shall finally perish not simply as men nor yet simply as sinners either for Adam's sin or other sins that they have formerly committed before that great sin of final Vnbelief and Impenitency but it doth regard and consider them as having a day of Visitation and a Call to Repent and a tender of Grace Love and Mercy from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and as having resisted and rejected the same and hardning their hearts against it and that finally until the Day of their Visitation be over whereby they declare themselves unworthy of eternal Life and that they are none of Christ's Sheep but Goats to be put at the left Hand and if any say If these Men were not Elected before the Foundation of the World it will follow that they were Reprobated before it I answer it doth not follow for Elected and Reprobated are not contradictory terms being both positive and Election signifieth a Preference of some before others but that doth not argue a total Reprobation of others when God did elect some But at the End of the World and in the Conclusion it is granted that all who are not elected are but Reprobates to wit when all God's elect Seed every where are gathered out selected and separated from others as so many Grains of pure Gold from all the Dross Tin and Lead that they have been mingled with for a time here in this World that then nothing will remain but that which is Reprobate and which the Scripture calleth reprobate Silver the pure being wholly separated and selected from the impure the Gold and Silver from the Dross the Wheat from the Tares the Sheep from the Goats and the good Fish from the bad and the Children of the Kingdom from the Children of the wicked One he who hath Ears to hear let him hear and the wise in heart let them understand for unto them it is given but unto others as Christ said in Parables that seeing they may not see and hearing that they may not hear nor understand And also it is readily granted that there is a special and peculiar and singularly gracious Care and Providence of God towards all that shall be saved from the beginning of the world to the end and the number of them is most infallibly known unto God and every one of that number shall certainly be saved and none of them shall finally perish but in the proper season and time shall be graciously visited called converted justified sanctified and last of all glorified and this without any Violence done to their rational Faculties or Free-will for God doth well know how to gain and prevail upon the Understanding and Will and Inclinations of his People by such gentle and yet prevalent and overcoming Perswasions and Allurements and Motions of his holy Spirit of Grace of Light and Life as shall infallibly gather them unto himself And it is also granted that as God hath provided that Grace whereby some shall certainly be saved so by the same all are put under a capacity or possibility of Salvation And therefore that any are not saved in this World is not because of any want or defect in the sufficiency or efficacy in the Grace in its own Nature but because of them whom God in his infinite Justice and Counsel permits finally to resist it even as in the Parable of the Sower the Seed was one and the same in all the four Grounds but the Grounds differed one from another and that one Ground was good was of God but that others were bad was of themselves and the word Election doth properly enough signifie selection seperating and setting a part or refining as when Gold or Silver is separated in the Furnace from the Dross And this separation hath had its various degrees and progress from first to last as when Gold or Silver is purified or purged in the sire seven times and then in the seventh time it hath no mixture but is all pure or as when Liquor is poured from Vessel to Vessel several times or as Wheat is winnowed again and again until all the Chaff be separated And in this sense we find the word Election used in Scripture divers times Isa 14.1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet chuse Israel And Isa 49.7 And he shall chuse thee And Zach. 1.17 And the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet chuse Jerusalem And Zach. 2.12 He shall chuse Jerusalem again And Isa 48.10 I have chosen thee in the Furnace of Affliction And in this sense of the Word as it signifieth a selecting or separating the pure from the impure Election doth go before Reprobation and is not Co-evous with it But whether that Election in Christ before the Foundation of the world doth in some sort signifie a selection or setting apart in Christ the Head who was before the Foundation of the world and is said to be the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World as some mystick Writers affirm it is not my present business to determine neither is it necessary at this present occasion 6. But the place of Scripture which they mainly abuse and wrest to prove this reprobate Doctrin of theirs of an absolute Reprobation of the greatest part of mankind even before they are born and that not only Babes and Sucklings on the Mothers Breasts but in the Womb are absolute Reprobates and cast-aways and that some yea many Infants die in a state of Reprobation and perish eternally only for Adams sin imputed unto them as they say without any knowledge or eonsent of theirs and corrupt Nature derived into them and that all such Reprobates never had or ever shall have any opportunity of saving Grace whereby it was possible to them at any time to be saved The place of Scripture I say they mainly abuse and wrest to favour this evil and pernicious Doctrin is that in Rom. 9.11 12 13. But for the opening and vindicating of this place of Scripture let it be considered that here is only a preference mentioned of Jacob before Esau how that the Elder shall serve the Younger but this saith nothing of Esau his being absolutely reprobated The great design of the Apostle Paul being to shew that God had chosen the Line of Jacob before the Line of Esau and given unto that Line and Posterity of Jacob a Preference and Dignity over the Line and Posterity of Esau and that the reason of this Preference was not any Works that they had done but for some other cause hid in the secret counsel of God and this Preference did appear first in chusing the Line and Posterity of Jacob to be his Church in that peculiar Dispensation of the Mosaical Law and giving them many Prophets and other excellent Men to be raised up among them and honouring them with many great and signal Appearances Signs and Wonders whereas the Posterity of Esau was not so highly favoured and yet they had a divine Dispensation among
will have none of the Graces of Christ without himself and if the Graces did come unto him without Christ he would send them away the Gate or way they came And as for the other Scriptures they cite they prove indeed that the Lord Jesus Christ is but one and there is none else nor is any man or men or Angels equal to him which we most cordially believe but they say not in the least nor by any just consequence can it be gathered that the Saints do not partake substantially of God And to shew the great inequality betwixt Christ and the Saints not only in the measure and degree but in the manner or kind of partaking of the holy Spirit which is one Substance with God Christ the Son hath God and the holy Spirit without any middle or mediator betwâ—â—t the Father and him but the Saints only have and enjoy the Father and the holy Spirit through Christ the Mediator and together with him and in him And this I hope will satisfie all sober and impartial Men to clear the Doctrin of the Quakers that it is according to Scripture 4. Next as concerning the Decrees of God these Faith-publishers say That God hath unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass yet so as neither is God the Author of Sin nor is Violence offered to the will of the Creatures Whereby it plainly appeareth they hold that God hath ordained and decreed all manner of Sins and Blasphemies Adulteries Thefts Robberies Homicides Regicides c. which is abominable and blasphemous Doctrin with a witness They need not blame the Ranters seeing they are so fully one with them in Doctrin for that is one of the worst Doctrins that the Ranters have That God doth all and hath unchangeably ordained and decreed all things both good and bad for certainly whatever God hath ordained and decreed to come to pass he is the doer of it for he executeth that is bringeth to pass all his own Decrees as they confess in their large Catechism Ans to Quest 14. and that they say yet so as God is not the Author of Sin they say it indeed and so many of the worst sort of Ranters but how they clear their Doctrin of so unavoidable consequence they have not told the World nor ever can they sufficiently clear it And for the Scriptures they bring as especially Ephes 1.11 That God worketh all things after the counsel of his own Will here is nothing mentioned of the sins of Men and Devils It is plain both from Reason and Scripture that by all things must needs be understood all his own Works and not the Sins of Men and Devils which he is not the Author of as when we say every wise Man doth all things by Wisdom and wise Counsel none is so foolish as to put this gloss upon it that he doth all foolish things It is an approved Maxim and Rule Verba sunt intelligenda secundum subjectam materiam i. e. Words are to be understood according to the subject matter It is worthily granted and acknowledged that God worketh all good things all Virtue and Goodness is of him all good Thoughts Words and Works c. But all Sin is of the Devil and evil Men as John said Whosoever committeth Sin is of the Devil and the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life is all of the Devil and not of the Father And as Christ said The Devil when he speaketh a Lye he speaketh of his own It is also granted that when any commit Sin the power whereby they act is of God but when they Sin they abuse that Power and also whatever Sin cometh to pass is not without God's permission and that is not a bare permission but a most holy and wise ordering and bounding of it to his own Glory And as to Acts 2.23 a main place that Ranters and Presbyterian and Independent Teachers abuse and wrest as they do other Scriptures to their own Destruction if they repent not it giveth them no strength at all For it saith Him to wit Christ being delivered by the determinate Counsel and Fore-knowledg of God ye have taken c. So we see that he was delivered or exposed unto them by the determinate Counsel of God but that they did kill him by the determinate Counsel of God the Scripture saith not For to deliver is one thing and to slay is another Our worthy Friends that were put to Death at Boston in New-England they delivered up their Lives freely into the Hands of these Murtherers and so did many of the Martyrs not accepting deliverance and yet they did not kill themselves as these bloody Persecutors use to alledge And that it s said God hardneth whom he will His hardning is not the making their Hearts hard with infusing any evil Spirit into them but that he justly with-draws his good Spirit from them for great Sins formerly committed and so leaveth them to harden their own Hearts As it is said That Pharoah hardned his Heart And thus do many sober and judicious Protestants understand the Words 5. Again as concerning Election and Reprobation first as to the Election and Predestination of the Saints unto eternal Glory and Happiness whatever the Scripture saith of it or of any other Doctrin we do readily believe and acknowledge it as That God hath chosen the Saints in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the World that they should be holy and unblamable before him in Love Ephes 1.4 and Rom. 8.29 For whom he did fore-know he also did predestinate to be conform to the Image of his Son c. and whom he did predestinate them he called and whom he called them he justified And what Christ said to the Disciples Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and appointed you to bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain Joh. 15.16 and 1 John 4.10 Herein is Love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins and vers 19. We love him because he first loved us A most sweet and comfortable Testimony as all the other But we no where find in all the Scripture that God hath Reprobated any part of Mankind before the foundation of the World nor is it said that Men hate God because he first hated them and because God hated them he made them on purpose to damn or destroy them and decreed and ordained them to sin that he might take occasion thereby to damn them No such thing at all is found in the holy Scriptures nor can be gathered from them by any just consequence for although it be allowed that Gods purpose and holy Will concerning them that finally perish is from before the foundation of the World for there is no new Will or Purpose in God the Thoughts and Counsels of his heart being from everlasting as himself is yet that Will of God regardeth and considereth them that
Rev. 2.2 Thou hast tryed them which say they are Apostles and are not and hast found them Liars Rev. 3.9 Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not but do lie behold I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee Rev. 18.4 5 6. And I heard another Voice from Heaven saying Come out of her my People that ye be not Partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her Plagues for her sins have reached unto Heaven and God hath remembred her Iniquities Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her Works in the Cup which she hath filled fill to her double THE Presbyterian and Independent VISIBLE CHURCHES IN New-England And else-where Brought to the Test and examined according to the Doctrin of the holy Scriptures in their Doctrin Ministry Worship Constitution Government Sacraments and Sabbath Day More particulary directed to those in New-England and more generally to those in Old-England Scotland Ireland c. WITH A Call and Warning from the Lord to the People of Boston and New-England to Repent c. And two Letters to the Preachers in Boston and an Answer to the gross Abuses Lies and Slanders of Increase Mather and Nath. Morton c. By GEORGE KEITH LONDON Printed for Thomas Northcott in George-Yard in Lombard-street 1691. A Friendly EPISTLE To these PEOPLE called Presbyterians and Independents FRIENDS IN true Love and good Will I have writ the following Treatise unto you hoping it may find entertainment with some among you to give it the Reading and seriously to consider what you read and my earnest Exhortation and Advice is unto you that in all your reading whether in this or any other Book ye turn your minds to that Light of Christ within you wherewith he hath enlightned you and all Men as the holy Scriptures declare and that ye may believe in Christ the Light and Life in you who is the Wisdom and Power of God and who was in all the holy Prophets and Apostles and whose Spirit that was in them that gave forth the holy Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament and the same Spirit only doth and only can give to all Readers of the holy Scripture a true and right understanding of them and of all other Books that treat of Doctrins and Matters of Religion whether they have proceeded from a measure of the same holy Spirit And if ye believe in Christ the Light the Life the Wisdom and Power of God in you and joyn your Minds to his inward divine Illumination He will anoynt the Eyes of your Understanding with his Spiritual Eye-Salve and then your Eyes shall be opened to see and understand what ye read and through your faith in him he will also open and circumcise your inward Ears and cause you still more and more to be acquainted with his living Voice and Words in you all which are Spirit and Life and this will give you a spiritual savour and taste whereby ye shall be able to try and judge of things that differ whether Men or Books whether Spirits or Doctrins what are of God and what are not of him for although the Scriptures are the best outward Test or Touchstone or Rule whereby to try all Doctrins of Men or Books yet it is the holy Spirit of Christ and his Light inwardly shining and enlightning the dark Hearts and Vnderstandings of Men that gives them ability rightly to understand the Scriptures otherwise the Scriptures are as a sealed Book both to the learned and unlearned For though the Jews had the Scriptures of the Old Testament which prophecied of Christ and of the Time and Manner of his Coming and how he was to suffer Death for the sins of Men and to rise again and ascend into Glory yet none of them had that Understanding but such only as were turned to his divine Illumination in their Hearts and were acquainted with his holy Spirit Light and Life in them And the like grave and wholsom advice I recommend unto you which a certain Ancient Christian gave unto Justin Martyr before his Conversion to the Christian Faith to wit That he should diligently read and search the holy Scriptures which should give him more Content than all Heathen Authors but withal that he should mind the Gate the LIGHT by which only he could enter into the true Understanding and Knowledge of them The which Passage the said Justin relateth in his Works and John Fox hath it also in his Martyrology taken out of him And though in this Treatise I have affirmed and sufficiently demonstrated that your Visible Churches are no true Churches of Christ yet I do not say nor conclude that none of you belong to Christs true Church in any true regard But on the contrary I have that true Charity Faith and Hope concerning a Remnant among you who have in the least measure true Hungerings and Thirstings after Righteousness and a great inward longing and panting of Heart and Soul after the Lord Jesus Christ to know him and enjoy him more nearly than by all hear-say or report of him and whose Souls are sick of Love for him and feel your need and want of him as the sick that need the Physician that ye do indeed even all such of you belong to Christ and are the real Members of his Body which is his Church for where any living Desire is after Christ and where any true sense or feeling of the want and great need of him is raised in any Soul there is somewhat of the Life of Christ in that Soul and there is Christ himself present who hath begot it and that Soul is in some Measure a living Member of Christ and to such it will be glad Tidings to hear that Christ is so near unto it as really to be within it even really and livingly present and where the least true measure of Sincerity Tenderness Meekness Gentleness Humility Uprightness of Heart and Soul hath place in any there is Christ present in that Soul who hath already begun his good Work in the same and the beginning of his Work is to quicken and make alive the Soul unto him And every Soul that is thus quickned and made alive unto him as it doth hold fast this Beginning and doth continue still hungering and thirsting after Him to know and enjoy and receive of his Fulness more plentifully doth really belong to him and is in a state of Salvation e'en so far and as it here abideth it is impossible that it can perish But yet tho such belong to Christ and to his Church it doth not follow that the visible Church which they are outwardly and by some outward Form or Practice joyned unto is the true Church of Christ for they themselves distinguish of the Church Visible and Invisible and do affirm That Hypocrites are Members of their Visible Church
to hear others tell of him as one well said It is little to see Christ in a Book but to see him and hear him and feel his most lovely Embraces as his Children have witnessed that is very precious It is not the report or discourse of Bread however so true and large that can satisfie an hungry man or the report of good Drink that can satisfie a thirsty Man but to taste and eat of Bread that only satisfieth him that is hungry and to taste and drink of Water Beer Wine or any other refreshing Liquor only satisfieth the thirsty Man And so to eat of Christ and feed upon him who is the Soul 's proper food and nourishment doth and only can satisfie and content the hungry Soul as Christ said John 6.57 He that eateth me shall live by me And Christ is not only the Soul's Meat but its Drink also and therefore David said As the Hart panteth after the Water-Brook so panteth my Soul after thee O God my Soul thirsteth for God for the living God Psal 42.1 2. And surely this so near and inward enjoyment of God and Christ cannot be without an inward and intimate or immediate Revelation of him And if words fall short to give to men a sufficient and satisfactory knowledg of natural and outward things how much more then to give a sufficient and satisfactory knowledg of God and Chirst and Divine things as his Love his Life his Peace and that inward Comfort and Consolation that is in his presence For the Scripture saith 1 Cor. 2.9 10. Ear hath not heard nor Eye hath not seen nor hath the Heart of man conceived the good things that God hath prepared for them that love him and wait for him Where we see all words fall short to discover these things But God hath revealed them to us said Paul by his Spirit And this God did promise as a general priviledg to all his People of all Nations even to bring them to his holy Mountain and to destroy the face of the Covering spread over them and make unto them a Feast of fat things full of Marrow and of Wines upon the Lees well refined And what is this but the enjoyment of himself seen and tasted by them And do not all true Believers eat the same spiritual Bread and drink the same spiritual Drink the Rock that followed Israel of old which Rock was Christ And surely this is beyond all Words or Declaration and according to this the joy of God's People is called a Joy unspeakable even such as words cannot express and the Peace of God is said to pass Vnderstanding and the love of Christ that it passeth Knowledg because no Words either spoken or conceived by men can give the knowledg of these so great and divine and profound Mysteries but only the Spirit of God that searcheth the deep things of God can discover them Again we find by common experience that all outward teaching of men presuppose certain Principles of knowledg of natural things which they profess to teach which Principles are partly known without men's teaching by the outward sense of them and partly by inward Notions of Knowledg innate in the minds of men and therefore it were altogether in vain for a Master of Architecture or Navigation to teach a man these Arts who is altogether blind and senseless and stupid and hath not any inward clearness of his natural judgment and even so it is as to spiritural and divine things all outward teaching of them doth pre-suppose some Principles of Knowledg of these very things and some inward divine and spiritual Sense of them or at least some inward ground and capacity whereby that divine Sense may be excited in them And therefore when Paul Preached to the Athenians that professed themselves ignorant of God he Preached him Acts 17.16 27 28. near unto them yea so near as the Stock or Root of a Tree is unto the Bud or off-spring that groweth upon it and this he proved from some of their own Poets who said of men that they are God's off-spring and he told them plainly the way to seek him and find him was by feeling him so that he joyneth these three together to wit seeking feeling and finding for as a man in a dark Room or having his Eyes shut being perswaded that the thing he desireth to have is at hand or near to him doth grope and feel after it and by feeling doth within a little time find it even thus did Paul teach these ignorant Athenians how they might find God and how all men however so ignorant have a time or opportunity given them to find him God having determined the times before-appointed and bounds of Habitation wherein they may find him And so from this inward Ground or Principle of Knowledg in these Athenians which they had before Paul Preached unto them as a wise Master-Builder or Teacher he proceedeth to Preach Christ and the Resurrection and eternal Judgment unto them as a good Master or Teacher of natural Science beginneth with the first Principles of Knowledg not to teach them but presupposing them and only calling the minds of the Scholars to remember or take notice of them and then from these Principles he proceedeth to teach them the mysteries of the Science 5. But whereas many who deny all new Revelations of the Spirit yet grant the necessity of the inward Illumination of the Spirit of God To give the saving Knowledg and Vnderstanding of God and divine things as these who gave forth the Westminster Confession of Faith being an Assembly made up of Presbyterian and Independent Teachers met at VVestminster about forty Years ago see Cap. 1. Sect. â— Surely if these men had been rightly acquainted with the inward Illumination of the Spirit of God they would never have writ or given forth such Non-sense and Contradiction in the face of the World as to grant the necessity of inward Illumination and at the same time yea in the same Section or Paragraph and within a Line or two to deny all new Revelation for indeed inward Illumination is Revelation and inward Revelation is Illumination the thing is one though the Names be distinct as oft the same thing is expressed by variety of Names and the places of Scripture they bring to prove the necessity of the inward illumination of the Spirit do prove the inward Revelation of the Spirit both which are one as John 6.45 and 1 Cor. 2.9 10 11 12. It is written in the Prophets They shall all be taught of God every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me And that other place in 1 Corinth 2.9 10 11 12. As it is written Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God For
the ordinary way of Generation and that the menstruous Humour was held in Scripture to be such a filthy and unclean thing which is called The Fountain of her Blood Levit. 20.18 hath the same signification also the Circumcision of Children on the eighth day And it s said in Job 25.4 How can Man be justified with God or how can he be clean that is born of a Woman To wit in the ordinary way of Generation And here the natural state of Man is declared before his spiritual Regeneration in Christ Jesus And though that was said by Bildad one of Job's Friends yet it is confirmed by Job himself Chap. 14.4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one But this Seed or Principle of Sin and Corruption is not charged or imputed unto Men until they joyn and consent unto it and actually obey it as is clear from Rom. 5.13 For until the Law Sin was in the World but Sin is not imputed when there is no Law Now when is it that there is no Law but in the time of Infancy wherein Children are not capable of any Law or of doing Good or Evil any more than when in the Womb For until Children begin to have the use and exercise of their reasonable understanding so as to know the Right hand from the Left according to Jonah 4.11 they cannot be understood to be under the Law But to say that any Infants are eternally damned for that first Sin and without any actual Sin or Transgression of theirs committed in their own Body is expresly contrary to Scripture that saith The Soul that sinneth shall die and every one shall receive according to the Deeds done in the Body good or evil and he that soweth to the Flesh shall reap Corruption as he that soweth to the Spirit shall reap Incorruption and Life eternal And therefore none shall finally perish or be lost for that first Sin according to Scripture but for their actual Disobedience here in this World and their final Unbelief and Impenitency For as concerning the Judgment and Punishment of the first Sin it was immediately inflicted after the Fall to wit the Death of all in Adam But Christ the second Adam by his death for all that died in Adam doth give unto all his free Gift that cometh upon all unto Justification of Life and thus the Plaister is as broad as the Sore and the Medicine as universal as the Disease and it is not simply the Sin or Disease but the refusing and rejecting the Medicine and Physician that is the cause of any Mans final destruction And how or in what manner Adam's Children and Posterity were concerned in that first Sin whether only by Imputation as some say or by real Participation as others say the Wise in heart may easily judge Let it suffice at present to say that Adam's Children being his Branches and he their Root they do really partake with him both in the defilement and also in the promised Seed in order to their Restoration for when God said to Adam In the Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die his Children and Posterity were included So when God said I will put enmity between thee to wit the Serpent and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Their Children and Posterity are equally included for Adam after his Fall being restored and made an holy Root as is generally acknowledged as Paul declareth If the Root be Holy so are the Branches and if the first Fruit be holy the Lump is also holy And as God promised unto Noah and to his Sons Gen. 9.8 And behold I establish my Covenant with you and with your Seed after you His Branches are holy with him to wit not actually but by having a Seed or Principle of Holiness put in them derived from Christ the second Adam who is that promised Seed whereby they are made capable of becoming Holy by improving the same and this is that federal Holyness which all the Children of Adam and Noah have that is all mankind which is more encreased or diminished but not totally abolished in any as the immediate Parents are found more or less actually holy for the more that any sin that noble Seed and Principle of Holiness both in them and in their Children is the more clouded and vailed every Sin that a Man committeth until it be purged and done away being a vail over that noble Seed And God renewed the promise to Abraham to make him the Father of all Nations and Families of the Earth and that in him they all should be blessed and in his Seed not that this should be fulfilled by his being their Father according to the Flesh or in the way of carnal Generation but through Christ who is the Seed of Abraham by whom the Blessing and Grace of God was to come upon all Rom. 4.16 17. and in this respect Abraham is called the Father of us all as it is written I have made thee a Father of many Nations before him whom he believed God quickening the Dead and calling the things which were not as though they were to wit the Dead in Adam are all in due time quickned by Christ the promised Seed of Abraham that they may all become the Children of Abraham through Faith in Christ Jesus for by virtue of Christ's Death and the Promise made to Adam Noah and Abraham these three general Fathers all Adam's Posterity are holy in a Scripture sense not actually but in capacity to become actually Holy through the holy Seed given unto them and put into them as they come to close and joyn with it in true Faith and Obedience And this doth well answer to Peter's Vision whereby all manner of four footed Beasts of the Earth and wild Beasts and creeping things and Fowls of the Air which God had cleansed all Nations of Adam are understood Acts 10.12 13 14 15. CHAP. VI. More particularly and largely concerning the way of Restoration by Jesus Christ his dying for all and giving unto all sufficiency of Grace and means of Salvation whereby they may be saved ACcording to the Testimony of the holy Scriptures Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all Men but especially of them that believe 1 Tim. 4.10 and he is called the Saviour of the World John 4.42 and the Saviour of the Body Ephes 5.23 and that he hath dyed for all Men is the express Testimony of the holy Scriptures in divers places 2 Cor. 5.14 15. For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them 1 Tim. 2.4 5 6. God will have all Men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth for there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man
Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time Heb. 2.9 That he by the Grace of God should taste death for every Man 1 John 2.2 He is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole World But it is commonly alledged by the Adversaries of Truth that by All in these places is understood not all particulars but some of all sorts or all the elect To this I answer the word All must needs be as full and universal with respect to Christs death and the benefit of it as it is with respect to Adam's fall because the Scripture maketh a plain parallel betwixt all that die in Adam and all that Christ died for as in that fore-cited place 2 Cor. 5.14 If one dyed for all then all were dead Now if All only signifie Some in the first part of the verse the sense must run thus If one dyed for some or a few then all were dead This quite maketh void the Apostles inference for if Christ only dyed for some then only some were dead and not all Again in Rom. 5.18 the parallel is very plain As by the offence of one Judgment is come upon all unto Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift is come upon all unto Justification of Life not that all are actually justified but the free gift is come upon them that they may be justified and so it is that the two sides or parts of Parallels are of equal extent Beside that the word All in Scripture doth most commonly signifie all particulars and therefore to restrict it in respect of Gods Grace and Mercy through Christ savours of a narrow Spirit and this narrowness of Spirit in Presbyterians and Independents is a great evil in them and maketh them so peevish uncharitable and cruel 2. And whereas they object against Christ his dying for all Men because he said he did not pray for the World and therefore he did not die for the World John 17.9 I pray for them I pray not for the World It may be very well granted that he dyed not for the World which he doth not pray for But what World is that It is not any part of Mankind as they are considered when first born into the World and having had a time to live in the World and a day of visitation wherein they might have repented and have been converted unto God but as having finally rejected the great Mercy and Grace of Christ after many tenders and offers of it until that the Lord hath wholly left striving with him by his Spirit in their hearts and then they become Reprobates and that World whereof Christ spoke when he said he prayed not for the World And therefore it ought to be well noted and considered that when it is said Christ dyed for the sins of the World it is only with respect to sins past or any other sins that Men may commit before the precise time and period of Gods leaving them and ceasing any more to strive with them when they are become perfected so to speak in sin and evil and are as the ripe Tares fit for burning having nothing remaining in them of any tenderness simplicity or sincerity or true Love to God or Man no grain of Goodness or Virtue nay not the least Seed but are wholly become as Dross after all the precious Mettal to the least grain is extracted or separated from it for such I say Christ hath neither dyed nor prayed And thus it may be with many and is with many before they die and concerning these John declared saying There is a sin unto Death I do not say that he shall pray for it 1 Joh. 5.16 and this is that sin of final Unbelief and obstinate Impenitency wherein men may be permitted to live some considerable time before they die And this is no Contradiction nor Inconsistency but serveth greatly to clear the understanding of this weighty matter how Christ hath dyed for all Men within a day or time of Grace and yet hath dyed for none of these Men after they have wilfully neglected that day of Grace and resisted the Spirit of Grace until he did altogether leave and forsake them And also it is to be considered that though Christ hath dyed for all Men within a day or time of Grace and Mercy beyond which time they have not the benefit of his death and there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sin unto them yet he hath not died with the same equal intention and degree of Love Kindness and Good-will for them who finally perish as for them who are saved nor are the gracious Providences of God and his dealings both inwardly and outwardly after the same way and manner towards all And therefore all who shall be saved at the end of the World have very great and unspeakable cause to praise God for his more abundant Mercy Grace and Love towards them in Christ Jesus and that he and not they did make them to differ from others yet none that perish can have any just cause to complain against God for when that that is sufficient is given to them they have no cause to complain But all who are saved God is pleased at one time or another that suiteth with his infinite Wisdom and good pleasure so to draw perswade move and incline them to come unto him and when come so to preserve them with him and in him or if at any time he suffer them to depart infallibly to reclaim them before the end that they shall certainly be saved and this the Lord can well do so as to put a difference betwixt Cattel and Cattel or Men and Men without their observation and so as neither to give unto the one any occasion of Presumption nor unto the other of Despair and without giving any greater measure of inward Grace although he may and oft doth give a greater measure to one than to another for he is free to give of his own as he pleaseth but only by suitable Providences and Dispensations and means of his own chusing the one may be taken and the other left the one gained and saved and the other not the inward Grace being the same both in kind and degree in some that are saved and in some that are not as the Parable of the Pounds and Marks plainly declare every Servant had his Pound or Mark which is an equal sum and some improved it and some not And of this more abundant Love of God towards Paul he himself taketh special notice with great Thanksgiving unto God 1 Tim. 1.14 16. And the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all Long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to Life everlasting And the like notice he taketh of the
great Love of God towards the believing Ephesians and Thessalonians for his chusing them and so for all other Believers of all other Churches and People that God had chosen them from the beginning and for this he said he laboured and endured all things even for the sake of the Elect that they might be saved 2 Tim. 2.10 And as it is the great work and end of all faithful Ministers to gather Gods elect every where scattered so of the Angels Mat. 24.31 and so also of Christ Jesus according to John 6.39 cap. 10.27 28 29. Isa 43.5 6 7 8. Rom. 11.7 And thus we find a great difference betwixt some that were invited to come to the Supper who when they refused were no more called but sentence passed against them that they should not taste of the Supper and others that were compelled to come in Luke 14.23 24. not by using any violent Compulsion but by infallible Perswasions and Motions of his Spirit of Love and Grace that shall infallibly prevail with them Nor doth this give to any Man the least occasion either to presume or despair as by saying Either I am elected or not if not elected I cannot be saved for that doth not follow and yet it is most true that either a Man shall be saved or he shall not being contradictory Propositions whereof the one is always true and the other not But this doth not infer that he who shall not be saved could not be saved And seeing no Man certainly knoweth that he shall not before he discover it by his final Impenitency therefore it is the wisdom of every Man to improve with all diligence that inward Grace and all outward means and helps afforded him the which if he do according to his ability he shall infallibly be saved And though it is most true that there is a certain number elected in Christ Jesus the elect Head and Foundation and corner Stone living and precious that is infallibly known unto God which make up a compleat intire and perfect Body yet seeing none knoweth that great Mystery who is in any danger to abuse it it is great folly for any Man to presume that he is safe or upon a bare supposition which can infer no positive conclusion to resolve to be in any respect negligent And he that by the Grace of God doth know both his calling and election that knowledge hath its proper tendency to make him the more diligent to abound in all due Obedience and Thankfulness which is the only way to retain the knowledge of it after it is once obtained And the said above-mentioned Dilemma is as idle and foolish as who would argue I shall live for a Month or Year to come or I shall not if I shall not I need take no care to save my life seeing I shall die If I shall I need take no care for without taking care I shall live for seeing both these parts of the Argument are but Hypothetical they can infer no positive Conclusion But as to a Mans Salvation the only safe and sure way of arguing is this If I use the Grace and Means that God hath given me I shall infallibly be saved and if I do not use them I have no ground to expect that I shall and therefore let me with all diligence that is possible make use of them But the Doctrin of absolute Reprobation that maketh Salvation or the effectual use of the means absolutely impossible to many thousands yea as they say to the greatest part of Mankind is a most woful and miserable Discouragement unto People 3. The Lord Jesus Christ by means of his Death hath procured unto all Men both Jews and Gentiles as the fruit and effect of his death an inward Principle of divine Grace Light Life and Power that is the free Gift of God unto them in the hearts of all Men together with subordinate and concurring outward Means and Helps more or less but sufficient unto all Men whereby they may be saved one time or another before the end of the World and the ordinary outward means of Salvation is the preaching of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ even Jesus of Nazareth that was crucified for our Sins and rose again for our Justification by qualified Men or failing of them by reading or hearing read the holy Scriptures by which after a sort the Prophets Apostles preach unto all men or failing of these outward means God supplying them by his inward Teachings and Revelations in mens hearts and some other secret ways and manners of his divine Providences Dealings and Dispensations unknown to most Men For the proof of the first part see Rom. 5.18 Therefore as by the offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift is come upon all men unto Justification of Life the which Righteousness of one is the active and passive Obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the free Gift is come upon all The which free Gift is called Grace and the Gift of Righteousness and is expressed in this Chapter by four sundry Greek Words in the Greek Text as Charis Charisma Dorea Dorema all very significant see further John 1.9 He was that true Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World And he is called The Light of Men John 1.4 and John 8.12 I am the Light of the World he that followeth me shall not walk in Darkness but shall have the Light of Life And Tit. 2.11 12. For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all Men teaching us to deny Vngodliness c. And Verse 13. Looking for that blessed Hope and the glorious appearing of that great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Ephes 3.6 That the Gentiles should be fellow Heirs and of the same Body and partakers of his Promise in Christ by the Gospel Col. 1.26 27. The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations but now is made manifest to his Saints to whom God would make known what is the Riches of the Glory of this Mystery in the Gentiles which is Christ in you the Hope of Glory And Rom. 10.8 The Word is nigh thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart and that is the Word of Faith which we preach And verse 6 7. He understandeth it of Christ which Moses preached in the People of Israel Deut. 30.14 And because this great Mystery which was in the Gentiles was much hid in the time of the Law and in all Ages of the world until Christ came in the Flesh both in Jews and Gentiles as Paul called it The Mystery hid from Ages and Generations therefore the Psalmist Psal 67.2 prayeth saying That thy Way may be known upon Earth thy saving Health or thy Jesus Hebr in all Nations For he saw that it was in them but as it were hid and vailed according to the weakness and darkness of that Dispensation and therefore he prayed