that place imports a not giving the mollifying Graces of Faith and Repentance and withal a permission of final sin in the Reprobate for it is set in opposition to that mercy which bestows those mollifying Graces and thereby prevents final sin in the Elect. 3. It purposes to punish them with Eternal Damnation for their sin and this is stiled among Divines Pre-damnation or Positive Reprobation And hence Reprobates are said to be vessels of wrath Rom. 9. 22. made for the day of Evil Prov. 16. 4. and of old ordained to condemnation Jude Ver. 4. in the Original we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of old fore-written or registred to this condemnation forewritten not as some would have it in Scripture-prophecies but in the Eternal Decree of God the ordained Event whereof is notably pointed out by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text. To say that men are fore-written in a Decree to condemnation is very proper but to say that they are forewritten in a Prophecy to condemnation is very incongruous for a prophecy is of an Event and not to it as a Decree is In that place where 't is said that Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 3. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports not a Decree but a setting forth or lively painting out of Christ for there is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at all as in the former Text but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whom before the eyes Jesus Christ was set forth But the plain meaning of the former Text is they were decreed to this condemnation viz. to spiritual Judgments which the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 specially points at and by consequence to Eternal Damnation also Now touching this Triple act of Reprobation I shall enquire 1. Who is the Author thereof 2. What are the things decreed therein 3. To whom those things are decreed 4. What is the Impulsive Cause thereof 1. Who is the Author thereof Even the same great God who is the Author of Election he who chuses some passes by others he who hath mercy on some hardens others Grace and Glory are at his dispose the Keys of Heaven and Hell are in his hands alone In some he prevents final sin by the mollifying Graces of Faith and Repentance others he leaves to final sin actual or at least original Some he raises up out of the Hell of their Corruption into an Heaven of Glory others he tumbles down from one Hell to another from the Hell of Iniquity to the Hell of Misery This is the Almighty Potter who out of the same lump of corrupted Mankind makes one Vessel to honour and another to dishonour and all the while the earthen Pitcher must not strive with his Maker or say Why hast thou made me thus but rather hasten down into the Abyss of his own Nullity and Pravity and from thence adore the infinite heights of Sovereignty and Equity in the Divine Decrees 2. What are the things decreed therein These I shall consider according to the Triple Act thereof 1. As for the first Act of Preterition or Non-election the thing decreed is the not giving of Grace and Glory to the Reprobates 1. 'T is the not giving of Grace unto them Not that there is a preterition of them as to all kind of Grace for Reprobates may be Children of the kingdom Matth. 8. 12. called to the marriage-supper Matth. 22. 12. and coming may eat and drink in Christ's presence Luk. 13. 26. they may be enlightned and partakers of the holy Ghost and taste the good word of God and the powers of the world to come Hebr. 6. 4 5. and which is a very high expression they may be said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to believe in the name of Jesus Joh. 2. 23. But that there is a preterition of them as to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those better things which accompany and by a near contiguity touch upon Salvation Heb. 6. 9. as to such a precious Faith Love in incorruption Holiness of truth Repentance unto life real and thorough Conversion as are found in the Elect. There is not then a preterition as to all kind of Grace no nor all kind of preterition as to saving Grace for God doth will the Conversion of Reprobates in a double manner 1. God wills their Conversion Voluntate simplicis complacentiae Conversion even in a Reprobate would make joy in Heaven it would be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 grateful and well-pleasing to God if we believe him swearing by his life his pleasure or delight is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the wicked mans turning Ezek. 33. 11. God delights in his Image where-ever it be 2. God wills their Conversion Voluntate virtuali vel ordinativâ Mediorum for the right understanding whereof I shall lay down four things 1. The proper end and tendency of all means is to turn men unto God within the Sphere of the Church such is the end and tendency thereof Why did Christ come but to turn every one from his iniquities Acts 3. 26 Why did he preach but that his hearers might be saved Joh. 5. 34 Why did the Apostle warn and teach every man but to present every man perfect in Christ Col. 1. 28 John's Baptism was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 3. 11. Church-censures were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 10. 8. Even the delivering to Satan was for the destruction of the flesh 1 Cor. 5. 5. Conversion is the true Centre of the Means Nay without the Sphere of the Church the true end and tendency of things is such that God might be seen in every creature Rom. 1. 20. Sought and felt in every place Acts 17. 27. Witnessed in every showre Acts 14. 17. Feared in the sea-bounding sand Jer. 5. 22. Humbled under in every abasing providence Dan. 5. 22. Turned to in every judgement Amos 4. 11. In a word the end and tendency of all God's works is that men might fear before him Eccl. 3. 14. The whole World is a great Ordinance at it is in it self preaching forth the power and goodness of God who made it and as it is the unconsumed Stage of so many crying sins preaching forth the clemency and mercy of God who spares it and dashes it not down about the sinners ears All the goodness and forbearance of God leads men to repentance Rom. 2. 4. That piece of Gospel Whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy seems legible in his patience for it may be naturally and rationally concluded That that God who in his clemency spares men though sinners will in his mercy pardon them when repenting and returning This is the true duct and tendency of his patience even that men might turn and repent 2. The tendency of the Means to Conversion is such that if men under the administration thereof turn not unto God the only reason lies within themselves in their own corrupt hearts If God purge and men are not purged 't is because there is lewdness in their
done good or evil Artaxerxes decreed that Jerusalem should not be built again because upon search of his Records he found that it had been a rebellious City Ezra 4. 19 21. Should God have founded his Decree of Preterition and Non-election on a Prescience of humane Rebellion the holy City of the Church had never been built nor the divine Image ever repaired therein All men had eternally lay as Sodom and Gomorrah in the dust and rubbish of Adam's Fall with a line of spiritual confusion stretched upon them Who is there that lives and sins not What man on earth hath not rebelled and vexed God's holy Spirit Even little Infants rebelled in voluntate Adae and besides Imbecillitas membrorum infantilium innocens est non animus infantium Neither yet doth final Impenitency and Infidelity do it for there is no final Impenitency and Infidelity but such as is permitted and permitted it is not but out of the Decree of Preterition and Permission wherefore that Decree cannot be caused thereby Final Impenitency and Infidelity may be considered two ways either as being in actual existence or else as foreseen by the divine Prescience but neither way doth it cause the Decree of Preterition and Permission but presuppose the same Not as it is in actual existence for final Impenitency Infidelity come into being after Permission and Permission flows out of the Decree wherefore final Impenitency and Infidelity coming after Permission are not the Cause of the Decree out of which Permission doth issue Nor yet as it is foreseen by the divine Prescience for the Decree of Preterition and Permission is that very Glass wherein final Impenitency and Infidelity are foreseen for had God made no Decree of Preterition and Permission he had seen all men repenting and believing as the fruit of his effectual Grace unto all had he made that Decree universally touching all he had seen no man repenting and believing Wherefore final Impenitency and Infidelity as foreseen do not cause but presuppose the Decree In a word I conclude That the Decree of Preterition and Permission doth merely depend upon the supreme and sovereign Will of God Neither is there any colour of Injustice in all this for 1. Non-electio as Suarez hath it non est poena ut culpam praerequir at sed est quaedam negatio gratuiti beneficii quod Deus ut supremus Dominus negare potest God may do what he will with his own Election the primum indebitum is God's own therefore he may pass by whom he pleaseth the holy Spirit the fountain of all Faith and Repentance is God's own therefore it may breath only where it lists All Souls and Graces are God's own therefore he may infuse or not infuse Graces into Souls ad placitum Neither is it imaginable that God should be obliged to give restituent Grace to fallen Man when he was not obliged to give custodient Grace to the innocent Angels If Faith and Repentance are the gifts of God may he not suspend them If he be bound to give them why is there ae peradventure put upon some mens Repentance 2 Tim. 2. 25 Why a cannot upon some mens Faith John 12. 39 Why a perhaps upon some mens Forgiveness Acts 8. 22 Why aforbidding upon the means of Grace Acts 16. 6 Why a manifestation to disciples and not to the world Joh. 14. 22 Why a Revelation to babes and not to the wise and prudent Matth. 11. 25 In short God's Election must be either arbitrary or necessary If necessary how is his Election free If arbitrary how is Non-election unjust The donation of Faith and Repentance must be Grace or Debt If Debt why is not the Veil off from every Eye and the Stone out of every Heart Why is not Grace as common as Nature and Saintship as Humanity But if Grace then where it is conferred it is freely conferred out of self-moving mercy and where it is denied it is justly denied out of unaccountable sovereignty 2. In the Permission of final sin there is much of Sovereignty but nothing of Injustice the great God is absolutus faber suae permissionis he could let legions of Angels at once drop out of Heaven into Hell he could let innocent Adam as rare a piece as he was break himself all to shivers by a fall and what may he not permit sinful Worms to do What are Creatures to him If they miscarry how many thousand thousand Worlds are there in the bosom of his Omnipotence If he suffer all Nations to walk in their own ways he doth but let a drop fall off the Bucket or a small dust fly off the ballance he doth but leave Vanity to its own lightness and a Quasi-nothing to its own nullity and defectibility If he suffer sinful Man to run into sin and that finally he doth but leave the Dog to his own vomit the Swine to his own mire the Viper to his own poyson a corrupted piece of old Adam to act 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of his own as the Expression is Joh. 8. 44. He doth but let the fountain of blood flow out the corrupt flesh putrifie the vitious womb of concupiscence conceive and bring forth and the depraved Will of man forge out its own iniquities and fetter and intangle it self with the cords and bonds of its own voluntary rebellions and what Injustice can be in all this especially seeing this Permission is not a subtraction of any inherent Grace but only a suspension of assistent Grace as de facto would impede sin If God be bound to afford such Grace where is the Charter of that engagement If he be not bound thereunto where is the Injustice of that suspension The Saints before a temptation cast down their Souls before God and cry out Nèinducas Lead us not into temptation and after a victory they cast down their Crowns before him and sing out Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ. Wherefore when sin is prevented God's free Grace is to be praised and when sin is permitted God's absolute Sovereignty is to be adored 3. Justice in God is agere juxta condecentiam bonitatis veracitatis suae therefore the Decrees of Preterition and Permission must needs be just because they cross not either his Goodness or his Truth Not his Goodness for that doth not necessitate him either to diffuse one drop of Grace unto fallen Man or to prevent one jot of sin in him nor yet his Truth for notwithstanding the Decrees of Preterition and Permission all the Promises in the great Charter of the Gospel are Yea and Amen not a tittle thereof fails or falls to the ground 2. As the Decree of Preterition and Permission is from God's Will as cloathed with Sovereignty so the Decree of Damnation is from God's Will as cloathed with Justice In the former God acts as supreme Lord according to his transcendent Sovereignty in the latter God acts as a Righteous Judge according to
How could God foreknow that is fore-love them who loved him before If they loved first the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must out it is not Pre-dilection but Post-dilection It remains then that they did believe and love consequently to God's Election and by a divine influence from thence But to go on What is the Predestination here but to a Conformity to the Image of Christ And are Sufferings all the Image of Christ Are and Glory no part thereof What Divine will not blush to say so And how then is not Predestination to these But if Sufferings were all Christ's Image yet are all Sufferings his Image What if they be mere Sufferings such as have no tincture of Faith and Holiness upon them Are these his Image also If not the Predestination to his Image must include in it a Predestination to Faith and Holiness And what is the Calling following upon Predestination Is it a Calling to Sufferings Such a Calling uses to be particularly expressed Hereunto were you called saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 2. 21. and We are appointed hereunto saith S. Paul 1 Thess. 3. 3. But where in all the Scripture doth the word Calling being put absolutely and without such addition ever signifie a Call to Sufferings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we meet with therein but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore the Calling is to Faith and Holiness And what is the Justification which hangs upon Calling If the Calling be to Sufferings are they not justified before that Calling No doubt they are in the instant of believing and how then is Calling set first and Justification last You 'l say this place speaks not of the Justification of their persons but of the Approbation of their cause And where in all this Epistle is the word justifie so taken And why so here Lastly the Called are Justified and the Justified Glorified saith the Apostle And are all those which are called to Sufferings Justified and Glorified The experience of thousands denies it You 'l say they are all justified and glorified if they bear the Cross with Faith and Patience But who dares add an it to Gods Word and in this Text to the two links and not to the former The Apostle faith expresly whom he did Predestinate them he also Called and whom he Called them he also Justified and whom he Justified them he also Glorified In the Original the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fasten every link to its precedent and that with appropriation to the very same persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fastens Calling to Predestination and Justification to Calling and Glorification to Justification and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appropriates all throughout the whole chain to the same persons If therefore any person predestinated or called within this Text be not also justified and glorified the chain is broken and the truth of the Text cannot for ought I see be salved Wherefore I conclude that this Text doth not treat of Predestination and Calling to Sufferings notwithstanding which many fall short of Justification and Glorification but of Predestination and Calling to Grace and Glory such as doth infallibly bring them to Justification and Glorification God's Electing mercy towards his chosen ones is sure and unfailable before they had any being free Grace embraced them in an Eternal Decree and laid them in its bosom and when they left the Common Nullity and in the first moment of their Being lay in the blood of their natural enmity and iniquity free Grace would not pass them by but there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Sept. hath it Ezek. 16. 8. a time for love to let out and dissolve it self in gracious operations to cast its skirt over them wash them in the blood of the Covenant anoint them with the holy Spirit and put a Chain of Graces about their necks And after all this when their Faith wavers like a Wave of the Sea his Faithfulness is as a Mountain of Brass when their Love cools and slacks his Love is ever the same and inflames theirs afresh when their Holiness is full of Creature-weakness and impersection there are with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holy Mercies and Compassions which never fail when they sin and go on frowardly in the way of their hearts yet he will see their way and heal them as the Expression is Isai. 57. 18. How many millions of times after their Conversion might he have seen their way and damned them but because of his unchangeable Love he will see their way and heal them His Covenant is as the Waters of Noah Isai. 54. 9. When they sin again and again yet his pardoning Mercy and healing Grace will never suffer them to lie under water nor the deluge of sin to overwhelm them for ever In a word his Electing Love never leaves off till it hath lodged them safe in Heaven Thus the Foundation of God standeth sure and the Election infallibly obteineth Grace and Glory 3. To whom are these things designed I answer in two things 1. These are designed to some certain individual persons 2. These certain individual persons are considered as lying in the Mass of perdition 1. These are designed to some certain individual persons The Lord knoweth them that are his 2 Tim. 2. 19. Their names are all down in the Book of life Phil. 4. ◠he called them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by name Joh. 10. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith God to Ananias this individual persons this very Paul who but now was breathing out blood against tho Church this is a vessel of Election Acts 9. 15. The Elect are a determinate number What else were the 7000. which bowed not to Baal 1 Kings 19. 18 What the 144000. which were sealed in their foreheads Rev. 7. 4 If there were no set number why are they called a remnant according to the election of Grace Rom. 11. 5 What remnant can there be unless made up of individual persons What Election but of such A chusing or singling out if not of individuals is no chusing or singling out at all And this is one remarkable difference between the Will of God's Complacence and the Will of his Benevolence the Will of his Complacence is properly respective of Graces and that where-ever those Graces are without any distinction of persons in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with him saith St. Peter Act. 10. 35. If Cain do well shall he not be accepted If a Judas believe shall he not be justified Without any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the righteousness of God is upon all them that believe Rom. 3. 22. His pleasure is in them that fear him Psal. 147. 11. A good man where-ever he be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 draws out favour or complacence from the Lord Prov. 12. 2. And the reason is because this Will of Complacence issuing out of his perfect Sanctity cannot but embrace his Image where-ever he finds it but the Will of Benevolence
action and not his disposition the willing to do God's will is a gracious disposition but such as goes not before Faith Indeed the young man who yet had no true Faith had some kind of will to walk in God's Commandments Mark 10. 20. but it was not of the true stamp but with a reserve of his darling Covetousness To have a right Will to do God's Will is to be one spirit with the Lord which without Faith is unimaginable 'T is not to be conceived that an heart can indeed be either honest to God which is not purified by Faith or humble before him which is not irradiated by Faith As for the last objection That if these words import God's Preordination then all the Elect of that Assembly did believe at that one Sermon and all the rest were reprobated it is built upon two false hypotheses The one as if the Evangelist spake only of one Sermon whenas the Apostle had now preached two Sabbath-days there so that these words are most properly to be understood of the continued success of the Gospel according to that Acts 2. 47. The Lord daily added to the Church such as should be saved which continued success is also hinted out in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immediately following after the words Ver. 49. The other as if the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were always an universal Particle whenas in some Scriptures as Acts 4. 6. it doth not design universality for all the High Priest's kindred were not at that meeting but quality also in the Text in question the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather points out the condition of Believers than their number Wherefore I conclude that this famous Text holds out such an Eternal Preordination of God as is the very Well-head of Faith in men Every Believer is an Isaac a child of Promise wonderfully begotten begotten of God's own will saith St. James Chap. 1. 18. and begotten according to his abundant mercy saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 1. 3. And what is this Will and Mercy but God's gratuitous design of Grace and Glory to his Elect The Will in St. James is such a Will as designs Grace and Consecration to God in holiness even as the first fruits were holy and the Mercy in St. Peter is such a Mercy as designs Glory even an incorruptible and undefiled Inheritance in Heaven and both places demonstrate that the Believer is generated out of Electing Love And as Faith is an effect of Election so also is Perseverance which is no other than Fides continuata Faith standing in the power of God 1 Cor. 2. 5. and fulfilled by the same power 2 Thess. 1. 11. God saith the Apostle shall confirm you unto the end 1 Cor. 1. 8. and as a Reason he subjoyns God is faithful Ver. 9. Faithful as in his gracious Promises so in his gratuitous Election therefore he confirms his own unto the end There are Rivers of living Water in the Godly but the eternal Spring thereof is Election there is the Seed of God in them but the vital Root of it is Election Hence the false Christs and false Prophets cannot seduce them Mark 13. 22. The canker of Hymenaeus and Philetus cannot eat into them 2 Tim. 2. 19. Now if Faith and Perseverance are the fruits of Election they cannot be the causes or antecedents thereof Let me shut up this Reason with that of Fulgentius Deus praedestinatione suâ donum illuminationis ad credendum donum perseveraniiae ad proficiendum permanendum donum glorificationis ad regnandum quibus dare voluit praeparavit nec aliter persicit in opere quà m in sua sempiterna incommutabili voluntate habet dispositum 4. My last Reason shall be taken from the grand Scope and Design of the Scriptures which is to exalt God and abase the Creature There God's glory is revealed and all flesh is but grass there God is all in all and all men are nothing the willer and runner are nothing and Gods mercy is all the planter and waterer are nothing and Gods giving the encrease is all There all men lie very low in a Dungeon of Darkness Grave of Sin and miserable Chains of Hardness and Unbelief and God sits very high and out of the sovereign Self-motion of his own Will shines into one Heart and not into another opens one Grave and not another frees one spiritual Prisoner and not another There Zions dust I mean the Creature-weakness and defectibility of the Church and all her inherent Graces appear on the one hand and the sureness of God's Mercy and the everlasting immutability of his Love and Counsel shines forth on the other and what 's the meaning of all this but to cut off boasting and stain pride abase the Creature and exalt God In nullo nobis gloriandum quando nostrum nihil est But if as the Remonstrants assert Election be built on Faith and Perseverance and this Faith and Perseverance be wrought by God in a superable way only so as men may believe or not or believing may persevere or not then the Crown is plucked off from Free Grace and clapt upon Free Will God is dethroned and man is exalted and so may fall a boasting in some such language as that of Theophylact 'T is God's part to call but mine to be elect or not 't is God's part to reveal Gospel but mine either to believe and persevere and so found the Decree of Election or else not to believe and persevere and so to impede it And if to silence such swelling words of vanity God should put forth such astonishing questions to him about the Spiritual World as he did to Job about the Natural yet might man return an answer to his Maker Should God ask Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of my Church in my divine Decrees when I laid the measures of her Graces in my Eternal purpose Man may say My Faith was there stretching out the Line and fastning the Corner-stone of Election Should he ask Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Predestination that it shall not cause a Spring of Faith and Holiness in my Church Man may say I can so bind them up that if I please God shall have never an Elect Vessel to fill with Mercy nor Christ any where to lay his Merits among all the sons of men Should he yet ask Who hath known the mind of the Lord or been his Counseller Man may answer My Free Will was consulted with from time to time even to the last gasp of Perseverance before the Decree of Election was concluded in Heaven Should he ask on Who made thee to differ from another The Believer may answer Adam did not difference me for he left me in the common Mass neither did God difference me for he gave me only the Common Grace but I my self have made the difference by freely embracing the very same Grace which others freely rejected In a word should he expostulate with
prove snares and stumbling blocks to them Hence we find in Scripture an ensnaring table Psal. 69. 22. a destroying prosperity Prov. 1. 32. a sin-irritating Law Rom. 7. 8. a death-savouring Gospel 2 Cor. 2. 16. an enraging adversity such as makes them like a wild bull in a net Isai. 51. 20. with many more like providences which occasionally harden and blind men into further degrees of sin and wickedness Now this Judicial hardning and blinding is neither to be found in all Reprobates but in the grand Rebels nor yet only in Reprobates but in the Elect at least some of them Hence that out-cry O Lord Why hast thou made us to err from thy ways and hardened our hearts from thy fear Isai. 63. 17. Only here is the difference this Judicial blinding and hardning in the Elect is but partial all the holy light is not out all spiritual tenderness is not gone Wherefore in that place they groan after a return but in the Reprobate it is more total Again in the Elect it is but for a time through auxiliary Grace the closed eyes will open again the stony heart will melt again but in the Reprobate it is final the darkness is upon them till they come to utter darkness the stone is in them till they come to hellish obstinacy Wherefore in them 't is a kind of sealing up of Damnation Negative blinding and hardning suffices to the permission of final sin but Judicial is an earnest of final perdition 3. As to the third Act of Reprobation the thing decreed is Eternal Damnation hence Reprobates are said to be made for the day of evil Neither can any man doubt that there is such a Decree for God doth actually condemn them in time and both Reason tells us that whatsoever God doth even in his judgments he doth it Volent and Scripture tells us that whatsoever he doth he doth it according to the counsel of his own Will wherefore both assure us that there is such a Decree But you 'l say Doth not that Promise whosoever believeth shall be saved both import God's Will and extend even to Reprobates and how then can God decree their Damnation Which way can both these Wills stand together in the heart of God I answer 'T is true that the Promise doth both import God's Will and extend to Reprobates nevertheless it very well consists with the Decree of Damnation and this will appear by a double distinction 1. Let us distinguish the Decrees of God Some of them are merely productive of Truths others are definitive of Things which shall actually exist The first are accomplished in connexions the last in events To clear it by Scripture instances The Decree that David should be King of Israel was definitive of a thing but the Decree that if Saul obeyed his Kingdom should have continued 1 Sam. 13. 13. is but productive of a truth The Decree that David should not be delivered up by the men of Keilah was definitive of a thing but the Decree that if he had staid there they would have delivered him up 1 Sam. 23. 12. was but productive of a truth The Decree that Jerusalem should be burnt with fire was definitive of a thing but the Decree that if Zedekiah did go forth to the King of Babylon it should not be burnt Jer. 38. 17. was but productive of a truth Moreover that there are Decrees definitive of things is proved by the events that there are Decrees productive of truths is proved by the connexions if there be no such connexions how is the Scripture verified but if there be how are these things connected There is no natural connexion between Saul's Obedience and his Crown David's stay and the Keilites treachery Zedekiah's out-going and Jerusalems firing wherefore these connexions do flow out of God's Decrees as productive of truths Now to apply this distinction to our present purpose The Decree of damning the Reprobate for final sin is definitive of a thing but the Decree imported in the general Promise is but productive of a truth viz. That there is an universal connexion between Faith and Salvation such a connexion that Reprobates themselves if Believers should be saved Now these two Decrees may very well stand together for Decrees definitive of events contradict not Decrees productive of truths unless the event in the one Decree contradict the truth in the other Wherefore if which is not there were a Decree of damning Reprobates whether they did believe or not it could not stand with the general Promise for the event of that Decree would contradict the truth of the Promise But the Decree such as indeed it is of damning Reprobates for final sin may well consist with the general Promise for the event of that Decree no way crosses the truth of the Promise Reprobates are damned for final sin that 's the event of one Decree and Reprobates if Believers shall be saved that 's the truth of another both which may well consist together 2. Let us distinguish the objects of these Decrees the objects stand not under the same qualifications as to both of them The Decree of Salvation upon Gospel terms respects men as lapsed sinners but the Decree of everlasting damnation respects them as final sinners and so there is no inconsistency between them Thus much by way of Answer to the Objection Yet withal before I pass on to the next thing suffer me a little to stand and adore the stupendious Abyss of the Divine Decrees The Elect arrive at Heaven yet by the way see Hell flaming in the Threatning the Reprobate sink to Hell yet by the way see Heaven opening in the Promise The Elect cannot live and die in sin but they will be sub gladio the Reprobates cannot repent and return but they will be sub corona Tremble work and watch O Saints for the holy One thunders out from Heaven in that sacred Sentence If you live after the flesh you shall die Repent return and believe O Sinners for the Divine Philanthropy wooes you in those real undissembled Offers of Mercy Whosoever believes shall be saved Whosoever forsakes his sins shall find mercy Here O here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manifold wisdom of God a fit reserve for the Apocalypse of the Judgment day whose clear light will display these wonderful consistencies before men and Angels 3. Having dispatched the things decreed in Reprobation I procede to speak of the persons to whom these things are decreed and here I shall consider 1. What they are for Quantity 2. What they are for Quality 1. What are they for Quantity they are certain individual Persons As some certain individual persons are chosen so others are passed by as some are by name in the Book of Life so others are by name left out of it There is a great difference between the Reprobation of sin and the Reprobation of sinners the Reprobation of sin issues from the Sanctity and Holiness of God's Will but the
Reprobation of sinners issues from the Sovereignty and Justice thereof The Reprobation of sin is universal and without any distinction of persons God hates sin where-ever it be be it in his own beloved Jedidiahs 't is an abominable thing such as his soul abhorrs but the Reprobation of sinners is particular Esau and not Jacob was hated Judas and not Peter was a Son of perdition Indeed he that denies particular Reprobation must by necessary consequence deny particular Election and he that asserts an Election of some individual persons doth in eodem rationis signo assert a Reprobation of others 2. What are they for Quality I answer in two particulars 1. Reprobation as to the first and second Acts thereof viz. Preterition and Permission of final sin respects them as lying in the corrupt Mass. This appears by those Names and Titles whereby Reprobation is set forth and described in Scripture there 't is hatred and God hates none but sinners 't is hardening and God hardens none but such as are in a corrupt estate 't is abjection or casting away and God doth not cast away an upright one or a man standing in integrity 't is not knowing and God knows and approves every sinless creature 't is not shewing mercy and that supposes men to lie in a state of misery or else they are not capable of mercy or the denial thereof Wherefore I conceive that in Preterition and Permission of final sin men are considered as lying in a corrupt and undone Condition 2. Reprobation as to its third Act viz. the decreeing of Damnation respects them as final sinners 'T is true every sin as sin is in it self intrinsecally meritorious of Damnation but through Gospel Grace in Jesus Christ no sin but such as is final doth actually produce Damnation God condemns none but for final sin and decrees to condemn none but for it Those vessels of wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fitted to destruction Rom. 9. 22. are as I take it final sinners only Great sinners may be vessels of Mercy and repent unto Life Eternal but final sinners are vessels of Wrath and fitted to destruction God swears by his life that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked Ezek. 33. 11. not unless he be a final sinner in whom there is no true turning or repenting not in such a way as to leave no place or room at all for Conversion for the sinners turn is in the Text opposed to his death and opposed as a thing more destrable to God than his death Should the Decree of Damnation objectively terminate on a sinner merely as a sinner there could be no place or room for Repentance but if it terminate on him as a final sinner there is no such obstruction at all Wherefore I conceive that as God condemns none but for final sin so he decrees to condemn none but for the same and by consequence that Decree respects them as final sinners that is they are first considered as final sinners and then the Decree of Damnation terminates on them Object But here an Objection meets me God condemns none but final sinners and decrees to condemn none but such yet hence it follows not that the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinners or that they were considered as such antecedently to that Decree for God saves none but final believers and decrees to save none but such yet from thence it follows not that the Decree of Salvation respects them as final Believers or that they were considered as such antecedently to that Decree for as hath been laid down before Faith and Salvation are comprized in one and the same Decree and therefore there is no antecedency of Faith to Salvation in the very Decree but only in the execution thereof Answ. To which Objection I answer That between the two Cases there is a triple difference which if considered will make it appear that the consequence which fails in the one case doth hold good in the other 1. These two Propositions God decrees to save none but final Believers and God decrees to damn none but final Sinners must be taken in a different meaning When we say God decrees to save none but final Believers the meaning is not final Believers so preconsidered antecedently to that Decree for Faith and Salvation are comprized in one Decree but final Believers so to be made by force of that Decree But when we say God decrees to damn none but final Sinners the meaning is not final Sinners so to be made by force of that Decree for God's Decree makes no man a final Sinner but final Sinners so preconsidered antecedently to that Decree Wherefore from that Proposition God decrees to save none but final Believers it cannot be concluded that the Decree of Salvation respects them as final Believers but because of the different meaning from that other Proposition God decrees to damn none but final Sinners it may be rightly concluded that the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinners 2. There is an immediate contact between Grace and Glory hence these two may very aptly be comprized in one Decree and if so final Faith is not preconsidered to the Decree of Salvation But between Preterition or Permission of sin and Damnation there is no immediate contact for the Act of the Creature even his final sin comes between hence Preterition or Permission and Damnation cannot according to our understanding be congruously comprized in one Decree but in distinct Decrees and if so final sin is preconsidered to the Decree of Damnation For no sooner doth the Decree of Preterition and Permission pass in the divine Will but therein as in a Glass there is a Prescience of final Sin and thereupon passes the Decree of Damnation But you 'l say Neither is there such an immediate contact between Grace and Glory as you assert for between the donation of Grace and Glory the act of the Creature viz. final Faith doth intervene I answer 'T is true it doth intervene but as a fruit or effect of that Donation it doth intervene but that Donation hath a Causal influence and attingency into the Creatures Act and its Perseverance wherefore it so intervenes as not to break the immediate contact in the least measure But between Preterition or Permission and Damnation the Creatures Act viz. final Sin doth intervene not as an effect of Preterition or Permission but as a fruit of man's corrupted and depraved Will and that intervention cannot stand with an immediate contact Wherefore there being distinct Decrees first Preterition and Permission are decreed and then upon the prescience of final Sin Damnation 3. The third difference is that of the Apostle The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 23. Eternal Life is a gift freely given therefore the consideration of final Faith is not a prerequisite to the Decree of Salvation But Death is wages exacted by the
intrinsecal merit of Sin and paid only to a final Sinner therefore the consideration of final sin is a prerequisite to the Decree of Damnation without that consideration I see not how it can be decreed as Wages But you 'l say Is not Eternal Life also a Reward of Faith and Holiness and how then can that be decreed as a Reward without a preconsideration of these I answer Eternal Life is a Reward but 't is a Reward of pure Grace 't is Grace upon Grace glorifying Grace upon sanctifying therefore to the Decreeing thereof as a Reward it suffices that it be decreed to Believers and Saints Not Believers and Saints so preconsidered to that Decree for Grace and Glory being both mere gifts and gifts of immediate contact are comprized in one Decree but Believers and Saints so to be made by force of that Decree and so to be made before they wear the Crown This is enough in the decreeing of a Reward so purely gratuitous But in Eternal Death there is nothing at all gratuitous all is mere wages and pay for Sin Sin doth really and intrinsecally merit it Wherefore Eternal death as such wages is decreed only to final Sinners Not final Sinners so to be made by force of God's Decree for that makes no man a final Sinner but final Sinners so preconsidered to the Decree of Damnation for without that preconsideration it is not as I conceive decreeable as wages or pay due unto them To shut up this point in a word Reprobation as to the Decree of Preterition and Permission respects men as lapsed Sinners and as to the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinnets 4. What is the Impulsive Cause of Reprobation To which I make answer 1. As for the Decree of Preterition and Permission of final Sin it is from God's Will as cloathed with supreme Sovereignty God passeth by and hardneth whom he will This appears in two particulars 1. First God doth not give so much as the Gospel-means unto some men He suffered all nations to walk in their own ways Acts 14. 16. Some sin and perish without Law or Gospel all the Law they have is the dark glimmering of Nature and all the Gospel they have is the patience and goodness of God leading to Repentance The Sun Moon and Stars are divided to all nations Dent. 4. 19. but Jesus Christ a Sun of infinite light and lustre shines in a narrower compass on the earth than the finite Sun the Moon is lesser than the Earth the visible Church than the World of Men. The Apostles those Stars of light must not shine in Asia and Bithynia Acts 16. 6 7. By what way is this Evangelical Light parted Surely by the divine Will alone the difference is not from the worthiness or unworthiness of men for those in Asia and Bithynia were as good as others Christ was manifested to a Thief and not to a Socrates or Plato Rebellious Israel hath the light of the Word in it and a more flexible Nation which would hearken thereunto wants it Ezek. 3. 6 7. Impenitent Corazin and Bethsaida have a visible Deity before them in Christ's Miracles when poor Tyre and Sidon much nearer to Repentance hath it not Matth. 11. 21. In all which the sovereign Will of God is to be adored for that is it which divideth between the Light and the Darkness 2. In the Visible Church the Orb of Gospel-light God doth not give saving Grace unto all 'T is true the mercy of God is so immense that all the sins of men are but as the drop of the bucket to it the Blood of God is so meritorious that all the crimson Crimes in the World are as nothing to it and the Spirit of God is so almighty that all the chains of hardness and unbelief fall off before his converting Grace Nevertheless this immense Mercy doth not pardon all this meritorious Blood doth not wash all nor this almighty Spirit doth not convert all unto God Oh the wonderful Abyss of the divine Counsel All men naturally lie in bloody pollution and God saith to one Live and not to another all are as it were one entire Rock of obstinacy against God and he calls Abraham's children out of one part of the Rock and leaves all the rest to be Rock still All are dead in sins and trespasses nay and sealed up in their Graves with a stone of hardness and unbelief and one Grave-stone is rolled away and the dead under it raised up by almighty Grace and not another External Revelation is all over the Church why is not the inward holy Unction so too The Gospel sounds in every Ear why do not all hear and learn of the Father The Gospel calls and knocks at every door why are not the Demonstrations of the Spirit and the drawings of the Father in every heart The Gospel says in general Whosoever will may take the Water of Life freely why doth not God work the Will in all Why are any dimissi libero arbitrio left to the miserable servitude of their own free Will Here there is no other resolution but that of the Apostle He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardneth and beyond this we can only wonder and in quodam mentis excessu cry out Oh the depth Cur hoc illi operetur saith St. Austin illi non operetur metuentem me trementem judicia ejus inscrutabilia incomprehensibilia nolo interroges quia quod lego ercdo revereor non autem discutio And Ne dicas Deo interrogando Quae est voluntas tua sed tremendo Fiat voluntas tua And again Posset Deus saith he of wicked men ipsorum voluntatem in bonum convertere quoniam Omnipotens est posset planè cur ergo non fecit quia noluit cur noluerit penès ipsum est If there were any thing extra Deum moving him to the Decree of Preterition and Permission it must needs be sin either Original or Actual or final Impenitency and Infidelity therein but none of all these moved God thereunto Not Original sin for this is the common blood wherein all men Elect as well as Reprobate lie by nature And this is St. Ambrose's Mirum touching Infants Ubi actio non offendit ubi arbitrium non resistit ubi eadem miseria similis imbecillitas causa communis est non unum esse de tanta parilitate judicem quales reprobat abdicatio tales adoptat Electio Indeed Original Sin makes all men reprobable for all are by nature Children of wrath Transgressors from the womb an unclean and corrupt Seed lying in bloody and abominable pollution fit and worthy to be put away from the holy One as dross and for ever to be cast out into utter darkness but it makes no man a Reprobate for the Elect are as deep in this filthy mire as others Nor yet doth Actual sin do it for Jacob was loved and Esau hated before they had
turned from God and God departed from Man and instantly the Captive appeared all in Chains of Sin and Wrath his Lamp went out in obscure darkness Satan ascended up into the Throne the fire of Lust rose up in the Sanctuary the Affections were all in a mutiny against the upper Powers and the whole Man became a Prisoner under Sin and Wrath and all this because he left 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his original State of rectitude and holiness 2. Man fallen in opposition to fallen Angels When Man though but an earthen Pitcher fell from God the whole Trinity seemed to be moved at it the bowels of the Father yearned over him and as not content with inward compassions Grace breaks out at the Lips of the Son Unto you O men do I call saith the eternal Word Prov. 8. 4. and because words such as made a World could not do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 2. 16. He catches hold of the Humane Nature and rather than fail he would live and bleed and die in it for our Redemption And lest after all this Man should not catch hold of his own Salvation out comes the holy Spirit to make sure work of it in an application of it unto us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith St. Chrysostome When Mankind fled and fled far from Christ he pursued and caught hold of it But when those Vessels of Gold the Angels dropt out of Heaven there was no such matter the Father's bowels though of immense largeness were shut up not a thought of mercy rose in his heart towards them the Son's Lips which drop sweet smelling Myrrh unto men let fall never a syllable of comfort unto them he saw them tumbling down from Heaven yet caught not hold of them the holy Spirit would not stir a foot to recover 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their original Rectitude for them again that so they might be capable of staying in the holy Heavens but down they must into Chains of darkness such as for ever shut out every glimpse of Mercy But why a Philanthropy rather than a Philangely Why a Redemption for Men and not for Devils Here men give their conjectures Man say some sinned by seduction but Devils by self-motion In the Fall of Men say others all the Humane Nature fell but in the Fall of Angels all the Angelical Nature fell not Others alledge that the Sin of Angels was more damnable than Man's because their Nature was more sublime than his Others yet affirm that Men are capable of Repentance but Devils not because whatever they once choose they do immobiliter velle the Devil sinneth from the beginning 1 Joh. 3. 8. 't is not said he sinned but he sinneth because from his first Apostasie he sinneth on uncessantly But alas Who can limit the holy One Might not his boundless Mercy have saved the selftempted Devils What if his devouring Justice had broke out against devil-seduced Men nay against all the Race of Men Who should accuse him for the Nations that perish which he hath made and Sin hath marred Wisd. 12. 12 Could not the Blood of God have washed out the blackest spots of fallen Angels Was not the Almighty Spirit of Grace able to melt a Devil into Repentance Had we poor Worms been to dispute with the Devil about the Body of Christ as Michael did with him about the Body of Moses O how easily would he have reasoned us out of our Redeemer What would he have said shall the tender bowels of God be let down to you on Earth and restrained to us in Heaven Will the All-wise God repair his Clay-images in the Dunghil of the lower World and neglect his fairer Pictures once hung up in his own Palace of Glory May not the Son of God be a Redeemer at an easier rate without stepping a foot out of his Fathers house and will he travel down so far as an Incarnation How much better were it for him to spot himself with an assumed Cherubin than to take Flesh into his glorious Person But the great God hath neither given Angels a day to plead for a Redeemer nor Man a licence to pry into his Ark. Wonder then O Man at this astonishing difference made by the divine Will alone Angels must be damned and men may be saved golden Vessels are irreparably broken and earthen Pots are set together again Inmates of Glory drop to Hell and Dust and Ashes fly up to Heaven When I consider thy Heavens and the Stars glistering there Lord what is man that thou mindest him Psal. 8. 4 but when I consider thy Heaven of Heavens and thy Angels dropping from thence into utter darkness Lord what is man that thou savest him Misericordiâ Domini plena est terra quare non dictum est plenum est coelum quia sunt spirituales nequitiae in coelestibus sed non illae ad commune jus indulgentiae Dei remissionémque peccatorum pertinent as holy Ambrose expresses it Even so gracious Father because so it seemeth good in thy sight Thus having found the right Captive I pass on 2. To the Captivity and this I shall set out in three things 1. The Chains 2. The Prison 3. The Jailor As for the first I shall first touch upon the Chains themselves and then upon the distinct links thereof 1. The Chains themselves are no other than Original and Actual Sin 1. Original Sin is a very heavy Chain and here I shall view 1. The upper end of this Chain I mean that first Sin of eating the forbidden fruit called in the Schools Peccatum originale originans here there was truly magnum in parvo a vast World of Sin in a small Act. There was an Idol of self-excellency a framing and to adorn it a concupiscential stealth of the forbidden fruit and in this stealth a bloody Homicide a slaying of all Humane Nature at one blow and which is more a kind of Deicide too a slaying as much as in Man lay even of God himself the Pride of this primordial Sin snatching at God's excellency the Unbelief stabbing at his Truth the Rebellion fighting against his Sovereignty the Ingratitude trampling his Goodness under foot and the Presumption as it were daring out his Justice into warlike Arms and all this contra praeceptum tam breve ad retinendum tam leve ad observandum This is the upper end of this Chain and it reaches down to us all for in him we all sinned Rom. 5. 12. The sweetest Bonaventure cannot say In Adamo non peccavi For Adam was not here considered as a private person but as the Root and Head of Mankind Adam's person was the fountain of ours and his Will the representative of ours we were all in him naturally as latent in his Loins and legally too as comprized within the Covenant made with him therefore we all sinned in his Sin Omnes nos unus ille Adam saith one Father Genus humanum in primo parente velut in radice computruit saith
9. that is in the day of the Messiah Ver. 8. But how far will he remove it The Psalmist tells us as far as the East is from the West Psal. 103. 12. and so he did he removed it from us who were in occasu Adami as far as Christ who is oriens Sol Justitiae by this remove all our sins met upon him as the Prophet speaks Isai. 53. 6. Never such a concourse of Sins as here Sins of all weights Pence and Talents Sins of all magnitudes Gnats and Camels Sins of various degrees Frailties and Presumptions Sins of vast distances as far remote in place as the parts and quarters of the Earth and in time as the Morning and Evening of the World met all together upon him he is the Lamb of God that takes or bears away the sin of the world Joh. 1. 29. he saith not Sins but Sin because all the Sins of the World were as it were made up into one burthen and so laid upon him Sins past were present to him for there was a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Transmission of them unto him Rom. 3. 25. there was indeed an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Remission as to the faithful but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Transmission as to the Surety Sins future were all one to him as if already existent all our Sins met upon him Hence he cries out My iniquities have taken hold upon me Psal. 40. 12. My iniquities a strange word to drop from the holy one of God but the Apostle clears it God made him for us to be sin 2 Cor. 5. 21. there was no Sin in him by Inhesion but God made him Sin by Imputation not only a Sacrifice for Sin which yet includes that imputation but Sin it self the double Antithesis in the Text carries it this way he was made that Sin he knew not and that was Sin it self he was made that Sin which is opsite to Righteousness and that was Sin it self Hence Luther brings in the Father casting all our Sins on him with these words Tu sis Petrus ille negator Paulus ille persecutor David ille adulter peccator ille in paradiso latro ille in cruce person a illa quae fecerit omnium hominum peccata all our sins were imputed unto him But you 'l say How can these things be Can the righteous God who judges according to truth impute Sin to his holy one I answer As there are in the Apostle two distinct Comings of Christ in the first he bore our sins in the second he appears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without sin Heb. 9. 28. So in his first coming he susteined two distinct persons his own and ours as he was in his own person he was without sin but as he was our Surety and susteined our persons so our Sins were imputed to him and imputed to him according to truth because he was such The holy One was righteously made sin because first he was a Surety for sinners a World of Sins was justly cast on the innocent Lamb because he stood in the room of a World of sinners In eadem persona Christi saith Luther congrediuntur illa duo summum maximum peccatum summa maxima justitia this is one of the wonders in Theology Reason and Philosophy can shew Sin in the sinner but the sublimer Gospel shews Sin on a spotless Lamb here darkness seized upon the Sun here the abomination of iniquity stood where it ought not I say where it ought not because upon the holy place yet withal where it ought because of an holy Imputation God can by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. that is the guilty remaining such therefore he first translated the guilt upon Christ and then he justifies the ungodly through him Rom. 4. 5. Oh the glory of the divine Will It s Purity cannot but hate Sin yet its Power removes it its Justice cannot but punish Sin yet its Mercy translates it from the Sinner to the Surety that it may be condemned there where it was never committed even in the flesh of Christ Rom. 8. 3. 2. Our Sins being laid on him he suffered the same punishment for the main that was due to us for them for how doth the Scripture express the punishment of Sin 'T is death Gen. 2. 17. and he died for us 't is the second death Rev. 20. 14. or death unto death 2 Cor. 2. 16. and he suffered deaths Isai. 53. 9. not the death of the Body only but all the deaths in moriendo morieris as far as his holy Humanity was capable thereof 't is wrath Rom. 1. 18. and he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man set in the stroke of Gods wrath as the Septuagint hath it Isai. 53. 3. 't is a curse Deut. 27. 26. and he was made a curse Gal. 3. 13. not only a ceremonial but a real Curse even that which he redeems us from Tu Christe saith Luther es peccatum meum maledictum meum seu potius ego sum peccatum tuum maledictum tuum 't is hell Psal. 9. 17. and he descended thither though not by a local Motion yet by an immense Passion his Soul travelling under the wrath of God He began to descend into Hell when he sweat drops of Blood and he descended yet further into it when he cried out My God my God! why hast thou forsaken me There are two Essentials of punishment in Hell poena sensûs poena damni and he suffered both when the fire of God's Wrath melted him into a bloody sweat there was poena sensùs and when the great Eclipse of God's Favour made him cry out of forsaking there was poenadamni Christ suffered the same punishment for the main which we should have suffered the chief change was in the Person the just suffering for the unjust the Surety for the Sinner But you 'l say Christ did not suffer the same punishment for he neither suffered eternal Death nor yet the Worm of Conscience As to that of eternal Death I answer by two Distinctions 1. In eternal Death we must distinguish between the Immensity of the Sufferings and the Duration the Immensity is essential to it but the Duration is but mor a in Esse and accidental Christ suffered eternal Death as to the Immensity of his Sufferings though not as to the Duration of them he paid down the idem as to Essentials of punishment and the tantundem as to the Accidentals what was wanting in the Duration of his Sufferings was more than compensated by the Dignity of his Person for it was far more for God to suffer for a moment than for all Creatures to suffer to Eternity 2. We must distinguish between punishment as it stands in the Law absolutely and punishment as it stands there in relation to a finite Creature which cannot at once admit a punishment commensurate to its offence and so must ever suffer because it cannot satisfie to Eternity Punishment as
in another yet the Minatory Law which is the voice of Justice cannot be satisfied unless the punishment fall on the Sinner himself and the reason is because in this Minatory Law the Veracity of God is engaged which it was not before now Justice speaks out which it did not before and that which it speaks must be true For answer whereunto 1. Some as the Learned Grotius say that here was Dispensatio Legis quâ Legis manentis obligatio circa quasdam personas tollitur But I take it that God's Threatnings are indispensably Yea and Amen as well as his Promises for albeit God doth not dare aliquod jus creaturae in his Threatnings as he doth in his Promises yet is he debitor sibi-ipsi in both and not one jot or tittle of either can fail because of his infinite Veracity God will not call back his words of threatning Isai. 31. 2. neither will he himself turn back from them Jer. 4. 28. his words stand surely for evil Jer. 44. 29. That Threatning that Nineveh should be destroyed had a tacit Condition in it which had it been expressed the Threatning would have run thus It shall be destroyed except it repent therefore it repenting there was a remotion of the Judgment according to the tenour of the Threatning but no dispensatio Juris at all Wherefore 2. I answer that here God did interpret his Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in an equitable way equity is nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a filling up of a general Law by a benign interpretation in that part which was not precisely determinate The divine sanction was the sinner shall die but it was not precisely determinate that he should die in his own person for then God's unalterable truth should have barred out a Surety neither was it precisely determinate that he should die in his Surety for then the threatning should originally have been a promise and a promise unto sin such as God never made But the sanction was general the sinner shall die and two interpretations lay before God the first that the sinner shall die in his own person the latter that he shall die in his surety the first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 just severity the latter is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condescending mercy in the first there is more of the sound of the law-letter in the latter more of the sounding of the Law-givers bowels the first is much like the first delivery of the Law with thundrings and lightnings and devouring fire Exod. 19. 16 17 18. the latter is like the second delivery of it with a Proclamation of grace and goodness and pardoning mercy for thousands Exod. 34. 6 7. Now these two interpretations lying before God he as the Supreme Law-giver in order to redemption interpreted his Law according to a merciful equity the sinner shall die that is in his surety Christ. Oh the immense love of the Father and the Son the Fathers love fills up the Law by a gracious interpretation and then the Sons love fulfils it by a perfect satisfaction mercy and truth are met together mercy in a favourable construction of the Law and truth in the evident veracity of the Law-giver the person of the sinner may be saved and yet the truth of the threatning is salved through Christ's satisfaction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are abrogated from the Law Rom. 7. 6. and yet we do not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abrogate the Law but establish it Rom. 3. 31. because it is fulfilled in Christ. Neither doth this equitable interpretation suppose any defect in the divine Law as it doth in humane Laws for humane Laws are made general for want of providence in men to forsee all particular cases which fall out but this Law was made general out of the perfection of providence in God that there might be room for a surety to come in and satisfie it But you 'l say if God interpret the threatning in such an equitable way the sinner shall die in his surety then no sinner is in a state of wrath here nor can be condemned in hell hereafter for both these issue out from the first interpretation thou shalt die in thine own person and that is now waved by the Judge I answer that God doth not totally and absolutely either wave the first rigorous interpretation for the elect are under wrath till they believe and repent and the reprobate not believing and repenting are cast into hell and both by virtue of the first interpretation but he waves the first and makes the second interpretation in order to redemption and only so far forth as redemption requires it Now what doth that require It requires that all that embrace Christ should be saved from the death in the threatning and therefore thus far the first interpretation is waved and the second takes place but it requires not that any person should either be out of a state of wrath before faith or be saved without faith and therefore the equitable interpretation doth not go thus far and so far as that goeth not the rigorous interpretation takes place because pro tanto it is consistent with redemption redemption is the end and the all-wise God measures and proportions out the equitable interpretation in such a way as serves unto it and the rigorous interpretation in such a way as stands with it In a word according to this equitable interprepretation Christ hath so satisfied the threatning as that all believers shall be saved from it yet this satisfaction hinders not but that the rigorous interpretation should abide upon unbelievers whilst such for whilst such they embrace not that satisfaction and therefore are justly cursed by the Law till they receive the Gospel Fifthly God's vindictive Justice and minatory Law being thus satisfied he becomes reconciled There are two degrees of reconciliation the first is that whereby God is ready to receive men into grace and favour if they believe the second is that whereby God is actually reconciled to them upon their believing The Apostle mentions both these Col. 1. 20 21. for first he tells us ver 20. That God did reconcile all things to himself by the blood of his Cross and then it follows ver 21. Yet now hath he reconciled you you O believing Colossians All were reconciled in the first degree and believers in the second the first was done all at once upon the Cross and the second is yet now a doing and so will be till the Believers are all come in therefore the Apostle says God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself 2 Cor. 5. 19. Reconciling which imports a continued Act a carrying on the work of Reconciliation from one degree to another by particular applications Now both these degrees of Reconciliation are wrought by the Death of Christ the first was wrought by it ipso facto without it God would have breathed out nothing but wrath but through it he is ready to forgive Psal. 86. 5. As
full of mercy as he is he could not forgive in a way opposite either to his Justice which in its nature calls for satisfaction for Sin or to his Truth which in the Law pronounces death on the Sinner but Justice and Truth being satisfied by Christ's death he is ready to forgive The mercy-seat was covered with a cloud of incense Levit. 16. 13. and the reason there rendred is very remarkable lest he that was before it should die What die before the Mercy-seat Yes even there unless the Merits of Christ be as a Cloud round about it Mercy as of it self alone would not save us but every Sinner must have died before it had it not been surrounded with the Incense of Christ's Merits God out of Christ is a consuming Fire to Sinners but in Christ he is reconciling them to himself The second is wrought by Christ's death as applied by Faith therefore 't is called propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3. 25. and both these were typified by the sprinkling of the blood of the Sacrifice under the Law That blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat Levit. 16. 15. prefiguring the first degree of Reconciliation by Christ's death in it self and it was sprinkled on the people Exod. 24. 8. prefiguring the second degree of Reconciliation by Christ's death as applied to us by Faith But you 'l say If God be first angry and then reconciled and reconciled by degrees there must be a change in God and his Will which cannot be admitted I answer that Reconciliation is not an immanent Act but a transient not so properly abiding in God as passing from him upon the Creature As when the Scripture saith the Wrath of God at such a time was kindled or arose 't is not meant that the Will of God was novelly inflamed but that the flame of wrath then broke forth in transient effects from thence so when it saith God is reconciled it imports not a cooling alteration in the Will of God but a gracious effluxion of Love breaking out from thence As in punishment wrath goes out from the Lord against sinners Num. 16. 46. and is upon them 2 Chron. 29. 8. So in reconciliation Love goes out from the Lord towards Believers and is upon them so that the change is not in God but in the Creature Proportionably to the nature of Reconciliation as a transient Act Christ reconcileth us unto God not by making a new Will in God but by doing his Will for so he himself saith when he came about the work Loe I come to do thy will O God God's Will as to this point may be considered under a double notion either as naturally pregnant with Vindictive Justice and decretively issuing out the Minatory Law both requiring that Sin if committed should be punished or else as decreeing within it self the way and manner how this Justice Law should be satisfied by a Surety in order to the Redemption of sinners Now Christ perfectly fulfilled God's Will in all these respects in him our Sins were punished according to the exaction of Justice and the equitable interpretation of the Law and that in such a way as was preordained by God's Will for our Redemption This Will being thus satisfied God is truly reconciled not only as the Socinian would have it we reconciled to him but he to us and this appears in three things 1. In that Sin is not objected before God's Will as it would have been had not Christ satisfied it would have been objected before it as that just cause for which God might nay according to the naturality of his Justice and veracity of his Law must have punished us Sinners to all Eternity But now it is not so objected before it for albeit there be an intrinsecal and inseparable desert of wrath in the nature of it yet now its obligation or redundancy upon the Sinner appears not because expiated in the Surety this the Apostle calls the reconciling of sin Heb. 2. 17. Without Christ's death Sin like a fury would have cried and clamoured for wrath and vengeance to be poured down on the Sinner but through his death Sin as one reconciled hath nothing to say against him but that he may have Life and Salvation on Gospel-terms 2. In that the effects of wrath do not issue out from God's Will against the Sinner as they would have done God who is infinite Holiness and essential Rectitude cannot but hate Sin and in this hatred there is nothing less than a velle punire and from thence condign punishment must have poured down upon the Sinner if it had not by the Will of God been derived upon the Surety but being derived thither that righteous Will is satisfied and the merited Wrath comes not forth against the Sinner but instead thereof 3. Effects of Love break forth from God's Will towards him Grace appears to all men Tit. 2. 11. to all men in a gracious Reconciliability and to Believers in actual Reconciliation Believers are actually accepted or ingratiated in the beloved Eph. 1. 6. and so shall all others as soon as they become Believers Thus God is truly reconciled yet without any change in his Will only Sin doth not cry to that Will against the Sinner punishment doth not break out of that Will upon him and Grace beams and sparkles out of that Will towards him whilest in all these his Will remains unchangeable Hence in Scripture we are rather said to be reconciled to God than God to us not as the Socinian would have it because we only are reconciled to God and not God to us but because God is reconciled to us in such a way as is not alterative but perfective and completive of his unchangeable Will Thus Christ bore our Sins and God's Wrath in a way so satisfactory to God's Justice and Law that thereby God is reconciled to us and we are redeemed from Sin and Wrath. But here I am obviated by an Objection If there be such a compensatory Price paid for Sin where is free Remission Free Remission cannot stand with plenary Satisfaction what is fully paid cannot be at all remitted I answer It cannot if there be a solution by the Debtor but it may if there be a satisfaction by a Surety it cannot if that Surety were of the Debtors own providing but it may if he were of the Creditour's procuring it cannot if the Suretie's paiment be irrecusable but it may if the Creditor's acceptance be free it cannot if the remission were to the same person who makes satisfaction but it may if one person make satisfaction and another find remission And thus it is in this case our debts were paid to God but by a Surety Jesus Christ and this Surety was of God's own sending and that his payment went for ours was of God's own Grace and hence it comes to pass that God hath full satisfaction and we free remission and this without any repugnancy for Christ who satisfied had no remission
ascended up into heaven he blessed them to shew that the Curse was gone and ascended up into heaven to possess the purchase of Glory and being there he sate down at God's right hand his work was now done and therefore he sate down and his work was now accepted and therefore he sate down at God's right hand there he received gifts for men and from thence he gave them out again he gave out what he received and received what he purchased Christ's Sacrifice was so sweet a favour to God that the Minister who preaches it is a sweet savour to him 2 Cor. 2. 15. and the Believer who accepts it is accepted of him Eph. 1. 6. nay so far accepted that he becomes a Priest Revel 1. 6. and his good works pleasing sacrifices Heb. 13. 16. his prayers are turned into odours Revel 5. 8. and his charity into a sweet smell Phil. 4. 18. and all this by a perfuming touch from Christ's Merits In a word all the Proclamations of Mercy in the Scripture all the Pardons of sin in the Conscience all the Influences of Grace on the Heart and all the Openings of Heaven in the Promises are as so many pregnant proofs unto us that God accepted the Price Thus having shewed what manner of Price this is viz. redemptive from Evil procurative of Good and sufficient for both I pass on to the last Question 3. For whom was this Price paid and this I shall cleave asunder into two Quaeries 1. Whether Christ died for all men 2. Whether he died equally for all men In both which whilest I name the Death of Christ only according to the usual language of Divines I comprehend his whole Obedience Active and Passive whereof his Death was the complement and extreme Act. 1. As to the first Quaere Whether Christ died for all men I answer affirmatively that he did and here I shall do two things 1. I shall lay down the Reasons of my Opinion 2. I shall answer the Objections made against it and in both it will appear how far or in what sence I assert that Christ died for all men 1. I shall lay down my Reasons for it and these are drawn 1. From the Will of God as the Fountain of Redemption 2. From the Covenant of Grace as the Charter of it and the Promises comprized therein 3. From the Ministers Commission who publish it 4. From certain blessings which are the fruits of it 5. From the Unbelief of men which is the denial of it 6. From the fulness and glorious Redundance of Merit in Christ's Death which paid for it 7. From the large and general Expressions in Scripture concerning the same 1. I argue from the Will of God God's Will of salvation as the fontal Cause thereof and Christ's Death as the meritorious Cause thereof are of equal latitude God's Will of Salvation doth not extend beyond Christ's Death for then he should intend to save some extra Christum Neither doth Christ's Death extend beyond God's Will of Salvation for then he should die for some whom God would upon no terms save but these two are exactly coextensive Hence 't is observable that when the Apostle speaks of Christ's Love to the Church he speaks also of his giving himself for it Eph. 5. 25. and when he saith God will have all men to be saved 1 Tim. 2. 4. he saith withal Christ gave himself a ransom for all Ver. 6. Therefore there cannot be a truer Measure of the extent of Christ's Death than God's Will of Salvation out of which the same did issue so far forth as that Will of Salvation extends to all men so far forth the Death of Christ doth extend to all men Now then how far doth God will the Salvation of all Surely thus far that if they believe they shall be saved No Divine can deny it especially seeing Christ himself hath laid it down so positively This is the will of him that sent me saith he that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life Joh. 6. 40. Wherefore if God will the Salvation of all men thus far that if they believe they shall be saved then Christ died for all men thus far that if they believe they shall be saved But you 'l say that Promise Whosoever believes shall be saved is but Voluntas signi and not Voluntas beneplaciti which is the adequate Measure of Christ's Death Unto which I answer If that Promise be Voluntas signi what doth it signifie What but God's Will What Will but that good pleasure of his that whosoever believes shall be saved How else is the Sign of the true God a true Sign Whence is that universal connexion betwixt Faith Salvation Is it not a plain efflux or product from the Decree of God Doth not that evidently import a Decree that whosoever believes shall be saved Surely it cannot be a false Sign wherefore so far God's Will of Salvation extends to all men and consequently so far Christ's Death extends to them 2. I argue from the Covenant of Grace and the Promises comprized therein Christ is the Mediatour of the Covenant and the Covenant is the New-testament in his blood Christ's Death doth not extend beyond the Covenant for then there should be less in the Charter than in the Purchase neither doth the Covenant extend beyond Christ's Death for then there should be more in the Charter than in the Purchase but both these run parallel in extent Therefore so far forth as the Covenant extends to all men so far forth the Death of Christ extends to all men Now then for the extent of the Covenant Are not those Promises Whosoever believes shall be saved whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely with the like a part of the Covenant and are they not extensive to all men Both are as plain as if they were written with a Sun-beam Wherefore so far doth Christ's Death extend to all men as the Covenant in any part thereof doth extend unto them Moreover these general Promises undeniably extend to all men and in that extent are infallibly true they are all faithful sayings and words of truth and their truth is sealed up by Christ's Blood wherefore as these Promises extend to all men so the Death of Christ in which they are founded doth extend to all men If Christ did no way die for all men which way shall the truth of these general Promises be made out Whosoever will may take the water of life What though Christ never bought it for him Whosoever believes shall be saved What though there were no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no Price paid for him Surely the Gospel knows no Water of Life but what Christ purchased nor no way of Salvation but by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Price paid But you 'l say that albeit Christ died not for all men yet are those general Promises very true and that because their truth is founded
Redemption Surely it imports thus much unto us that Redemption hath a larger Sphere than Election and therefore the Scriptures contract Election in words of Speciality only whilest they open and dilate Redemption in emphatical Generalities 2. If those general Expressions denote only the World of the Elect or the All of Believers why doth the Scripture use such very different language in the same thing Sometimes Christ is called the saviour of the world and sometimes the saviour of the body sometimes 't is said that Christ died or gave himself for all or for the world sometimes it is said that he died or gave himself for the Church or for his sheep Who can imagine that such words of universality and such words of speciality should be of the same latitude that one and the same thing should be imported in both Moreover the Scripture doth make a signal distinction when it speaks of his giving himself or dying for all it says only that he died for all or gave himself a Ransom for all But when it speaks of giving himself for his Church it says that he sanctified himself that it might be sanctified through the truth Joh. 17. 19. and that he gave himself for it that he might purisie to himself a peouliar people Tit. 2. 14. and that he gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it by the word and present it to himself a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle Eph. 5. 25 26 27. Never in all the Scripture is it said that he gave himself for all or for the World that he might sanctifie or cleanse it or make it a peculiar People or glorious Church which yet might have been truly said if the All were no more than the All of Believers or the World than the World of the Elect wherefore to me it seems clear from those various Expressions and the observable distinctions in them that the All for whom Christ died is larger than the All of Believers and the World for whom Christ gave himself larger than the World of the Elect. 2. Having laid down my own Reasons I procede to answer the Objections made against this Opinion Object 1. If Christ died for all men then all would believe for Christ's Death procures all Graces and in particular Faith seeing then all men have not Faith either Christ did not die for them all or else he loseth part of his Purchase I answer that Christ's Death is procurative of all Graces and particularly of Faith so far as it is a Price and it is a Price so far as it was paid down by Christ and accepted by God for that purpose for in a Price there must be both Sufficientia nuda consisting in the intrinsecal value of the thing and Sufficientia ordinata consisting in the intentional paying and receiving that thing as a Price Now Christ's death was paid down by him and accepted by God as a Price with a double respect As for all men it was paid and accepted as a Price so far forth as to procure for them a ground for their Faith viz. that they might be saved on Gospel-terms And as for the Elect it was further paid and accepted as a Price so far as to procure the very Grace of Faith for them Thus our Saviour Christ who best knew both upon what Terms he paid down the price and upon what Terms his Father received it opens this mysterious Dispensation I came down from heaven saith he not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me Joh. 6. 38. and what was that As to all men 't was that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life Ver. 40. and as to the Elect 't was that all those should by faith come unto him Ver. 37. and never be lost Ver. 39. Christ then died for all men not so far forth as to procure the Grace of Faith but so far forth as to procure Salvation on Gospel-terms for them therefore albeit all do not believe it follows not either that Christ did not at all die for them or that he loseth part of his Purchase Christ's Death is procurative of Faith not in reference to all but to the Elect. Object 2. If Christ died for all men why is not the Gospel revealed to them many Pagan Nations have no glimpse of a Christ. I answer two things 1. God hath not left himself altogether without witness no not in the Pagan-world the invisible Spirit renders himself visible in the Glass of the World Rom. 1. 20. and as it were palpable in the body of Nature the very Heathens may see and feel him in every creature Acts 17. 27. nay and in themselves too for his Presence is not far off from them his candle burns within them Prov. 20. 27. when by this Candle it appears that there is Justice in God and Sin in them yet that they may still seek after him he lets out some glimmerings of mercy placability towards them the very standing of the World utters somewhat of this This Psalmist tells us of a line in the heaven Psal. 19. 4. God in the Creation drew lines of Power and Wisdom over the Sphere of Nature but Christ in Redemption struck a line of Mercy quite through it and that legible even to the Heathens forasmuch as they know 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vindictive justice of God Rom. 1. 32. and yet see the World standing and not dashed down about the Sinners Ears they know there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a divine vengeance Acts 28. 4. and yet they are not consumed they see Justice as it were winking Acts 17. 30. judgment slumbring 2 Pet. 2. 3. and infinite Patience and Long-suffering waiting and leading them to Repentance Rom. 2. 4. they have some glimpses of pardoning Mercy where there is no pardoning mercy at all there is no room for repentance but the Patience of God is a kind of temporal pardon of the punishment that temporal pardon of the punishment points out that Mercy which can give an absolute pardon of the Sin and the true duct and tendency of that Mercy is to lead men to Repentance and if there were any man in the Pagan-world who did in truth repent and convert to God I make no question at all but that he should be saved and probably not without the express knowledge of Christ indulged to him for upon all that fear Gods Name will the Sun of rigteousness arise with healing under his wings Mal. 4. 2. Here then is aliquid Evangelii though not the express knowledge of Christ. 2. As to the Argument let us weigh what may be deducted from Christ's death as universal If Christ died for all men it follows from thence that Christ may be preached to all but it follows not from thence that Christ shall be preached to all it follows that Christ may be preached to all for he who was offered for
apprehensive Faculty all the things of Godliness are given 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through the knowledge of God 2 Pet. 1. 3. that 's the great Channel by which all Grace passes into the Will 2. As to the actual Conversion of the Will the Understanding is as a potent Perswader effectually inducing the Will thereunto There are three principal things in the Wills actual Conversion viz. a turning to God as its supreme End an embracing Christ as the only Way and a rejection of Sin as the great Obstacle and in all these the Will doth follow the Understanding 1. The Will doth follow the Understanding in its turn to God as the supreme End and this appears divers ways 1. The Scriptures clear it to us there we find in conjunction bethinking and turning 2 Chron. 6. 37. remembring and turning Psal. 22. 27. considering and turning Ezek 18. 28. understanding and turning Mat. 13. 15. and opening the eyes and turning Act. 26. 18. in all which places the Understanding goes before and the Will follows after There we find Conversion to be a thing wrought by Perswasion God shall perswade Japheth Gen. 9. 27. by Inshining God hath shined in our hearts 2 Cor. 4. 6. by Teaching they shall be all taught of God Joh. 6. 45. by Anointing you have an unction from the holy one 1 Joh. 2. 20. and by coming to a mans self Luk. 15. 17. first the Prodigal came to himself and then he returned to his Father the import of all which is plainly thus much That God doth actually draw home the Will unto himself through the Understanding Thy people saith the Psalmist shall be willing in the day of thy power in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth Psal. 110. 3. here are a willing People like the Dew for multitude but whence are they Whence but from the womb of the morning The morning of supernatural Illumination is the Womb out of which they issue As long as there is no morning in men as the Expression is Isai. 8. 20. there is no Will at all to God but as soon as the day dawns in their hearts out comes a willing People as Dew from the morning 2. The Nature of the Will holds forth thus much The Will naturally wills Blessedness or the ultimate End in general because it is a Good perfective and expletive of the Soul but the Will doth not naturally fix on this or that thing as its blessedness or ultimate End in particular One Man fixes on Mammon as his chief Good another makes his Belly his God a third is all for the Pride of Life whence is the Will thus determined Either it must be determined by it self or else by the Understanding not by it self for it is a blind Faculty and cannot of it self judg any thing to be a chief Good much less can it fix it self on it as such wherefore it must be determined by the Understanding One Man chuses Mammon to be his chief Good because as the Psalmist hath it his inward thought is that his house shall continue for ever Psal. 49. 11. that's lasting happiness saith his carnal Understanding Another makes his Belly his God because his inward thought is Eat drink and be merry Luk. 12. 19. there is nothing better saith his bruitish Understanding A third is all for the Pride of Life because his inward thought is to be a Lucifer in Self-excellencies that 's the top of Bliss saith his soaring Understanding In every one of these first the Understanding makes the Idol and then the Will doth fall down and worship Now if the Will may be determined by the Understanding to such false Beatitudes as these how much more may it be determined by the Understanding to God who is the true blessedness 3. This appears from the Excellency of that practical Understanding which draws the Will unto actual Conversion 'T is an excellent Understanding for the Object of it being in the Mount of Transfiguration it shews forth unto the Will not Creatures Chips of Being in the shell of Time but a Jehovah of Self-beingness a God of Allsufficiency dwelling in Eternity not Streams of Life or Goodness in the Creature-channel but a Fountain of living waters an Ocean of immense Goodness such as cannot be sailed over by Faith or Vision not golden or pearly Mountains but an infinite Mass of free Grace unsearchable riches of Mercy such as cannot be â—old over to all Eternity not shadows or little portions of Being but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Revel 1. 4. the true I am the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the all things 1 Cor. 15. 28. in whom are all the rich Mines of universal Blessedness and which is the sweetness of all it shews forth this God not as reserving himself only to himself but as freely offering himself to poor worms Oh my Soul stand still and adore the opening of his Bowels and Self-motion of his Grace this Jehovah of Self-beingness and All-sufficiency will make over himself to thee this Fountain of Life and Goodness will flow out to thee this rich Mass of Grace and Mercy will portion thee this I am and ever-blessed All is an inheritance for thee and in inheriting him thou maist after a wonderful manner inherit all things This is the infinite Excellency of the Object but after what manner doth the Understanding shew it forth unto the Will Surely though as much below his worth as finite is below infinite yet in an excellent way the Understanding shews forth God unto the Will not in a dead or literal manner but with spiritual liveliness and as I may so say in sparkles of Glory for it is eternal life and Heaven it self dawns in it not darkly or at a distance but clearly and closely the day-star is up in the heart and God approaches near unto the Will his goodness passes before it and leaves some holy touches and savours thereupon not in a weak and languishing manner but powerfully and effectually The Apostle joins the demonstration of the Spirit and power together 1 Cor. 2. 4. There is such a Demonstration of the Spirit in the Understanding as cannot be denied and from thence such a Power upon the Will as cannot be frustrated not notionally only but practically it seriously presseth in upon the Will Here O rational Appetite here is a God indeed his Grace free his Mercy Self-moving take him and thou hast all lose him and thou hast nothing Now Oh! now is the accepted time the day of Salvation in his Favour there is Life in his Wrath nothing but Death If he bless thee none can curse if he curse thee none can bless now or never turn and live After this manner doth it practically press in upon the Will Now when the Understanding holds forth such an excellent Object in such an excellent manner unto the Will already principled with Grace how can it chuse but actually close in