not heard of Pharaoh's Rebellion as we now do 1st Thus God was concern'd in hardening Pharaoh's heart as he crost his will by declaring his own 2dly God accidentally hardened Pharaoh's heart by declaring himself above him in Power this must needs provoke him to hear of a Jehovah 3dly By deferring the full Revenging Power so long as he did Eccl. 8. 11. 4thly God hardened his heart accidentally by his condescending to remove his Judgments so soon at his request and that this Act of God hardened his heart you have declared in the History when God had removed this or that Plague it is said that Pharaoh hardened his heart So that after Pharaoh had hardened his heart and dealt deceitfully six times Exod. 8. 29. then the Lord threatned to pour out all his Plagues upon his heart he would punish his acquired hardness with judicial hardness and would withdraw those Influences of his Spirit that should soften him leave him to the perverseness of his own heart and to follow his own Counsel to his destruction Now though I might largely shew you the invalidity of your Opinion as it crosseth some principal Attributes of God God doth not make Decrees contrary to his own Nature nor simply according to his own Will but works all things according to the Counsel of his own Will So that in whatsoever God doth we are not only to look for Will but Counsel Wisdom and such things as tend to Ends worthy of him God's Will always follows his Nature The Apostle saith 2 Tim. 2. 13. God cannot deny himself yet give me leave to give you two Reasons why I cannot assent to your Opinion that God of his meer Pleasure did from all Eternity decree to glorify his Soveraignty in the Eternal Rejection and Damnation of the greatest part of Mankind I will be short because I would willingly put an end to this Discourse at this time Mar. Pray do for the time is far spent the Sun grows low and my Occasions call me away at this time Phil. Then my first Reason is this because no Man had a Being from Eternity nothing having been from Eternity but God and therefore in true Propriety of Speech Men cannot be said to be Reprobated but in time 't is true the Law or Decree of God whereby Men come in time to be reprobated was from Eternity God from Eternity did decree that all those that live and die in a State of Impenitency should perish but this Decree takes hold of Persons in time when they come to be actually disobedient to the Lord As the Lord said to Moses he which sinneth against me him will I blot out of my Book Therefore if nothing be Eternal but God and if that be a truth that whatsoever is in God is God himself then if God condemned or reprobated any from Eternity it must be himself or else we must say that Man was Co-eternal with God and so give the Glory and Honour which is due to God alone to a poor contemptible Creature Mar. But had not Man some kind of Being in God from Eternity as he was the common Root or producent Cause of all Men Phil. Yea and as all Men were singly one in him they were all alike holy innocent and free from blame and so all alike beloved of him all being yet nothing but himself Nay if we consider all Mens State in Adam while he was standing Just and Righteous in that State none of Mankind could be the Object of God's Hatred but of his Love and I hope you will not deny but we were in him while he stood in a State of Righteousness as well as when in a State of Sin and therefore none reprobated when they never had sinned nor were capable of sinning for they could not sin before they had a Being in the Flesh and man had no being in the Flesh from Eternity Therefore c. So that if God proposed from Eternity to appoint to Everlasting Misery Millions of Men it must be whilst they were nothing but himself My second Reason is if God from all Eternity of his meer Pleasure did decree to glorify his Soveraignty in the Eternal Rejection and Damnation of the greatest part of Mankind and that when they were innocent and harmless as above he must of necessity destinate them unto Sin also for where there is no Sin there Punishment cannot justly take place For if a Man be fore-determined to Damnation he must unavoidably sin else he could not be damn'd by this you make God the Author of Sin Mar. I do not say God is the Author of Sin in any yet this I say God did from Enity freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass and if a hair of our Heads falls not to the Ground or a Sparrow to the Earth without the Will of God how can you think that any Action of Men can come to pass or be performed but by the fore-determinate Will of God for all things come to pass according as his Hand and Council had before determined Phil. No 't is likely you will not be so blunt as to say directly that God is the cause of Sin that would spoil all when stated in its proper Terms but I know it is usual with such as you are to put it in a more disguised and specious Phrase that so you may impose with the more Art upon those that are ready to receive as Gospel what you say yet when you say that God hath appointed and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass it followeth by necessary consequence that he is the Author of it so that there is no Murder nor Whoredom Robberies Blasphemies or any Rogueries whatsoever that fall out in any time or place but they are all the effect of God Almighty's Decrees What Dishonour is done to the God of Love by such Doctrines as these that he should appoint ordain and unavoidably decree to make the greatest part of the World eternally miserable and that he might accomplish his ends did necessitate them to do Evil drawing them on from Sin to Sin till they had filled up the Measure of their Iniquitys that so he might inflict upon them that Vengeance which he had provided for them this is contrary to his revealed Will David saith Psal 5. 4. Thou art a God that hath no Pleasure in Wickedness and James 1. 13 14. Let no Man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God tempts no Man and John tells us that the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but of the World Surely God doth not use to necessitate that which his Soul abhors and which he not only forbids in his Word but also is the Condemner of it Saith one of the Antients to wit Prosper vid. God's Love to Mankind p. 50. 'T is against Reason to say that he that is the Damner of the Devil would have any to be his Servants what
of his Free Grace Isa 43. 25. Jer. 31. 3. Hos 14. 4. Rom. 5. 8 9. Eph. 1. 5 6. 1 John 4. 10. did enter into a Covenant of Grace with Adam and all Mankind in him in the promised Seed Gen. 3. 15. in which he took all Men to Grace and Favour for surely we were as much in Adam when he was restored as when he fell and as much Partakers of his Mercy from God as we were of his Sins And I suppose you will not say but God pardoned this Sin in Adam upon the account of Christ and if he pardon him who freely acted it in his own Person do you think he will send others to Hell for it God forbid Philet How then must Justice be satisfied Philad Have not I told you often that it was by Christ He poor was made that he our Debts might pay He base became to take our Shame away He entred Bond our Freedom to procure He Dangers try'd our Safeties to assure He scorned was our Honour to advance He seem'd a Fool to help our Ignorance He Sin was made our Errours to conceal He wounded was that he our Minds might heal He thirsted that our Thirst might have an end He wept that Joy our Sorrow might attend He lost his Blood that we our Blood might save He died that we Eternal Life might have Here is the Lamb of God that hath taken away the damning Guilt of Adam's Sin Philet But doth not the Apostle positively say Eph. 2. 3. that we are all by Nature the Children of Wrath by Nature that is by our Nativity or Birth Philad What did not Christ take away the original Guilt from none What the the Elect which were taken into the Love and Favour of God before the Foundation of the World yet Children of Wrath by Birth What did not Christ take it away from them Pray take heed you charge not the human Nature with a Sin where God hath not under pretence of doing him the greater Honour thereby tho in the main it layeth to the Lord's charge the chief Cause of all Evils Surely by Nature here cannot be meant our Descent from Adam by partaking of the human Nature For where do you find that the Wrath of God is entailed upon Adam's Posterity as they are Men but as they are vitious and sinful Eph. 5. 6. by reason of their actual Sins comes the Wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience You never find the Judgments of God threatned to any for Adam's Sin nor against the human Nature as if the very Essence and Being of a Man was the Object of God's Reprobation Now as our National Laws lay no Penalty upon a Child that is gotten in Adultery because it partakes of the Nature of a Man in this case the Child is by all acquitted as innocent not worthy of any Punishment it being a thing quite out of its Power to help and so quite out of the reach of Penal Laws which are inflicted upon those that are Criminals and so it is in Divine I will give you three Reasons why I cannot take this Scripture in your sense 1st Because we do not find that the word Nature in Scripture signifies Conception or natural Birth neither is it mentioned as a thing that is sinful in it self in being born 2dly If by Nature be meant our Descent from Adam and by Wrath be meant to be so under the Displeasure of God as to deserve Hell notwithstanding what Christ hath done for them then I cannot see but all dying Infants must perish eternally for they cannot be born again by Faith in Christ and yet they must have Salvation by him or not at all and how they should have it by him but as he was the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sin of the World I do not know for surely Christ hath brought a greater Advantage to human Nature than the Loss it sustained by Adam's Sin 3dly If Nature was so vile a thing as you would have it Christ would never have taken our Nature upon him for he was in all Points like unto us Sin only excepted Now if all that are conceived and born be by their Birth Children of Wrath then why was not Christ under it also for his Flesh was the same with ours Philet But he was conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost in a wonderful manner without the help of Man had he taken Flesh by a carnal Generation he had been polluted with Sin as well as others Philad What tho he was formed in the Womb of the Virgin so as to be without carnal Generation yet it was not without her Conception Luk. 1. 31. I hope I need not tell you how dangerous it is to believe that Christ passed through the Virgin as Water through a Spout without partaking of her Substance But surely he took Flesh not only in but of the Virgin and was as really David's Son and his Offspring as he was David's Root and David's Lord. So that I think it 's no more Sin in us in being conceived and born of our Mothers Substance than it was for Christ to be formed of his Mother's Substance And I suppose that what was Adam's personal Sin was not the Affection of an universal Nature nor can you prove there was the consent of human Nature to it but meerly of Adam Now where there is no consent or acting there could be no Transgression Transgression is the Breach of a Law of which Nature may not be guilty when Persons are Philet But Adam's Sin became ours because we were then all in his Loins and he was the common Root or Stock from which we all should come so that hereby we came to be included and involved in the Sin of Adam Philad Why then are we not guilty of all other Sins which Adam committed after as well as the first yea of all the Sins of our Progenitors since we were in their Loins as well as in Adam's So that yet this Scripture doth not prove what you bring it for it doth not prove that any deserves Hell and Damnation by Birth nor can it favour or support that horrible Doctrine of God's positive and absolute Rejection of Men for Adam's Sin but this Scripture is better understood of those that sin against the Law of Nature which the God of Nature according to his divine Will hath placed in them Rom. 1. 26. Rom. 2. 14. 1 Cor. 11. 14. which Light discovers Sin reproves yea judges and condemns for Sin If our Hearts condemn us c. and tho the Light set up in them the Law written in their Hearts did flash Wrath in their Faces their Consciences accusing them Rom. 2. 15. yet they abused the Light or Law of Nature living in Sin and Disobedience and so were by Nature the Children of Wrath c. and so are all that come to act Sin but no Persons by Birth are thus the Children of Wrath nor none out of the Covenant
and not as Believers or as their being in Christ by Faith then for God to love a Person to Day and hate him to Morrow would evidently shew a change in his Affection according to the change made in the Creature And I must needs tell you I like this plain dealing the best you are herein truer to your Principles than many of your Brethren that hold this Point of personal Election But for my part I believe that God loveth and accepts more of Actions that are good than of mere Persons and contrary to what you say that such and such Actions do therefore please him because the Person pleaseth him but rather because their Actions please him therefore their Persons please him tho God hates all the Workers of Iniquity Psal 5. 5. yet said he to Cain Gen. 4. 7. If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted and Heb. 11. 5 6. Before his Transgression he had this Testimony that he pleased God but without Faith he could not Read John 14. 23. and 15. 14. and 16. 27. These are those that he will love yet may those that were once beloved of God by reason of Sin come to be the object of his hatred Isa 63. 9 10. But they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit therefore he was turned to be their Enemy and fought against them Now you that say that where once God loves he must never cease to love Pray you what think you of the Angels that fell Do you think God did not love them while they stood in that pure and holy State in which they were created and if he did do you think that he loves them now in their Apostacy So God is said to love Jacob and Israel yet at another time he is said to hate Israel Jer. 12. 7 8. Amos 6. 8. yet is this taken off again Isa 60. 15. whereas they were hated God loved them again So that God may love at one time and hate at another without the least change in him in respect of Love or Hatred because no Person of Man is supposed to be the Object of elective Love but only as Righteous nor any Person the Object of Reprobation but only as Wicked so that the Love of God being set upon such kind of Persons as are true Believers those who have Christ formed in them whose Souls are regenerated and formed into the Image of Jesus and Partakers of the heavenly and divine Nature having received that heavenly and divine Anointing by virtue of which they become Christians 1 Cor. 6. 17. John 15. being wrought into a Conformity to Jesus this is that State in which the true Election stands Christ being the elected Root and Believers the elected Branches These are those whom God doth justify and will glorify these are those whom the Lord hath set apart for himself Psal 4. 3. These are those whom the Lord hath chosen from the rest of the World to be his own peculiar Favourites upon whom he intends to bestow an heavenly Inheritance and as Persons decline from Christ living in a State of Unbelief and Impenitency being Strangers to the Life of God disobedient and to every good Work reprobate they remaining such are in that state in which Reprobation stands not being brought over to Christ in whom the Father is well pleased So that I conceive that Unchangeableness which the Scripture asserts of God is to be considered with respect to his Essence Attributes and Decrees and not in his constant loving the same Persons how wicked soever they prove For suppose God should dearly love a Person while he is faithful to him and in case this Person should apostatize and die in a state of Impenitency and he should destroy him with eternal Death this doth not shew the least Alteration in any of the Lord's Attributes either of Love Goodness Mercy Justice c. And suppose a Man passeth from a State of Sin wherein he lived to the Displeasure of the Lord to a State of Faith and Holiness and in this Condition comes to injoy the Love and Favour of God yet his Love and Hatred cannot be said to be changed tho the Persons of Men change never so often from Good to Evil or from Evil to Good This shews indeed a change in Man but no change at all in the Lord he still loves and hates but what he loved and hated before Pray consider Ezek. 18. at what Instant I spake c. if it doth Evil I will repent Here you see God is said to repent so he is said to repent that he made Man upon the Earth Gen. 6. 6. he is said to repent that he made Saul King 1 Sam. 15. 11. And yet the Scriptures cannot be broken which testify that with God is no Repentance or shadow of change 1 Sam. 15. 29. Num. 23. 19. James 1. 17. Mal. 3. 6. Psal 102. 25. yet here is no real Contradiction And as I said before in respect of his Essence Attributes and Decrees God cannot repent yet after the manner of Men he is said to repent in respect of his Works for as Men when they repent alter their Works so when God alters his Work he is said to repent as in Gen. 6. 6. I will saith God destroy Man from the Earth for it repents me c. God made Man to dwell upon the Face of the Earth but now coming to destroy Man from off the Earth seems to repent and so concerning Saul I repent that I have made Saul King that is I have determined to depose him and to prefer another And so concerning Ely c. Delawn Sacr. p. 50. So that no such Conclusion can reasonably be drawn from God's once loving he must for ever love how wicked soever the Person proves afterwards or else be mutable for I do not find in Scripture that God hateth any of the Works of his Hands as they are his Creatures nor any thing but Sin and Sinners for the cause of Sin and there is the same Consideration or the like Reason of his Election being placed upon Faith and obedient Persons or Persons really brought over to Christ Philet The Elect are justified in the Eternal purpose of God and tho the Elect do sin yet the Lord sees it not so as to condemn them for it neither can it do them any hurt or make them less lovely in the sight of God Philad Hold one word before you go any farther you seem to say God was never an Enemy to the Elect Do you not by this make the Fall of Adam in whom the Elect were included a mere Fiction and the whole Story of the Gospel concerning Christ's Suffering a Fable and the Passion of Christ if you grant he suffered for the Elect a mere Vanity more than needs to die to reconcile and bring those into Friendship with God which were never out of his Love nor with whom he was never offended Philet I say all the Sins of the Elect both past present and
matter 3. In their Obligation to believe and the aggravation of their Misery by not believing The Devils because they must be damned are not commanded to believe in Christ nor is their punishment heightned by their not believing but miserable Men who by this Decree have no more liberty to escape Hell than the Devil must yet be tied to believe in Christ and have their Torments increased if they believe not May we not say Where was the sounding of the Lord's Bowels and his Mercy Were they not restrained Isa 63. 15. Now tho I grant you that God's Mercy is his own and he might give it to whom he please I do also grant that when Man had sinned God was not obliged but was absolutely free and at perfect liberty whether he would shew Mercy to any or not The Love of God in Christ was undeserved undesired and every way free indeed neither had it been unmerciful if God had made no provision for fallen Man But now seeing he was pleased to enter into a Covenant of Peace with Man tho under no constraint or Obligation and to give his Son a Ransom not for a few but all as a means whereby his poor Creatures might be saved and hath promised Mercy without exception should be vouchsafed to all that believe in his Son and hath bound it with an Oath that he desireth not the death of a Sinner that no cruelty is in him but that he is a God gracious and merciful thereby to beget in us such amiable thoughts of himself as might incline us to love him with all our heart and strength and without the least scruple resign up our selves to his Will Now I say since God who was absolutely free hath made such Promises of Mercy to all that believe in his Son this his Promise binds him to perform it he cannot deny himself he 's not like unto frail Man he will not eat his own words so that now he is not at liberty to deny Mercy to those to whom he in his Word hath promised to shew Mercy neither can he do it for we may modestly affirm there are some things God cannot do God cannot lie he cannot deny himself neither can he deal unfaithfully and unjustly in his Promises nor go contrary to his Will revealed in his Word so till you prove by the Word of God that he hath made no provision for the Salvation of all Men by the death of Christ all you say proves nothing neither do you yet shew me where the great Attribute of God's Mercy takes place upon those for whom Christ did not die Philet Doth not the Mercy of God wonderfully appear in this that when Man had sinned and thereby run himself so far in debt beyond any possibility to pay but was liable to have been eternally a Prisoner without any redemption from thence till he had paid the utmost Farthing neither Men nor Angels being able to make God amends for the wrong Man had done him Psal 49. 7 8. And whereas God being the most Soveraign Lord and no ways a Debter to any of his Creatures being not constrained by any inward Necessity or outward Force to shew mercy to any being wholly at his own choice whether he would shew Mercy to any having cause enough to cast off Man for his disobedience as he did the fallen Angels doth it not argue and prove more abundantly the rich Grace and Goodness of God in providing for the Salvation of a few than in making no provision for any but leaving them to perish in their Sins Philad 'T is true 't is an act of Grace and Mercy for God to make provision for the Salvation of any by Christ and to cast his Love upon any of the degenerate Sons of Adam when he passed by the Apostate Angels being invested with a power to shew Mercy to whom he please But certainly if to shew Mercy to a few amongst the many millions of millions of poor perishing Creatures renders God gracious and merciful how prevailing must that Love be which hath made such rich and full provision for the Salvation of all Men who unless they wilfully neglect so great Salvation shall most certainly be saved for if the providing for the Salvation of a few out of many renders him most gracious and lovely then if he had refused to make provision for any certainly the greater the number for whom this provision was made is the more lovely and gracious doth God appear Pray take heed you do not bring your Soul under guilt by denying Christ's Death for all which is the greatest illustration of his Love and Mercy to Sinners for in my understanding 't is a great injury done to the Goodness and Mercy of God to affirm that he hath eternally decreed the reprobation of all mankind except a very few in comparison of the rest Mar. None can be damned but those whose damnation God wills to glorify his Justice for God wills the Salvation of all that are saved and he wills the Damnation of all that are damned and tho it is certain that the Lord is gracious and full of compassion and of great mercy yet he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth Rom. 9. 18. It 's true there is such infinite Mercy in God that he could have pardoned all the Angels that sinned and could have saved all Adam's Posterity if he had pleased there might have been no Hell no place of Torment for Devils or Men if he had pleased there might have been no place but Heaven for all the Angels and all the Children of Men to sing Hallelujahs to Eternity but we must not order what God shall do how he shall exert and put forth his Mercy but let his Grace and Mercy be adored for ever in that he saves any that have sinned and his holy Justice ador'd in punishing so many with Eternal Damnation for Sin And God hath his Glory not only from them that are saved but also from them that perish in the one the Glory of his Grace in the other the Glory of his Justice Philad Who questions these things but you still avoid the Question so often urged viz. Wherein the great Attribute of God's Mercy takes place upon those for whom Christ did not die Philet You asked me if I thought one Attribute of God eat up another And I may ask you this Question whether you think God is made up of Mercy without any Justice Philad No I do not think so I believe that Justice and Mercy were essentially in God before all time and both beloved and favoured by him and to maintain the favour and love God bore to Justice he hath caused whole Nations to drink of the Cup of his Wrath in this he threw the sinful down from Heaven drowned the old World rained Fire and Brimstone out of Heaven upon Sodom c. yea such love doth God bear to Justice that not only Men and Angels Citys
are sanctified an unholy thing and make all the Precepts of the Gospel uncertain whether they be the Will of God or not or whether Christ when he prayed to his Father for his People or for Sinners prayed as a Mediator or as Man only yea give footing to that Opinion which begins to evidence it self too much in many even denying the personal Union of God and Man in Jesus Christ in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily Col. 2. 9. which did influence and give a value and worth to all things done for us by the Manhood and therefore his Righteousness and his Blood was called the Righteousness and Blood of God Acts 20. 28. 1 John 3. 16. Rom. 10. 3. Christ as he was God-Man and our Mediator what he did upon this account in the Flesh he did in the Spirit also Now in this place where Christ bewailed Jerusalem's state with tears either they flowed from true inward compassion or they did not if the first then Christ in the Flesh and in the Spirit willed one and the same thing and had no distinct Will for Jerusalem's Salvation as Man different from his Will as God but if the second then his tears were only feigned and his bewailing nothing but dissimulation which is a capital Sin to affirm And tho the Lord was resolved to bring Jerusalem to desolation by delivering them into the hands of their Enemies yet as you say and say truly it was an effect of their Sins the neglect of the Day of their Visitation mocking his Messengers and stoning them that were sent to her to have drawn her from the evil of her ways and for crucifying the Lord of Life thereby filling up the measure of her Iniquity So tho the Lord brought her to desolation yet Punishment is rather his refuge than his choice and his defence against Sin than the hurt of his Creatures and the Sinner with his own hands most cruelly pulleth down punishment upon his own head for the evil of Sin and the evil of Suffering are Twins or rather Sin gives birth and being to the other God never inflicted the least punishment on any merely as Men but as workers of Evil as continuing sinful and disobedient So that it was Jerusalem's actual Sins and her refusing to be healed that brought her to ruin and not any irresistible Decree of the Almighty for you may as well deny the Being of a God as entertain a belief that he takes pleasure in the death and destruction of his Creatures His Nature is perfect Goodness and he is a stranger to Cruelty and all the expressions of Love and Good-will in Christ to poor Sinners are such that they neither admit nor are consistent with fraud or falshood so that yet you have not told me where the Attribute of God merely takes place upon those that God is resolved against all means possible to be used to punish by his Decree as you use to say But before I leave this let me ask you one Question more which is this Ought not or do not all Men stand ingaged to love God Philet To love God yea who should they love if they do not love God Philad Ay but I ask you for what Reason Mar. There may be many Reasons given the receiving the good things of this Life may engage all Men to love God Philad Yea but you will not own that God gives the good things of this Life with any good intention to the greatest number but rather gives them to them to heighten their misery doth God intend any good to the Souls of such by what he gives Mar. No yet are they to be accountable for the abuse of them Philad But you hold that God did decree they should abuse them accordingly and for that end were they given to them that so the abuse of them might heighten their misery this is but like the Proverb Give a Man Roastmeat and beat him with the Spit Can any Man become grateful or be tied in the Bonds of Love and Gratitude to such a Man that should feast him for a while yet after condemn him to Death and Destruction Philet The Apostle saith 1 John 4. 19. We love him because he first loved us but this is meant of the Elect only Philad Why should you go about to confine the Lor'd Mercy which is altogether Infinite and as incomprehensible as his Divine Essence why should you thus contract the Divine Goodness whose Mercies are not only exalted above our Conceptions but also above and over all his Works Therefore do not presume to measure the Lord 's Mercys by your narrow conceit nor labour to make it run into a lesser Channel than the Lord intended But God's great Love to all Men in giving his Son to die for them is the ground and cause of their Love to God again True love must first spring from the knowledg of God's Love to them neither can I think that any Men in the World will ever heartily and cordially love God unless they believe that God Almighty had designs of Love to them yea so far loved them as to send his Son to die for them otherwise instead of loving and living to God it would tend to a most horrid and desperate alienation of the Hearts of poor Creatures from their dear and ever-blessed Creator For how is it possible that the poor Creature should devest himself of those Delights and Pleasures of this Life and intirely love and delight himself in God and his blessed Will if he knew or had strong grounds of fear that before he made him or without respect to his Sins or unworthy carriage in the least he so far hated him as to resolve against all Mediation whatsoever to cast him out of his sight and to doom him to suffer the Vengeance of Eternal Fire You may preach up God's Sovereignty pronounce Justice and Judgment as some have done till they have brought Despair and Hell into the Souls of many and beget more Fear than Love make God feared as a Tyrant but 't is the making known Christ's meek Condescension Long-suffering and the superexcellent Amiableness of free Love and tender Mercy that soonest and most effectually works in us Repentance of our Sins and inclines us to love him that first loved us Wither's Paraphrase upon the Lord's Prayer Who is able to perswade Men by Arguments or move them by Threatnings to love God whose love to them in particular is doubtful Do you think it can or ever will be a motive for Persons to love God to tell them That before all Worlds or before they were born or there were any possibility of offending him in any manner it was decreed that the greatest number of Adam's Off-spring should be eternally reprobated and damned And tho he had provided means whereby Man might have been saved and that the worth and value was so great that it was sufficient for the Redemption of thousands of Worlds yet then it was
and asserted for a Truth by Men of singular Learning piercing Judgments Gifts Piety Zeal for the Truth and greatest Pillars and Lights of the Christian Church next after the Apostles it being never scarce brought into question till near St. Austin's time which was about 400 years after Christ If you look into Mr. Goodwin he sheweth at large the Testimony of those called Fathers for General Redemption Those Fathers before St. Austin's time are Ireneus Justin Martyr Clemens of Alexandria Cyprian Tertullian Epiphanius Gregory Nazianzen Gregory Nyssen Basil the Great Arnobius Eusebius Cyril of Jerusalem Hilary Athanasius Jerom Ambrose Chrysostom these he cites and proves by words at length out of their Works that they held General Redemption Surely the Primitive Christians for between three and four hundred Years after the Apostles may fully ballance both for Number and Holiness all those in the Reformed Churches since Calvin's Days Philet I spake of our Days and Time which we live in Philad Well compare those Lands and Provinces where some hold to the one and the other and what are those Lands that own the Genevah Principles or the Doctrine taught by Mr. Calvin then those called Lutherans nay compare the People in the Vnited Provinces those that stuck to the Synod of Dort with those called Remonstrants or Arminians and how will you make it out that those Predestinarians that maintain unconditional Election and Reprobation are men of a more pious heavenly frame of Spirit making it more truly visible in the integrity of their Lives and Actions than the other called Arminians what Spirit the Calvinists are of has been seen these forty Years past not only in other places but in England also Philet I meddled not with any Foreign Lands Philad Well if you look home upon England I challenge you to shew me any particular Church or Person this day of your Opinion that is a Phenix whom none of the Universalists may compare with in Grace and Divine Life as far as the Eyes of Man are able to pierce the latter live as godly religiously and soberly in this present World and act as zealously for God and are as fruitful in good Works as any you can produce of your Judgment but I find 't is easy for any that fancy themselves the only Saints upon Earth to despise others In Gen. 38. 24. Judah when he heard that Thamar was brought in for an Adulteress presently sentenced her to the fire but when the Pledges of his own Folly were brought forth then he cried out she is more righteous than I. Consider the proud Pharisee tho he was ready to cry to the Publican Stand off I am more holy than thou yet the other was more justified You only bring Accusation without Proof I shall only say in the words of Seneca If it be sufficient to be accused who can be innocent for our Lord Jesus even Innocency it self was accused Remember he that is wise in his own conceit is but a fool and till you shew me in some Particular wherein you exceed all others in Divine Virtue I shall look upon your Speech to be nothing but the impulse of a giddy Zeal and desire you to be more considerate lest you thereby come to condemn the Innocent and justify the Wicked which are both abominable to the Lord Pro. 17. 15. so that neither the good nor the bad the godly nor the ungodly deportment of Persons professing such or such particular Principles is any proof of the goodness or badness of the Principles unless their Principle doth naturally tend to either nay should the foundness or rottenness of Opinions be esteemed by the goodness or badness of the Lives of many professing them the Opinion then of Atheism may be as sound as any other Christians seeing that many Heathens have acquited themselves upon far better terms of honour and approbation in their Lives than many Christians But come what if I should yield to what you say that many that hold this Opinion of yours are godly Men and walk in a pious and religious course of Life beyond all others yet we may say 't is no thanks to their Opinion that they are so your Opinion naturally tends to beget sloth disengageth from the strictest Rules of Piety Uprightness and Integrity of Life and countenances Men in carnal liberty seeing those that are elected can never fall out of his Love and Favour but he loves them as well while great Sinners as the most faithful humble mortified Christians May not this incourage any Man to take liberty to commit the most enormous crimes go on in sin and cry peace and safety and seeing the greatest part of Mankind are shut up in a state of unbelief without a Christ to believe in or power to believe but are left to die and perish may not such conclude their labour in Religion will be unprofitable and so will rather sit still than labour at all Moderat Come neighbour Martha and Philetus I would have you yield to this that Christ died for all for the Scripture fully testifieth that he died for all and every Man and we may safely conclude that the Lamb of God offered up himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World for tho Man by his Apostacy fell from God and by reason of Sin our whole Nature came to be at the utmost moral distance from the Lord which was and is the depth of all Misery yet did not God wholly leave Man in this state tho fallen into Misery but was he capable of recovery which was done by Christ's taking our Nature upon him and laying down his Life for all for he took upon him the Nature of Man not of Angels he pitied not the Angels that fell because their Nature was not to be received by Christ but he taking upon him the common Nature of Mankind made it saveable brought it nearer to Salvation than the lapsed Angels and what Christ hath done in the Flesh he must needs have done for all and the direct and immediate Fruit thereof belongs to all for he took upon him our Flesh not the Flesh of the Elect but of Mankind c. so that the Work of Redemption being by his Blood wrought for us thro his Flesh in which all Mankind have union it must needs be therefore universal Philet Surely Christ took upon him the Nature of Men because the Elect Seed was found in that Nature not in the Nature of Angels the Apostle saith Heb. 2. 14 15. that because the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood therefore he took part of the same and herein there is a Union the Children have a Union with the Flesh of Christ above all others in the World Ephes 5. 30 31. And the reason Christ took part of Flesh and Blood was for the Elect and none shall nor can have any saving benefit by it but only such for to what purpose was it for Christ to be at the expence of his
Blood for those which when he had done all should have no benefit by it because not elected For the benefit provided in Redemption extendeth to none with respect to Eternal Life but such as are elected otherwise these things would follow 1. That he must love those in Redemption that he never loved in Election 2. That Christ died for all alike which contradicts these Scriptures Rom. 8. 33. John 11. 52. Ephes 5. 23 25. Tit. 2. 14. John 10. 15. Rev. 14. 14. in which Scriptures who can deny but there are expressions of singular respect and love for all are not Christ's Elect Children peculiar People given Ones redeemed from amongst Men. Moderatus I believe Election is absolute of particular Persons not the chusing of Believers only to be saved as Philadelphus speaks but the chusing Persons to believe and for those that are these peculiar Ones Christ died for them in a more peculiar manner and to such he will give Faith and Repentance to carry them safe through all that so they shall never perish yet Christ died for all and loved all Men in a sense being the Saviour of all Men 1 Tim. 4. 10. Yet did not Christ die for all alike some he died for with an intent to adopt for Sons others he died for to purchase Pardon and Salvation upon condition of their Repentance believing and obeying the Lord. Philet But have all Men a power to perform these Conditions Moderat No 't is not from the power of our own Free-will Philet It seems then Christ dying as well for those that shall perish as for those that shall be saved I see you are for the middle way you hold absolute Election of some with universal Redemption of all likewise the purchasing a power to believe only for some and the tenders of Salvation to all upon condition they believe repent and obey the Lord without a power to believe so that many thousands shall nay must perish notwithstanding Christ died for them Will you say that Christ died with an intent to save all Moderat Tho he died for all yet not with an intent to save all Philad Pray let me interpose I perceive there is no great difference between you Philet I must confess I was for the middle way my self till I found that Universal Redemption would not comport with Particular Election Philad Moderatus I perceive can play fast and loose and deceive us both being true to neither sometime we think we have him fast on our side and you think him as fast for you and yet he is as slippery as an Eel to us both as I could shew but time will not give me leave to day But pray tell me how you hold Christ died for all and yet did not intend their Salvation thereby Moderat Then I 'll tell you how I hold it 1. Christ died so far for all as to purchase for them the Blessings and Benefits of this World 2. He died so far for all that there is a potent Argument from thence to perswade all Men to live to him 2 Cor. 8. 15. 3. He died so far for all that the Gospel should be preached to all 4. He died so far for all that all should be raised from the Grave Rom. 14. 9. Philet I hold the same Philad So do I but did Christ die for all in such a manner and yet never intend their Salvation thereby this justly seems strange Philet Why 't is one thing to die for the Reprobate in some sense and to die for them with an intention to save them Philad As to the first I suppose you mean that God is so bountiful a God that he will not let the least act of Charity or the least appearance of Good in any go unrewarded in this Life And that Christ died for the obtaining of these lesser Mercies but yet had no love for them in order to their Salvation I have already disproved But as to your second you say that Christ died so far for all that there is a potent Argument from thence to perswade all Men to live to him but then I must prove beyond all Exceptions that God Almighty hath designs of Love to all Men and a desire after their Eternal Well-being seeing that true Love to God must first spring from the certain knowledg of God's Love to us And the Holy Ghost teacheth us 1 John 4. 19. that love to God must or ought to be kindled in the Hearts of Men by the sense of this Affection in God to Man neither as I said before can I think that any Man can heartily and cordially love God unless he believes God had a love for him And how can any use Arguments to perswade all or any Man to love and live to God whose love to them is doubtful Neither doth any Man stand bound either to use Arguments or believe them when used unless he hath a sufficient reason to do so seeing the Apostle saith Rom. 14. 23. Whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin whatsoever a Man doth not having sufficient reason on which to ground his belief of the lawfulness thereof is sinful and an irregular Act and displeasing to God Prov. 19. 2. 14. 15. All Arguments are out of doors neither will wise Men use them to Persons who are necessitated by an over-ruling Power to be what they are seeing you will not say that Christ died with an intent they might be saved Philet I believe Christ's Death was sufficient for all that is to say the Death of Christ simply and in it self considered was sufficient to redeem and save all Men yea many Worlds as well as those who are redeemed and saved by it and so there is sufficient ground to perswade all Men to love and live to him Philad 'T is true the Satisfaction that Christ gave to Divine Justice was infinite his Righteousness infinite and therefore sufficient for the Redemption of this and many Worlds had they been made In this sense it is sufficient to save the Apostate Angels that fell but have the fallen Angels any sufficient ground or reason to hope for Salvation upon the absolute worth and merit of Christ's Satisfaction Philet No Christ never died to free them from their Chains of Darkness and to readmit them into the Love and Favour of God and as Moderatus told us he took not upon him the Nature of Angels therefore there is no ground of hopes for them God never by Christ provided for the Salvation of the fallen Angels this was besides the Lord's Intention Philad Well you grant that Christ died sufficiently for all yet unless you grant that he died intentionally for all that is Christ by his Death hath purchased such Grace and Favour in the sight of God for all Men that upon their repentance and believing in him they should be justified and receive forgiveness of their Sins and persevering therein shall be eternally saved the sufficiency of his Death is no sufficient ground for any Man
to believe in him or to cast himself upon him for Salvation no more than the fallen Angels Now either Christ shed his Blood for all with an intent to save them unless they be their own destroyers or to damn them or for nothing pray tell me which of these three things Christ intended in dying for all Philet I cannot say to save all Philad For what then Philet Why truly I believe all that Christ did for the Reprobate was to effect for them the good things of this Life Philad But doth he not give his Grace to all Philet Yea common Grace Philad For what use is it given Philet For no use in respect of Eternal Life all that it effects for them is to make their Condemnation in Hell the greater or as some say if they use it well the lighter Mar. Others beside the Elect may have the inlightning and conviction of the Spirit and God hath wise and holy Ends in it to restrain some of them from being Persecutors of his Church and to restrain them from gross Idolatry and such-like Sins whereby they are less punished in Hell but if they abuse these common Graces it will make their condemnation in Hell the greater Philad Then was Christ's Death rather grievous than gracious and Christ came not that they might have life more abundantly but that they might have Hell and Damnation more abundantly Blush O ye Heavens at this How cruel do you represent the God of Love For if Christ shed his Blood for all and yet did not intend Salvation to all then he must needs shed his Blood not for them but against them and so God gave his Son to die for the condemnation of the World contrary to our Saviour's Expressions John 3. 17. 12. 47. 1. 29. So that here can be no potent Argument used to perswade all Men to love and live to him for he that shall pay for the ease and benefit of another what was sufficient to have eased me as well as him and yet shall neglect me in such a Paiment and leave me in misery when he might without the least trouble or charge to himself above what he voluntarily put himself upon for the sake of others have relieved me and of miserable made me happy what reason is there that I should wholly live to him who wholly neglected me in my greatest need or that he should expect service or thanks for doing nothing 'T is a sensless conceit to think Men are engaged in any Bond of thankfulness or service unto Christ for dying sufficiently for them unless he died intentionally also Philet What do you believe Christ shed his Blood intentionally to save all then if all be not saved Christ must miss of his Intention God shall be frustrated of his Design and Jesus Christ be defeated of that excellent Honour provided by his Father for him Now if one of those that Christ died with an intent to save should miscarry why not another and consequently all and so by this God's Counsel and Christ's Honour must be laid in the Dust Mar. For all you make such a noise about Christ's dying for all Adam's Posterity yet do you really deny that Christ died for any Man or Woman in the World in a true Scripture-sense for unless Christ died so for Persons as to make satisfaction for all their Sins and to purchase saving Grace here and Glory hereafter to be infallibly bestowed upon them all you talk of universal Redemption by Christ is a universal Nothing Philad It may very well be conceived that God may intend the Salvation of all Men by Jesus Christ and yet not all Men saved nay should all Men prove so neglective of themselves as voluntarily to deprive themselves of that great Salvation which Christ out of his great Love hath provided for them yet it doth not follow from hence that the Counsel or Design of God should thereby miscarry nor Christ's Honour be laid in the dust because of the wilful folly of Men to forsake their own Mercy and destroy themselves see Isa 49. 5. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the Womb c. Tho Christ was sent to save and make Israel blessed and as the Apostle saith Acts 3. ult Hath raised up Jesus and hath sent him to bless you and to turn every one of you from your evil ways here you see it was God's Mind to gather Israel and to turn them from their Sins yet all Israel was not gathered nor turned from their Sins yet no disparagement to Christ nor a defeating the Counsel of God Indeed if it had been the Design and Intent of God that the saving Benefits intended to Sinners by the Obedience and Sufferings of Christ should immediately become theirs upon the bare shedding of his Blood and that therefore God must needs pardon the Sinner and bring him in by head and shoulders that is by a strong and irresistible hand save him whether he will or no or whether they repent of their Sins believe in him or continue in impenitency then indeed if any should miscarry here would be a defeating of the Counsel and Intention of God but seeing that as the Grace and Mercy of God in Christ to Sinners is absolutely free so is the Lord free to apply the Merits of his Son's Blood to whom and in what way and upon what terms he in his Wisdom thinks fit for we must not conceive that God intended to save Man upon any terms or without any provision or exception at all but to put the World into a capacity of Salvation by removing those grand Obstacles which stood in the way of Mercy and obstructed its communication to the Offender and to afford unto the Sons and Daughters of Men means and opportunities to repent and believe and consequently to be saved so that whensoever Christ is faithfully and effectually preached to Men and the Holy Spirit convinces Men of Sin in order to their Salvation God obtains his end and intent concerning their Salvation whether they come to be saved or no so Christ is said 1 John 2. 2. to be the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World it doth not therefore follow that the Sins of the whole World are so actually and compleatly atoned by him that they shall never be charged against them but that which Christ offered in order to atoning the Sins of the whole World is so full of Virtue and withal is so propounded and held forth by the Lord unto the whole World that if any Man's Sins remain actually unpardoned 't is through their voluntary neglect of this Sacrifice not from any intention on God's part that their Sins should not be atoned as well as others Many more such Testimonies I might add Dr. Holmes upon John 6. 37. pag. 13. saith That all the Sins of Mankind are become venial in respect of the Price paid by Christ unto the Father c. But all do not obtain actual remission
break off at this time only give me leave to ask you and your Friend Martha this Question viz. What is the reason you go about to perswade your selves and others that God is so severe with the greatest part of Mankind as to leave them in the Fall without giving his Son to die for them but leaving them to perish is it to make your own Salvation doubtful for if Christ died for scarce one in a thousand what grounds have you to believe Christ died for you or that you were elected and chosen to Life Philet I do not question but I was beloved of God and chosen in Christ before the Foundation of the World Philad I suppose that you must needs have a high Opinion of your self that you are one of the Darlings of Heaven one beyond all possibility of miscarrying one that shall never behold the angry Countenance of the Almighty otherwise I believe you would be glad to hear the joyful Tidings of Peace and Reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ for tho you represent God at so dreadful a rate towards others yet you would not have him appear in such Wrath and Fury to your self nay your Doctrine would not be so readily imbraced by so many if they thought they themselves were of that number that God had by an absolute Decree of Reprobation shut under Wrath from all possibility of obtaining Life and Salvation And should the Lord awaken your Conscience under a sense of the dread and horror of your being absolutely rejected from Grace and Glory from having any saving benefit by the Death of Christ this might so amaze you that all Means and Arguments used to comfort you might be of no value your Opinion walks Antipodes to all words of comfort What would it avail you then at such a time to tell you of God's great Love to his Elect and that he had such a Love for some few of the degenerate Sons of Adam that rather than they should perish he would give his Son a Ransom for them and with him give them Faith and Repentance and by a strong hand of irresistible Grace carry them through this World to Glory but that far the greater number are left of the Lord to die and perish for the manifestation of his Justice and Displeasure against Sin Would this fasten any comfort upon you when you behold the Lord's angry Countenance only speaking Blood and Ruin to you Come Philetus this hath been so dreadful to many that they have run some to the Sword and others to the Halter Now seeing that you make the number of the Elect so small as not one in a hundred or one in a thousand how can you have any comfortable assurance that you are one of those that Christ died for unless you prove it by his dying for all and so consequently for you including a part in the whole Philet What rotten stuff have we here at what a pitiful rate do you talk would you have me believe Christ died for me because he died for the whole World if I had no other assurance and hopes for Heaven than this I should be in a miserable state I injoy saving Grace there is an inward Work of God upon my Heart and I am really brought over to Christ this is a better proof that I am not one of those that are left in the Fall to perish but one of those Christ died for Philad I own that there are Marks and Signs which may be sufficient proof of a Person 's Regeneration and may be a good Mark of Election and a sound Evidence for Heaven Rom. 8. 16. the Spirit witnessing with our Spirits But now in this weighty concern of our Souls and Salvation nothing ought to be believed by any but what they have grounds to believe from the Word of God and from that inward Witness which if true never contradicts but is always sutable and agreeable to the Word Now since by your Doctrine the Death of Christ did not extend to one of a thousand how is it possible for you to know that Christ died for you unless it be revealed in the Word of God since he that Christ did or did not die for must be built upon the Testimony of the Lord therefore I say shew me if you can a proof from the Scripture that Christ died for you or if you cannot do that shew me that Man now living in the World for whom Christ did not die Philet I cannot shew you my Name written in the Scriptures nor no place that saith that he died for I. S. but if I can prove my self a Believer I can prove that I am no Reprobate but an Elect Person and consequently one that Christ died for for believing is an infallible Fruit of Election Philad But what if you mistake and think you have true Faith when you have not there is a Faith which is only sancy nay mere presumption a Faith besides the Word of God 't is easy for Men to deceive themselves and others with false Appearances and deceivable Marks in this case since all saving Graces in the Saints have their Counterfeits in Hypocrites yea oftner furnished and set forth with more gaudy paint in Hypocrites than real Christians the Devil can shew himself to be an Angel of Light But come to your Marks of Election Are you the Child of believing Parents this is not sufficient to prove you in the Love and Favour of God for so was Cain Ishmael and Esau yet you say they were reprobated Have you been baptized and so initiated into the visible Church of Christ so have many thousands who by their Conversation shew themselves to be of the Synagogue of Satan Have you done Miracles so did Jannes and Jambres yet they were Cheats Do you outwardly partake of the Lord's Table so do many that have no part in him as Judas Do you preach the Word to others prophesy in Christ's Name so may many to whom Christ will say Depart you cursed and while they preach Salvation to others miss it themselves Philet These are outward Marks which may very well stand with Hypocrisy mine is a supernatural spiritual and inward Work the saving Effect of the sanctifying Spirit of God What say you to Faith is not that a Fruit of the Spirit Philad Yea true justifying Faith is but what would you prove that Christ died for you because you are a Believer Philet No Christ did not die for me and elect me because I believe but because God elected me and gave his Son to die for me therefore I believe I being to prove that God loved me and gave his Son to die for me and that Faith is a Fruit of God's electing Love Philad But what if your Faith be the Faith of the Hypocrite which will perish Simon Magus Acts 8. 13. believed the Doctrine preached by Philip and professed his Faith publickly by being baptized in Water according to our Lord's Command and yet in the
do you think that God Almighty doth so delight in the Blood and Ruin of Men that rather than not destroy them Soul and Body he will have them live and die in Sin that he may destroy them This is like that which Suetonius reports of Tyberius in God's Love to Mankind Page 59. who being minded to put certain Virgins to death because it was against the Roman Laws to strangle Virgins caused them all to be defloured by the Hangman that so they might be strangled but far be any such thing from the God of Truth and Father of Mercy that he should appoint that the Devil should lead Men into Sin that afterward he might take occasion to damn them for it Mar. But you ought to distinguish between the Actions of Men and the Sin of the Action tho God is the Author of the Actions of Men yet not of the Evil of their Actions Phil. This is a nice Distinction you would seem to split a Hair God you say is the Author of the Fact but not of the Fault of their Disobedience not of their Sin but is this any part of God's revealed Will Mar. You read Acts 4. 27 28. Of a Truth Lord against thy Child Jesus both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the People of Israel were gathered together for to do what soever thy Hand and Counsel determined before to be done Here you see that it was the determinate Counsel of God that his Son should not only suffer but also that Herod Pontius Pilate Jews and Gentiles should betray and murder him Now had they done this in Obedience to the Will of God they had not sinned but they doing of it to make him a Sacrifice to their Revenge and Malice that was their Sin here God decreed the Fact but not the Fault Phil. This is no good Distinction How much better had it been for the World and what Peace might the Church of God have enjoyed had People contented themselves with what was spoken to them from the Lord and had not given their Imagination such unbounded Scope as to pester the World with such abundance of Scriptureless Distinctions and frivolous Niceties Now I readily grant that it was the determinate Will of God to redeem lost Man by the delivering up of his Son unto Death that is by leaving him in the Hands and to the Will of those who were his Enemies and whom the Lord did foreknow would put him to Death unless he did interpose by his Power to prevent their Rage and Malice Now for the effecting of this great and blessed Work the Redemption and Salvation of Mankind it was sufficient for God to decree that in case these or any other should attempt his Death he would not hinder them from effecting it but neither this Scripture nor any other saith that the Hand and Counsel of God had determined that the Jews and Gentiles should betray and murder Christ but only that these were gathered together to effect that which God in his Counsel had determined before to be done to wit the Redemption of the World Compare this Text with Act. 2. 23. where the Apostle plainly lays this Sin upon their own Heads in that they took and by wicked Hands crucified and slew the Lord of Life and Glory Du-Veil commenting upon this place saith That this Jesus by the Decree of the Father to whom he in all things voluntarily obeyed being surrendred into your Hands with incredible Importunity you forced the Romans to nail to a Cross Therefore Christ by the determinate Decree of God was given up into the power and disposal of his Enemies whose hostile and inhuman Rage God did not predestinate but only foreknew Now tho God did decree to leave his Son in the Hands of wicked Men that so he might die for Sin yet it is no less than Wickedness and horrid Blasphemy to say that God decreed that such and such Men by Name should betray and murder him Now to kill a holy and innocent Person is a sinful Act which is not from God but of the Devil who is the Author of it John 8. 40 43 44. and therefore it is said John 13. 2. that the devil put it in Judas's Heart to betray Christ and that Judas fell by Transgression Act. 1. 25. Now if God who hath by his Word prohibited the shedding of Blood or taking of any Man's Life away unjustly should any way incline or compel Men to it so as to lay them under a Necessity of being wicked he must needs be the Author of it Bishop Vsher in his History of Gotteschalk p 138. as quoted by the Author of God's Love to Mankind hath these Words Whosoever saith that God hath laid a Constraint or a Necessity of sinning upon any Man he doth manifestly and fearfully blaspheme God inasmuch as he makes him by that the Author of Sin and therefore I look upon your Distinction no better than meer Delusion to deceive the simple and inconsiderate ones First Because in wicked Actions the Acts themselves are simply Sin as Adam's eating the forbidden Fruit was simply Sin and is not Murder Drunkenness profane Swearing Stealing Whoring in themselves Sin Is it not because of such things that the Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience Eph. 5. 5 6. The Wrath of God doth not take hold upon Men for such Actions as bare Actions but as sinful Actions as they are the Transgression of the Righteous Law of God 1 John 3. 4. How shall God be just in rendering to every Man according to the things done in the Body if Men sin by the Determination of God Secondly Because if God by his divine Decree lays Man under a necessity of sinning he is truly the cause of Sin and Man by thiâ— comes to have some Cloak for his Wickedness because he cannot justly be blamed nor punished for doing of that which he had no power to withstand but was forced on by an irresistable Necessity It was a grave and true Saying saith Goodman upon the Parable of the Prodigal Son of Seneca Necessity is the great Sanctuary of human Infirmity which whosoever can lay claim to obtains Protection for it perfectly excuseth all the Faults it commits No Punishment either Temporal or Eternal can in Justice be inflicted for any bad Action where there is no power in the Party to avoid it Why doth our Law condemn Men to suffer Death for wicked Actions if they were unavoidable and that when they murder steal plot Treason or practise any other Villanies they do them by Necessity of God's unalterable Decree Pray see what we have Deut. 22. 25. where we may see the Law of God awards no Punishment to the Damsel because what she did was by Compulsion being over-born by force which she was not able to withstand Nay farther if God hath decreed all the Actions of Men and bound them under the Dominion of absolute Necessity to commit them why then should we be
Death those Infants and Sucklings no more than to take away by Death many thousands which daily die through the World for Death reigns over all and when Infants are taken away either by a Natural Death or in any cruel manner 't is for Sin even that of Adam's yea many times their own Parents Sin hastens the Death of the Child and in Temporals very often the Children suffer for the Father's fault not only in the good things of this Life but also Death it self as in the Old World and in the overthrow of Sodom and are slain with the Sword as in this Case and likewise in those common Calamities which have befallen Nations and Cities But what will any one dare to say that such Infants and Sucklings are damned Who can forbear trembling at such a dreadful conceit And surely you that hold than Infants have sin enough from Adam to damn them to Hell had need bring good Scripture-proof for such a dreadful Doctrine But I need say no more to this than to refer you to what Mr. Grantham hath writ upon this Subject in his Answer to Mr. Petto and Mr. Firmin in his Presumption no Proof and his Infants Advocate First and Second Parts where if you be not wedded to your Opinion or blinded with Prejudice you will see that though all are guilty of Adam's Sin Rom. 5. 14. yet Infants by the presentment of the Satisfaction of Christ are and shall be sav'd for the free Gift cometh upon all Rom 5. 18. Mar. Come leave this Philetus you may easily perceive that Philadelphus owns that rotten and corrupt Opinion of universal Redemption a grand piece of Popery Philet Yea I see he 's an Arminian and I doubt a Free-willer too which is an old Pelagian Heresy and hath been condemned for an Error long since by the best and most knowing Christians Philad This is but the Devil's subtilty and delusion to hood-wink Peoples Eyes and to draw on a Vizor upon the lovely Face of true Religion to make it extremely deformed that so People may start at the naming of it Mod. Come pray let us have no Heats Philad There shall be none for me yet methinks they deal in our Day and Time by those that own the Truths of the Lord much like the barbarous Pagans did by the Christians under the persecuting Emperors who that they might have some Pretence to put them to death loaded them with odious Names and Imputations as if all the Troubles that were in the World happened for their Sakes As may be seen in Tertullian's Apology for the Christians Or as they did when they put them to death in their publick Theater they put upon them the Skin of some Savage Beast or put them into the shape of Monsters such as the nature of Man has the most Antipathy against that they might be the more excited to destroy them and the more expos'd to the fury of the Dogs Even so the noise of Arminians Pelagians Popery Free-willers and I know not what sounds so terrible to the Ears of some that they neither will nor dare examine either the Writings or Opinions of those that differ from them by the Word of God Mod. Neither will nor dare for what reason Philad Why only their Teachers whom they admire have drawn them into a dislike of the Truth of God by putting the Name of Ignominy and Reproach upon them What tho the Papists hold universal Redemption and are so unhappy to hold this part of Truth in unrighteousness Doth it therefore cease to be a Truth Or must I be ashamed or afraid to own it because held for a Truth by them May I not as well renounce the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament yea God and Christ too lest I should be accounted a Papist The Devil held that Christ was the Holy One of God and may not I do so too It will not excuse any in the Rejection of any Truth to say the Papists hold it Tho it was told Paul Acts 28. 22. That this Sect was every-where spoken against yet it did not turn him out of the way or make him out of love with the Truths of God neither ought it to do any and tho you may call this Truth Popery Arminianism c. yet was it owned for a Truth before Popery or James Arminius was heard of or had any being in the World and is indeed the ground of all Saving-Truth and Soul-establishing Comfort since the Foundation of the World and the contrary to it will be found to appear rotten and unsound having no firm footing in the Word of God let it be varnish'd over with never such dresses of Words or pretence of Zeal thereby to make the Face of it shine in the Eyes of others And I must tell you I look upon it to be a piece of daring Pride in any that shall confidently attempt to set bounds and limits to God's infinite Wisdom and Goodness acted towards all Men in the death of his Son Philet Well I am one of those that hold that God looking upon Man in the Fall did set his Love upon some of the fallen Race chusing some to eternal Life and Salvation for which he gave his Son to die for them and rejected others and never afforded them an Object to believe in nor power to believe but hath left them to perish Philad Pray prove what you affirm if you can Philet That God chuseth some to Life and leaveth others in the Fall of his meer Will and Pleasure I prove it by the Instance of Jacob and Esau Rom. 9. 13. As it is written Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated And this was done before they were born the one elected to eternal Life and the other reprobated to eternal Death and this at the meer Will and Pleasure of God Philad I know it is concluded from this Text that Esau in Person was damned but this is but Mens Rashness and Presumption there is not the least Syllable in all the word of God that I know of for Persons to ground such a Belief or from whence to draw such a dreadful Conclusion that Esau should be damned eternally Love and Hatred in this Text may be with respect to Temporal Blessings and so Esau may be said to be hated and Jacob loved because to Jacob was given the fruitful Land of Canaan and to Esau was given the barren Country of Mount Seir Or Love and Hatred may be with respect to Christ the promised Seed and so Jacob was separated or sanctified to be the Fore-father of Christ according to the Flesh and Esau with respect to that rejected and so was but a common or profane Person Now this was one end of Circumcision to distinguish the Family of whom Christ should be born and to keep that People of whom the Messiah was to come unmixt from the idolatrous Nations Now Esau very justly lost that Blessing for selling his Birth-Right at so base a Price for
that died for him and so he came to be sanctified justified and to obtain Mercy Philet I believe that Paul being an Elect Person was as much in the love and favour of God before he believed as after yea the Elect Corinthians that were Fornicators Idolaters Thieves Drunkards c. 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. had as much right to Salvation before they believed as after Philad I look upon this Speech of yours that Paul and the Corinthians during their unbelieving State were as much in the love and favour of God as after to be very impious and opens a gap for Men to run into all manner of Abomination for if I once fancy my self to be one of the Darlings of Heaven one of the Elected ones and that I cannot possibly sin my self out of the love of God and that I am no nearer Salvation after I believe than I was before Why may not I take liberty to commit any crime For it seems Heaven may be found in the way to Hell and in the Service of Sin and Satan I may fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh and of the Mind and be fruitful in the works of Darkness and God love me never the worse no danger of forfeiting my Sonship if this be true all the Precepts of Vertue and Holiness with all the gracious Promises of an Eternal Reward in Heaven are all in vain and all those powerful dissuasions from Sin with those severe threatnings of an Eternal Punishment as a Reward to the guilty are all invalid if the greatest sinner the most prophane Liver may arrive at Heaven as well as the most eminent Saint Did ever such Doctrines proceed from the Lips of Truth or are they to be found in the true Sayings of God No no but rather the contrary Eph. 5. 5. Rom. 2. 8 9. 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God c. so that no Man that is an unregenerate sinner is or can be said actually to be Elected till Grace comes and Faith comes and puts him into Christ Eph. 3. 17. This is evident from the Ephesians Paul calls them Elect or Chosen before the Foundation of the World and yet however Elected he tells them that during the time they walked according to the Course of this World c. they were the Children of Wrath as well as others and at that time they were without Christ and Strangers to the Covenant of Promise having no hope and without God in the World Eph. 2. 12. Surely it is impossible for any Person to be in Christ and out of him dead and alive old and new born at one and the same time so that before Conversion we are not actually justified This is so clear a thing that the Assembly in their Confession Chap. 11. say God did from all Eternity decree to justifie the Elect. Nevertheless they are not justified until the Holy Spirit doth in due time actually apply Christ unto them And so Dr. Homes in his Antidote against Antinomianism p. 56. If the Lord impute Christ to me a true Christian my sins unto him as 2 Cor. 5. ult and so reputes me justified actually in him He doth all this under the notion of Faith Rom. 4. 3. If any say we are eternally justified in God's Election or Purpose we reply just so as we eternally believe in God's Purpose for he hath purposed eternally both equally He that eternally purposed to justifie did eternally purpose to justifie by Faith Mar. But doth not the Apostle say in Rom. 4. 5. That God justifieth the ungodly Philad Yea but we do not read of those that persevere in their ungodliness that he will justifie them for as God hath never promised so he never purposed Salvation to an unregenerate heart and a loose life Persons may pleasingly dream themselves the Friends and adopted Children of God tho' they will know to their own smart that all that are under the Reign of sin are yet under wrath No Enemy to God and Holiness is actually elected nor hath receiv'd the Spirit of Adoption and if they have not receiv'd the Spirit they are none of his Now where the Spirit of God comes it convinces of sin John 16. 7 8. and witnesseth with their Spirits that they are the Children of God Rom. 8. 16. but do you think that the Holy Spirit will witness for us or bring Joy and Comfort to us if at the same time our Consciences testifie to our Face that our Deeds are Evil and that our walking is not such as to be deemed the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus to good Works which God hath before ordained Doctor Cliffora upon the New Covenant p. 14. saith excellently Can you imagin that the Spirit seals to a Blank and witnesseth to a Lye What! teach People to cry Abba Father before they are born of God or persuade them they are justified when in a state of unbelief and the Wrath of God abides upon them or assure them they are Heirs of the Promise when they are Strangers to the Covenant or that their Estate is safe when a Curse and Death and Hell are denounced against them Is this the Spirit 's witnessing do you think or his way of sealing No he first works Grace upon the heart and then gives testimony to his own work he sanctifies first and then seals to the day of Redemption Eph. 1. 13 14. Rom. 8. 14. As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God and those that have not Christ's Spirit Christ's Image cannot have any true Fellowship with him Can two walk together except they be agreed Amos 3. 3. Doth Reconciliation with God stand with agreement with Satan Can a League with Heaven and Hell stand together Do you think that the Judge of all the Earth will say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom to his Enemies But Philetus what makes you think that Paul and the Corinthians were as much in the Love and Favour of God before they believed as after Philet Why because their believing and obeying the Gospel was an Effect of their Election Our Persons must first please God before our Actions can please him and when once God loves a Person he never ceaseth to love him for the Gift and Calling of God are without Repentance Rom. 11 29. and so Malachi 4. 6. I am the Lord I change not Now if Paul and the Corinthians were elected before they were born and that then God set his Love upon them and after during their Unbelief and Sin should be supposed not to love them it would argue a strange Inconstancy and Mutability in God and so according to this Notion of Election God must be supposed one while to hate a Person when wicked and another while to love him when regenerate Philad Indeed if we must needs understand that God had elected Paul and the Corinthians as Paul or as Men simply so considered
17. John 15. 19. but if by the World be meant the Elect only then it will follow that God gave his Son to dye for those that stood in no need of him for God by Virtue of his Absolute Prerogative might pardon Sinners without the Death of his Son Now for you that hold there was an absolute Election and an absolute Reprobation consider'd under the Fall and that without respect to Faith in Christ on the one hand or disobedience on the other what do you do but overthrow the Truth and real Expiation of their Sins by the Death of Christ for them For if God in his Elective Love did in the very Act of Election freely and of his meer good Will and Pleasure irrevocably assign and give to his Elect Justification and Salvation then Christ could not die to purchase these things for them because they were theirs truly and of right before and so he needed not die to bring those into Covenant with God and to make them near by his Blood and to make them dear Children to God who were all this before for those that were Elected unto Life upon the account of their being absolutely Elected to Salvation they are likewise upon the same account in actual favour with God and already beloved of him with the highest Love and such as is peculiar to those that are the Sons of God But again if by the word World be understood the Elect only then this word whosoever must needs imply that some of the Elect might possibly not believe and so Christ must be supposed to speak at no better a rate of Wisdom and Sense than thus God so loved the world of Believers that whosoever of the world of Believers believe on him shall not perish Nay further if there be Salvation in Christ for none but the Elect in your sense then it is not true that whosoever believes in him shall be saved But that it cannot be meant of the Elect only read the two preceding Verses 14 15. with this whole Verse and the words following for as Moses lifted up the Serpent c. and Ver. 17. for God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World If then we must understand the Elect here by the World then we may read the words thus God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the Elect but that the Elect should be saved this was to affirm that which none was likely to deny or ever trouble themselves or the World about But again if by the World we must needs understand the Elect only then will the Parallel between Moses's lifting up the Serpent in the Wilderness and Christ's being lifted up upon the Cross run very lame for Moses did not lift up the Serpent with an intent that none should look upon it and receive healing by it save a small parcel but that whosoever was stung might look upon it and that whosoever did look upon it should receive healing thereby Numb 21. 8. Now you will hold that all without exception are stung with Sin will you not Philet Yea I do Philad Very well then unless Christ be lifted up with an intent that every Man might believe on him and every one that should believe on him should be saved by him he could not be said to be lifted up for the universal benefit of all those that were stung with Sin as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness for the benefit of all that were stung with the fiery Serpent Thus you may see that by the World must needs be meant the whole Lump of Mankind and those that take it otherwise do greatly eclipse the Mercy Love and Goodness of God to all his Creatures Very well Musculus upon this place John 3. 15 16. by World understands the Universe of Mankind so that here his love of the World and his love of Man is the same After the same manner it is in this Redemption of Mankind whereof we spake that Reprobates and desperately wicked Men partake not of it 'T is not through any defect of the Grace of God nor is it meet for the sake of the Sons of Perdition it should lose the Glory and Title of a Universal Redemption since it is prepared for all and all are called to it De Redemption Gen. humani Yea Calvin himself upon this place with other more antient and modern Expositors take this word World in a universal sense But take another Scripture 2 Cor. 5. 19. God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself Philet Well pray read out the whole Verse and you may see cause to believe that by the World is there meant the Elect because he says not imputing their Trespasses Now it is plain he doth impute the Sins of all Men to them but the Elect only but unto them he doth not impute Sin therefore he reconciles unto himself none other but those he doth not impute Sin to which are the Elect. Besides the word World signifieth only some part of Men in the World and not the intire Universality of Men as Luke 2. 1. Acts 19. 27. Rev. 13. 3. Yea World is put sometimes for those that believe and are converted The Bread of God is he that cometh down from Heaven and giveth Life to the World that is to the Elect to Believers of all ranks throughout the whole World and no more is intended in any such-like Expressions Again John 14. 31. That the World may know that I love the Father And John 17. 21. That the World may believe that thou hast sent me By the World here we are to understand such as shall be saved Philad I know the word World signifies only some part of the World but where do you find the Elect called the World in opposition to those that are Enemies and Strangers unto God but it is rather put for the Wicked who are the greatest part of the World as John 1. 10. and 7. 7. 14. 17. 15. 19. 16. 20. 17. 9 14. 1 Cor. 11. 32. 1 John 3. 1. 4. 5. 5. 4 5. Hence the Devil is called the Prince of the World John 12. 31. 14. 30. 16. 11. But that this 2 Cor. 5. 19. cannot be meant only of the Elect may be proved from the word reconciling Reconciliation signifieth a making those Friends that were before at variance Now how can it be said That God was in Christ reconciling to himself those with whom he is not nor ever was offended Nay he was so far from being offended with them that he loved them with such a Love that he did absolutely purpose from the Fall which was long before the coming of Christ in the Flesh to confer Eternal Life upon them Besides the Apostle is not there speaking of any inward Act of God upon the Souls of Persons whereby they are brought to believe in Christ whereby they come to witness their Peace with God Being justified by Faith we have Peace with
God But he is there speaking of the Tenor of the Gospel the word of Reconciliation which was committed unto him and whereof he was a Minister and tells them That God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself The Quarrel began in Adam Sin was that which set God and Man at variance Isa 49. 1. But now the Lord being minded to take whole Adam into Grace and Favour and to found a Universal Covenant of Peace was pleased to appear in Christ that those that were Strangers and afar off might be made near yea the Sons of God But I 'll give you a Scripture that is far from such Objections 't is 1 John 2. 2. He is a Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World Here you plainly see that Christ is a Propitiation for the whole World as opposed to Believers therefore he must needs die for all Now these words were spoken to strengthen the Faith of those that through the subtilty of Satan and prevailing Temptation were fallen or should fall into Sin and thereby raise doubts in their Spirits whether Christ died for them or was a Propitiation for their Sins or not Now the Apostle to remove all doubts and fears out of their Minds tells them That he did not die for some few particular Men only which might have augmented their fears but was a Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World Now this will greatly add to the Comfort and put new Life into a sorrowful tempted Soul one cast down under the sense of Sin to think that Jesus Christ is a Propitiation for his Sins being the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World But pray tell me what could it add to the comfort of those to whom John wrote his Epistle who were weak in Faith to tell them that Christ was a Propitiation for the Sins of all his Elect ones for some few particular Men but a great many yea the far greatest number shall have no part with Christ but shall be damned Would not such a Doctrine rather augment their Fears than their Comforts Would they not be ready to say Ah then I fear I am none of those that Christ is a Propitiation for Therefore the Apostle puts the matter out of all doubt by telling them that Christ by his Death became a Propitiation or made a full Atonement for the Sins of all Men without excepting so much as one Person in the whole World But that Christ died for all I prove from 1 Tim. 2. 6. Who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time If you look back to the Context of this Verse you will find Paul exhorting his Son Timothy That Prayer and Supplication c. should be made for all Men and telling him That so to do was good and acceptable in the sight of God And to prove that it is good and acceptable in the sight of God to pray for all he lays down this for his ground That God would have all Men to be saved And for a further confirmation that it is the Will of God that all Men without exception should be saved he gives this reason for it that Christ Jesus gave himself a Ransom for all so that Christ's dying for all gives us a ground for Faith to pray for all Men which we could not do if Christ did not die for all 2 Cor. 5. 14. I would have you Philetus to consider 2 Cor. 5. 14. a Text that you cannot well cavil with the Apostle thus argues If one died for all then were all dead but one died for all therefore all were dead The thing that the Apostle is about to prove is that all were dead and the medium to prove it is that one died for all so that if it be clear that all Men were dead by the fall of the first Adam it must be clear that Life was offered to all by the death of the second Adam for if Christ died for none but the Elect then the Elect only were dead for the word all must signify as many in the minor as it doth in the major or else the Apostle's reasoning would be fallacious And so Rom. 11. 32. God hath concluded all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all Now if this last all belongs to none but the Elect then none but the Elect were concluded in unbelief but it is plain that all without exception were first or last concluded in unbelief therefore the Mercy was meant to all without exception Philet But you know very well that this word all men is not of necessity to be taken simply and universally for all without exception of any but is very often taken in a restrained signification when a part is put for the whole as in Exod. 9. 6. and all the Cattel of Egypt died that is all that were in the Field and so 2 Sam. 16. 22. and Isa 2. 2. and Mat. 3. 5. Jerusalem and all Judea and all the Regions c. that is very many Men of those places and so John 10. 8. Act. 2. 5 17. Act. 10. 12. Mat. 4. 23. Luke 11. 42. with many others Philad Tho it be true that the word all Men is not at all times to be taken for all Men simply or universally yet it never signifies the smallest number in comparison with a greater however it cannot be taken here for some of all sorts of Men or for the Elect only or the like but of necessity for all Men universally If we take it in any other sense we make the Apostle to argue very weakly for mind here is first a Duty enjoyn'd I will that prayers c. and to stir us up to so good a work he tells us that 't is good and acceptable in the sight of God because his Will is that all should be saved God is so kind so tender-hearted that out of his love and pity he would have all Men injoy a happy and blessed end and therefore in Charity we must pray for all no Men tho never so wicked and profane are to be excluded from our Prayers unless we know them to be such as have committed that unpardonable Sin against the Holy Ghost 1 John 5. 16. Now if by all Men we must needs understand some of all sorts of Men or the Elect only then the all we are to pray for reacheth and extendeth not so far as God extendeth his Love Again if we must take it in your sense then we may read the Apostle thus 'T is good and acceptable in the sight of God that we should pray for all Men without exception of any because God would have all his Elect to be saved surely the word all in both places is of the same extent Much of the same nature is 2 Pet. 3. 9. wherein the gracious and good Will of God toward all Men appeareth there it is said the Lord is not willing that any should perish here the
Lombardus as quoted by Morton Page 51 when a Man speaks any thing contrary to his mind And saith Aquinas this is properly to lie when a Man signifies in outward words another thing than that which he thinketh in his mind And whereas you charged Universal Redemption as savouring of Popery pray what greater piece of Popery than their mental Reservation and wicked Equivocation saying one thing and meaning another Have there not been whole Volumes writ to detect it But if professing one thing while the contrary is intended be Holy in God why not in them or if some things in God may be Holy which are abominable in Man by what Rule must we distinguish between Holy things in God which are Holy also when found in Men and such other Holy things in God which when found in Men are abominable Is it not of dreadful consequence to impute that to God which common and approved Reason judges to be unrighteous in Men His Works are so just his Word so pure and so merciful is he in his Ways that there is no appearance to the contrary and in performing his Covenant and Promises he is most highly faithful and constant and is in no wise a Dissembler that under such most affectionate Expressions of Love and Kindness to Man should conceal settled Purposes and Intentions of doing them the greatest Mischief Surely in God's Revealed Will cannot possibly lurk any mental Reservation or Insincerity What a dishonour and a crime of a high Nature would it be if Persons should deal thus with an earthly King as you do with the King of Heaven Suppose a King should set forth a Proclamation of a General Pardon to all his Subjects that had offended him without excepting High Treason or any other Offence whatsoever yet if they will but repent submit to his Mercy sue forth their Pardon they shall have it And now after all this is proclaimed throughout the Nation others should assume to proclaim that which is quite contrary that tho it was the King's Pleasure to offer such a General Pardon yet it was the King's Secret Will yea before the Proclamation came forth that the greatest number should never reap any benefit by it Can any Man indued with reason and understanding any ways think that such Officers proclaimed that which made for the King's Honour Or if it was a Truth would not the Soul of a Person abominate such pretending to Kindness and Mercy And now whereas the King of Kings the God of Heaven hath vouchsafed an Act of Grace and in tender compassion and pure love to all hath sent forth a General Pardon tendering his Grace to all telling us that for his Son's sake he will freely and fully pardon all our Sins whatsoever if we will but accept of it and if we sue forth our Pardon we shall have it freely and the God of Heaven to make this known to the World has sent forth his Messengers to proclaim these glad-tidings to all without excepting one Glory to God high on Earth Peace Good-will towards all which was proclaimed by a Heavenly Herald And how hath the Lord both in the Old and New Testament proclaimed and professed himself a God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth yea how earnestly doth he allure Persons to repentance promising them pardon of Sins with all the Blessings of the World to come and seriously and solemnly protests and swears that he desires not their Death he would not have one Soul of them perish But now if after all this others should come and say that tho it be the Revealed Will and Pleasure of God that such a General Pardon should be divulged to the World yet it was the Secret Will of God yea before this Proclamation came forth it was decreed that he would cast out of his favour and devote to Eternal Burning millions of his most excellent Creatures Men Women and Children that never offended him any otherwise than Children may offend before they are born Do you think such words any ways advance the Glory Holiness and Excellency of God No thus under pertence of glorifying of him you most dishonour him as if God did not really intend that Grace and Good to Man which in his Word he tenders to them and so Persons must be damned because God did not really and in good earnest call them which is a thing more fit to be applied to Cheaters and Juglers than to the righteous pure single and secret Will of God Is it not pity you should impute that to the Lord which is proper to none but the worst of his Creatures surely all God's Decrees are perfectly just and whatsoever he wills is perfectly good neither can he will any thing but what in it self is Righteous Just and Equal and to say of things unequal in themselves yet done by God that they are just is a great dishonour to him Wither's Paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer How dare you speak of such a Will to be in God which he hath no where revealed in his Word His Secret Will how come you to know it and if it be revealed how is it Secret Philet God by his Revealed Will sheweth that he approveth of the Salvation of such Persons that perish as Good and sheweth what Persons ought to do and what would be well-pleasing to God was it found in them yet he doth not will it with his Effectual Will for if he did he would give forth strength and such a power that they should not but believe Philad These are but the perplexing Subtilties of the Schools and but Briers and Thorns to intangle Men in endless disputations What doth God approve of the Salvation of Persons as good by his Revealed Will and hath he by his Secret Will positively determined and decreed from Eternity their destruction which is quite contrary to what he approves takes pleasure and delight in what woful work is here As to his Effectual Will if you mean by it his absolute irresistable Power in converting of Sinners beyond all possibility of perishing or the irresistable efficacy and predetermining Power of Grace this is such a Will as you cannot prove to be in God Philet No surely whatsoever the great and glorious God hath purposed and intended he will do shall certainly be effected by his Glorious Power 'T is a dishonour to the most High God as if he was uncertain to effect what he purposeth and intends to do for seeing God's Power is infinite and he being no less than the Omnipotent God he cannot fail or fall short to effect whatsoever he wills and pleaseth to do in the conversion of any he pleaseth to convert or in any other thing that is his Will and Pleasure to effect and do his Counsel shall stand and he will do all his Pleasure Philad 'T is true God is Omnipotent and can do whatsoever he pleaseth tho all Creatures opposed him yet God can many times do more than indeed
he ever will his Will is regulated and is acted forth agreeable to his Wisdom Righteousness and Justice and according to his Divine Nature and as God hath made Man a rational Creature so he very seldom forceth Man to repentance against his will yet is the Lord pleased so to will the Salvation of all yea with such an effectual Will that he doth that which is of a proper tendency and sufficient thereunto that unless they wickedly and wilfully oppose the Means they should be saved yea so far as is any ways meet for him to act or assist towards their Salvation Isa 5. 4. What could I have done more that is tho God could have done more than he did yet it was not consistent to that method and stated order of things but more of this hereafter Mar. No Text of Scripture must be understood as to make God Impotent instead of Omnipotent or in the least reflect upon the Soveraignty Immutability and Omnipotency of God as if he could be disappointed in bringing to pass what he hath purposed and intends to do Philad Nor no Scripture must be so interpreted as to disparage or undervalue the Love and Bounty of God to all Men the general tenour of them representing in the highest degree the Goodness of God and as God is perfect in Power perfect in Wisdom so also perfect in Goodness yea Perfection it self any Defect is inconsistent with a perfect Being and above all a Defect in Goodness which gives a Value to the other Attributes of God If therefore some things in Providence or some Passages appear in Scripture that we cannot exactly reconcile but that they seemingly oppose this Point we ought to impute that to our deficiency in understanding and to try if they may not reasonably bear another sense or reserve them to be understood hereafter than to adhere to them in contradiction to the general Tenour of Scripture and the Light of Nature and Reason seeing nothing can be alledged which with that same clearness oppugns the perfection of Goodness in God as others may which assert it And seeing the Nature of Goodness consists in the taking a pleasure in the Happiness of others and in promoting it We must conclude from hence that God hates no Man but loves and desires the Happiness of all Men and that for his Will-sake he reprobates none either from Eternity or in Time to think otherwise greatly opposes God in all his Attributes it opposes his Mercy God is in Scripture declared to be a merciful God Exod. 34. 6. 1 John 4. 16. God is Love yea called the Father of Mercy and God of all Consolation yea rich in Mercy Ephes 2. 4. abundant in Mercy Pray see Psal 33. 5. He loveth Righteousness and Judgment the World is full of the Goodness of the Lord And Mica 7. 18. He retains not his Anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy And Psal 145. 9. the tender Mercies of God are over all his Works But how God could delight in Mercy and how his tender Mercies are over all his Works I do not understand What doth God delight in Mercy when he hath made such a Decree which sheweth more Severity towards poor Man than Mercy Are his tender Mercies over all his Works when for one only Sin and that once committed and that not in their own Persons he hath shut the greatest part of Mankind up under invincible Sin and Damnation not affording them a Mediator which was the greatest and most choice Act and Manifestation of God's Mercy that he could bless the World withal Now all the Attributes of God must take place upon Man And I beseech you tell me where the tender Mercy of God takes place upon those for whom Christ did not die for you will own there is Mercy in God as well as Justice do you not Philet Yea I do and God by his Decree doth fully manifest both Mercy and Justice his Justice to the Reprobate and his Mercy to the Elect. Philat Well but do you think that one Attribute of God destroys another Doth Justice in God wholly devour and eat up his Mercy leaving no room to take place upon some Persons Philet God who is the Supreme Lord of all may do what he will with his own when Man had sinned he was at perfect liberty whether he would shew Mercy to any or not and if he had made no provision at all for any of fallen Man it could not be termed an Act of Unmercifulness Philad I did not ask you what an Almighty God can or might do but I ask you how or wherein the Goodness and Love of God is manifested to those for whom Christ did not die Or how God who is the Perfection of all Goodness Mercy and Bowels of Pity can be said to bear any Love Good-will or Affection unto those before any personal or actual Sins by them committed upon whose ruin he was so bent that he hath wholly left them without all possibility of escaping Eternal Misery and Torment How can Mercy stand with such a Decree Doth not the Apostle Paul Tit. 3. 4. speak of the appearance of the Love of God our Saviour toward all Men But can there be any appearance of Love and Kindness to those for whom Christ did not die and whom God was resolved from Eternity to exclude from all parts and fellowship in Eternal Life Was not there as much Mercy Kindness and Good-will shewed to the very Devils as to such Men Nay Mr. Keach tells us That if Christ did not die for all God deals more severely with many of Adam's Off-spring than he dealt with the Devils because they were excluded from all terms of Reconciliation for their own actual Disobedience but Mankind only for the Sins of Adam made theirs by Imputation and as they partake of the same Nature Neither is their Condemnation aggravated by Christ's coming as those Persons are for whom Christ did not die Youth 's Celestial Guide Much to the same purpose you may see God's Love to Mankind pag. 136 137 138. That altho the Devils are set forth in Scripture for the greatest Spectacles of God's ireful Severity yet is God more merciful to them than to such Men and though they are both sure to be damned yet in three things Man is in a far worse condition by such a Decree 1. In their appointment to Hell not for their own personal Sins for which only the Devils are damned but for the Sin of another that lived and sinned long before they were born 2. In their unavoidable destination to endless Misery under a colour of the contrary the Devils as they are decreed to Damnation so they know it and look for no other But Men that are appointed to Wrath are yet fed up with hopes of Salvation and made to believe that if they perish 't is not because God would not have Mercy upon them but because they will not be saved when indeed there is no such
the Flesh partake of the real Virtue of his Death as if he had been already slain So also Christ came into the World not to condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved John 3. 17. and came to seek and to save that which was lost to shed his Blood to bear unutterable dolours not only for them that were saved but for those also who through their unbelief and impenitency were not saved their unbelieving and rejecting of Gospel-Grace rendred them obnoxious to just punishment for saith the same Apostle the Gospel was preached to them that were dead 1 Pet. 4. 6. tho they had not the Letter of the Gospel preached to them as with us at this day yet they had the spiritual Substance and Effect of the Gospel preached to them and therefore 't is said that Christ went by his Spirit and preached to them and their unbelief and rejection was a Sin against the Covenant of Grace for those before Christ and those since Christ came are for the main under one and the same Covenant yea essentially and for substance the same the same Christ exhibited thro Types and Shadows which we have revealed in the Gospel with open face and the same substantial Duties as Repentance Faith and Obedience with the same spiritual Blessings as pardon of Sin Justification and Eternal Life So that all Persons being under one Covenant of Grace made with all Mankind in the Promised Seed and this Covenant the same for Substance both before and since Christ's coming and all Persons that were saved before Christ being saved by a Covenant of Grace and through believing on him that was to come it necessarily follows that the want of Faith and Obedience to the Lord Jesus according to their measure of knowing him and believing on him was the cause of their condemnation see Heb. 4. 2. compared with Chap. 3. 18 19. So that I cannot see how it should sound more harshly in the Ears of all Christians that Christ should sweat drops of Blood and bear the Curse of the Law for those that were in Hell if you will have it so when he died than that he should sweat drops of Blood c. for those that after his coming in the Flesh shall go to Hell notwithstanding all that Christ hath done for them so that Christ did really intend the Good and Benefit of those that perished through unbelief before his coming in the Flesh as well as after if not so I know not how any could use potent Arguments to perswade them to love and live to him Moderat Come Philadelphus the thing to be proved is this whether Christ died equally for all and every Man this I suppose you will not easily grant for if Christ died equally for every Man they would have equally the means of Salvation granted to them Philad This is but a lame proof that Christ died not for all Men equally c. as if difference of Means vouchsafed to Men should argue different Intentions in God touching their Salvation You may as well prove by this Rule that Christ died not equally for the Elect themselves as the other they do not equally alike injoy the Means of Grace nay by this a Man but meanly read in the Scriptures may prove that God bore more good-will to many that perish than towards many of the Elect for many perish under more excellent and greater means of Salvation than are vouchsafed to many that are saved stretching out his hands all the day long to a disobedient People Isa 65. 2. Mat. 15. 28. 11. 20 21. 8. 10. 1 Pet. 3. 20. And in Mat. 22. 3. our Saviour by that Parable holds forth to us these two things 1. That the Death of Christ signified by the Oxen and Fatlings slain was provided by the King for those that never came to partake of the Feast but were rejected because they made light of the Invitation and went away one to his Farm c. yet Jesus Christ with the Blessing accruing thereby to Mankind was equally intended for those that perish through their unworthiness as well as for those that are saved for they did neglect so great a blessing and when there was a prize put in their Hands they had no heart to use it Pro. 17. 16. yet notwithstanding the neglect on their part God was not wanting one his paâ—… to provide good things for them The 2d Thing observable is this the King's Servants took more pains with those that never came to partake of the Supper than with those that came for those that rejected the Invitation were again and again called whenas the other came at the first Philet but if the Feast had been provided for all and God had called them in good earnest they would have come or been compelled to it as those were that tasted of it Philad If the King had intended that those who were invited should never have tasted of his Supper questionless he would never have invited them for it 's but mockage to use Arguments to perswade Persons to accept of a Feast that was only and wholly provided for another with as intent to exclude those that were invited Thus do you make the God of Truth a meer Deluder of poor miserable Mankind to cause his Ministers to proclaim throughout the World the glad tidings of Grace and Salvation prepared for all Flesh and by the Gospel open the Bosom of his Love to all poor Sinners and by sweet loving and gracious words offer to them forgiveness of Sins Life and Salvation and yet never intend to bestow it upon them what is this but to represent God as hollow-hearted But it is clear that in the ministry of the Word God doth as well perswade the obstinate and many of those that never believe as he doth those that do as it is said 2 Chron. 36. 15 16. That the Lord God of their Fathers sent to them by his Messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his People c. But they mocked the Messengers despised his Word and misused his Prophets till the Wrath of the Lord rose up against them And thus doth the Lord in this Gospel-day being every way as serious in his pressing the Gospel upon those that remain obdurate to the last as upon those that in time come to believe as Paul preached the same Gospel at Athens to those that mocked as to those that clave to him and believed Acts 17. 32 34. so that difference of Means doth not argue different Intention in God touching their Salvation Yet it is not denied but that God doth in his providential Dispensations put a difference between one man's spiritual Opportunities and another's all do not injoy equal Conveniencies and Opportunities nor have Ministers the same efficacy and power for conversion and edification c. Nor are Men equally free from or subject to temptations and occasions of Sin with many such I do not say
to walk by 't is far more safe to leave them to the Lord who will not gather where he hath not strewed than thus to censure them for where much is given much is required Mr. Baxter tells us More proof pag. 95. That as the Jews had by Promises Prophecies and Types more means to know God than other Nations so they were answerably obliged to more Knowledg and Faith than other Nations were that had not or could not have their means Yea Mr. Calvin in his Epistle to the French New Testament as quoted by Mr. Goodwin says After Adam was left in such confusion he was fruitful in his cursed Seed to bring forth a Generation like to himself vicious perverse void and destitute of all Good and abounding in Evil nevertheless the Lord of his Mercy who doth not only love but is himself Love and Charity being yet willing by his infinite Goodness to love that which is not worthy of Love hath not altogether lost and overwhelmed Men as their Sins did require but hath supported them in Sweetness and Patience giving them time and leasure to return to him and set themselves to that Obedience from which they had strayed and tho he did suffer them to go after the desires and wishes of their own Hearts without Law without Government without any correction by his Word yet he hath given them warning enough which might have incited them to seek taste and find him to know and honour him as it behoveth them for he hath lifted up every where and in all places and things his Ensign and Arms that there were none could pretend ignorance of the knowledg of so Sovereign a Lord for that in all parts of the World in Heaven and in Earth he hath written and engraven the Glory of his Might Goodness Wisdom and Eternity St. Paul therefore saith true That the Lord never left himself without Witness even towards those to whom he hath not sent the Knowledg of his Word forasmuch as all Creatures might be Witnesses and Messengers of his Glory unto all Men to draw them to seek him and having found him to welcome him and do him Homage according to the Dignity of a Lord so Good so Powerful so Wise and Eternal and also did help each other in its place to this Guest for the Birds singing sung God Beasts cried aloud to him the Elements stood in fear of him Mountains reasoned with him Rivers and Fountains cast their Eyes upon him Herbs and Flowers smiled upon him altho indeed there was no necessity to seek him very far by reason that each one might find him in his own self being that we are all kept up and preserved by his Virtue dwelling in us in the mean while for to manifest more amply his Goodness and Infinite Clemency among Men he hath not contented himself to instruct them all by such Documents as we have exprest but hath especially given to understand his Voice to a certain People Surely here Mr. Calvin hath acknowledged that God hath vouchsafed sufficient Means to all whereby to come to the knowledg of him and consequently to repent and believe in him Philet But without Christ and a Work of Grace upon the Heart and Faith in him none can be saved doth not our Saviour tell Nicodemus John 3. 5. Except a Man be born again of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God That is he cannot be saved Philad Do you think our Saviour did there mean the Kingdom of Glory Philet Yea doubtless Philad I rather think that Christ spoke it of the Kingdom of Grace or the Visible Church of Christ that none could not or at least wise ought not come into it without Regeneration and holy Baptism yet may a Person be a Member of the Universal Church yea and be received a Member of the Triumphant Church in Heaven that may not be a Member of the Visible Church of Christ here on Earth for there are two sorts of Persons that cannot in an ordinary way be regenerated and born again which yet may and shall go to Heaven to wit Children and Idiots So tho it is a truth that without Jesus Christ there can be no Salvation yet if there is no Salvation without believing on the Name of the Lord Jesus what then will become of these and all dying Infants who neither have Faith nor are regenerated and yet they shall have Salvation by him Now as God hath one way to bring Persons of Age to Heaven and another way to bring infants why may not those that never had the means to know the Mediator particularly and distinctly have Salvation by him Infants and those many millions of Heathens in some remote parts of the Earth to whom the Gospel was never preached must unavoidablely and eternally perish if God hath provided no other means of Salvation by Christ than such a way of preaching it as is vouchsafed to us We know that the Judgment of God will be according to Equity he knows what he hath laid down what he hath given and what to require and how to reward every Man according to his Works and his Mercys are infinitely extended over all his Works and he is not so severe as to exact more than frail Man is able to perform but according to what light and knowledg he hath given him and whosoever worship God and do his Will according to the manifestation which he hath given them of his Will shall be accepted of him Acts 10. 34 35. He that improves one Talent well shall be accepted as well as he that improves five for surely the Almighty will never require any more of a Man than he hath given him therefore I believe that all those that are obedient to that Light or Law which the Lord hath given them endeavouring according to their measure an exact conformity to the Divine Will shall be happy and it would be a great piece of uncharitableness to exclude them from all interest in Christ and to allow none to have any saving benefit by Christ's Death but such as own the true Orthodox Faith as it is called by some we may by this damn by wholesale not only all the Gentile Nations but also most other Christians who have erred in Judgment and have unwittingly mistaken the Truth 〈◊〉 God forbid Tho many in our days 〈◊〉 that without hopes or sense of their â—ondition exclude them from any part in Christ or the Church of God as did the Jews of old who reputed themselves the only Children of the Kingdom boasted of their Privileges as having Abraham to their Father and cried the Temple of the Lord how much soever they abused the means and neglected God and reputed the Gentiles but Castaways not being circumcised nor brought into the visible Jewish Church-state yet had the Lord a regard to them when the Visible Church-state extended it self no farther than the Familys of Abraham Isaac and Jacob as appears by the effect
before wholly to be ascribed to the Grace of God in Christ as the principal and primary Cause Now as to Faith and Repentance being the Gift of God this is a truth God is said to give Faith and Repentance yea to intend the Salvation of all Men when he vouchsafeth a sufficiency of means Now Faith is taken many ways sometimes and very frequently 't is taken for the Gospel Acts 6. 7. Gal. 1. 23. So it is the Gift of God and he is said to give Faith and Repentance when he gives the Gospel which is the Word of Faith and so Faith is the Gift of God and when any Soul is by the goodness of God led to repentance God is said to give Repentance Also God gives the power or ability to repent and believe or else Man could do neither yet doth not God's Grace destroy our Duty tho God gives not only Grace necessary but also sufficient for yielding Faith and Obedience yet the Act or Duty of believing is not God's Work but Man's Heb. 11. Rom. 10. 17. James 3. 2. And the Person that is regenerate must be so far active in the Work that the Work it self may be as truly and properly ascribed unto Man and called his as it is ascribed to God and called his Gift now this you must believe unless you have so far forsaken your Reason as to say that Christ acts the Creature 's Actions and so Jesus Christ repents and Jesus Christ believes and Man doth nothing But surely we stand bound to believe repent and obey the Lord if we expect Salvation these are our own acts and 't is impossible they should be the acts of Christ for he that is said to act any action is said to do it Now if when we are exhorted to do these Duties Christ should do them for us while we sit still what sense must we make of Scripture must Jesus Christ break off his Sins by Repentance and amend his evil ways and doings or must Christ believe in Christ or walk in the steps of Christ And from hence it will infallibly follow that Persons shall be damned because God did not only make them Believers by an irresistible Power but also act their Work too Saith Paul Rom. 8. If ye through the Spirit not the Spirit without you nor ye without the Spirit intimating that Man must be an Agent in the Work it must be his own act and therefore he is not wholly passive neither have we ground to believe God will work these in such a way as shall be impossible to be frustrated Philet But if God works Conversion in a resistible way still Free-Grace loseth the triumph and Free will takes the Crown but when God works he works irresistibly Men cannot resist his Will if he works none can hinder it Philad I believe that God hath and still works and none can be able to hinder such are the Works of Creation and Redemption c. When Man was fallen none could hinder the Lord from setting his Love upon him nor hinder him from shewing Mercy to him in sending his only Son to die for them nor hinder the planting of his Will and Light in their Hearts convincing them of Sin Nor could the Jews of old or any in our days hinder or prevent God from rising early and sending his Prophets and Ministers to call Persons to Repentance nor hinder him from administring Grace and Mercy to them nor is it in the power of Man to frustrate God in raising up Persons from the dead in the Resurrection and setting the Godly with Christ in Glory and all the Rejecters of his Grace and Love in endless Misery Neither do I deny but God hath and may still if he please convert some by an irresistible Power we must not care to limit the Holy One of Israel in any of his ways yet it is not God's usual way of working to force Persons against their Wills to be Holy and to accept of Life but he is pressing by his Holy Spirit and by his Word and Ministers which is the ordinary way that the Lord takes to beget Faith c. and therefore Gospel-Ministers are said 2 Cor. 6. 1. to be workers together with God that is Ministers do co-operate with God in order to one and the same effect not that Ministers in their pressing and preaching should so work with God as to be able to do as much as God himself doth in perswading Men but rather they work after one and the same way Ministers in their preaching incline and move the Heart of Men to accept of Christ and this he doth perswadingly without forcing or necessitating their Wills to such or such Election this is God's usual way of working in the dispensation of his Divine Will Philet But I tell you 't is effected by the irresistible act of free Grace Persons are altogether passive in the work of Conversion yea have no more power to stir than Lazarus had when he had lain four days in the Grave Persons are dead in Sins and Trespasses and what less than the almighty Power of God can cause them to live a spiritual Life I do not know You ought not to believe there is any annext Power in the act of Conversion doth not the Apostle Ephes 1. 19 20. speak of the exceeding greatness of the Lord's Power wrought in them that believe according to his mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead Philad As for your urging Christ and Lazarus being both dead to prove Persons as unable to act in Conversion it is impertinent for tho the Lord in raising up Christ did the work wholly of himself by his mighty Power neither was Lazarus able to act any thing in the Grave towards restoring his Life yet in the Work of conversion the Lord comes to a Creature which he hath by free Grace furnished with Abilities to do what he requires of him And Lazarus after he heard the Voice of the Lord and received Life was active and came forth and so when Persons hear the Voice of the Lord and are thereby raised from a death in Sin or a deadly custom of Sinning to live soberly justly and godly this is said to be a raising from the Dead and a new Creation begotten again and by Faith and Repentance making new Creatures tho the Lord bestoweth Grace sufficient for the yielding to the Voice of the Lord when he calleth them by the Gospel yet through the alone proper fault of Man it becomes unfruitful for the Lord doth not usually come to Persons in such a mighty Whirlwind as 1 Kings 19. 11. to force their consent and carry them headlong to their duty and irresistibly compel them to embrace eternal Happiness and shew such a Miracle of his mighty Power as he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead or upon Lazarus when he had lain four days dead in the Grave Now it is true the Power by
that our Ministers preach the general Love of God as much as you do Philad I know it they are forced so to do or to preach themselves out of doors very few being so true to their Opinion as one I lately heard of that after he had been exhorting his Hearers a great while to Dutys at last told them That he did not know whether Christ died for one Soul amongst them And I believe very few ever heard any of your way that have managed any Theme but are necessitated to assert and own it otherwise such their Discourse would be as inconsistent in it self as it is far from Truth tho many in their Sermons speak much in their Exhortations to Holiness and when they take a Text of Scripture from thence labour to prove their Notions a Truth while they raise their Doctrin and give Reasons they seemingly go on fairly till they come to the Applicatory part where they knock all to pieces Mar. 'T is true many or most are to blame upon that account I have plainly told them of that my self that in private they have been one with me but in publick quite other Men as much for the general Point as you are Philad Tho they are professed Enemies to general Redemption yet it is of that use and necessity that they are forc'd to argue many things upon that account neither can they be without the service of it in the carrying on many of their Affairs yea and many times dissemble it 't is so odious in most Christians Eyes If we look within the Confines of our own Nation very few of the Church of England but own and believe Christ died for all yea I am informed that there are hardly six of your Opinion in both Universities The Quakers generally not one that I hear of but look upon it unworthy the belief of a Christian Not to mention any others you your selves are greatly divided about it and the most zealous of those that hold it dare not preach what they believe to the People lest instead of People which you say are as passive in Conversion as the Stones in the Walls they should have none but Stones to preach to Mar. Surely if Christ died for all with an intent to save all then all would be â—…ved and how comes it to pass that any miss it Universal Redemption must needs procure universal Salvation Christ's Blood must needs effect that for which it was shed Philad That Persons miss Salvation is not for want of a Jesus nor for want of the free tenders of Grace nor for want of an Advocate none can charge their eternal ruin upon the Lord Hosea 13. 9. but 't is their not believing on the only begotten Son of God their rejecting Light and loving Darkness taking pleasure in Unrighteousness and because they refuse to come at Christ's Call and will not open when he knocks nor take his Counsel nor mind those things that make for their Everlasting Peace but abuse the Lord's patience waiting upon and striving with them and so come at last to perish through their own vile stubborn and wilful Obstinacy Prov. 1. 24 to 32. 2 Pet. 2. 1 2. 2 Thess 2. 10 11 12. God doth not necessitate any to be wicked neither doth he withdraw Grace necessary unless first abused 1 Chron. 28. 9. The Lord is with you while you are with him c. 2 Chron. 24. 20. There is no let in God that all Men may believe and be saved Nay what could God have done more for Man that he hath not done Isa 5. 4. that is what God in his Wisdom thought meet to do and which was most agreeable to those Properties and Principles of Reason and Understanding placed in Man For 1. God hath placed in Man an inward Witness to wit Conscience which if it be hearkned unto will convince of Sin and lead to Duty And not only so but hath discovered by his Word to Men the damning Nature of Sin and hath plainly forewarned Persons that if they will go on in a way of Sin and Disobedience they are like to suffer the Vengeance of Eternal Fire hereby to deter them from Evil. And hath also made many most gracious Promises to those that are faithful and obedient to him of infinite Glory incomprehensible Rewards with the injoyment of the infinite good and gracious God himself in Heaven to Eternity And that Man might escape Eternal Wrath and obtain Life and Glory God that foresaw Man's Fall did from the beginning purpose to provide a way to make Man happy and therefore in infinite Wisdom and tender Mercy contrived the saving lost Man by sending into the World and delivering up unto Death his only Son that so all the Enmity that was between God and poor sinful Man might be renewed and Man through him might have peace with God Ephes 2. 14 15. Rom. 5. 1. And also the Lord stands engaged by Promise to justisy and save Sinners if they believe in his Son and hath promised the assistance of his Infinite Spirit to all those that by true Faith and Love seek it of him Luke 11. whereby Persons may be able to repent and believe and able to oppose Sin and advance forward in the Path of Righteousness and persevere therein to the end Now what could God do more than this So that if any perish their destruction is of themselves Jonah 4. Dr. Holms upon John 6. 37. pag. 17. speaking of God's freely pardoning Sinners and of the Bridegroom and Bride the Church and the Spirit all calling to Sinners to come Rev. 22. 17. saith Therefore why O ye Sons of Men stand you still in a damnable mistaken doubting condition so as not to come to Christ Why will you die you need not perish unless you will perish no Reason in Christ's Will but in your own Will You never improved the least Gift to go forward towards Christ but he prospered it more What would you have more than a Christ suffering a Christ offering a Christ intreating that you may come And in pag. 18. having repeated the same words saith You have a Christ that hath suffered for you a God that hath sent him to you a God that invites you to him and if you come to him you shall not be disappointed the Text saith He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out All which so fully and freely declares the Mind of God and Christ to poor Sinners that nothing can be said against it as Isa 5. 4. Hosea 6. 4. Now O Sinner look about thee God acquits himself therefore the fault must lie upon thee if thou dost not improve what thou hast tho God's Will doth not depend upon Man's Will yet God will be tied to his own Ingagement and do what he hath said Philet Come forbear any farther discourse on this Point we all hold that Man's destruction is of himself there is no damning to misery without relation to sin Philad Well we will wholly
those that walk after their detestable things may bring ruin upon themselves Philet John 10. 29. there you have the Omnipotent God ingaging himself to preserve the Saints or sheep of Christ from either total or final Apostacy Philad John 10. 27 28. My Sheep hear my Voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never perish c. Now I believe that those that are the Sheep of Christ which hearing his Voice follow him perseveringly to the end he will give unto them Eternal Life there 's no danger of perishing so long as they remain the Sheep of Christ Philet This cavil is cut off in the next Words neither shall any pluck them out of my hands therefore neither Sin the Devil the World nor Flesh can by any Temptation draw the Sheep of Christ from their Faith Philad How who told you so I give them Eterual Life neither shall may be able to pluck them out of Christ's hands when once they are landed upon the Celestial Canaan they may then say Now Sin Satan and wicked World do your worst But if you would have it respect the Saints as to this Life yet here is not the least shew of the great power of God ingaged for the compelling or necessitating of them to continue such to the end of their days and that they cannot cease from following him or any promise made to those that for the present hear his Voice and follow him yet if they shall quit the Faith and draw back from him they shall never perish how sinful and wicked soever they be Neither is it to be conceived as if Sin Wickedness Looseness and Profaneness could not unsaint Persons or pluck them from under the Lord's protection or separate them from the Love of God but that Sin will separate between Men and their God is evident from Isa 49. 2. But this rather shews That those that continue following of Christ shall be safe under the protection and safeguard of the Lord so as no Creature whatsoever shall be able to separate them from God Martha As God the Father looks for nothing from Man to partake of Christ so it is not Sin nor Evil that can debar any true Believer from a part in Christ It is a desperate thing in any so much as to serve a Writ of Damnation upon a Believer for in doing so they injure the Lord Jesus overthrowing the fulness of his Grace Philad That God hath made an assurance to any of injoying his Love and Favour but upon condition of their Love and Loyalty to him I suppose the Scripture is wholly silent nay such assurance is not honourable for God to make nor meet for a Creature to expect or desire for who can imagine that an infinitely wise and righteous God should ever ingage himself to any People to be their God unless they be also willing to be his People to love and live to him or what ingenuous Soul that truly loves God doth desire to be pardoned and protected and delivered from eternal Misery and injoy all the Blessings of his Child and yet pay nothing of that love and reverence that is due to him for such Mercys And whereas you speak as if it were not Sin and Evil that can make him that was once a Believer less beloved of God the Lord having once loved him he cannot cease to love him this I have answered before But such Expressions as these cannot be short of Blasphemy to put such a Saying as this in the Mouth of the Lord Tho thou addest Drunkenness to Thirst tho thou committest Whoredom Adultery Incest Murder and every ways cast my Commandments behind thy back yet shalt thou be precious in my Eyes and my heart shall be towards thee in the greatest Love and dearest Affection for ever And tho this may seem harsh yet your opinion leads directly to such horrid conceits of God For if Christ be not given Covenant-wise but the Promise of Life is made absolutely without any condition or proviso at all of Persons Love and Loyalty to him then it follows that the obstinate and resolved Sinners the loosest and most debauched Persons may as well lay claim to the Promise of Eternal Life as the most faithful and virtuous in the World and if you say 't is not Absolute it follows that it is Conditional for the wit of Man cannot shew a Medium between these two Philet We do not say that no Believers can fall into Sin fall they may fearfully but not totally and finally Philad Who ever said that the Elect such that believe and persevere to the end ever fell away finally I know none that say any such thing the Question is Whether the Grace of God may not be so resisted Isa 5. 4. Acts 7. 51. Mat. 23. 37. as to cause the Lord to take away his Holy Spirit from them and to suffer them to fall into a state of Perdition I would know why our Saviour hath told us that from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have if it be not for this reason because he hath lavished out his Talent and hath rejected the Power of doing well which was offered him surely there is no better arguing than that Man can resist the Grace of God because he doth and 't is a wonder that such as you are are not confuted by your own experience that Grace is resistible unless you will deny your self to be of the number of the Elect. Surely David had Grace to have done better than he did in the matter of Vriah but he resisted it and lay in his Sin a long time which shews that the precious Vessels of Election may fall away from Grace whether we take it for a gracious Life or for the Love and Favour of God for had he been taken away in his Sin without Repentance he might have perished Philet Ay but David being an elected Person tho he did fall into Sin God almighty decreed that David should repent and return neither could he die until he had repented Philad By these words you seem to hold that had David died before he had repented he had perished which he could not have done if he had not fallen from Grace Mar. The Apostle John 1 John 3. 9. saith Whosoever is born of God cannot commit Sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God he that cannot sin cannot fall either totally or finally Philad What cannot sin at all what then saith the same Apostle That if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves Chap. 1. 8. And so James 3. 2. In many things we offend all we Apostles that are born of God which are regenerate and have the Seed of God abiding in us as much as any yet in many things all of us offend Mar. I do not say commit no act of sin but they sin not as wicked Men
sin Philad I believe the same that Believers considered as to that state they are in cannot sin as wicked Men sin to wit in making a customary trade of Sin but that they may sin with delight yea with deliberation yea plot and cast Projects for the committing of Sin as well as the Wicked witness David 2 Sam. 11. But now the Question is Whether they cannot cease to be Believers and then sin as other Men sin Mar. The Seed of God doth so remain in true Believers that they cannot but continue such yea they must remain Believers while the Seed of God remains in them for that keeps them from sinning as wicked Men sin or from finally falling neither can they do any thing to occasion the Seed of God to be taken away from them Philad This word remain signifies a present abode a present being in him it doth not shew a continuance of being and so it is true that those that are born of God begotten by the immortal and incorruptible Seed the Word of God 1 Pet. 1. 23. James 1. 18. and made partakers of the Divine Nature cannot sin as wicked Men sin so long as the Seed remains but you are to prove that it cannot but remain as Mr. Ives says in his Dispute with Mr. Danson Mar. The Seed is Grace by your own grant and it is for the substance of it incorruptible unperishable 1 Pet. 1. 23. John 3. 9. 17. 3. 10. 28 29. 6. 54. 1 John 5. 13. Peter's Faith failed sadly as to the act but the Seed remained c. and he was kept by the Power of God that he did not finally fall away Philad 'T is true the Seed or the Word of God is in its own nature incorruptible tho all the Men in the whole World should reject it 't is not called incorruptible because it cannot be forsaken or taken from those in whom it hath a residence for the present but because whether it be taken away or forsaken by them or not whether it be received or rejected yet still it remains in it self incorruptible and unperishable But you seem to lay the stress upon the word remain to shew that true Believers cannot fall away now the same Apostle John supposeth that the same Seed or Word might not remain by the word if Chap. 2. 24. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you c. you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father c. and so Chap. 2. 14. I have written to you young Men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you yet that this was subject to be lost appears by ver 28. where he exhorts the same little Children to abide in him that they might not be ashamed at his coming surely the Apostle would not admonish to that which it was impossible should fall out otherwise So Christ promiseth that the Comforter should abide with his Disciples for ever John 14. 6. Yet that doth not suppose that it was impossible for them to fall for he tells them Chap. 15. 2. That every Branch in me mind in me that hears not Fruit he taketh away And vers 10. If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love Christ never said to any of his Disciples That the most abominable Practices you can commit shall never lessen my Love to you nor is it possible you should die in your Sins in the midst of your Impieties there is a Seed of Grace in you that shall keep you from final falling away 'T is true so long as a Man is a true Believer the Seed remains but when once a Man departs from that state then the Seed doth not abide in him so that the word remain or abide doth not imply that it shall never depart the Scripture tells us John 3. 36. That he that believes not the Wrath of God abides upon him doth it follow from hence that it is impossible for him that is an Unbeliever and as such under the abiding Wrath of God to be a Believer So Whoremongers Adulterers Idolaters 1 Cor. 6. 10. Heb. 13. 4. are threatned with the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven without any mention made that if they repent afterwards the Punishment shall be reversed yet would it not be strange Divinity to affirm That no such kind of Sinners shall enjoy Life and Salvation upon their Repentance So God promiseth Life and Salvation to just and faithful Men without mentioning the loss of Life and Salvation they are like to sustain in case they turn aside yet manifest it is in Scripture such are threatned with death and destruction as Ezek. 18. 24 25. 33. 12 13. it being ordinary in Scripture to predict unto Men both Future Punishment and Reward according to their present Ways whether Good or Evil. Philet I believe many Believers fall away but by their falling away they plainly declare they were never of the number of real Saints Philad The Apostle speaks of some in his days that made Shipwrack of Faith c. Philet Ay what Faith was it It was only a temporary Faith or a light believing the Gospel such as believe for a season and then fall away like the stony ground but this differs much from true Justifying Faith Philad He that received the Seed in stony ground might be a true Believer as well as the other for that Faith which springs from the same Seed of the Gospel must needs be of one and the same nature and kind neither doth the withering of a man's Faith in time of Temptation prove he never had true Faith or that it differs in nature from that which is real and endures to the end the Scripture owns no such distinction that I know of neither do I see but that that Faith which indureth but a short time may be as real and true in Nature as that which abides all a Man's days But if a temporary Faith a Faith that is not accompanied with Justification and Salvation be the Faith that these are said to fall from then is it such a Faith that they are exhorted to persevere in and surely he would not exhort them to keep such a Faith with which they might perish and which would certainly fail them neither can you possibly prove that those that made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience never were true Believers Besides if to fall from a false hypocritical dead Faith be the Apostacy that the Scripture speaks of surely it would not be a Sin of so high a provocation to God Heb. 10. ult as the Scriptures declare it to be and which you in your preaching and printing declare it to be But I must away I shall be thought long Philet One word more What say you to John 13. 1. Having loved his own which were in the World he loved them to the end Philad Who questions the continuance of God's or Christ's Love to those that continue in love and
faithful to him The question is of the continuance of our Love to him John 8. 31. If ye continue in my Word c. John 15. 9 10. As the Father hath loved me so have I loved you continue ye in my Love And if ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love Now if there were no danger of losing their Love to Christ there were no need for Christ to exhort them to keep his Commands in order to their abiding in his Love But this place shews that Christ having loved his own he loved them to the end of his days 't is not said of their days but all the time of his abode in the World here 's nothing of the final perseverance of the Saints how desperately wicked soever they be but what if the Lord should so set his Love upon these his beloved Disciples that were given him out of the World by his Father that maugre all the Frailties of the Flesh and the Temptations of the World and the Devil yet none of them should be lost but that they should be carried on through all Difficulties to the fruition of Eternal Glory Doth it prove that because some shall never fall that therefore no true Believer can fall away Pray consider the Parable of the Prodigal Son the lost Groat the lost Sheep doth it not shew that a true Believer may be lost and being lost may be found Moderat I believe God hath elected a certain number to Salvation and those that are given out of the World to Christ he will not fail to keep them to himself but will by interposing Grace so preserve them that they shall never perish But the others that Christ died for upon condition of their repentance believing and persevering therein to the end I dare not say but some of these may believe for a time and that with a true Faith believe and yet fall away so as to perish these times have afforded many sad and shaking Examples of this kind and I am not strictly certain of my perseverance and so not fully or strictly certain of my own Salvation Philet O what an uncomfortable Doctrine is this of falling from Grace Philad This Doctrine doth not destroy all Christian Comfort but a Life of much Christian Comfort may be had out of it seeing it is the unchangeable Purpose of God to give Life and Salvation to all those that shall persevere in Faith and Holiness to the end and that if they will but quit themselves like Men abstain from all foolish and hurtful Lusts and not wilfully stab their own Souls nor pull Misery upon their own Heads they shall be happy And what tho true Believers may be under a possibility of perishing yet seeing God hath through his bounty vouchsafed unto them so rich and such full proportion of Means thereby to prevent their perishing and to preserve them from Apostacy so that they need not apostatize or perish except they themselves please why should it abate any of their Comforts or Hopes of Salvation because under a possibility of perishing Men may possibly fall into the Fire and be burnt or into the Water and be drowned from the top of Houses and be dashed in pieces yet no Man lives ever a whit the more uncomfortable because under a possibility of suffering these Evils because they know God hath given them Reason and Understanding to preserve them from these things The Apostle Paul knew that he was under a possibility of being a Cast-away 1 Cor. 9. 27. yet how chearfully and at what an excellent rate of comfort did he live I am perswaded saith he Rom. 8. 38 39. that neither death nor life nor things present nor things to come c. The assurance he had that upon a diligent use of the means which God of his Grace had vouchsafed to him he should prevent his being a Castaway made him live at that height of confidence and courage which he did What can no one injoy comfortable hopes of Heaven unless they have a full and perfect assurance of the continuance of the Love of God to them how loosely and profanely soever they live and that if they commit all manner of Sin and Wickedness affront Heaven defy the Almighty laugh Jesus and his Gospel to scorn yet they run no hazard of losing their Souls Indeed such a Doctrine as this and such is the Doctrine of Absolute and Unconditional Perseverance contributes to the peace and comfort of the carnal part in Men and indulgeth to them a liberty of Sin but no Child of God that hath received of that Spirit whereby it can cry Abba Father either wisheth or desires Heaven or Salvation but in the way of holiness and upon that condition which the Lord Christ injoyned it John 15. 10. Nor is it possible that any Man should have comfortable hopes of Heaven or any assurance of being saved unless he hath through Grace discharged those Duties to which the Blessing and Privileges are therein promised This is the Foundation whereupon through Christ to build our Hopes and Comforts and not that God loves us for we know not what reason and that we cannot possibly sin our selves out of his Love but he will infallibly bring us to Heaven no but saith the Apostle 1 John 2. 3 5. Chap. 3. 18 19 20 24. Chap. 5. 18. hereby we know and are assured that we are in God and that he loves us But how comes Persons to this why if we love him and keep his commandments which if we do we shall never fall 2 Pet. 1. 10. But I must beg your excuse at this time I cannot stay only I desire you to consider this one thing concerning falling from true Grace If we consider Faith and Regeneration in themselves they may be lost because nothing in it self is unchangeable but God it cannot be said of any but God that he cannot lie and if so then all Men may lie and that Lie may be our ruin for ought we know Rev. 21. 27. And tho I do not doubt but that there is a State of Grace attainable in this Life from which Persons by the Grace of God shall never fall yet I would not have you affirm of your selves or any others that you cannot fall how wicked soever you live but rather remember we all stand but by Faith and therefore ought not to be high-minded but fear working out our Salvation with fear and trembling not lest God should forsake us but lest we should forsake God FINIS