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
but we say that Men sinners are predestinated to Damnation neither doth Man sin because he is appointed to Damnation but is appointed to Damnation because a sinner They who are of the opinion here argued against yield the Thing but deny the Consequence thereby God to be the Author of sin though he made Man in a condition to fall into sin and decreed to permit him to yield to the temptation and commit sin to manifest his Justice in the just condemnation of Man sinner Then say the Adversaries God hath not found a guilty Man to be punished but hath made him such which is not true for God made him not so but permitted him to be made so he who thorough his own fault became guilty is justly punished by God Lastly they object thus that which is the cause of the cause is also the cause of the effect which is only true of the necessary cause called per se not of that per accidens but say they you say that reprobation is a necessary cause of sin which is a meer untruth and slander none of our Authors ever said or hath written so for 't is Blasphemy except it be through an abuse of the name Sometimes 't is usual to say causa sine qua non a Cause without which a thing is not but 't is improperly so called for every true Cause doth influence the Effect Thus we have answered their most plausible Objections and given them their best and most advantageous light to make the matter more intelligible It is time to come to the third degree of Providence Ordination or ordering of things whereby God according to his wonderful Wisdom and Power reduceth every thing into Order constituting good and certain ends disposing means to those ends and ruling things thus disposed About these degrees of Providence we must well observe how in the effectuating permitting and ordaining there is about every act of Creatures not only an universal but also a particular and special influence of God which is proved out of Scripture First In general (a) Psal 113.5 6 7 8 9. Who is like unto our God saith David who humbleth himself before the things that are in heaven and in the earth he raiseth up the poor out of the dust c. He maketh the barren woman to keep house and be a joyful mother of children And in another place (b) Psal 146.6 7 8 9. God made heaven and earth the sea and all that therein is which executeth judgment for the oppressed which giveth food to the hungry the Lord looseth the prisoners the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind raiseth them that are bowed down preserveth the strangers he relieves the fatherless and widows Nehemiah saith (c) Nehem. 9.6 thou hast made heaven the heaven of heavens with all their hosts the earth and all things that are therein the sea and all that is therein and thou preservest them all And in the New Testament (d) Heb. 1.3 God upholdeth all things by the word of his power Secondly The particular Providence is proved out of the following Texts (e) Matth. 6.25 26 27 28 29 30 31. Take no thought for your life saith our Saviour what ye shall eat or drink nor for raiment for your heavenly father feedeth the fowls of the air c. even the smallest things God takes care of (f) Chap 10.29.30 one sparrow shall not fall on the ground without your father the very hairs of our head are all numbered This providence is extended over contingents nothing seems to be of chance so much as casting of the Lot yet saith Solomon (g) Prov. 16.33 The lot is cast into the lap But the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. But the special providence of God was ever extended on his people as I shewed before in the cases of Noah Moses c. how admirable was it in relation to Abraham Isaac Jacob the Children of Israel in and out of Egypt as it may appear out of the * Gen. 15.7 16.10 17.2.4.16.20 21.13 28.13.14 Exod. 1.20 12 3â— Deut. 10.22 Texts quoted in the Margin Not only the Psalms and the Prophets are full of this but also whole Scripture containeth abundance of evidences of special divine influences upon every particular act of Creatures and this not only upon those that are good but also them that are evil for God doth specially rule both though he be not the Author of evil as such that hindereth him not from being the Rector and Ruler thereof For as we said before he is not an idle Spectator for at his pleasure he over-rules corrupt Instruments turneth them which way and to what end he pleases his Holiness and Justice ever undefiled and the end of his Providence is ever the Glory of God and Salvation of the Elect which all things are subservient unto And in every thing it is most true what is said Jonah 1.14 For thou Lord hast done it as it pleaseth thee In relation to the wicked how wonderful God's Providence is in bringing his ends about we may see it in the Case of Ahab God by the Prophet Elisha for his abominable Idolatry and other Sins had threatned him and his whole Family with utter ruine But because upon his outward Repentance (a) 1 Kings 21.29 God had said he would not execute his Judgments during his Life but in his Son's days Ahab must be the first taken out of the way In order to it he must begin a War against the King of Syria though there had been none for three Years before The occasision or pretence of the War is to recover the Town of Ramoth in Gilead an encouragement for him to go on in his design was Jehosaphat King of Judah being come to visit him promiseth in Person to assist him with his Forces But further to engage him in his Design his Prophets about 400 Men must promise him a Victory They come to a Battle before which the King of Syria commanded all his Captains to fight with none but the King of Israel who not to be known disguised himself in the Fight Jehosaphat is taken for Ahab so the Syrians fell upon him but perceiving he was not the King of Israel they turned back from pursuing of him For God helped him and the Lord moved them to depart from him 2 Chron. 18.31 Here is Providence All this while it seemed to Ahab he was safe enough but God who had sent Jehosaphat to visit and joyn with him who had put a lying Spirit in the Mouth of all his Prophets and put in the Heart of the King of Syria to command the 32 Captains of his Chariots to fight only against Ahab's Person Chap. 22. who thinking himself in some measure free from danger when behold God doth his work a certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote the King of Israel between the joynts of the harness Certainly though the
we say the Will is free only to do Evil most willing with greediness In this case with Scripture we call it a Slave a Drudge and a Servant to Sin for it cannot cease from Sin wise and willing enough to Sin but without knowledge and willingness to do good (a) Rom. 6.16 Whom man doth obey his servant he is to whom he doth obey That Will that obeys Sin in the lusts thereof as every Will in its state of Nature doth Sin saith the Apostle reigneth in it as in the Mortal body such Will is in the snare of the Devil and (b) 2 Tim. 2.26 taken Captive by him at his Will saith the same Apostle In this unregenerate state the Soul and consequently the Will is dead in trespasses and sins the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2.14 And the carnal Mind and Will too is enmity against God before our reconciliation to God we are his enemies Rom. 5.10 both in Soul and Body in every faculty of the one and in every member of the other In short the whole stream of Scripture runs strong that way to shew how in the state of Nature there is no more possibility for our Will of it self to be carried to good Spiritual objects Jerem. 13.23 than there is in the Aethiopian to change his skin or in the Leopard to change his spots Now in the state of Grace as to Free-will in relation to spiritual things for those of another nature come not within the question though the Will remaineth free from compulsion yet we ought to consider it in a twofold respect according to the two different Principles that are in us the Flesh and the Spirit the Old and the New Man of a quite different and contrary nature one to another the Flesh hath her Lusts which must be Crucified the Old Man hath his Deeds which ought to be Mortified all by degrees and after a fight wherein the Spirit of God thorough Christ's Blood giveth a regenerate Man the Victory not the Israel after the flesh 1 Cor. 10.18 but to that after the spirit and the promise What this New Man is St. Paul mentions to the Galatians 4.19 My little Children of whom I travail in birth until Christ be formed in you that is the Image and likeness of Christ in Righteousness Holiness and every Christian Virtue of this formation the Apostle by the means of the Ministery of the Word was the Instrument but the Holy Ghost not the Will of Man the Efficient Cause it is that Wind that bloweth where it listeth and though one heareth the sound thereof one cannot tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth Joh. 3.8 In some kind we may say of it what David speaks of his Body made in secret at first imperfect but in continuance fashioned Psal 139.15 16. This puts a new or spiritual Life in us so that every one in that blessed condition may with St. Paul say I live yet not I but Christ lives in me Gal. 2.20 I know I will I love and I do yet not I but Christ by his holy Spirit knoweth willeth loveth and doth in me and even as after the birth of our Body to preserve and strengthen it food must be given it and Milk is the first so must the New Man be fed with Milk till it be able to bear Meat 1 Cor. 3.2 but this forming feeding and digesting is the Work of God and not an effect of the choice of our Will Thus much I could not forbear taking notice of as to that Spiritual Principle within us Well both these Principles retain the Nature whence they come The first of the earth earthy the second is the Lord from heaven heavenly 1 Cor. 15.47 Now that first and Old Man answereth The Jerusalem that now is and is in bondage with her Children but Jerusalem which is above is free Gal. 4.25 26. We then must say that where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. 3.17 where that Spirit is not there is nothing but bondage so then in the twain Man are both liberty and bondage upon different accounts What Paul doth he alloweth not for what I would that I do not but what I hate that do I. He delighteth in the Law of God after the inward Man but the Law of the Members bringeth him into Captivity to the Law of Sin which he desired to be delivered from and obtained it through Jesus Christ Rom. 7. Wherefore in that state though the corrupt principle would pull back and mislead our Will yet by the guidance and direction of the Holy Ghost our Will is made tractable inclined and without any violence turned willingly to Spiritual things Thus we are made a free willing People in the day of God's Power to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought and every desire too into Captivity to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.4 5. As to our Free-will in the State of Glory I pass it by there being no question made about it The Controversie about Free-will is a large Subject yet I think we said enough to our present purpose what remains to be spoken about it shall be under another head which that we now leave doth directly lead us to Arminians are stiff sticklers for a Free-will in Man to receive or reject Grace when offered by the Preaching of the Gospel as the outward means appointed for that end Now we proceed CHAP. VII About Resistibility of GRACE TO understand this well it must be well stated the Question is not whether Man can and doth resist Grace when offered in the Preaching of the Word or even some good motions of the spirit of God we are all agreed it can and doth But the true state of the Question between Papists with Arminians and us is this Whether when God doth offer men Grace with a design to have them thereby converted Whether or not I say those Men shall actually be converted Or Whether the Free-will and Corruption of Man shall overcome the motions of the spirit of God when he purposeth actually to convert We say at that time God works irresistibly and invincibly that is they shall be converted they say no. To prove this we have many Texts of Scripture There is in God (e) Philip. 3.21 a power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself so that when he is willing he cannot miss of his aim If the difficulty lies in the Understanding he can bring light out of darkness and enlighten the eyes of our Vnderstanding if in the Will (g) 2 Cor. 4.6 Ephes 1.18 he can make us willing in the day of his power if we be unwilling he maketh us willing and able to do too (h)
alone can give it which in another place is confirmed (m) 2 Tim. 2.25 If God peradventure will give them that is men repentance And as repentance is meerly a gift of God so is saith if we must believe St. Paul (n) Ephes 2.8 For by grace ye are saved thorough saith and that not of our selves it is the gift of God Our salvation here is not attributed to free-will or any thing of our own The Apostle is not satisfied to say by grace ye are saved through Faith but he excludes himself and all and that not of our selves but that Faith which is the Instrument whereby Christ is received and applyed is a gift of God not of Nature or any Parts Abilities or Free-will in us And another Apostle comfirms it very much with a general rule he gives how not only the gift of Faith but (a) Jam. 1.17 every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights We must not look for any grace to grow here below no such thing to be found upon Earth but what doth originally come from Heaven We must not seek for any in Man in any faculty of his Soul which is a bondslave of sin and naturally dead in sin till God hath been pleased to quicken it (b) 1 Pet. 1.9 The end of our faith saith an Apostle is our salvation And Jesus (c) Heb. 12.2 saith another is the Author and finisher of our faith Thus our whole Salvation comes from Christ alone exclusively to any man This work I thought fit to conclude with the several Proofs drawn out of Scripture to shew how our Salvation not only as to the general but also as to particulars in every part and degree thereof doth wholly and only depend upon God and in case there be any good in or done by us we must own God to be the Author of it through the immediate and effectual working of his holy Spirit to trust upon himself or in any thing in himself (d) 2 Kings 18 21. 'T is to trust upon the staff of a bruised reed on which if a man lean it will go into his hand and pierce it To seek for salvation and power to repent and believe within himself in his Mind in his Will in his Heart it is (e) Luk. 24.5 to seek the living amongst the dead By God's command we are (f) Rev. 18.4 come out of the Roman Babylon if we are God's people so that except we have a mind again to be partakers of her sins and so to receive of her Plagues we must return thither no more When God had brought his people out of Egypt by the mouth of Moses he gave this command (g) Deut. 17.16 Ye shall hence forth return no more that way This command is addressed to and concerns us for we know Rome is the great City (h) Rev. 17.8 which spiritually is called Egypt and Sodom too 'T is called Babylon by reason of her Idolatry Egypt upon the account of slavery and Sodom for her abominable wickedness thence God hath graciously brought us out why should we like some of the Children of Israel or Lot's Wife incline and desire to return thither we read as of the sin of the punishment of those that did so for their carcases fell in the wilderness and the Woman became a Pillar of Salt which we are commanded to remember Luk. 17.32 Now I say that the Arminian Errors do lead men back into the Church of Rome I hope I sufficiently demonstrated how in these matters of grace they joyn hands and agree together against us that when Arminianism began to settle here a design was carried on to meet with and be reconciled to that See If then we be not willing to return to it again we must avoid falling into the way that leadeth to it to escape the danger These points about grace are not indifferent and inconsiderable but of the highest nature and concernment that can be for our eternal Salvation doth wholly depend upon God's free-grace I mean our Election Vocation Faith Repentance Conversion Justification Sanctification and at last Glorification These are such fundamental truths as no Martyr can lay down his life upon a better account wherefore no man ought to be ashamed or afraid to own and suffer for if called to it But self-denyal is a hard thing to be obtained and self-love so deeply rooted in man's corrupt heart that they will not part with boastings they are pleased with the thoughts of their own worthiness and are fond of an imaginary power and abilities which they fansie to be in themselves instead of giving God the glory Yet O Lord to thee belong honour and righteousness Dan. 9.7 but to man nothing but shame and confusion of face FINIS
that calleth any thing of works and of Faith too for they could have no Faith before they were born or had done any good or any evil are here excluded and all attributed to the purpose of God according to Election The same Apostle saith in another place that though some have erred concerning the Truth even those who before were professors of it such as (b) 2 Tim. 2.17 19. Hymineus and Philetus yet Nevertheless the foundation of the Lord standeth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are his 't is no prejudice to neither can it change God's Decree And still to make use of the same authority St. Paul saith elsewhere (c) Ephes 1.9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself Not only that purpose in himself but also the declaration to us of that my stery of his will are altogether attributed to his good-pleasure not to any thing without him or in the Creature and all this to the end (d) Ephes 2.7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness tovards us through Christ Jesus Here is Grace here are riches of Grace yea exceeding riches of Grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus through whom only these graces are conveyed to us and who is the sole dispenser thereof and he addeth (f) Ephes 1.11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will Here every word is a sentence against our Adversaries and after this t is an amazement to me that amongst those who pretend to be Christians and to receive the word of God for rule of the Truth there should be some who go about to set up Free-will and Man's strength to the prejudice of Grace and forge Motives and Counsellours for God besides his own good-will and pleasure We say further there is a certain small select number of those that are predestinated to Glory this we speak after St. Paul (g) Rom. 11.5 6. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace and if by grace then it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but if it be of works then it is no more grace otherwise work is no more work Here the reason is given why amongst the unbelieving obstinate Jews there was a small remnant which did believe and were saved The Faith Grace and Salvation of this remnant is ascribed to their Election as to the cause and this Election affirmed to come only of God's grace and deny'd to have proceeded from any of their works not by a simple affirmation but by a double opposition of Works and Grace as incompatible in point of Election Arminians must not think to blind this with saying they do not attribute Election to a foresight of Works but of Faith 'T is true their Father Arminius doth not openly assert it this Text being so clear and so positive however he minced the matter for he made Election and Justification to depend upon Faith not as an Instrument applying Christ but as an Evangelical Work in the Gospel appointed of God to be a saving quality in it self as a perfect Obedience should have been under the Law but his Followers are not so scrupulons as he But the Apostle denies it to be of Faith as of Works wholly ascribing it to the Election or Grace But as to the point of the small number of the Elect our blessed Saviour himself decides it when he saith (a) Matth. 20.10 Many be called but few chosen and St. Paul to shew the small number of those that are elected and shall be saved is not satisfied to call it a remnant in the place already quoted but in another of the same Epistle he also makes use of the word remnart (b) Rom. 9.27 Though the number of the children of Israel be as the Sand of the Sea a remnant shall be saved Only a remnant and this after the Prophet Isaiah 10.20 21. Who elsewhere calls it (c) Isai 1.9 A very small remnant which the Apostle in the same Chapter doth call a Seed (d) Rom. 9.29 Except the Lord of Sabbath had left us a seed which is only as much as sufficeth to sow the ground (e) Heb. 12.23 These are called the general Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven in the Book of God's Election which can never be encreased nor diminished and this (f) Ephes 4.12 13. for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ Which meaneth that there is a fullness of the mystical body of Christ that is so many Members and that every Member is to come unto a degree of Stature unto a perfect Man as a certain number of Martyrs that shall be fulfilled Rev. 6.9 11. All those and those only (g) Rom. 8.30 whom God did predestinate them he also called with an inward and effectual calling and whom he called all and only them he also justified all and only them he also glorified This is the Golden Chain of our Salvation and the thing so certain and so sure that though to some it be to come 't is represented as already past and as if they were in actual possession of Glory There shall be no more nor less and though to the eye of Man in this there may seem to be some alteration some falling from the Truth it is only as to the outward shew and profession not as to the Election Wherefore St. John (h) 1 John 2.19 saith They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us And this also is a strong proof and evidence of the perseverance and against the final Apostacy of Saints which Arminians are stiff asserters of And that Election is the sole cause of everlasting Salvation it appears because into the heavenly City (i) Rev. 21.27 none shall enter but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life In another place this Book is mentioned (k) Rev. 13.8 and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him the Beast whose names are not written in the book of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world This is the Book of God's Decree of Election all that have names written in it shall enter into new Jerusalem or Heaven but those whose names are not written therein and do worship the Beast (l) Rev. 20.10 12. shall with the devil the beast and the false prophet be cast into
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
act of their Conversion (l) Psal 115.3 For our God is in the heavens he hath done whatsoever he pleased The same in another place we have with enlargement (m) Psal 13.6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven and in earth in the seas and all deep places No deeper places than Man's Heart which no humane power can dive into much less to frame and govern it but God can and doth even those hearts that are the most unsearchable and past finding out the hearts of Kings full of turnings and windings of humane Policy (n) Prov. 21.1 Yet the Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water he turneth it whithersoever he will Ver. 2. he makes nothing of it and the Lord pondereth the hearts Now in matter of Conversion the greatest opposition lies in the heart but God can remove it as it pleases him Therefore let it be never so stubborn it must fall when God will have it and it can never finally resist Grace (o) Isa 45.23 I have sworn by my self saith the Lord that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear yea and every heart too shall vow and swear Who can resist the power of God when he hath a mind effectually to work (a) Chap. 43.13 I will work and who shall let it What miserable wretches are those that dare assert the Contrary Our 4th Article saith True justifying Faith is peculiar to God's Elect St. Paul indeed calls it (b) Tit. 1.1 the faith of God's elect and it must be proper to them because it is an effect and consequence of Election (c) Rom. 11.7 Israel hath not obtained that which he secketh for saith Paul what is it Righteousness and Justification they were seeking to be justified by the works of the Law which is not the way Faith is the only instrument of justification before God and as true Faith is an infallible effect and consequence of Election for they that are predestinated are also called and justified as appeareth (d) Rom. 8.30 by the link of Salvation so election hath obtained it Justification is only for the Elect and the rest were blinded saith the Apostle in the same verse We also in the same Article do affirm that the true regenerate and believers never fall totally but persevere in the Faith we have God's word for it the blessed and good man saith David (e) Psal 37.24 Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down the reason is in the latter-end of the verse and a good one two for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand and in another place speaking of the same sort of men he saith (f) Psal 145.14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall and raiseth up all those that be bowed down Our 5th Article is that Christ effectually died not for all because Scripture speaking of the extent of his death reduceth it to many Our Saviour saith (g) Matth. 20.28 The Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many the same word he used when he instituted his holy Supper (h) Chap. 26.28 For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many not for all for the remission of sins none could know the design of his death and whom he died for better than himself St. Paul makes use of the same word when he saith (i) Heb. 9.28 Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many long before his time a great Prophet had said so or rather God by his mouth (k) Isai 53.11 12. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many only those whom he died for are justified for justification is the fruit of his death and in the following verse 't is joyned to his Death and Satisfaction for sin And he bare the sin of many Who these many are Scripture explains it in other places they are called his people the Angel said to Joseph (a) Matth. 1.21 Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins In another place they are named his sheep I (b) 1 John 10.15 lay down my live for my sheep saith the Lord Jesus St. Paul calls them his Church (c) Acts 20.28 Have a care to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood So elsewhere he saith (d) Ephes 5. â—5 Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it Our 6th Article saith there is not in any one such free-will such universal sufficient grace whereby to be saved if they will let a man never so much consult in his affairs yet God hath the governing part (*) Prov. 16.9 For though a man's heart deviseth his way yet the Lord directeth his steps And although (e) Chap. 19.21 there are many devices in a man's heart nevertheless the council of the Lord that shall stand And if (*) Chap. 20.24 man's goings are of the Lord as certainly they be How can a man then understand his own way How can he be free to chuse specially in those things that concern his Spiritual and Eternal wellfare If we have free-will How is it (f) Isai 26.12 that God hath wrought all our works in us With free-will we could do it our selves and if in every one there be a sufficient universal grace how can it be true That (g) Jerm 10.21 the Pastors are become brutish and have not forght the Lord therefore they shall not prosper and all their flocks shall be scattered Wherein is the grace here and where the sufficiency But we must come closer to the point (h) John 6.44 No man can come to me except the father which hath sent me draw him Where is here our free-will and our sufficient grace Our Saviour to beat us out of this conceit saith (i) Chap 15.5 6. Without me ye can do nothing it is not said far from me for then we being near him might happen to do something of our own but without me we must have him or we can do nothing at all not so much as to think a good thought which is least of all for St. Paul saith (k) 2 Cor. 3.5 not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves take notice of the double exclusion given to our selves but our sufficiency is of God there we must look for it and expect it from Our Saviour to make us the more sensible how without him we can do nothing strengthned that saying with a similitude very proper in the next verse If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered a branch of a Vine or any other Tree that is broken or cut off from the Tree and Root is thereby deprived of the Sap and nourishment thence convey'd to it so it cannot live but is withered and cast into the fire to be burned no sign or hopes of life in
the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began And in another Epistle (f) Colos 1.26 The mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to his saints 'T is named (g) Tit. 1.2 the hope of eternal life which God that cannot lye promised before the world began Because our hope of it is grounded there upon which place proveth also the immutability and certainty of it for God cannot lye And St. Peter calleth Christ (h) 1 Pet. 1.19 20. the lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world All which Texts do point at our Election in Christ from all Eternity so we need no longer to insist upon this but to proceed to the unchangeableness When we say Election is unchangeable we mean that none of those that are elected to everlasting life can perish and be damned which is the same as to say the number of Elect is certain and can neither be augmented nor diminished so that the Elect ever remain Elect and are never reprobates Several places in Scripture do prove this immutability of Gods Decrees as the following which are so clear that there is no need of enlargement or exposition I (a) Mal. 3.6 the Lord change not not in his Nature which is always the same that was that is and that is to come Eternal immortal c. Nor doth he change place because he always is every where filling all with his infinite Being nor is his Mind and Will which is the question in hand he is not as men who often alter their resolutions but God being most and infinitely wise the only Wise is unchangeable in his Decrees So that (b) 2 Tim. 2.19 the foundation of the Lord standeth sure having this Seal the Lord knoweth them that are his His chosen (c) Rom. 11.29 The gifts and calling of God are without repentance for (d) Numb 23.19 he is not a man that he should lye neither the Son of Man that he should repent I know our Adversaries cast a slanderous aspersion upon this Doctrine as thus let a Man walk continue and obstinately persevere in sin and do all the evil he can if he be unalterably elected to eternal life he needs not care what he doth for he shall be saved which say they is an encouragement to sin so a Man that is a reprobate let him do all possible good things 't is in vain he can never be saved But those that say so must either have a great deal of gall and malice in their Heart and be in the bonds of iniquity or be very ignorant of God's ways and of the workings of grace upon the heart What an injurious opinion have they of God as if he knew not what he doth to bring Men into Heaven by the way of Hell or into Hell by the way of Heaven hath the Lord forfeited his wisdom as to separate the means from the end Is it not blasphemy to think nay which is more to say that God who so strictly forbideth Sin and commandeth Repentance and Holiness in his word would therein give an encouragement to all manner of vice and wickedness We own that if the Elect would obstinately continue in sin they should be damned but God who will not have them to be damned and Perish but after they have sinned to return to him and (e) 2 Pet. 3.9 come to repentance doth convert and with threatinngs and chastisements contain them in their duty as it appeareth in the cases of David Peter c. I add 't is no more consisting for an Elect to persevere in sin to the end than for a Reprobate to persevere in grace and true Faith which he never had They who in consequence of their Election be converted are of another sort of temper than those Slanderers take them to be of notwithstanding the frailty of the Elect there is in them a fear and love of God sin dwelleth but doth not reign in them though sometimes they commit wickedness yet they have not sold themselves as 't is said of Ahab to commit it they sin but are none of those whom the Apostle speaks of (a) 2 Pet. 2.14 that cannot cease from sin If sometimes God leaveth them to themselves yet he returns to them with his restraining preventing and strengthening Grace (b) Psal 68.28 He strengtheneth that which he hath wrought for them and in St. Peter's words God doth (c) 1 Pet 5.10 make them perfect stablisheth strengtheneth and settleth them After sin God doth give them Checks We read of David that after his sin of numbering the People (d) 2 Sam. 24.10 His heart smote him they have reality of faith though it be weak sincerity of Repentance though it be unperfect truth of love to God and Charity for the Neighbour though attended with much frailty and weakness Those that have experience and some inward assurance of God's mercy to them in Christ have better thoughts of their duty and will not be drudges of sin and Satan they will be afraid of doing things unworthy of God's Children for fear of displeasing so gracious a Father they will endeavour to work their Salvation with fear and trembling and as much as humane frailty and the sinfulness of their nature will allow they will avoid doing things unworthy of their holy calling they who have such an opinion of them have not yet tasted how good and sweet the Lord is We who assert this true and sound Doctrine of Election know (e) Ephes 1.4 we are chosen that we should be holy not commit sin and wickedness we are called unto holiness and certainly in God's Children the persuasion of Election is the greatest motive and encouragement they can have to a good life and conversation We know we are God's workmanship Chap. 2.10 created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them Not to lead a loose and vicious life and that (a) 2 Tim. 2.19 Psal 85.8 every one that nameth the name of Christ let him as much as he can depart from iniquity And not turn again to foll Every one that hath a saving knowledge of God's word which is the rule of Practice as of Doctrine is convinced it is against a vicious and wicked life (b) Tit. 3 8.14 This is a faithful saying saith Paul And these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works And the 6th verse following he gives the same charge Let ours also learn to maintain good works We do and so will all true Believers joyn with St. Peter in a just and right conclusion of a gracious premise (c) 1 Pet. 2. â— Ye are a chosen generation a royal priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people All this is admirable well but what will our
Adversaries conclude from hence out of their principle and according to their way now of arguing against us They will say then you are well enough trouble not your selves any further live as ye will do what ye please ye are sure of Heaven Oh but St. Peter is of another mind if we ask him to what purpose and for what end are these excellent privileges bestowed upon us in the same verse he tells us what use we ought to make of this That ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness unto his marvellous light Wherefore 't is not to do the works of darkness which can never shew forth God's praises We abhor such wicked Consequences and Practices out of such an holy Doctrine as is that of the immutability of our Election That Doctrine of Free-grace and Election is the same which St. Paul as we proved it out of so many Texts in his Epistles so earnestly preached and asserted how earnest was he to put Men upon the study and practice of Holiness Sanctification Rom. 3.8 and all good works In his time was abroad the same spirit as now as then upon his Doctrine so now upon ours which is the very same he preached there were aspersions cast though not by the same men yet by the same spirit which is a liar from the beginning That holy Man complaineth of it (a) Rom. 3.8 as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say let us do evil that good may come But see their doom whose damnation is just They were most impudent liars for they affirmed that he said so when there was no such thing wherefore he reproveth such unjust and abominable consequences Chap. 6.1.2 What shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid Thus shall we say We are Elected and let us do all the evil we can yet we shall be saved God fordid Blessed Apostle from these Men we suffer the same thou didst from those for the same cause St. Paul and we after him are for Free-grace against Free-will and our common adversaries are for Free-will against Free-grace We have upon this matter about Election a very considerable Text of Scripture which I desire to be specially taken notice of 'T is our blessed Saviours answer to the Mother of Zebedee's Children who asked of him that her two Sons might sit one on his right hand the other on his left in his Kingdom which answer the Lord doth thus conclude But to sit on my right-hand and on my left is not mine to give but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my father Matth. 20.23 The meaning of sitting on the right and left-hand in Christ's Kingdom is to be glorified with him which is the same as to have Salvation and enjoy eternal life By the Father's having prepared is understood the Decree of Election whereby some are appointed to eternal life hence are deduced these several truths First There are places in the Kingdom of Christ's glory That is in Heaven prepared of the Father Secondly Those places are prepared not for all but only for some Thirdly Those whom those Seats and places are prepared for shall have them it shall be given them Fourthly The Lord Jesus declares it is not his or in him to give those Seats and to dispose of those Places otherwise than the Father hath prepared and ordered of before The first of these teaches us how our glorification is an effect of and depends upon his Decree of Election which is meant by the word prepared as if he had said Decreed Resolved and Ordained before From the second we learn how there is a certain number of those whom these places are prepared for and consequently it cannot be encreased or lessened Out of the third we are taught the certainty of Salvation for if those whom they are prepared for shall have those places then they cannot tall from their Election nor miss Salvation and come short of Heaven The fourth informs us of the unchangeableness of the Decree of Election which admits of no alteration for if our Saviour declareth as he doth how those places are kept only for those whom they are prepared for by the Father and that he may not dispose of any otherwise than the Father hath I know not who can besides him if there be any let him speak Our Blessed Saviour the Mediator of the New Covenant saith he may not reverse nor alter that Decree about some men elected to have place in Heaven This also teaches us how our whole Salvation dependeth upon the Decree of Election as the â—â—â—und and foundation thereof how reverently doth 〈◊〉 of God himself speak of that adorable Decree whâ—â—â— some Men in the world make bold with God do ridicule it and do make of it a Nose of Wax to be turned as it pleaseth the will and fancy of Men to make it effectual or uneffectual to believe or not believe persevere or not persevere To this place answereth that other about the last Judgement Matthew 25.34 c. Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Here is Christ sitting indeed in his Kingdom of Glory to Judge the whole World divided into two parts in execution of the Decree of Predestination some standing on the right-hand and others on the left those Blessed these Cursed here is a call come ye to the Elect blessed of my Father the spring of all Blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord the call is to inherit the Kingdom prepared and foreordained a Kingdom that imports honour and glory joy and power and an happy eternal life to be enjoyed in the sight of God in whose presence is fullness of joy and at whose right-hand are pleasures for ever-more Psal 16.11 All these prepared for you all and none else that are chosen of my Father Yea prepared from the foundation of the world here is the certainty of the Decree here lies his Mercy and Free-grace that he most graciously provided for us before we had a Being O what a distinguishing mercy whilst the Cursed are commanded to depart an eternal separation from God the spring of all Joy and Goodness into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels God hath prepared the Kingdom for the Blessed and Elect and everlasting fire for the Cursed and Reprobates Doth not this to the life represent Election and Reprobation whereof God is the efficient cause from Eternity so before the Blessed or Cursed had done any Good or Evil to move God Thus it doth declare the Sentence and Execution thereof Hereunto and to the same purpose may be added that other Text of Scripture Luke 2.32 Fear not little flock for it is your Father's good pleasure to give the Kingdom The Elect are here called little flock to shew the smallness of the number in comparison of the Reprobates Heaven
may be represented as we see at the latter end of the 4th verse 't is called the border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever So this hatred is extended upon his Posterity But as to the scope of the place we can neither desire nor have a better interpreter than St. Paul Rom. 9. Where we find he doth apply it to spiritual things not only to temporal Mercies and Judgments but also to eternal as 't is the whole scope of the Chap. Wherein from the beginning the Apostle sheweth God's distinguishing mercy in matters of Religion between Jews and Gentiles to the first beloved the Adoption and the Glory and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the Service of God and the Promises which our Saviour reduceth to Salvation when he saith Salvation is of the Jews John 4.22 All which privileges the Gentiles were excluded from as the Apostle saith elsewhere they were without Christ being aliens from the common wealth of Israel and strangers from the Covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world Ephes 2.12 Another great privilege of the Jews by the Apstle mention ed is this of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is God blessed for ever The very naming of Christ the promised Messiah shews St. Paul speaks of higher things than are worldly and temporal He goes farther for he declareth distinguishing mercies between the Jews themselves when he saith They are not all Israel that are of Israel And what also meaneth his opposition of the children of the flesh to the children of God of the promise and of the seed Doth he not make a palpable distinction and visible opposition between Isaac and Ishmael when he saith In Isaac shall thy seed be called which afterwards doth continue in the persons of Jacob and Esau the first 〈◊〉 loved the other he hated before they were born and had done any good or evil the ground of which love or hatred he attributes to Election when he saith That the lave of God according to election might stand not of works but of him that calleth Hence doth it not appear how God not in consideration of any works which could not be before men were born loved and elected Jacob hated and reprobated Esau and that without any injustice in the least or the least ground in the Creature to complain whether Jews or Gentiles for he speaks generally of both when he saith Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardneth and this out of his absolute power over the Creature as the Potter hath over the Clay Can any one without blushing say that by making vessels to honour and vessels to dishonour that by these words God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known to men endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction and by these other words that God might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had before prepared unto glory I say can any man of sense affirm this to be spoken of outward and temporal things and not of Spiritual and Eternal of Election and Reprobation whereunto in the next verse he joyneth vocation of himself and others when he saith Even of us whom he hath called not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles which hath a Connexion with and must be applyed to those vessels of mercy afore prepared unto glory mentioned just the verse before amongst whom he declareth himself The whole rest of the Chapter doth evidence and confirm our assertion wherefore we shall no longer stand upon it to say some few words more to the instance of Jacob and Esau Esau had Temporal Blessings his Father gave him the Fatness of the Earth and the dew of Heaven from above he grew Strong and Mighty so the great difference between him and Jacob consisted not in worldly advantages it was of another nature in Scripture he is branded with the name of prophane who after he had sold his Birth-right yet before his Father called himself his first Born and would as such have inherited the Blessing which though his Father intended for him as we see by his being so cautious to know when Jacob came for it whether or not he was Esau indeed yet thorough Gods providence and Rebeckah's direction he was deprived of and as Scripture saith when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected Gen. 27. Heb. 12.16 17. Part of Isaac's blessing to Jacob was this Blessed be he that blesseth thee and cursed be every one that curseth thee which curse lighted upon Esau who afterwards hated Jacob Gen. 27.41 because of the blessing wherewith his Father had blessed him 'T is natural for one that hateth another to Curse and wish him Evil and Esau so hated his Brother that he would have served him as Cain served his being fully resolved to have killed him which in the sight of God was accounted as if he had done it Obid 10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob. 'T is not in vain but surely for good reason that the spirit of God by the mouth of two of his Prophets Ezech. 35.5 Amos 1.11 takes notice of the hatred of Esau against his Brother Jacob and of his Posterity against Jacob's as if it had been entailed Well upon this hatred of Esau Jacob was forced to leave his Father's House but God to shew the difference he made between the two Brothers appeared unto Jacob in the way and to him renewed the promise made unto Abraham and to Isaac and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed Gen. 28.13.14 Which was a Spiritual and Evangelical promise by virtue of that choice which God from Eternity had made of him preferably and exclusively to Esau So then this love to Jacob and this hatred to Esau before they were born and had done any Good or Evil had a relation to future Spiritual and Eternal Privileges This matter of Predestination may very well be illustrated out of the consideration of the execution here in a visible way of his Eternal Decree So we shall begin immediately after sin with that Divine Oracle (a) Gen. 3.15 I will put enmity between thee the Serpent and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel This first promise of a Messiah includeth not only that conflict and victory of his over the Serpent but also an enmity between their Seeds for though the Woman's Seed and the Serpent's be only mentioned yet the enmity is to be between the Serpent's and the Messiah's Seeds for he though he be the Woman's Seed yet also hath his Seed for saith the Prophet (b) Isai 53.10 When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed The special Seed therein mentioned was the Messiah