to tell the truth But a wrangler may work them both to beare evidence for error God from eternitie did not decree to harden Pharaoh by his irresistible will is true of Pharaoh in his infancie or youth but false of Pharaoh after his wilfull contempt of Gods summons by signes and wonders Beza's collection upon this place is grounded upon the indefinite truth of this affirmative God from eternity decreed to harden Pharaoh But hee extends this indefinite truth beyond its compasse For hee makes it an universall in that hee terminates the irresistible decree to every moment of Pharaohs life without distinction of qualification And it may be hee was of opinion that as well each severall qualification as each different measure of Pharaohs hardening or impenitency did come to passe by Gods irresistible will His error into which the greatest Clerk living especially if hee be not an accurate Philosopher might easily slide was in confounding eternitie with successive duration and not distinguishing succession it selfe from things durable or successive Hee and many others in this argument speakâ— as if they conceived that thâ— necessarie coexistence of eternitie with time did necessarily draw every mans whole courâ—â— of life moâ—u quodam raptus after such a manner as Astronomerâ— suppose that the highest Sphearâ— doth move the lower whereas if wee speake of the course noâ— of Pharaoh's naturall but moâ—rall life it was rather an incoâ—â—dite heape or confused multitude of durables than one eâ—tire uniforme duration Anâ— each durable hath its distincâ— reference to the eternall decreeâ— That which was eternally trâ—â— of one was not of all mâ—â—â— lesse eternally true of anotheâ—â— Eternitie it selfe though immutable though necessarily though indivisibly co-existent â—o all was not so indissolubly â—inked with any but that Phaâ—â—oh might have altered or stayed his course of life before that moment wherein the measure of iniquitie was accomplished â—ut in that moment hee became â—o exorbitant that the irresistible decree of induration did â—â—sten upon him His irregular â—otions have ever since beâ—ome irrevocable not his actiâ—ns onely but his person are â—â—rried headlong by the everlâ—sting revolution of the unâ—â—angeable decree everlasting â—â—avoydable destruction The proposition or conclusion proposed Pharaoh was hardened by Gods irresistible will is true from all etâ—rnitie throughout all eternitie and therefore true from Pharaohs birth unto his death but not therefore true of Pharaoh howsoever qualified or of all Pharaoh's qualifications throughout the whole course of his lifâ— For so the proposition becomes an universall not onely in respect of the time but of the subject that is of all Pharaohs severall qualifications The sense is as if hee had said God from eternitie decreed to harden Pharaoh howsoever qualified as well iâ— his infancie as in his full age by his irresistible will and thus taken it is false The inference is the same with the fore-mentioned Adam in Gods foreknowledge was a sinner from eternitie Ergo Adam was alwayes a sinner a sinner before hee sinned during the time of his innocencie or with this God from all eternitie did decree by his irresistible will that Adam should die the death Ergo Hee did decree by his irresistible will that Adam should die as soone as hee was created or be a sinner all his life long To reconcile these two propositions aright God from eternitie decreed by his irresistible will that Adam should die God from eternitie did not decree by his irresistible will that Adam should die otherwise than wee have reconciled the two former God from eternitie decreed to harden Pharaoh by his irresistible will God from eternitâ—â— did not decree to harden Pharaoh by his irresistible will no Writer I presume will undertake The onely reconciliation possible is this God did decree by his irresistible will that Adam sinning should die God did not decree by his irresistible will that Adam not sinning should die nor did hee decree by his irresistible will that Adam should sin that hee might die For as wee said before God did neither decree his fall nor his perseverance by his irresistible will And his death was no more inevitable than his fall Nor was Pharaohs finall induration more inevitable than the measure of iniquitie to which such induration was from eternitie awarded by Gods irresistible will Of Pharaoh thus considered the conclusion was true from eternitie true in respect of every moment of Pharaohs life wherein the measure of his iniquitie was or might have beene accomplished though it had beene accomplished within three yeares after his birth And this accomplishment presupposed the induration was most inevitable his finall reprobation as irrecoverable as Gods absolute will taking absolute as it is opposed to disjunct is irresistible The same proposition in respect of reprobation is universally true Vniversalitate subjecti that is of every other person so ill qualified as Pharaoh was when God did harden him Whosoever shall at any time become such a man as Pharaoh was then is a reprobate from eternitie by Gods irresistible will And seeing no man is exempted from his jurisdiction hee may harden whom hee will after the same manner that hee hardened Pharaoh although de facto hee doth not so harden all the reprobates that is hee reserves them not alive for examples to others after the ordinary time appointed for their dissolution Nor doth he tender ordinary meanes of repentance to them after the doore of repentance is shut upon them God in his inâ—inite wisdome hath many secret purposes incomprehensible to man as Why of such as are equall offenders one is more rigorously dealt withall than another Why of such as are equally disposed to goodnesse morall one is called before another That thus to dispense of mercy and justice in this life doth argue no partiâ—litie or respect of persons with God is an argument elsewhere to be insisted upon The point whereupon wee are now to pitch is this indefinite Men are not reprobated or hardened by Gods irresistible will before they come to such a pitch or hight of iniquity No man living shall ever bee able to make this inference good Pharaoh was absolutely reprobated from eternitie that is His reprobation was immutable from eternitie Ergo Pharaoh in his youth or infancie was a reprobate To infer the consequence proposed no Medium more probable than this can possibly be brought Pharaoh from his infancy to his full age was alwayes one and the selfe same man Et de eâ—dem impossibile est idem affirmari negari The consequence notwithstanding is no better than this following The Eclipse of the Moone was necessarie from the beginning Ergo The Moone was necessarily eclipsed in the first quarter or in the prime Because the Moone being of an incorruptible substance hath continued one and the same since the creation But unto this consequence every Artist could make replie that thâ— proper and immediate subject of the Eclipse is not the Nature or Substance of
the same immutable and indivisible will hee ordained that other events should be mutable or continguent viz. that of more particulars proposed this may be as well as that the affirmative as well as the negative And of particulars so willed no one can bee said to bee willed by his irresistible will If the existence of any one so willed should be necessarie his will might bee resisted seeing his will is they should not bee necessarie â—ach particular of this kinde by the like denomination of the thing willed hee may be said to will by his resistible will The whole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or list of severall possibilities or the indifference betwixt the particulars he wils by his irresistible will The Psalmists oracle is universally true of all persons in every age of Adam specially before his fall Non Deus volens iniquitatem tues God doth not he cannot will iniquitie And yet wee see the world is full of it The Apostles speech againe is as universally true This is the will of God even your sanctification that every one of you should know to possesse his vessell in honour 1 Thess. 4.3 God willeth and he seriously willeth sanctitie of life in our selves uprightnesse and integritie of conversation amongst men and yet behold a Vacuum in this little world in the sonnes of Adam whom hee created after his owne image and similitude So then hee neither wils mens goodnesse nor wils their iniquitie by his irresistible will Hee truly willed Adams integritie but not by his irresistible will For so Adam could not have fallen What shall wee say then God did will Adams fall by his irresistible will God forbid For so Adam could not but have sinned Where is the meane or middle station on which we may build our faith The immediate object of Gods irresistible will in this case was Adams free will that is Potestas labendi potestas standi Powre to stand and powre to fall By the same will hee decreed Death as the inevitable consequent of his fall and life as the necessary unpreventable reward of his perseverance Thus much briefly of Gods will in what sense it is resistible or irresistible The nature and property of an hardened heart cannot iâ— fewer words better bee expressed than by the Poets character of an unruly stubborne youth Cereus in vitium flecti monitoribus asper It is a constitution or temper of minde as pliant as wax to receive the impressions of the flesh or stamp of the old man but as untoward as flint or other ragged stone to admit the image of the new man The first generall part how God doth harden THe difficultie is in what sense God can bee truly said to be the Authour of such a temper The proposition is of undoubted truth whether we consider it as an indefinite God doth harden or as a singular God hardened Pharaoh or in the universality here mentioned God hardemeth whom he will after the same manner he hardened Phaâ—raoh Concerning the manner how God doth harden the questions are two 1. Whether hee harden positively or privatively onely 2. Whether he harden by his irresistible will or by his resistible will onely To give one and the same answer to either demand without distinction of time or persons were to entangle our selves as most Writers in this argument have done in the fallacie Aâ—â— plures interrogationes Touching the first question some good Writers maintaine the universall negative God never hardens positively but privatively onely onely by substracting or not granting grace or other meanes of repentance or by leaving nature to the bent of its inbred corruption Vide Loâ—inum in vers 51. cap. 7. Act. Apost pag. 322. colum 1a. Others of as good note and greater desert in Reformed Churches better refute the defective extreme than they expresse the meane betweene it and the contrary extreme in excesse with the maintenance whereof they are deeply charged not by Papists onely but by their brethren How often have Calvin and Beza beene accused by Lutherans as if they taught That God did directly harden mens hearts by â—nfusion of bad qualities or That the production of a reprobate or impenitent temper were such an immediate or formall terme of his positive action as heat is of calefaction or drought of heat But if we take Privative and Positive induration in this sense and set them so farre asunder the division is altogether imperfect the former member comes as farre short of the truth as the latter overreacheth it God sometimes hardens some men neither the one way nor the other that is as wee say in schooles datur medium abnegationis betweene them And perhaps it may be as questionable whether God at any time hardens any man merè privativè as it is whether there can be Peccatum purae omissionis any sinne of meere omission without all mixture of commission But with this question here or elsewhere wee aâ—e not disposed to meddle being rather willing to grant what is confessed by all or most That hee sometimes hardens privativè if not by meere substraction of grace or utter deniall of other meanes of repentance yet so especiallâ— by these meanes as maâ— suffice to verifie the truth of the proposition usually received or to give the denomination of Privative Hardening But many times hee hardens Positivè â—ot by infusion of bad qualities but by disposing or inclining the Heart to goodnesse that is by communication of his favours and exhibition of motives more than ordinarie to repentance not that hee exhibites the same with purpose to harden but rather to mollifie and organize mens hearts to the receiving of Grace The naturall effect or purposed issue of the Riches of Gods bountie is to draw men to repentance But the very attempt or sway of meanes offered provokes hearts fastned to their sinnes to greater stubbornnesse in the rebound Hearts thus affected treasure up wrath againsâ— the day of wrath in a pâ—oportioned measure to the riches oâ— bountie ofâ—ered but not entertained by them And such a cause as God is of their treasuring up of wrath hee is likewise of their hardening no direct no necessary cause of either yet a cause of both more than privative a positive cause by consequence or resultance not necessary or necessary onely ex hypothesi Meanes of repentance sincerely offered by God but wilfully rejected by man concur as positively to induration of heart as the heating of water doth to the quick freezing of it when it is taken off the fire and seâ— in the cold aire If a Physician should minister some physicall drink unto his patient and heape clothes upon him with purpose to prevent some disease by a kindly sweat and the patient throughly heated wilfully throw them off both may be said positive causes of the cold which would necessary ensue from both actions albeit the patient only were the true moral cause or the only blame-worthy cause of his owne death or
danger following Just according to the importance of this supposition or similitude is the cause of hardening in many cases to be divided betwixt God and man The Israelites did harden their owne hearts in the wildernesse and yet their hearts had not beene so hardened unlesse the Lord had done so many wonders in their sight In every wonder his purpose was to get beleefe but through their wilfull unbeleefe the best effect of his greatest wonders was induration and impenitencie Now as it suits not with the rule of good manners for Physicians to tie a mans hands of discretion or place lest hee use them to his owne harme so neither was it consonant to the rules of eternall equitie that God should necessitate the Israelites wils to a true beleefe of his wonders or mollisie their hearts against their wils that is Hee neither hardens nor mollifies their hearts by his irresistible will nor did he at all will their hardning but rather their mollification All this is true of Gods ordinarie manner of hardning men or of the first degrees of hardning any man But Pharaohs case is extraordinarie Beza rightly inferres against Origen and his followers that this hardening whereof the Apostle here speaketh was irresistible that the party thus hardened was uncaple of repentance that God did shew signes and wonders in AEgypt not with purpose to reclaime but harden Pharaoh and to drive him headlong into the snare prepared for him from everlasting All these inferences are plaine first that interrogation Who hath resisted his will is equivalent to the universall negative No man no creature can at any time resist his will That is according to the interpretation premised Whatsoever particular Gods will is to have necessary or so to be as the contrary or contradictorie to it shall not be the existence of it cannot be prevented or avoyded Now that God did in this peremptory manner will Pharaohs hardening is evident from the Emphasis of that message delivered unto him by Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Even for this very purpose and for no other end in the world possible have I raised thee up that I might shew in thee my power and his power was to be shewed in his hardening For from the tenor of this message the Apostle inferres the latter part of this conclusion in my text Whom hee will hee hardneth yea so hardneth that it is impossible they should escape it or his judgements due unto it In all these collections Beza doth not erre Yet was Beza with reverence bee it spoken more to blame than this filthy Writer for so it pleaseth him to entitle Origen in that he referres these threatnings For this very purpose bare I raised thee up that I may shew my power in thee not only unto Pharaohs exaltation unto the Crowne of Egypt as I thinke Origen did we need not we may not grant but to his extraction out of the wombe yea to his first creation out of the dust as if the Almighty had moulded him by his irresistible will in the eternall Idea of reprobation before man or Angell had actuall being as if the only end of his being had beene to bee a reprobate or vessell of wrath Beza's collections to this purpose unlesse they be better limited than hee hath left them make God not only a direct and positive cause but the immediate and onely cause of all Pharaohs tyrannie a more direct and more necessarie cause of his butchering the Israelites infants than he was of Adams good actions during the space of his innocencie For of these or of his short continuance in the state of integritie he was no necessarie nor immutable cause that is hee did not decree that Adams integrity should be immutable But whether Gods hardning Pharaoh by his irresistible will can any way inferre that Pharaoh was an absolute reprobate or borne to thâ— end he might bee hardned weâ— are hereafter to dispute in thâ—â— third point All wee have to saâ— in this place is this If as mucâ— as Beza earnestly contends foâ— were once granted the objection following to which our Apostle vouchsafes a double answer had beene altogether as unanswerable as impertinently moved in this place Let us then examine the pertinencie of the objection and unfold the validitie of the answers The second generall point concerning the pertinencie of the objection WHy doth hee yet finde fault 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Why doth hee yet chide with whom doth he find fault or whom doth hee chide All that are reprobates doth hee only chide them is this all that they are to feare the very worst that can befall them were this speech to bee as farre extended as it is by most Interpreters no question but our Apostle would have intended the forcs and acrimonie of it a great deale more than he doth thus farre at least Why doth he punishâ— why doth he plague the reprobateâ— in this life and deliver them up tâ— everlasting torments in the life â—â— come seeing they doe but thâ—â— which hee by his irresistible wiâ—â— hath appointed Or suppose thâ— Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might bâ— some unusual synecdoche whicâ— passeth our reading observation or understanding include as much or more than we now expresse all the plagues of the life to come yet it is questioned what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath here to doe It must be examined whence it came and whither it tends It naturally designes some definite point or section of time and imports particulars before begun and still continued it can have no place in the immutable sphere of eternitie no reference to the exercise of Godâ— everlasting wrath against the reprobates in generall The quaere's which here naturally ofâ—er themselves though for ought that I know not discussed by any Interpreters have occasioned mee in this place to make use of a Rule more usefull than usuall for explicating the difficult places of the New Testament The Rule is this To search out the passages of the old Testament with their historicall circumstances unto which the speeches of our Saviour and his Apostles have speciall reference 〈◊〉 allusion Now this Interrogation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was conceived from our Apostles meditations upon those expostulations with Pharaoh Exod. 9. 16. And indeed for this cause have I raised thee up for to shew in theâ— my power and that my name may be declared throughout all thâ— Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aâ—â— yet exaltest thou thy selfe against my people or oppressest thou my people that thou wilt not let them goe Chap. 10. vers 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee yet chides and threatens him againe How long wilt thou refuse to humble thy selfe before mee Let my people goe that they may serve mee Else if thou refuse to let my people goe behold to morrowâ— I will bring the locusts into thy coasts That which makes most for this interpretation is the historicall circumstance of the time and manner of Gods
the toâ—ments of that lake are more grievous than all the plagues which Pharaoh suffered on earthâ— so the degrees of his hardning had he beene then cast into it had been in number more his strugling with God more violent and stubborne his possibility of repentance altogether as little as it was after the seventh plague if not lesse But should GOD therefore have beene thought unjust because he continued to punish him in hell after possibility of repentance was past No Pharaoh had beene the onely cause of his owne woe by bringing this necessitie upon himselfe of opposing God and repining at his judgements All is one then in respect of Gods justice whether Pharaoh having made up the measure of his iniquitie bee irrevocably hardned here on earth or in hell To reserve him alive in the state of mortalitie after the sâ—ntence of death is past upon him is no rigour but lenitie and long-suffering although Gods plagues be still multiplied in Egypt for his sake although the end of his life become more dreadfull than by the ordinarie course of Gods justice it should have beene if hee had dyed in the seventh plague Another reason why God without impeachment to his justice doth still augment Pharaohs punishment as if it were now as possible for him to repent as once it was is intimated by our Apostle to be this That by this lenitie towards Pharaoh Hee might shew his wrath and declare his power against all such sinners as he was that the world might heare and feare and learne by his overthrow not to strive against their Maker nor to dally with his fearefull warnings Had Pharaoh and his people died of the pestilence or other disease when the cattell perished of the murraine the terror of Gods powerfull wrath had not beene so manifest and visible to the world as it was in overthrowing the whole strength of AEgypt which had taken armes and set themselves in battell against him Now the more strange the infatuation the more fearefull and ignominious the destruction of these vessels of wrath did appeare unto the world the more bright did the riches of Gods glory shine to the Israelites whom hee was now preparing for vessels of mercy the hearts of whose posteritie hee did not so effectually fit or season for the infusion of his sanctifying grace by any secondarie meanes whatsoever aâ— by the perpetuall memory oâ— his glorious victory over Pharaoh and his mighty host But this faithlesse generation whoâ—e reformation our Apostle so anxiously seekes did take all these glorious tokens of Godâ— extraordinarie free love anâ— mercy towards their Fathersâ— for irrevocable earnests or obligements to effect their absolute predestination unto honour and glory and to preparâ— the Gentiles to be vessels of infoâ—â—mie and destruction Now oâ— Apostles earnest desire and uâ—quenchable zeale to prevent thâ— dangerous presumption in hâ—â— countrie-men enforceth him in stead of applying this second answer to the point in question to advertise them for conclusion that the AEgyptians case was now to become theirs and that the Gentiles should be made vessels of mercy in their stead All which the event hath proved most true For have not the sons of Iacob beene hardened as strangely as Pharaoh Have they not beene reserved as spectacles of terror to most nations after they had deserved to have beene utterly cut off from the earth yea to have gone quick into hell Nor have the riches of Gods mercy towards us Gentiles beene more manifested by any other apparent or visible document than by scattering of these Jewes through those Countries wherein the seed of the Gospell hath beene sowne The third generall point proposed concerning the Logicall determination of this propositio whom hee will hee hardneth or concerning the immediate or proper object of the induration here spoken of PHaraoh we grant was hardened by Gods absolute irresistible will Could Beza can Piscator or any other Expositor living enforce any more out of the literall meaning of those texts whether granting thus much wee must grant withall what their followers to my apprehension demand that Pharaoh was an absolute Reprobate from the wombe or that hee was by Gods irresistible will ordained to this hardening which by Gods irresistible will did take possession of his heart is the question to be disputed They unlesse I mistake their meaning affirme I must even to death deny I desire then that in this case I may enjoy the ancient pivilege of Priests to be tried by my Peeres which God wot need not be great ones I will except against no man of what profession place or condition soever either for being my Judge or of my Jury so his braines be qualified with the speculative rules of syllogizing and his heart â—easoned with the doctrine of the ninth Commandement which is Not to heare false witnesse against his Neighbour against his knowledge To avoid the Sophisticall chinkes of scattered propositions wherein Truth often lyes hid in rhetoricall or popular discourse wee will joyne issue in this syllogisme Whatsoever God from eternity decrees by his irresistible will is absolutely necessarie and inevitable or impossible to be avoided God from eternitie decreed to harden Pharaoh by his irresistible will Ergò The hardning of Pharaoh was absolutely necessarie and imposâ—ible to be avoided And if his hardning were inevitable or impossible to bee avoided it will bee taken as granted that he was a reprobate from the wombe Damnatus â—ntequà m natus the absolute â—hilde of eternall death before he was made partaker of morâ—all life The Major proposition is a Maxime not questioned by any Christian Jew or Mahometane And out of it wee may draw another Major as unquestionable but more immediate in respect of the conclusion proposed Whomsoever God decrees to harden by his irresistible will his hardning is absolutely inevitable altogether impossible to be avoided The Minor Pharaoh was hardned by Gods irresistible will is granted by us and as wee are perswaded avouched in termes equivalent by our Apostle The difference is about the conclusion or connexioâ— of the termes which without better limitation than is expressed in the proposition or corollarie annexed is loose and Sophisticall Would some braine which God hath blest wiâ—h naturall perspicacitie arâ— and opportâ—nitie vouchsafe to take but a little paines in moulding such fitâ— cases for this Praedicates as Aristotle hath done for the Subjects of Propositions though those wee often use not or use amisse those seeming Syllogismes whose secret flawes clear sighted judgements can hardly discerne by light of arts would crack so fouly in framing that â—â—â—are eyes would espie their ruptures without spectacles It shall suffice mee at this time to shew how grosly the Syllogisme proposed failes in the fundamentall rule of all affirmative Syllogismes The Rule is Quae cunque conveniunt cum aliquo tertio inter se conveniunt All other rules concerning the quantitie of propositions or their disposition in certaine Mood and Figure serve onely to
Or thus Whomsoever God from eternity reproves or decrees to harden by his irresistible will that mans reprobation or induration is inevitable But God from eternity reproved Pharaoh and decreed to harden him by his irresistible will Ergo Pharaohs reprobation or induration was inevitable The Major supposeth an Identitie not of person onely but of qualitie yea of degrees of qualitie For as the immediate object of divine approbation is justice consonancie or conformitie to the immutable rule of goodnesse so the immediate object of reprobation or induration is not the abstract entitie or nature of man but the nature miâ—-qualified that is unjust or dissonant from the rule of goodnesse And according to the degrees of injustice or dissonancie are the degrees of divine diâ—â—ike of divine reprobation or induration The minor proposition includes not onely an identitie of Pharaohs person but such a measure of in justice or dissonancie as makes him liable to the eternall decree of reprobation or induration by Gods irresistible will But it supposeth not this identitie of such bad qualities or this full measure of iniquitie to have beene alwayes in him Without alteration of his person or nature he was subject to great variety of qualiâ—ication and each qualification capable of divers degrees and different disproportion with the eternall and unchangeable rule of goodnesse And therefore the minor proposition albeit eternally true yet is eternally true onely with reference to those points of time wherein Pharaoh was so qualified No universalitie can infer any more particulars than are contained under it and all those it necessarily infers And universalitie of time cannot inferre an universalitie of the subject nor an universalitie of the subject inferre an universalitie of time This collection is false God from eternitie foresaw that all men would be â—inners Ergo Hee foresaw from eternitie that Adam in his integritie should bee a sinner The inference in the former Syllâ—gisme is as bad God decreed to harden Pharaoh from eternitie Ergo Hee decreed to harden him in every moment of his life Or Ergo He was a reprobate from his cradle This conclusion rightly scanned includes an universalitie of the subject that is all the severall objects of divine justice which are contained in Pharaohs life not one particular onely Whereas Pharaoh in the minor proposition is but one particular or individuall object of induration or of the divine decree concerning it And thus at length we are arrived at that point whence wee may descrie the occasions by which so many Writers of good note have missed the right streame or current of our Apostles discourse and gravelled themselves and their Auditors upon by-shelves All this hath beene for want of considerationâ— That albeit Pharaoh from his birth unto his death were but one and the same individuall man yet was hee not all this while one and the same individuall object of Gods decree concerning mercie and induration The difference betwixt these wee may illustrate by many parallell resemblances Suppose that Scepter whose pedegree Homer so accurately describes had in that long succession lost any of his length this had broken no square nor bred any quarrell whether it had beene the same Scepter or not Yet if the first and last owners should have sold or bought scarlet by this one and the same Scepter they should have found a great alteration in the measure So then it is one thing to bee one and the self-same standard and another thing to bee one and the self-same staffe or scepter The least alteration in length or quantitie that can be doth alter the identitie of any measure but not the identitie of the materiall substance of that which is the measure The same graines of barly which grow this yeare may bee kept till seven yeares hence But hee that should lend gold according to their weight this yeare and receive it according to their weight at the seven yeares end should finde great difference in the summes though the grains bee for number and substance the same yet their weight are divers Or suppose it to bee true which is related of the Great Magore that hee weighs himselfe every yeare in gold and distributes the summe thereof to the poore and that he had continued this custome from the seventh yeare of his age yet cannot there bee halfe the difference betwixt the weight of one and the same Prince in his child-hood and in his full age after many heartie prayers to make him fat as is betweene the different measures of Pharaohs induration within the compasse of one yeare Therefore this argument Pharaoh was hardned after the seventh plague by Gods irresistible will Ergo Hoe was an irrecoverable reprobate from his childhood is to a man of understanding more grosse than if wee should argue thus The Great Magore distributed to the poore five thousand pounds in gold in this fortieth yeare Ergo Hee distributed so much every yeare since hee began this custome of weighing himselfe in gold For as he distributes unto the poore not according to the identitie of his person but according to the identitie or diversitie of his weight so doth the immutable rule of justice render unto every man not according to the unitie of his person but according to the diversity of his worke Unto the severall measures of one and the same mans iniquities severall measures of induration whether positive or privative are allotted from eternity But small induration by Gods irresistible will or irrecoverable reprobation is the just recomâ—ence of the full measure of iniquity or as the Prophet speakes To harden thus is to seale up iniquitie to destruction without hope or possibility of pardon These two propositions are of like eternall truth God from eternitie decreed by his irresistible will to harden Pharaoh having made up the full measure of his iniquitie and God from eternitie did not decree by his irresistible will that Pharaoh should make up such a measure of iniquitie For hee doth not decree iniquity at all much lesse full measures of iniquity And yet unlesse he so decree not iniquity only but the full measure of it Pharaohs induration or reprobation was not absolutely necessary in respect of Gods eternall decree For it was no more necessary than was the full measure of iniquity unto which it was due And that as hath beene said was not necessary because not decreed by Gods irresistible will without which necessity it selfe hath no title of being From these deductions I may clear a debt for which lingaged my selfe in my last publike meditations My promise was then to make it evident that these two propositions God from eternity decreed to harden Pharaoh by his irresistible will God from eternitie did not decree to harden Pharaoh by his irresistible will might easily be made good friends if their Abbettors would cease to urge them beyond their naturall dispositions From their natures they are indefinites not singulars Both in a good sense may bee made
the Moone howsoever considered but in certaine opposition to the Sunne So that albeit this proposition The Moone shall be eclipsed be true necessarily and from everlasting yet it is necessarie yet it is true onely of the Moone in such Diameâ—râ—ll opposition to the Sunne that the Earth may cover it with her shadow as with a mantle Whensoever it is in such opposition it is necessarily Eclipsed Whensoever it is not in such opposition to the Sunne it cannot possibly by course of nature be Eclipsed It is in like manner true which wee have often said that the proper and immediate object of the eternall decree concerning induration or reprobation was not Pharaohs individuall Entitie or essence but Pharaoh charged with a certaine measure of iniquitie or separation from his God Granting then that Pharaohs substance was one and the same as incorruptible as the Moone yet the degrees of his declination from the unchangeable rule of justice or of his opposition to the fountaine of mercy and goodnesse might be more than are the degrees of the Moones abâ—rration or elongation from the Sunne Now the All-seeing providence did more accurately calculate each word each worke each thought of Pharaoh and their opposition to his goodnesse than Astronomers can doe the motions of the Moone or Planets And will he not make his payment according to his calculation So that in one and the selfe same Pharaoh there might be more severall objects of the eternall decree than are minutes or scruples in forty yeares motion of the Moone Not the least varietie or alteration in his course of life but had a proportionate consequent of reward or punishment allotted to it from all eternitie by the irresistible decree Unto Pharaoh then having made up the full measure of his iniquitie the irresistible induration and unrecoverable reprobation was by the virtue of this eternall decree altogether necessarie and inevitable But unto Pharaoh before this measure of iniquity was made up neither induration nor irrecoverable reprobation was so necessarie or inevitable To thinke the unchangeable rule of justice should award the same measure of induration or reprobation unto farre different measures of iniquitie is deeper than the dregges of Heathenisme it is a doctrine which may not be vented where any Christian eare is present The former resemblance is fully parallell to our resolution in all other points save onely in this that the eternall decree did not so necessary direct or impell Pharaoh to make up the full measure of his iniquitie as it doth direct and guide the course of the Moone till it come in full and Diametrall opposition to the Sunne Therefore this Similitude will not follow The Moone though not at this time Eclipsed yet holds that course by the unchangeable decree which in time will bring it to be in Diamâ—trall opposition to the Sunne and by consequence to be Eclipsed So though Pharaoh in his infancie was not reprobated or hardened by Gods irresistible will yet was hee by the eternall decree ordained to such reprobation or induration without possibilitie of altering his course or avoiding that opposition which his full age had unto divine goodnesse As every true convert or regenerate person may say with Saint Augustine Ego non sum ego I am become another man so might it be truly said in a contrarie sense Pharaoh sometimes was not Pharaoh When he was a childe he spake as a childe hee thought as a childe His mouth was not opened against God his minde was not set on murther To have seene the Israeliâ—sh infants strangled and exposed to the mercilesse flouds would more have affected his heart being young and tender than afterwards it did his daughters Nor was that crueltie which in his full age hee practised so contained in his infancie as poison in the serpents egge It did not grow up by kinde or necessitie of his naturall temper much lesse was it infused by Gods irresistible will but acquired by custome The seeds of it were sowne by his owne selfe will ambitious pride was the root politick jelousie was the bud tyrannie and oppression the fruit Neither was it necessary by the eternall decree that this corrupt seed should be sowne or being sowne that it should prosper and bud or that after the budding it should ripen in malignity During all this progresse from bad to worse the immediate object of Gods immutable and unresistible will was mutabilitie in Pharaoh But this progresse which was not necessarie by any eternall decree or law being de facto once accomplished his destruction was inevitable his induration unresistible his reprobation irrecoverable by the eternall and uncontroulable decree That Pharaoh in his youth or infancie was not such an object of Gods irresistible will for induration as in his full age hee became may be thus demonstraâ—ed No man whose salvation as yet iâ— truly possible is utterly excluded by Gods irresistible will from salvation But the salvation of Pharaoh in his youth or infancie was truly possible Ergò Pharaoh in his youth or infancie was not excluded by Gods irresistible will from salvation Therefore He was not then the object of Gods irresistible will for induration The Major is evident from the exposition of the termes For God is said to will that only by his irresistible will which hath no possibility of the contrary The necessity of it likewise may bee made evident by the rules of conversionâ— No manâ— salvation that stands excluded by Gods irresistible will from salvation is truly possible Ergò No man whiles his salvation is possible is utterly excluded by Gods irresistible will from salvation or which is all one No man whiles his salvation is possible is either hardned or reprobated by Gods irresistible will or in Latine more perspicuously thus Nullus per â—resistibilem Dei voluntatem salute exclusus est servabilis Ergo Nullus servabilis id est quamdiu servari potest est à salâ—te exclusus per irresistibilem Dei voluntatem No argument can be of such force or perspiâ—â—tie as is this primary rule of argumentation Negativa universalis simpliciter convertitur The Miâ—â—r Pharaohs salvation in his youth or infancie was truly possible is as evident from another Maxime in Divinitie Quicquid non implicat contradictionem est possibile sive objectum Divinae potentiae Now what contradiction could it imply to save this childe supposing Pharaoh more than it did to save another for example Moses Unlesse wee will say that Pharaoh was made of another mould or a creature of another Creator than Moses or other children are To save Pharaoh as a sonne of Adam could imply no contradiction otherwise no flesh could possibly be saved If to save Pharaoh after he had committed many actuall sinnes and follies of youth did imply any contradiction what man of yeares in this age especially can hope for pardon It will be replied that albeit to save Pharaoh in his youth or infancie did imply no contradiction in the object
of the affections and consciences of such as be Novices in faith untill they be taught to runne this division upon the same string Hast thou beene enlightned and tasted of the heavenly gift beene made partaker of the Holy Spirit Thy sinne is great and thou art sound a despiser of the riches of his bountie unlesse thou embrace these illuminations notwithstanding thy inbred corruptions daily increase upon thee as undoubted pledges of his favour and assured testimonies of his good purpose to make thee heire of eternall life Worthy thou art to bee numbred among those perverse and wayward Jewes whom our Saviour compares to children playing in the market if while those good motions and exultations of spirit last thou givest not more attentive care than hee that danceth doth to him that pipeth or harpeth unto that sweet voyce of our heavenly Father encouraging thee in particular as hee did sometimes the host of Israel Oh that there were such an heart in thee alwayes that it might goe well with thee for ever But eschew these or the like inferences as cunning Sophismes of the great Tempter that old and subtile Serpent I thanke God I have felt the good motions of the spirit I perceive the pledges of his good purpose toward mee but his purpose is unchangeable Therefore is my election sure enough I am a sealed vessell of mercy I cannot become a vessell of wrath If such thoughts have at any time insinuated into thy heart or be darted upon thee against thy will remember thy selfe in time and thus repell them If God harden whom hee will if this will be immutably and eternally free it is as free for him to harden mee as any other And consider withall that albeit thou canst not make or prepare thy selfe to be a vessell of mercy yet thy untimely presumption of it continue long in the end will make thee as in the beginning it doth prepare thee to be a vessell of wrath This was the disease whereof the whole Nation of the Iewes did perish Doest thou see thy brother one baptized in the name of Christ goe on stubbornly in his wicked courses thou doest well to threaten him with the sentence of Death Yet limit thy speeches by the Prophets rule Ierem. 18. pronounce him not for all this an absolute reprobate or irrecoverable vessell of wrath give him not forthwith for dead but rather use double diligence to prevent his death and tell him If God shew mercy upon whom he will shew mercy if this his will be eternally free it is as free for him yet to shew mercy upon supposed Cast-awayes and to harden uncharitable and presumptuous Pharisees for the present manifestation of his glory as it was for him to reject the Iewes and chuse the Gentiles Perhaps the ingenuous and hitherto indifferent reader will here begin to distrust thâ—se last admonitions and for their sakes most of our former resolutions as prejudiciall to the doctrine concerning the certainty of salvation But if it please him either to looke back â—nto some passages of the former discourse or to goe along with mee a little further I shall acquaint him though not with a surer foundation yet with a stronger frame or structure of his hopes than hee shall ever attaine unto by following their rules who I verily thinke were fully assured of their owne salvation but from other grounds than they have discovered to us Surer foundation can no man lay than that whereon both parties doe build to wit the absolute immutability of Gods decree or purpose Now admitting our apprehension of his will or purpose to call elect or save us were infallible yet hee that from these foundations would reare up the edifice of his faith after this hasty manner Gods purpose to call elect and save mee is immutable Ergo my present calling is effectuall my election already â—ure and my salvation most immutaâ—le becomes as vaine in his imaginations as if hee expected that wals of loome and rafters of reed covered with ferne should be able to keepe out Gun-shot because seated upon an impregnable Rock For first who can be longer ignorant of this truth than it â—â—â—ll please him to consider it That Gods purpose and will is most immutable in respect of every object possible that mutabilitie it selfe all the changes and chances of this mortall life and the immutable state of immortality in the life to come are alike immutably decreed by the eternall counsell of his immutable will Now if mortalitie or mutabilitie have precedence of immortality in respect of the same persons by the immutable tenor of his irresistible decree can it seemâ— any paradox to say That ordinarily there should be in every one of us as true a possibility of living after the flesh as of living after the spirit before wee become so actually and compleatly spirituall as utterly to mortifie all lusts and coâ—cupiscences of the flesh Untill then our mortification be compleat and full wee may not presume all possibilitie of living after the flesh to be finally expired and utterly extinct in our soules And whether this possibilitie can be in this life altogether so little or truly none as shall be in the life to come after our mortall hopes are ratified by the sentence of the almighty Judge I cannot affirme if any man peremptorily will deny it nor will I contend by way of peremptorie deniall if it shall please any man upon probable reasons to affirme But if to such as finally perish no true or reall possibilitie of repentance during the whole course of this mortall life be allotted by the everlasting irresistible decree in what true sense can God be said to allow them a time of repentance How doth our Apostle say that the bountifulnesse of God doth lead or draw them to repentance if the doore of repentance be perpetually mured up against them by his irresistible will If in such as are saved there never were from their birth or baptisme any true or reall possibility of running the wayes of death not what sinnes soever they commit the feare of Hell or the declaration of Gods just judgements if at any time they truly feared them is but a vaine imagination or groundlesse fancie without any true cause or reall occasion presented to them by the immutable decree Or if by his providence they be at any time brought to feare hell or the sentence of everlasting death â—et hath God used these but as bug-beares in resâ—ect of them though truly terrible to others And Bug-beares when children grow once so wise as to discerne them from true terrors doe serve their parents to very small purpose For mine owne part albeit I feare not the state of absolute reprobation yet so conscious am I to mine owne infirmities that I would not for all the hopes or any joy or any pleasure which this life can afford abandon all use of the feare of hell or torments of the life to come Upon this reall possibilitie of