglect according to the same liberty of their will reject it But we say that the Lord Jesus did not give his Blood and Life for all only for the Elect his Members and that by his death he hath satisfied Gods Justice only for those who get good by it that is all Believers before his death in the time of or after his death to the worlds end In the beginning of this Treatise I made use of a kind of argument which here I shall not repeat only say that Scripture reduces it to many and who are to be understood by the many I instanced out of several Texts of Scripture Now we proceed to other proofs and argue thus He who will not do the least thing for one will not do the greatest for him He who will not speak a good word for a man surely will not dye for that man but our Saviour would not pray for the world for Reprobates therefore he would not dye for Reprobates Our Saviour is plain upon this (a) Joh. 17. in that Prayer of his which makes up a whole Chapter just before he was taken where after he had prayed for himself he prayed also for them whom the Father had given him out of the world for his Elect and Believers He solemnly declares he excludeth the wicked from his Prayer (b) Vers 9. I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me out of the world This he saith if I may so say upon his death bed when he was about going to dye 't is as good as if he had said I dye not for the world the world of Reprobates for that 's the signification of the word in that place as anon by the grace of God we shall make it appear Again those for whom Christ dyed he loved so as that he could love them no more for he saith himself (c) Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends But it cannot be said that Christ loved Reprobates so that he could love them no more therefore he dyed not for them I say farther surely Christ would not dye for those whom he will never own nor suffer to come near him but he saith and we ought to believe him how at the last day (d) Matth. 7.23 He will profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me ye that work iniquity 'T is not to be supposed he would dye for those whom he will use so at last as to deny he ever knew them with that knowledge which is joyned with special love and favour Farthermore (e) Rom. 5.10 They for whom Christ dyed were reconciled to God by his death and being reconciled shall be saved by his life But it cannot be said that Reprobates were reconciled to God or shall be saved therefore Christ dyed not for them Now sins are not imputed to those who thorough Christ's death are reconciled to God but sins are imputed to all that are damned wherefore none of those that are damned were reconciled to God by the death of his Son The major or first part of our argument is grounded upon Scripture (f) 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing their sins unto them Neither doth the Lord Jesus as we said before cause his death to be preached to all for 't is said in relation to this (a) Eph. 2.12 That the Gentiles were without Christ aliens from the common wealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world If so then certainly he dyed not for all if his death was not published to all and it was not to those that were without Christ and there can be no benefit by Christ's death for men come to age except that death be preached but it is much less and more easie to have a death preached to one than to die for him Lastly I say if Christ be dead for all and every man without exception then he dyed for those that were in Hell long before his death and to whom he knew his death would do no good And do we take that precious Blood of the Covenant to be so slight a thing as to be shed in vain for those who could not be the better for it Nay for (b) Heb. 10.20 those who had trodden or should tread under foot the Son of God and count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing This were too much to prophane it that this holy blood should be shed for Judas who as our Saviour said (c) John 6.70 was a devil (d) John 17.12 the Son of perdition against whom he pronounceth a woe (e) Luke 22.22 Matth. 26.24 Woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed it had been good for that man if he had not been born Christ then had dyed in vain if for those that were in Hell out of which there is no redemption and this with an intent to procure them Salvation What an Opinion is this How injurious to the wisdom of Christ So the word all is to be restrained as when John's Disciples said John 3.26 of Christ all men come to him surely not every individual man All the Arguments whereby they endeavour to oppose this Dectrine may be reduced under two Heads for they lay a stress chiefly upon two words in Scripture the first is the word world the other the word all Under the first come in several Texts of Holy Scripture as these (f) John 1.29 Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sins of
the lake of fire and brimstone that is Hell and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever and in that same chap. ver 12. again amongst the Books that were opened a particular mention is made of the Book of Life the opening of which Book is mentioned by a (m) Dan. 7.10 and 12.1 Philip. 4.3 Prophet and by an Apostle speaking of some whose names are written in the Book of Life On the other side we say that as God hath elected some to everlasting Life so others he hath reprobated and appointed to eternal Death The Decree of Predestination is the sentence of both of Pardon and Absolution for some and of Condemnation for others See the proof of this (n) Rom. 9.22 What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known to men endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction Such as Esan whom God hated such as Pharaoh (o) Ver. 13 17. whom God raised for this same purpose that I might shew my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth All the earth is God's and so are all that dwell therein and this calls to my mind a common saying we have my Lord is Lord and Master at home where as he pleases he may order things as they best conduce to his honour and convenience and if we may argue from the less to the greater why should we not say Heaven and Earth are God's why then should not the Lord dispose of all things therein for his Glory as it best seems good unto him Scripture speaks of it as matter of Fact I hope no Man may or will question the matter of Right (p) Jude 4. There are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation c. So that as some are ordained to eternal life others are to condemnation this is a Scripture phrase not of our making We have a third witness for this Truth Christ is a stone (d) 1 Pet. 2.8 a stumbling and a rock of offence to them which stumble at the word being disobedient whereunto also they were appointed As some are vessels of honour appointed to obedience of Faith so others are vessels of dishonour appointed to disobedience and this we do clearly see in the next verse by the opposition he makes between some men and others But ye saith he are a chosen generation Vers 9. a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people The Lord Jesus saith clearly how at the last day there shall be two sorts of men To his sheep at the right hand he will say Matth. 25.33 3â— c. come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Which proveth their Election to Glory from Eternity as blessed of the Father In these words I think I read God's Decree of Election of those blessed ones But Christ will say to those on the left depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his Angels Here is a Kingdom prepared for the blessed of the Father from the foundation of the World here is an everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels so that in that very place me may see Christ opening the Books of Election and Reprobation of Salvation and Damnation not only the Names but the Persons of the Elect may be seen on the right-hand as those of the reprobate may be seen on the left This everlasting fire is prepared not only for the Devil and his Angels but also for the Devil and his Children for so our Saviour calleth some Jews (e) John 8.44 Ye are of your father the Devil and the lusts of your father ye will do he was a murderer from the beginning c. he is a lyar and the father of it Thus Elymas the Sorcerer is by St. Paul call'd (f) Acts 13.10 thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness Such was Judas by our Saviour called (g) Joh. 17.12 the son of perdition who as Peter saith (h) Acts 1.25 was gone to his own place If there be as certainly there is a place for the Devils and wicked Men prepared from Eternity there is reason also why from Eternity wicked men should he appointed for that place upon which account as I said before they are vessels of wrath fitted for destruction Now that God is the efficient cause of both Election and Reprobation 't is plain out of what the Apostle saith (i) 1 Thes 5 9. God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Then God doth appoint some Men to Wrath and some to Salvation Thus the Reader may see how strong in that way cometh the stream of Scripture which we do but follow Our Second Article is this The only moving cause of our Election is the meer good pleasure love free-grace and mercy of God This truth we also have many proofs of I (k) Exod. 33.19 will saith God be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy What can Men object against this By the mouth of his Prophet he saith (l) Hos 14.4 I will love them freely We use to say nothing is more free than Love Yet amongst Men some motive or pretence may happen to be assigned but in relation to God's love to the Creature no such thing may be pleaded for even in this world when God prefereth a people or one person before another there is nothing in that subject to move him to it as in the case of the Children of Israel Moses tells them plainly first not for their number (m) Deut. 7.7 8. the Lord did not set his love upon you nor chuse you because you were more in number than any people for ye were the fewest of all people but because the Lord loved you and would keep the oath he had sworn unto your fathers Let this stop every Man's mouth God loves because he will love let who can go further and fathom that which is infinite neither were they chosen and loved for their wisdom for (n) Deut. 32.21 they were a nation void of counsel neither was there any understanding in them Nor for their uprightness of heart or for (o) chap. 9.4 5 6. their righteousness for they were a stiff-necked people Neither was it for any power of theirs (p) chap. 8.17 18. to do to say not so much as in thine heart my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth And (q) chap. 4.38 the nations that were driven out before them were greater and mightier than they So none of the things mentioned nor any thing else in them commended them to God We see how careful was that faithful Servant of God to beat them out of the conceit of any merits of their own
Scripture in matter of Predestination speaks only of men we shall consider it only as men are the object thereof but before I must shew what a Decree is because it entereth within our definition now God's Decrees are the eternal and unchangeable counsels and resolutions he hath taken from all Eternity about what he purposed to do in time according to the first rule we have laid down These Decrees are called God's essential works ad intra inward according to our capacity and manner of conceiving which himself in his word is pleased to condescend to We then call them Decrees after the manner of Men for Decrees and Resolutions of Men are works or acts really distinct from Man from his Understanding and his Will By this way we do conceive God's Decrees or rather God Decreeing though properly they may not be called his Works for every act so properly called is an effect really distinct from the Agent But in God 't is not so or else his supream Simplicity would come to nothing when 't is said of God are known all his works that knowledge is nothing else but his Decree of doing all things to be done in time Of ELECTION PRedestination hath two parts Election and Reprobation the word is not restrained only to Election as Papists and some others would have it It is in vain amongst Hebrews or Greeks to search the Original of the word which is Latin The ancient Latin Authors used the word destinare to destinate or appoint for Pains as well as Rewards so did the ancient Doctors of the Church as (a) Enchirid. cap. 100. de Civit. Dei lib. 12. cap. 24. Austin (b) Ad. capital Gallor Prosper (c) Lib. 1. ad Monim Fulgentius Now the Election we here speak of is not to an Office in which (d) 1 Sam. 10 24. Saul and David were chosen Kings over Israel So Matthias (e) Acts 1.24 26. was by lot chosen one of the twelve But 't is Election to Eternal Life and Salvation Now Election is a Predestination of some Men to Eternal Life to be obtained by Faith in Christ only out of God's pleasure in them to declare his Divine Mercy Every part of which definition we by the grace of God shall speak of This point most of any is to be taken notice of because it is the ground of our Hope Faith Holiness in a word of the whole mystery of our Salvation which doth wholly run and depend upon the decree of our Election therefore to darken it the Devil hath stired up so many instruments to oppose it In Scripture among many Texts we have one specially lays open the whole matter before us which here I quote to be read with great application (a) Ephes 1.3 4 5 6 7. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved in whom we have redemption through his blood c. The eternity of God's decree of Election is here asserted he hath chosen us in him before the Foundation of the World this Election is affirmed to be the cause of all spiritual blessings which God hath blessed us with some of those blessings are named as Holiness Blamelessness and Adoption Now Faith Repentance Charity and such graces are parts of Holiness and the fruits of the Spirit Holiness is posteriour to our Election All those blessings are in and by Jesus Christ Out of this Text it also appeareth that the good pleasure of God is the only impulsive or moving cause if we may use such a word which is improper here to Elect us nothing from without all from within according to the good pleasure of his will Hence between Papists Arminians and Us for I must say in matters of grace they both joyn against us ariseth the question What it is that moved God to appoint some Men to Eternal Life We say nothing but God's good will and pleasure moved him to it Amongst several reasons we have to prove it I will only bring two of the chief The first because Scripture assigneth no other cause but that as the only and when the word is silent we ought not to speak The whole 9th Chapter to the Romans is a sentence of condemnation against the Adversaries there St. Paul saith of Election (†) Rom. 9.16 15. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Which is but a conclusion out of what God said to Moses in the foregoing verse verse 18. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion whence he thus concludes so then it is not of him c. 't is only of free grace Why three verses after the Apostle gives the reason He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth This is very plain if any one is willing to dispute God's right herein let him do 't but he shall find God is a strong party (a) 2 Tim. 1.9 God hath saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us before the world began Here the Decree of Election is made the cause of calling and other graces we receive in time The other reason is because in those that were elected was nothing at all that could move him to love them (b) Ephes 2.1 We were men dead in trespasses and sins unfit for any good thing and guilty of eternal death They say God hath chosen some because from Eternity he foresaw they would believe in Christ and continue in the Faith to which some add the foresight of some good works with Faith but against this I say God could foresee in sinful Man no spiritual good but what out of his mercy he was to give him this none but Pelagians can deny consequently God could not foresee Faith or Good Works as a motive to his Decree God elected us to be holy and without blame before him That is to the end we should be and not because we were such Holiness is an effect and not a cause of Election Faith also is an effect of Election as clearly expressed in Scripture (c) Acts 13.48 And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed If so then Faith is not the cause that moved God to elect us we were elected to believe not because we believed before for then we had chosen Christ and not he us contrary to what he positively saith
all this they make two Objections first 't is against the Justice of God to reprobate Men who have done no evil though Scripture saith clearly it is so to father injustice upon God is certainly a great impity God is most just in every thing he doth though we cannot fathom into the particular causes yet his justice is a general one the consideration whereof ought to stop the mouth of every Creature What shall we say to the case of the Flood which was a great judgment whereby the whole World eight persons excepted perished in the Waters 'T is true the wickedness of Men was raised to an utmost degree but withall it must be owned that there were many Infants new born Babes yea several quick in the Womb who had committed no actual sins yet were involved in that general destruction Death saith Rom. 5.14 Paul reigned from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression Adam's sin was an actual sin eating the fruit of the Forbiden-tree it could not be Original for he was created in Innocency but seeing (a) Chap. 6.23 death is the wages of sin and that those Infants who had committed no actual sin dyed in the Flood we must find another sin not after the similitude of Adam's transgression and that is Original-sin Now I say that as Original-sin was a just cause of the natural Death of those Babes so the same sin when it pleases God to leave them in it is a just cause of Eternal Death in those whom he punisheth with it for Eternal Death as well as Natural is the wages of Original as of Actual-sin And though sin be not the cause to move to pass sentence upon any yet that sentence is passed upon none but what are sinners Hence I conclude that as God was just in inflicting by the Flood Natural Death upon those Children that were unborn or newly born before they had done any evil so this holds for Election as for Reprobation in relation to Faith as to Unbelief according to that famous place of Romans about Jacob and Esau It is to be observed how St. Peter calls (b) Pet. 2.5 the world of the ungodly that world which the Flood drowned without any exception at all of Infants or others What hath been said of the Flood may be spoken to the same purpose of that terrible judgment upon Sodom and Gomorah and the Cities about them where no doubt were also Infants new born Babes and some quick in the Womb which as (c) Jud. 7. St. Jude saith suffered the vengeance of eternal fire and are set forth for an example Yet in all those things no exception against God's justice for he is most just in all his ways For if we must believe David the Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works Psal 15.17 What shall we say as to the case of Achan his sin was personal he alone had committed it yet that same sin his Sons and Daughters nay the very Beasts as his Oxen Asses Sheep as well as he were by God's immediate command stonned to death and burned with fire Though in the eyes of Men they seemed innocent yet were guilty in the Lords eyes Josh 7.24 25. So in the particular case I before quoted of the Man that was blind from his birth our Saviour saith that neither the Man had sinned nor his Parents but that the works of God should be made manifest in him This was a sufficient answer to the disciples they put no more questions about it But Arminians will impeach God's justice for denying sight to one who had not actually sinned Do not they do so in calling the equity of God's Decrees touching Men into question Can any thing in Scripture be plainer than this (a) Rom. 9.18 22 23. Ephes 1.11 that God hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth that he hath appointed some to be vessels of mercy to the praise of the glory of his grace and some to be vessels of wrath to make his power to be known and that he maketh all things after the counsel of his own willâ— Yet what more usual than to dispute how this can agree with justice And with what reason God may punish that sin which by vertue of a Decree is unavoidable 'T is strange yet too true how peremptory sawcy and blasphemous speeches some in their Cups and others sometimes upon other occasions break into upon this subject and would reduce God to such terms of reason as they fancied to themselves After such declarations about these things which God hath given in his word were it not better to give him Glory and with David say O Lord thou art just when thou speakest and pure when thou judgest And if they cannot conceive how this should stand with equity rather than to call to question God's justice were it not better to own their weakness And with David say this is my infirmity For wo unto him that striveth with his Maker according to Solomon (b) Eccles 8.4 't is prudence not to controll an earthly King's actions who may say unto him what dost thou And O man who art thou that repliest against God and if in reference to Politicks of Government and Mysteries of State the same (c) Prov. 25.2 Solomon saith the heart of a King is unsearchable there is some secret reasons which many cannot dive into In God's matters as his Decrees and wise dispensation of his Providence much more we must think it to be so for in the same Chapter the wise Man saith it is the glory of God to conceal a thing The second Objection they make and which we already have given a hint to is this if I be reprobate and 't is God's pleasure I should go to Hell it is not in my power to help it so their Damnation they father upon God's pleasure This is too much like our first Parents to lay the fault upon others to excuse themselves Gen. 3.12.13 The woman whom thou givest to be with me she gave me of the tree and I did eat He throws it on the Woman and she upon the Serpent the serpent begiuiled me If God had not given him the Woman then he would not have sinned nor the Woman if God had not created a Serpent so if God had not reprobated us say some we had not been damned But this is no more able to excuse them then the fig-leaves were to cover their nakedness though never so cunningly sewed together The Apostle lays open the case how God directeth and turneth all for his glory even the worst of things For our unrighteousness doth commend the righteousness of God and thorough our lie the truth of God hath more abounded unto his glory Rom. 3.5 6 7. Yet for all this though these evil things are turned to the greatest good that is the glory of God we are nevertheless
words how by some men God doth execute judgment upon others Thus also a Prophet said to Amaziah when he refused to hear and repulsed him I know that God hath determined to destroy thee Neither would he hear what Joash sent to him For it came of God who would as I quoted before deliver him into the hands of his enemies Furthermore Shishak (a) 2 Chron. 12.2 3 4. King of Egypt came up against Jerusalem because they had transgressed against the Lord. Then the Lord brought him up to punish them and took their fenced cities in execution of Gods Judgments and again the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the King of Assyria Chap. 33.11 which took Manassch amongst the thorns and bound him with fetters and carried him to Babylon Why should we any longer insist upon a thing so clear by God's Order and appointment (b) 1 Kings 15.29 Baasha destroyed Jeroboam's Family And (c) Chap. 16.12 Zimri that of Baasha And (d) 2 Kings 10.17 Jehu that of Ahab And all along in the Old Testament God takes upon him self to be the Author of all punishments inflicted upon his people by cruel Princes and upon all other Nations Assyrians Syrians Chaldeans Moab Ammon Egypt Tyre Sidon Philistines c. in so many Chapters of the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah Not only whole Nations but also individual though publick persons were made sensible of God's working in and against them as in the Case of Saul (e) 1 Sam. 16.14 The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord trouble him The most excellent and glorious work that ever was managed by the worst men in the world namely the death of our Blessed Saviour yet Judas Herod Pilate and the Jews and Gentiles concurred in 't did nothing but what the Hand and the Counsel of God had determined before to be done and fullfilled all that was written of him So that we see this truth contained in the †Acts 4.27.28 and chap. 13.27 29. New Testament as in the Old God gave some to (f) Rom. 1.24 26 28. vile affections and to a reprobate mind and to uncleanness and to Idolatry (g) Acts 7.42 So as to worship the host of heaven And God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lye Thus we see how God as a just Judge doth inflict not only bodily but also spiritual punishments upon men (h) 2 Thes 2.11 And if all these places were heaped one upon another and many others we could bring do not fully and clearly express the effectual concourse of God in and upon Men then all actings of God mentioned in Scripture must be explained of a bare permission and I dare say that those who amidst so great a light will not see must be in that darkness which comprehendeth not the light and there is cause to suspect (f) Psal 81.12 God hath given them up to their own hearts lust and to walk in their own counsels And sometimes God (g) Deut. 28.23 smiteth with madness blindness and astonishment of heart St. Paul speaks to the purpose of this universal and special actual Providence of God when he saith (h) Rom. 4 3◠For of him and through him and to him are all things none excepted good and evil not evil of sin which God abhorreth and 't is Blasphemy to say it but evil of punishment upon the wicked and of chastisements and afflictions to try the Faith and Patience of his Elect God threatneth to punish them that deny it (i) Zeph. 1.12 And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with Candles and punish the men that are set on their Lees that say in their heart the Lord will not do good neither will he do evil Though they speak it not with their Mouth but say it only in their Heart and he will so strictly search into it that they shall be found out These Effects and Workings of Providence come from him and do serve his Ends (k) Job 37.13 For saith Job He causeth it to come whether for correction or for his land or for mercy And in another place he saith (l) Chap. 5.6 Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground That signal Plague of Egypt that is the Lice came out of the Dust which became Lice Yet the wicked Magicians of (m) Exod. 8.17 18. Pharaoh perceived God in it for they said This is the finger of God And the holy Man Job though the Sabeans or Arabs and Chaldeans had plundered and robbed him of his Oxen and Camels and killed his Servants yet he said (n) Job 1.21 22. The Lord gave and the Lord not the Sabeans or Chaldeans hath taken away Here some will be apt to say Why doth he attribute unto God those Actings of Men Job is to blame for fathering upon God the Actings of wicked Men. But as the Spirit of God knew there would be those so pragmatical as to cavil thereat so in the following Verse he doth clear him from such Imputations when it is said in all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly in saying that God had taken away So God speaking of himself in relation to his dealings with Men declareth how because of the Sins of Israel he had given them Laws as a Punishment So he saith (o) Zech. 20.24 25. Wherefore I gave them also Statutes that were not good and Judgments whereby they should not live We know all God's Laws are good but the meaning is they shall do them no good nor be profitable to them Thus the best things can do no good without God's special Blessing nor the evil harm with-it his sanctifying grace makes a difference yet both (p) Job 2.10 good and evil we receive at his hand This Doctrine as we see is strongly grounded upon the Word of God yet by some it is aspersed with the abominable slander that it makes God the Author of sin which we call Blasphemy and in our Minds and Hearts we abhor detest and pronounce a Curse against and appeal to the Judge of the World to vindicate our Innocency against so notorious false and impudent Aspersions They make God the Author of Sin who call Sin a positive Being as doth one of their great Men Dr. Pierce in several places For God is the maker of every positive Being but sin is a negative Being which God never was the Author of In the New Testament the name of Sin is with an Alpha privative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 'T is a non-conformity to God's Law Wherefore he that calleth Sin a positive Being makes God the Author of it We sufficiently declared how tho' God doth concurr with the natural and Physical part of the Act he hath nothing to do as Author of the Moral or of the Deviation no more than the Sun when it
far from a Free will to receive good as evil This I shall conclude with an observation upon the remedy which God proposeth to prevent their death and ruin namely to repent v. 30. and to make them a new heart and a new spirit Here God speaks as one who insists upon performance of Articles thus Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul Deut. 6.5 and with all thy might But saith God that ye have not done wherefore make you a new heart and a new spirit to enable you to perform what hitherto hath been wanting for why will ye die O house of Israel He commands them to do 't themselves which they are able to do no more than to repent because all is a gift of God Psal 51.19 which David knew well when he prays thus Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Let us take notice of two different methods of God upon this account here God commandeth things to be done as they ought as performance of conditions but he promiseth nothing Do your duty which for them 't is impossible to perform wherefore he hath another way of speaking for those whom he is graciously pleased to favour he doth not command to do but promiseth himself to do for them (a) Ezek. 11.19 And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and I will give them an heart of flesh Which is repeated with this addition (b) Chap. 36.27 And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them To the same effect speaks another Prophet (c) Jer. 32.39 And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever Here are the most gracious promises of a Gospel-Covenant what we cannot do our selves he will do for us he will give us that heart and that spirit whereby we shall be enabled to keep and do his judgments and fear him for ever hereby we are secured from the danger of a final Apostasie The same Prophet just the Chapter before saith (d) Vers 33. I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall not teach c. and that this is the true Evangelical sence of the place it appears out of the application of it made by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews who doth quote the very same words and concludes all in these (c) Heb. 8. from 6. to 13. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more This is God's way with those whom he is pleased to save from dying and perishing as all must do whom he leaves to make themselves a new heart and a new spirit for Man's Will far from being free and able to contribute to Conversion the new Creation and Salvation is a perfect Slave to Sin till God be pleased to work upon and turn it which once being effected there is no danger of a final Apostacy for thereby we are secured against a total falling from grace and that is the Subject of the following Chapter CHAP. VIII About Amissibility of GRACE AS one depth calleth to another so doth one Error to another our Adversaries are not satisified to make Man if he be willful and obstinate stronger than God when he hath a mind to take possession of a Soul but they go farther and assert That after God is actually in possession of that Soul he may be turned out of possession which is their true sence of the point we are now going upon The Question is Whether a Man truly converted and regenerated can to the end persevere in the state of Salvation he is actually in And whether it be possible for such a one who is Elected in Christ called with an effectual Calling totally and finally to fall from God and be Damned This is the true state of the case and not whether the Elect and true Believers can fall into great sins which they do too often as it appeareth out of Scripture and Experience We say That God makes to persevere and go on to the end all the Elect and true Believers whether their Faith be strong or weak provided it be true that when once they are in the right way of Grace they shall infallibly come to Glory it being not possible for the Elect to become Reprobates to Apostatize and finally fall to Damnation Our Adversaries affirm the contrary though Arminius himself finding the stream of Scriptures and Fathers run so strong against the total and final Apostasie of Saints durst not openly declare for it yet his Followers have strongly set themselves against this Article which is the chief ground of all the comfort the Soul hath in this World to know 't is not in the power of the Devil or any other creature whatsoever to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now to prove this Doctrine we can begin no better than with that place of St. Paul's who in (a) Rom. 8.30 ver 31. that Chapter from verse 28. to the last giveth us the greatest grounds of assurance that can possibly be expected grounded upon our Election Calling Justification c. whence he proceedeth to a defiance to all (b) Vers 33 34. which is taken out of Isai 50.7 8 9. If God be for us who can be against us And (c) Ver. 32. who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth Now if Christ hath loved us which is clear in that he hath given himself for us and (d) Ver. 35. God delivered him up for us all After this the Apostle argueth from a thing impossible Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword (e) Vers 37 38 39. Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors Take notice with what assurance he speaketh in the two next verses for I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord I would be loth to lose one word of these wherein the Apostle speaks so fully so clearly and so much to the purpose that if to confirm this Doctrine we had had the penning of the words we could not have done it with so good effect to prove that God's Elect and Believers cannot finally fall and totally be separated from Christ and we know (f) Joh. 13. whom Christ loveth them
will of God obligeth Man to believe such things as God in his secret will never intended to accomplish So Abraham was bound to believe as also he believed it that God surely intended the Sacrificing of his Son because he commanded him to do it Yet God intended to try his Faith The Ninevites were bound to believe and so they did the Prediction of Jonah (a) Joh. 3.4 Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed yet God intended their repentance not their ruine It is a mistake to think that every one whom Christ is preached unto is bound to believe that he died for him which not being he is bound to believe a lye which to understand the better one must know the several degrees of Faith in this case Upon hearing the Gospel preached there is a general Faith required namely that the Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners the next thing for a Man to believe is that if I repent and believe Christ came into the world to save me so this is but conditional and many a wicked Man can believe thus far but the third and last degree is proper only to the Elect and 't is this when upon self examination and inquiry a Man finds that he repents as thus formerly I delighted in sin now I hate it heretofore I did eagerly run after the occasions now I avoid them and also doth find and feel that he believeth thus I know and am sensible of the desperate condition I am in by nature and see there is but one way to come out of it namely through the Lord Jesus for there is no Salvation in any other wherefore I hope and trust for mercy in him I lay hold upon and believe in him and do feel within me a comfort and inward assurance in the holy Ghost whereby I am sealed and which is the earnest of the Inheritance and assures me that I am the child of God Now a Man in such a condition is bound to believe that Christ died for him and believes it and so believes the truth according to this method St. Paul makes this declaration (a) Tim. 1.15 16. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief how be it for this cause I obtained mercy Ye see he hath the general notion wherefore Christ came into the world then he proceeds to apply it unto himself Lastly he is sure and believeth he obtained mercy This is the case of every Elect and Believer for there is for all but one way to Salvation Some go another way to work and say all are bound to believe Christ dyed not effectually but sufficiently for all if thereby be meant that the death of Christ as to the value and Merit be sufficient to save all we agree to it for if there had been ten thousand worlds Christ's death had been a sufficient value and price to save all but that distinction of effectually for the Elect and sufficiently for Reprobates doth not well become the dignity and merits of Christ's death wherein the design and wisdom of God and Christ are concerned to dye for one is properly so to die on his behalf as that he thereby may be delivered from death and this as our Saviour saith (b) Joh. 15.13 Implyeth the greatest love that can be Now to say that Christ dyed sufficiently not effectually is as good as to say Christ out of his infinite love for Reprobates dyed in their stead that they should be sufficiently delivered from death but noteffectually that is that they should never be actually delivered To say that Christ dyed for Reprobates not to the end they should actually be delivered but only put in a possibility of being so 't is in a manner to imply or else what they say is to no purpose that it lays in their power to receive Christ by Faith seeing without it they cannot be saved which all comes to this that God decreed from Eternity to save all and every Man upon condition they shall believe which smells of Pelagianism and Semipelagianism These are a new late sort of Arminians who would have minced and mitigated things but did not God from Eternity foresee many would not believe and decreed not to give them Faith which except he doth they can never have Why then should God have made a decree upon a condition which he knew shall never be performed having decreed never to grant the means to do it when a wise Man will not become guilty of so much imprudence But let this be enough upon the matter which in our hands is swelled beyond what we at first intended but 't is so copious that 't is almost unavoidable and yet how many things more might have been said Now we will proceed to something else CHAP. XIII That the Doctrines we hold concerning these Points are the same as Austin and other Orthodox Doctors maintained against Pelagians and Semipelagians WE have been at the Spring of all Truth and out of it I hope clearly and sufficiently proved all the Doctrines in question Now by the grace of God only to satisfie some we will come to something of humane Authority which indeed after God hath in his word passed a sentence is not necessary nor much material However 〈◊〉 shew we are not singular and that those high truths are not our particular opinion we shall make it appear how many hundred years ago some Hereticks having published their corrupt phancies against these truths God raised those who powerfully and successfully stood up in defence thereof Our Adversaries like prostitute Women which in a scolding fit hasten to call Whore first are gone about falsely to asperse us with innovation giving the points controverted between us the name of Calviaian Doctrines as good and as fit for them to call a Calvinist Austin who lived much above a thousand years before Calvin which in effect is to overturn the world and make last first and first last Hence it is that in a fit of rage some of them brake loose upon that worthy Servant of God who hath been an Eminent instrument in his hand to beat down the strength of that Roman Anti-christ to which so many pious and learned Men have given their Evidence Yet no Papist though never so violent spoke against him more unbecomingly and with greater fury than some Arminians have but we must not wonder at it the Cause he fought against is common to Papists with them and so they look on him as their Common Enemy However amongst Enemies if there be any sence of Christianity and Humanity there should be something more of Moderation and Generosity if they were capable of it Cannot we dispute about the things we differ in and let persons alone Forbear making reflections upon the Dead who in their Generation were better Men than we are in ours we should mind the merit of the Cause and not pick an unjust quarrel against the person And here before I
Faith their perseverance their good use of grace received their original and actual sins and final impenitency why one man is predestinated to salvation not another So it unveils to them those high and unsearchable mysteries of Gods decrees which put St. Paul to a nonplus or else he had not been strucken with such amazing admiration as made him cry out (a) Rom. 11.33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding-out Surely he wanted that universal grace or else he would not have thought those judgments so incomprehensible though I would have the Adversaries of the truth to know that St. Paul wanted no grace he had a sufficient grace (b) 2 Cor. 12 9. My grace is sufficient unto thee But that sufficient grace in Paul was for another end it never went so far as Arminians pretends theirs doth yet they must give us leave to think he was inferiour in grace to none of them nor David who saith (c) Psal 36.6 thy judgments are a great deep I shewed how Arminians have renewed several of Pelagius his Errors but I did not fasten upon them his denying Original Sin which I must now do (d) Contra Tilen pag. 388. Corvinus one of their great men saith that with Arminius orginal sin hath not the nature of sin or fault properly so called and Arminius himself affirmeth that it is wrongfully said (e) Pag. 174. That original sin makes a man guilty of death And one of our own who is highly esteemed by his own Party in his Book Vnum Necessarium doth expressly deny original sin and the imputation thereof and takes a great deal of pains to answer arguments drawn out of Scripture and experimental reasons to prove it and what he had written he goes about to justifie in his answer to the then Bishop of Rochester's Letter which he had written to shew him his Error Here and there I shewed how about these matters Arminians do joyn with Papists and Pelagians against us Now I say they do so with Socinians so no wonder if they have and still usher in Socinianism For both Arminians and Socinians do affirm that the causes of predestination are not in God but in us That he doth not predestinate to Salvation any certain or particular persons and that predestination may be changed and frustrated also that theâ—e is a free-will to good in us And as to Providence that God hath not determined contingencies nor foreseen future contingents and such others as Arminians have borrowed from Socinians as in the mistakes concerning the high point of justification Christ's satisfaction c. Then they deny the knowledge and confession of the mystery of the Trinity to be absolutely necessary to Salvation and that the Doctrine of the three persons of the Godhead specially of Christ's being God from Eternity are not a fundamental Article of our Faith as affirmed in their Apolog. Vindic. Respons ad except Leyd nay in vindic cap. 7. lib. 1. pag. 37 38. With Socinians and some Anabaptists they falsely say that the Doctrine of the Trinity began in the time of the Council of Nice and they are so good friends that in the same Apol. Vindic. they affirm Socinians to be Pious nay most Pious Men whom all Protestants ought to take for example of Piety wherefore no wonder if they say we ought to keep Communion with them that is Socinians Some of them say the Father to be Essentiantem and the Son Essentiatum and subordinate to the Father In few words that most of the Arminian Doctors do in the Article of the Trinity which they make to be of no great moment go hand in hand with Socinians hath clearly been made out by Vedclius Part 2. Arcanorum Armin. and what I have here charged them with and other things too I am able to make good out of their publick writings as the Apology Vindic. and out of the works of their most approved eminent Authors as Worstius whom they would have had promoted to be Divinity Professor at Leyden after Arminius's death Episcopius the chief manager of their Affairs in the Synod of Dort Curcelaeus c. But all these and more too ill consequences in matters of Doctrine I now must conclude with the bad influence it hath upon life and conversation It is too true as we find it by experience that there are multitudes of wretches kept in their carnal security by a perswasion that there is an universal grace offered unto all by which they may repent and believe when they will this makes them resolve to enjoy the pleasures of sin a little longer and then they will receive and entertain grace and so easily get to Heaven which is a great encouragement to all wickedness but it suits with the nature and desire of wicked presumptuous and prophane sinners who though they were not fully perswaded of it yet for them t is a pretence to continue in sin 'T is said of one Thompson a great propagator of Arminianism that when he was in his fits of intemperance if any one minded him of the wrath of God threatned against such courses he would answer I am a child of the devil to day but I have free-will and to morrow I will make my self a child of God Jansenius hath made this general observation that the Pelagians were generally loose in their lives which he taketh abundance of good Pains to prove and I conceive it cannot be too much considered in this controversie because Pelagius urged nothing more vehemently than this that the extolling of the grace of God and lessening the liberty of man's will is the readiest way to destroy all Piety By those that for a considerable time have conversed amongst Papists 't is observed how the Jansenists are the best moral livers amongst them of a much better life and conversation than the rest so it cannot but be taken notice of that amongst us the greatest sticklers for Arminianism even amongst some of the Clergy are the proudest most vicious Ambitious Voluptuous Drunkards prophane livers of any making little or no conscience to seek the glory of God to feed their flocks amongst which they seldom are resident except in sheering time for to feed they care not so much as to fleece the Flock making not much conscience of performing Pastoral Duties being more for wealth and preferment than for the good of souls If their Doctrine be good why are their lives and actions so vicious I speak for the generality their practice contradicteth what they would have us to believe of their Doctrine their bad lives they would shelter under the notion of a good Doctrine the goodness of their Religion must be a cloak but we with a good life would as much as the frailty and corruption of our nature can permit endeavour to credit the doctrine we profess and because we will not run into the same excesses