and this appeareth by what is written Iohn 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his onely begotten Sonne that whosoever beleeved in him should not perish but have everlasting life God so loved the World that is all mankind that hee gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever of them beleeved in him should not perish but live eternally 1 Obj. By World is meant the World of the Elect I Answer that the Elect in their owne sense shall all believe but this word whosoever intimateth that many of this world here meant may not beleeve for if by World here you will understand the Elect onely then this will bee the sense of the words God so loved the world of the Elect that whosoever of this world of the Elect beleeves in him should not perish c. 2 Obj. By World is meant the whole lumpe of mankind but those that are not elect can never beleeve for God will never give them faith and therefore though God doth thus proclaime his love to all yet seeing it is impossible that any other then the elect should beleeve this Text doth not hinder but that the death of Christ may still bee limited to the elect Answ Then the love of God to the greatest part of the world may bee thus expressed such and so great is the love of God towards you that when you doe that which is impossible for you ever to performe viz. believe then you shall obtaine that from him which he cannot in justice bestow upon you viz. remission of sins and eternall life And that I may illustrate the absurdity of this Objection consider what is written in Rom. 3 25 26. whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousnesse for the remission of sinnes that are past through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his righteousnesse that he might be just and the justifier of those that believe in Jesus in which words we may perceive that God doth proceed in the Gospel in such a way as hee may declare his righteousnesse in justifying of sinners and moreover that that God could not bee just and the justifier of the ungodly but through the death of his Sonne for without blood there is no remission Heb. 9.22 Now if God hath so loved the world that he hath given his Sonne that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternall life then the Son must die for all otherwise if those hee did not dye for should believe an hundred times yet must they die in their sinnes yea they are as farre from Salvation as ever they were and so this opinion doth contradict the word of God denying that God hath so loved men or so given Christ that all men may have life through saith for God is able no more nor no further to extend the glad tydings of life peace and remission of sinnes then the death of Christ which is the ground of the Gospell doth extend For he may as well pardon and remit the sins of all Men without relation to the blood and Sacrifice of his Son as he way preach and proffer remission of sins or eternall life to all or any man for whom Christ did not shed his blood but as God will not do that which is unjust so neither will he profer to doe it for in him justice and mercy are inseperable that is he is mercifull justice and just mercy therefore his mercy in proclaiming salvation to all must be just in the execution which could not be if offered not intended to all the justice of his mercie must extend as farre as the mercy of his justice so that he which maketh him mercifull to offer unto all and not as just to give where as he offereth destroies both justice and mercie which is a flat deniall of God Therefore I say that as the Serpent was lifted up in the Wildernes so must the Sonne of man be lifted up in the Ministery of the Gospel as a universall ground and object of faith for all men Ioh. 3.14 Another Text for this purpose is 1 Cor. 15.3 where the Apostle speaking to the Corinthians saith For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ dyed for our sins according to the Scriptures In which words consider first what it was that he delivered to these Corinthians and that is that Christ dyed for their sins And secondly when he delivered this unto them and that was first of all Now if Christ had not died for all Paul could not have concluded that Christ had dyed for them for they were at that time Gentiles carried away with dumb Idolls 1 Cor. 12.2 Fornicators Adulterers Theeves Drunkards and the like 1 Cor. 6.9.10.11 And Paul spake not from any speciall Revelation of God concerning these men in particular but he spake according to the Scriptures which foretold the death of Iesus Christ Now if it be objected that Paul doth not say for your sins but for our sins joining himself with the rest who were believers at that time or with the Elect I answer First that this could be no glad tydings to the Corinthians that Christ dyed for Paul and others if they were not included if Paul were not able to prove by the Scriptures that Christ dyed for them whilest they were sinners then they could not receive it nor stand in it nor be saved by it as the former verses expresse for faith comes by hearing hearing by the Word of God for wee cannot believe that of which wee have not heard Againe 2 Cor. 5.4 It is said that if one dyed for all then were all dead Paul with the rest that sent that Epistle having in the former Verses spoken of being besides themselves towards God and sober for the Corinthians cause tells them that the love of Christ did constrain them and why so because they did judge that they were dead and how do they prove that they were dead they tell them that all were dead and therefore they were dead and that all were dead appeares in that Christ dyed for all and this I conceive to be the meaning of these words If one dyed for all then were all dead 1 Tim. 2.1 Wee are exhorted to make Prayers and supplication for all men the reason is declared in vers 4. God would have all to be saved that his desire is that all should be saved he hath fully manifested in giving Christ a ransome for all Vers 6. Now it is not the will of God that any should be saved for whom Christ did not die and our Praiers must be made according to the will of God therefore if Christ dyed not for all we cannot pray in faith for any much lesse for all If we have a ground in the Scriptures to pray for the Salvation of all men then if we do pray in faith for all or any man they or
any because the thing is not nor can be by which salvation should be to wit Innocency recalled and all fallen equally from it as all were equally in the loynes of the transgressor Therefore the lost state of innocency in respect of Adam can render us neither excusable nor inexcusable in respect of Christ for the objects are different Adam hath his doom on himself and his posterity to wit mortallity the which the comming of Christ did not prevent but it must passe over all and then comes in Christs Redemption an endlesse immortallity which hath its own extrems Salvation by obedience condemnation by disobedience as the other had continuance of that state if he forbore the forbidden fruit Death in the day that he did eat thereof So that the clemencie of his mercie and the severity of his justice was and is ever versant in the obedience or disobedience of one and the same thing therfore every one whose restored immortality is eternally condemned in Hell that condemnation is of himselfe and not of Adam Concerning the torments of the damned in Hell many conceive that the paine of losse which they shall indure will be greater then the pain of sence but if those that perish had not such sufficiency of means afforded them as that they might have come to life and happines then there can be no pain of losse to any of them for that which a man never had nor never was in possibility to obtaine he can in no sense be said to lose the consideration of all that glory the Saints injoy affords them no ground to check or blame themselves for seeing they themselves by all the means which was afforded could not attaine unto it they cannot blame themselves for not being possessed of it yea instead of trouble of conscience and anguish of soul in this respect they may have some comfort and ease from this consideration that their miserie was unavoidable and the others glory not attainable by them But it may be objected that they lost what God gave them in Adam and this may be horror of conscience to them Answ No man shall ever perish in Hell for Adams sin as is already manifested but if they should yet still the case would be alike for they were lost before they were born and they have no more reason to blame themselves for what Adam did before they were borne then an Heire hath reason to blame himself because his father spent his inheritance before he was borne Now I shall speake somewhat of those Scriptures which are usually urged against the universallity of Gods love some of them speaking of Gods hardening of men so that they could not believe others of his withholding that meanes from them without which they could not attaine unto faith and so unto eternall life And first I shall begin with those Scriptures which speak of Gods hardning of men amongst them with the 9. chapter of the Romans from the 11 vers to the 23. from whence the great and main Objections are gathered the words are these For this is the word of promise at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a Sonne and not onely this but when Rebecka also had conceived by one even by our Father Isaac for the children being not yet borne neither having done any good or evill that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works but of him that calleth it was said unto her the elder shall serve the younger as it is written Iacob have I loved but Esau have I hated what shall we say then is there unrighteousnesse with God Godforbid for he saith to Moses I will have mercie on whom I will have mercie and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion so then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercie for the Scripture saith unto Pharoah even for this 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 therefore hath he mercie on whom he will have mercie and whom he will he hardeneth Thou wilt say then unto me why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will Nay but O man who art thou that replyest against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one Vessell unto honour and another unto dishonour What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known indured with much long suffering the Vessells of wrath ficted to destruction and that he might make knowne the riches of his glory on the Vessells of mercie whom he hath afore prepared unto glory Now if we say that God would the salvation of all they tell us that God did hate the most part before they had done evill as he did Elau If we say that God useth means to soften all mens hearts to bring them to repentance they say that as he shewes mercie to some in this kind so he hardens others and that meerly of his will he hath mercie on whom he will and whom hee will he hardeneth If we say that it is unsuteable to God who is love 1 Ioh. 4.8 to the gospel which brings salvation to all Tit. 2.11 which is glad tydings of great joy to all people Luk. 2.10 to all the la mentations Protestations and professions of God in the gospel they tell us we must not dispute with God and though we cannot make it out we ought to believe it They say Paul himself was at a stand in this thing and could give no other answer but that God might doe with us as the Potter with the clay make some of us for Heaven and others for Hell and that we ought not to say unto him what doest thou so that men from a misunderstanding of this Chapter doe strengthen themselves against the most plainest and evidentest arguments that are or can be drawn from what the Scriptures speak of the nature of God or of the gospel answering all in the words of Paul Nay but O man who art thou that disputest with God Yet we know that it was usuall with the Saints in former times to draw conclusions and arguments from the Attributes of God so Abraham shall not the Judge of all the Earth dee right Gen. 18.25 But if God be bound to no law how can he be unjust or if Abraham could not have comprehended what had bin just and what unjust for God to doe he would not in the presence of God have so determined as he did The Author to the Hebrewes having spoken of the promise and Oath of God to blesse the Heires of promise adds these words That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have strong consolation who are fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
the wickednesse of the Edomites and Gods anger against them especially from the 9. verse to the end of the chapter And thy mighty men O Teman shall bee dismayed to the end that every one of the Mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter for thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee and thou shalt bee cut off for ever In the day that thou stoodest on the other side in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces and forreiners entred into his gates and cast lots upon Jerusalem even thou wast as one of them But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that hee became a stranger neither shouldst thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distresse thou shouldest not have entred into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity neither shouldst thou have stood in the crosse way to cut off those of his that did escape neither shouldst thou have delivered up those of his that did remaine in the day of distresse for the day of the Lord is neare upon all the heathen as thou hast done it shall be done unto thee thy reward shall returne upon thine owne head c. The evill and unkind carriage of the Edomites towards their brethren the Israelites is more fully declared in the 20 chapter of Numbers the 14 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20 and 21 verses And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the King of Edom saying Thus saith thy brother Israel thou knowest all the travell that hath befallen us how our fathers went downe into Egypt and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time and the Egyptians vexed us and our Fathers and when wee cryed unto the Lord he heard our voice and sent an Angel and hath brought us forth out of Egypt and behold we are in Kadesh a City in the uttermost of thy border let us passe I pray thee thorow thy countrey wee will not passe thorow the fields or thorow the vineyards neither will wee drinke of the water of the wells we will go by the Kings high way wee will not turne to the right hand or to the left untill we have passed thy borders And Edom said unto him Thou shalt not passe by me lest I come out against thee with the sword And the children of Israel said unto him Wee will goe by the high way and if I and my cattell drinke of thy water then I will pay for it I will only without doing any thing else goe thorow on my feet And he said Thou shalt not goe thorow And Edom came out against him with much people and with a strong hand and Edom refused to give Israel passage thorow his border wherefore Israel turned away from him Here we see how hardly the Edomites dealt with their brethren in the day of their distresse for which cause the Lord was displeased with them and so Paul would have the Jewes to understand that God would be displeased with them and punish them and destroy them notwithstanding Abraham was their Father and notwithstanding any promise he had made to them if they were rebellious and disobedient Ob. If Paul had thought that the hatred of God towards Esau or the Edomites had beene for his or their wickednesse hee would have so expressed himselfe and not have left the matter so obscure Ans The Jewes pleaded for their justification that they were the children of Abraham Paul proves that some of the children of Abraham were hated of God and to have told them wherefore had been superfluous and not pertinent to the argument in hand But if that purpose and election which Paul laboured to establish amongst the Jewes had been this That God did elect and chuse out some of them to life and hate or leave as some interpret the word hate the residue to destruction without respect to any good or evill in them and that that counsell of his did alway take effect he would not have had such great heavinesse and continuall sorrow of heart for them as vers 2. for then he should have sorrowed because the purpose and counsell of God took effect he could not then so love them as cordially to desire their salvation chap. 10.1 if he had known that God in his eternall and unalterable counsell had so hated them as to leave them for destruction Besides God reasons with Iacobs posterity Mal. 1. that he loved them that is all of them and yet many yea the most of them perished notwithstanding this love as in chap. 9. 27. therefore it was no such love as would save them unlesse they were thankfull and obedient and seeing it would not infallibly save all those that were so loved it was not such a love of election as some men conceive Further consider God is not willing that any of the lost sonnes of Adam should perish he desires not the death of him that dieth he doth not delight in tormenting his creatures he is excellent in judgement and in plenty of justice he will not afflict Iob 37.23 He doth not willingly afflict nor grieve the children of men Lam. 3.33 but if God should hate men with an eternall and unchangeable hatred before they had done evill where then were his unwillingnesse to afflict his slownesse to wrath his goodnesse to all and the like Then hee proceeds in the 14. verse to make an objection What shall we say then or what doe we say then that there is unrighteousnesse with God God forbid saith Paul for wee in thus expounding and interpreting the Scriptures say no more then God himselfe saith to Moses Exod. 33.19 I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion The Israelites had made them a molten Calfe and worshipped it and sacrificed thereunto and said These be thy gods O Israel that brought thee out of the land of Egypt chap. 32.4.8 wherefore the Lord was angry with them and willed Moses to let him alone that hee might consume them and he promised to make of Moses a great Nation but Moses still entreats for the Israelites and in the 32 verse he is so earnest for them that he desires God to blot him out of the book which he had written if so that he would forgive their sinnes but the answere of God is Whosoever hath sinned against me him will I blot out of my booke chap. 33.13 Moses desires that God would consider that this Nation was his people in the 19 verse God tells Moses that he would proclaime his name before him which name was I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious so that this is Gods name his power to shew mercy to such as seeke him in his owne way and to punish the stiff-necked and rebellious even of the Iewes as well as others But if the meaning of Paul