flesh provoked thee to wrath O let his chastity procure thy Mercy that as my pollution seduced me to fal so his purenes may reduce me to thy favour My disobedience deservs sharp revenge but his obedience merits much more Mercy for what can Man deserv to suffer which God that made Man cannot merit to be forgiven When I ponder the greatnes and grievousnes of his Passion I see the saying tru That Jesus Christ can into the World to sav the chiefest sinners Darest thou then O Cain cry thy sins are greater then can be forgiven thou liest like a murderer the Mercies and merits of one Christ are sufficient to sav millions of Cains if they wil beleev and repent For al sins are finit but Gods Mercies and Christs Merits infinit therfore O Father for his bitter death and bloody passion pardon al my sins deliver me from the vengeance they hav deserved and let his merits make me partaker of thy Mercies My importunity shal never ceas to cal and knock with the Man that would borow the Loafs til thou open the gate of thy Grace If thou wilt not bestow the Loafs yet Lord vouchsafe the Crums of thy Mercy which shal suffice thy hungry Hand-maid Lastly sith thou requirest nothing but to lov thee in truth of heart wherof a new Creature is the truest outward testimony and 't is so easy for thee to make me such as bid me be so Creat in me O Christ a new heart and renew a right spirit within me then shalt thou see how mortifying old Adam and his corrupt lusts I wil serv thee as a new Creature in a new life after a new way with a new toung new words and new works to the glory of thy name and gaining of other sinful Souls to the Faith by my devout exemple Keep me for ever dear Saviour from Hels torment and Satans tyranny So when I shal leav this life send thy holy Angels to carry me as they did Lazarus Soul into thy Kingdom receiv me into that most joiful Paradise which thou promisedst to the penitent Theef who at last gasp so earnestly begged mercy and admission into thy Kingdom Grant this O sweet Saviour for thy names sake to whom I ascribe as is most du al Prais power and glory for evermore Postscriptum sacratum A very pious Postscript THis Appendix is annexed chiefly to the premisses out of Mr. Henry Smiths Arrow against Atheists to this effect The main marks of Messiah to com were manifested in Christ alone specialy how the Jews should not know or acknowledg Psal 12. 22 Isâ—i 53. 3. him but reject and refuse him to the end he might be doon to death for Mans salvation according to Gods determinat Decree For if they had received him as the tru Messias surely he had not bin so But becaus they denied derided and put him to death doubtless he was so Al particular Promises and Prophecies pointing out the Messiah were fulfilled in him or by him as that the Womans seed should break the Serpents head that a Virgin should bear him the Birth place Bethleem al Infants thereabouts slain for his sake Kings to adore him with presents of Gold and other gifts he should be presented at Jerusalem for the greater glory of the secund Temple fly into Egypt and be caled thence a Star should shew his coming into the World John Baptist caled Elias becaus he cam in his Spirit and Power should go as a Messenger or Usher to prepare the way before him and cry in the Desart that he should be poor abject and despised of Men preach with al humility and meeknes of spirit doo many miracles and heal al Diseases be slain for Mens sins betraied by his own Disciple which dipped in the dish with him be sold for thirty silver peeces with which a Potsherd field must be bought the Traitor to be cut off and another take his Office he should ride into Jerusalem on an Asses Foal be apprehended arraigned beaten buffeted scourged spit on his hands and feet nailed his side pierced he to drink Vineger and be crucified among Malefactors his cloaths divided and lots cast for his Coat but not a bone broken he should rise from death the third day ascend into Heaven and sit at his Fathers right hand as a Conqueroâ— Al which were pointly verified in him or perfectly performed by him The time of Messias coming concurs soly in Christ for Daniel foretold how in the fourth Monarchy the eternal King Dan. 2. 39 44. shal com and build Gods Kingdom through the World which befel under Augustus Caesar founder or establisher of that Agge 2. 8. Empire Agge foreshewed that the desired of al Nations shal com and the secund hous filled with greater glory then the first for Herod built and beautified it outwardly in great pomp and Christ graced it inwardly with his glorious presence yea Malachy Mal 3. 1. saith He shal com during the secund Temple and Daniel Dan 9. 26. That it shal not be demolished til Messias be slain who foretold its destruction Jacob told his Sons That the Scepter shal not Gen 49. 10. depart from Juda til Shiloh com which is the Gentils expectation Al which circumstances completly cohere with Christs first coming in the appointed time He must be an everlasting Psal 89. 3. 4. King for God saith I hav sworn to David my Servant I wil prepare thy Seed for ever and build up thy seat to al generations which cannot sort to Solomon for his Kingdom was rent by Jeroboam and after suppressed by Nabuchodonosor nor can the words for ever be applyed to any temporal King but eternal which must descend from Davids loins and linage This Premist Jer. 23 5 6. God confirms saying Behold the dais com that I wil rais up to David a righteous seed he shal reign a King to doo judgment and justice on Earth in his dais Juda shal be saved and Israel dwel safely and this is the name men shal cal him Our just God To whom can this consort sav to the Son of God caled Catexockâ—n the Son of David who was his Father in the flesh and bore his type or figure Hence Ezekiel and Hose stile the Messiah David Ezâ—k 34 33. Hos 3. 5. being to descend of his seed I wil set over them a Shepherâ— even David my Servant he shal be their Shepherd and I wil be their God and my Servant David a Prince among them Now becaus the Jews look for Messias to be a Temporal King to reign in Judea and subdu their Enemies as Chiliasts deem or dream he shal doo at next coming with his Martyrs the confutation of their fond conceipt wil be a strong confirmation of the contrary For their expected time of the Messias as the Mahometans of their fals Prophet is long ago expired yet no such Terren King ever reigned ther and it repugns Scripture Daniel cals him An eternal King and
For deciding or defining wherof weigh thes three conclusions 1. That a Beleever being in present state and use of holy means tending to salvation and out of tentation in the peace of a good Conscience through Faith in Christ may by the testimony of the Holy Ghost hav a comfortable assurance of Salvation which begets trusty fervent lov and thankfulnes to God specialy when he is neer the end of his race or point of death So S. Paul by inspiration saith I am now ready to be offred up I hav sought a good 2 Tim 4. 6 7 8. fight finished my cours and kept the Faith Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of righteousnes This place Lutherans press against Papists who wil hav al by doubting and none certain of his present condition no not at best But he that hath right knowledg of God tru Faith stedfast Hope lifely Lov and awful Filial fear with an holy trade of Life he may rejoyce in God with comfortable confidenre and affiance of perseverance to the end 2. That for time to com specialy when we hav probably a long race to run and divers dangers of wild wonton Youth to pass we cannot hav infallible certitud of future or final persevering but must confide in Gods Grace 1 Cor. 10. 13. and Goodnes that he wil assist if we apply al our indevors to De Civ c. 11. 12 continu in it Hereof S. Austin speaks We cal them blessed whom we see liv wel with hope of future immortality and without such crimes as make shipwrack of Conscience who though they may rely on the reward of Pe severance yet are not sure of persevering For who knows certainly he shal continu in doing righteousnes to the end except he be assured by som revelation from him who is not pleased in his just secret judgment to inform al touching this point though he deceivs none S. Ambros thus David saith not I offer the sacrifice De bono moâ—â— c. 3. of Prais but wil offer shewing or signifying that to be a perfect sacrifice when every one freed from the fetters of this Body shal stand before the Lord and offer himself a Sacrifice For before death can be no perfect Prais nor can any be truly extold in this life when his latter times are so incertain S. Bernard Serm. 1 in Seâ— tuag also Who can say I am one of the Elect predestinat to Life or in the number of Sons sith we hav yet no certainty but we may be comforted with hopeful affiance and not tormented with despair or doubting for som signs or marks are given that such may be sure they are Elect which hav them for this caus 't is necessary to be stil in awful fear and humbled under Gods hand sith we know in part what we are at present but not what we shal be which is impossible to know therfore Let him that stands take heed lest he fal for presumption is so perilous as desperation 3. That certitud of salvation cannot be infallible in this life as S. Austin attests What De Cor. Gr. 13. Beleever so long as he livs in this fleshly Tabernacle can presum to be predestinat 't is needful to be conceled in this life wher puffing up is to be shunned sith so great an Apostle was buffeted by Satan lest he should be puf'd up Many such things are spoken for the usefulnes of this secret lest any shal presume for even he that runs wel may fear sith 't is hid whither he shal go Much more he vents to the same effect For Gods Promises in Christ are certain but made with conditions so that we may miss of the end if we fail in the means to fulfil our Covenants sith no Man shal be crowned til he fight it out and the battel ended triumph not before the victory Gods Decrees are known soly to himself but secret to us who must rely on the Promisses by performing the Covenants If we may be fully assured of tru Faith that it cannot fail but we shal infallibly persever to the end through al frailties and tentations then Gods Counsil is not secret to som nor his Decree unknown which is high presumption to arrogat or affirm sith we must stil work it out with fear and trembling This is a Cavaliers Creed or confidence in the point of final perseverance and salvations infallible certainty who holds the middle betwixt two extrems of despair and presumption but had rather be a meek humble Publican then a proud presuming Pharisee Lord be merciful to me a sinner and grant me Grace to continu in thy fear til the end 17. The last Judgment is the execution of al Divine Decrees 17 Last Judgment concerning Men For Predestination of the ends is a foreknowledg and approbation of the last Judgment to Life or Death which execution shews the Decree as a building being erected and finished declares the Architects plot or devise for this Judgment exhibits the consecution of thos ends So if we grant as we must that God proponed an end viz. the glory of his Mercy or Bounty in giving som life eternal and glory of his Power and Justice in inflicting eternal death on others he hath attained his end in the last Judgment So if we admit Note as we must that God prescribed means for Men to aspire or attain to eternal life or for lack therof to incur everlasting death thos ends are executed also in the same Judgment Rom. 6. 23 Howbeit if we grant as we doo that Life is given both as a 2 Tim. 4. 8. Rom 9 21. 22. Bounteous Gift and reward of Righteousnes as also that eternal Death is imposed both as the wages or punishment of sin and a demonstration of Gods soveraign dominion yet with Justice and Equity No ordinary understanding can conceiv how a Decree of thes things could be made from eternity without Prescience siâ—h Life is a reward and Death a punishment which no Justice can prepare without foreknowledg of good or evil deserved This is cald simple or natural Intelligence as Life is a Gift of Gods free goodnes and Death a Declaration of his dominion being both an attainment of his own glory Hence 't is cleer that Prescience which is Gods first highest simple Understanding is to be put in the definition of Predestination which too many separat or dis-join Let Prosper decide this point If we consider al Men together Epâ—gâ— 28. wherof som may be saved in Mercy others damned in Truth al the Lords wais are distinguâ—shed by the end but if we look only on the Saints thes wais are not discerned for Truth is not distinguished from Mercy nor contrarily sith the Saints beatitud is both from reward of Grace and retribution of Justice So he makes eternal Death a retribution of Justice which cannot eternaly be decreed without Prescience of sin which Calvinists ground on Gods pure pleasure as Lord over his
others by Grace if then he requires since Mans fal faith repentance obedience and perseverance to work out our salvation by his Grace certes he givs ability to beleev repent obey and persever by cooperating with it but doth not cross-bar it by any contrary decree which were meer mockery far from Mercy for if one ly on the ground bound hand foot 't is mockery to bid him rise or run away but mercy to loose or let him go The Case is quadratly semblable and aptly applicable Our good God is no mocker but al Mercy nor respecter of persons but receivs al that cal on him 12. God delights not in the death of a sinner but would hav al to be saved he hath spoken it who wil not beleev him so wel as beleev in him But if he hath absolutly and peremptorily decreed from which is no appeal nor repeal that Man shal sin and consequently dy he delights in his death and wil hav but a few saved Hath he made him according to his own Image purposly to make him the wrechedest of al Creatures Surely his Wil and Decree is to reward every Man according to his works Thes twelv stones thus laid like Josuas twelv stones paralel to Jos 4. 20. Israels twelv Tribes set up in Gilgal for a memorial of Jordans retroversion for a fair foundation the fabric wil be the better finished but becaus Mr. Plaifer wel versed in this point hath handled it at large in his Appâ—liâ— Evangelium the chief contents shal be sincerly abstracted or abbreviated and applied to common capacities sans ambiguity He reckons fiv dissident Opinions touching the order of 1 Opinon Predestination 1. Calvin Beza Piscator Whitaker Perkins c. hold that God eternaly Decreed to creat a set number of Men wherof he elected som to everlasting life and reprobated the rest to eternal death of his free wil pleasure only to shew his Grace Goodnes or Mercy on the one and his Justice Power or Dominion on the other To which end he Decreed sin should enter on al that he might justly punish most part for sin and to send his Son for redemption of the Elect in Mercy by free Grace This peremptory position is generaly condemned by Papists Refutation Lutherans Arminians and divers Reformed Divines as perilous and erroneus becaus it makes God the prime Author of sin rejecting Men before they were evil by an antecedent absolut Decree without respect to Adams future fal but elects som before they are considered as sinners sans respect to the ones faith or the others failing as if prescience had no place in Praedestination 2. The Synod of Dort Peter Moulin and many English 2 Opin Theologists defend That God eternaly decreed to make Man holy and good giving him perfect Free-wil but foreseing he would by Satans tentation fal into sin if he hindred it not decreed to permit it and out of this lost lapsed lump chos a certain number to salvation suffering the rest to perish in sin whom he passeth by of free pleasure but punisheth for just demerits Yet decreed to send his Son to redeem or sav the elect and his Spirit to cal or sanctify them that they may be glorified The first sort are stiled Supralapsarians having no respect to Adams fal decreed to send his Son so they grant prescience in order to preced Decree This opinion freeth Gods justice on Infants dying unbaptised which the first doth not who hav no other desert of death but original sin This Tenet is scarce veritable or warrantable which Refut to defend divine justice supposeth mankind corrupted before any Decree of election passed which seems needless becaus ther be good and bad Angels without any corruption or fal and Christ was not in the lapsed lump yet as man elected to life It also supposeth Original sin to be caus of Reprobation which is remitted to many Reprobats condemned for actual sins as Doctor Whitaker avers it likewise teacheth that Christ is sent to sav the elect only as dying for them alone who are to be caled by the Word and Spirit but Reprobats being outwardly caled who are barred from obeying are more deeply condemned for refusing it yet hav no power to embrace it which is harsh doctrin 3. Doctor Overald a late learned Bisshop coined a new 3 Opin Tenet That God decreed to creat man good but foreseeing his fal appointed his Son to dy for al and to cal men by his Word offering Salvation to al with common suffiâ—ient Grace to work Faith by the ordinary means if they be not wanting to themselves but knowing our infirmity that none would beleev by the common Grace decreed to ad a more special effectual to whom he pleased being chosen according to his purpos wherby they shal not only be able but actualy and necessarily beleev being drawn by the Father irresistibly This is plausible but scars solid for that common Grace Refut which savs none is not Gospel Grace offered to al nor deservs that name nor indeed is any such sith it never produced the effect Nor can a special superabundant Grace be it sith 't is rejected by none to whom 't is offered but tru Gospel Grace is received by som and refused or resisted by others Thes three Opinions infer a kind of despair into mens minds becaus none shal be saved by that special Grace given to a few according to Gods secret purpos which whether he intends to giv or not the general promises cannot assure to any Soul 4. The Lutherans with som Papists maintain that God decreed 4 Opin to make Man a free Creature but permit him to stand or fal and to send his Son upon foresight of his fal for redemption of al by a general conditionat Decree of Faith Repentance Perseverance with a special absolut of electing such as he knew would beleev and persever under the means but to pass by and damn the rest whom he foresaw incredulous and impenitent making Prescience or Prevision the occasion on which his Decrees proced This is faulty in som points 1. Becaus ther is no such general Refut conditionat Predestination 2. Becaus the special Decree of Election makes Men chus God first rather then God them which is preposterous 3. Becaus the Decree of Justification and Condemnation is confounded with election and Reprobation which S. Paul distinguisheth 4. Becaus it allows no more Rom. 8 19. Grace given to the Elect then Reprobats nor greater caus of gratitud Yet this opinion rightly extends the objects of Prescience not only to Adams fal but to Christ Incarnat and beleeved on in the World to the last end of al that shal persever in Faith or unbeleef This sutes with Scripture which builds Predestination on Foreknowledg simply and properly taken at large promising salvation to al beleevers which shal persever to the end Thes four opinions ech of which hath som peeces of truth giv great light to this
somthing of Man which is predestinated whom it pleased the Almighty to make more excellent then any of his visible Creatures to consist of Spirit and Flesh being inferior to Angels and superior to Beasts for he is a Rational free Creature yet not so absolutly sufficient of himself and wholy independent to be under none which is proper soly to God but free in his own Nature to wil or nil chuse or refuse and rule his own acts wherby he was capable of holines or sin obeying or disobeying to doo good or evil and therby a subject of Prais or Punishment Bounty or Justice which no Creature can properly be that is not perfectly free in Wil and loos at liberty from al necessary restraint Ob. Som opposits object that Adam haply had such perfect Free-wil but by his Fal that absolut liberty to al things is lessened and to Spirituals lost Ergo c. Sol. 'T is granted but with Proviso That God foreseing this fal and loss with intent not to prevent it prepared sufficient Graces of his powerful Spirit to repair or restore what was decaied by giving a new Command or Covenant fit for Mans infirm wounded Wil and thos Graces of his holy Spirit which he would be stil ready to supply by preventing assisting protecting and preserving if he be not wanting to his duty For Gods Wisdom is not so weak to make such a noble Creature only for shew to Angels or to set him in the World for a day or two and banish him for ever into Hel fire under the slavery and tyranny of Rebellious Fiends of his own free Decree without foresight of any deserts good or evil which is the Manichees error horrid to conceiv of so gracious a God who created him purposly to be the subject of his righteous Judgment 'T is a tru saying If ther be not the Grace of God how shal he sav the World If no Free-wil in Man how shal he judg it We must so defend the one as not destroy the other which wil wel consist together Hence it folows That a just Decree before al time what shal be doon to every one at end of time cannot possibly be conceived to be made but by Gods simple Prescience of every Mans works rendring to ech accordingly Now becaus that Decree passeth from a Soveraign Lord of absolut Wil who wil be Debtor to none but al to him it folows also that this foreknowledg on which the Decree is founded must needs be according to our utmost capacity Gods natural simple intelligence of al things while they were but as possible before any Decree made for their being To which knowledg when his omnipotent Wil was joined an â—mâ—tâ—ble inevitable Decree passed like Laws of Medes and Persians that things should be as now they are necessary or continge it means or ends causes or effects such as Prescience previously apprehended so every Mans salvation is soly from God and others perdition wholy from themselfs which divine Prescience neither furthers nor hinders The disput is not of predestinating al things that are and rejecting the rest but only of Angels and Men in what maner or order som were ordained to life and al els reprobated this proceds from Gods simple knowledg which preceds Predestination not from that of Vision or sight which is of things that either hav had or shal hav being which folows and is founded on it By this God understood if he would endu som Creatures with Reason and a free Nature 1. He should best shew forth in them his Wisdom goodnes mercy justice fidelity and al his sublime properties 2. That such Creatures wil vary in their choices som cleaving to good som to evil as Men are moraly virtuous or vitious which he foresaw not only in general but every particular person if created and put to trial yet it rested in his free pleasure to creat and try or hinder their choices 3. That of such whom he knew would prevaricat if permitted free he might justly punish them for disobeying or could fit means to restore and reconcile them yet decreed neither 4. He conceived it juster or equitabler to punish rebellious Angels being created individual and most intellectual but to spare Men in mercy being to multiply their kind and made more frail specialy if seduced by subtle Spirits 5. He foreknew if he should ordain sufficient means to rais al Men lapsed that som would gratfully receiv his bounty to their salvation and others wilfully or ingratly reject it for the pleasure of sin to their perdition holding stil the determination what to doo or permit in his ful power 6. He knew if he should condemn the contumacious and favor such as returned to him he should deal justly with the one mercifully with the other and judg al righteously Al thes things with every circumstance as they are in being from beginning of the World to the end God understood as under condition or supposition it he should pleas to put them in execution which after du deep deliberation in his eternal counsil to speak stil after our shalow apprehension his divine Wil and Wisdom was to pronounce this mighty Word or Decree Fiant let them be He could in a moment hav framed millions of Worlds but proceded gradualy to perfect this one in six dais that his Majesty might be the more magnified whos Wisdom Justice Mercy Grace Goodnes Power and Dominion be glorified through al generations Thes are the Lutheran or Arminian Principles who make simple Prescience the basis of Predestination which if indifferently weighed with a single impartial ey wil not seem half so hainous as 't is prejudicatly proclamed in Pulpits and Pamphlets Let Tertullian put the perclos 'T is no good nor solid faith Lâ—de Exhert Castit which refers al to Gods Wil and absolut decree flattering the world with saying al is doon soly by it but we must understand ther is som power in us which God expects to accomplish our salvation For to say God hath determind of us without any reflexion on our works is to make a Pillow for som Mens sloth and prepare a precipice for others despair He sleeps too securely that thinks to carry his happines in a Wallet we must ever work or shal never receiv wages for doubtles God wil recompens according to every Mans works Calvinists both Ante and Postlapsarians ascribe Predestination to Gods pure pleasure by absolute antecedent Decree without respect of foreseen demerits in his simple intelligence whos principal proofs shal be produced in heaps to shun prolixity Ob. Touching divine Decree in temporal things Job saith Joh. 14 5. Mans dais are numbred or determined and bounds appointed Ps 139. 16. which he cannot pass So David in thy Book are al my members Writen So Christ not a Sparow shal fal on the ground without Mat. 10 29 30. your Father and the hairs of your head are al numbred Ergo al depends on divine Decree Sol.
God like them and imitat their Exod. 20 5. sins God swears that the Proverb The Fathers hav eaten Ezek 18 2 c. sour Grapes and Childrens teeth are set on edg shal be used no more the Soul that sins shal dy But if a Man be just and doo right he shal surely liv The Son shal not bear his Fathers iniquity nor Father his Sons but the Soul only that Sins shal dy Wretched would be our case on whom the ends of al the World are com if children should be guilty of al their Progenitors sins or liable to their plagues and punishments who can bear it Yet 't is asserted that God decrees to leav Reprobats in this impotent irrecoverable condition affording no ability to rise from sin by Grace which Decree he executs in time of his Free-wil and Pleasure leaving them under a necessity of sinning by the act of absolut Reprobation both Negativ which is a flat denial of Grace and Positiv which is a preordination of them to endless torments Som grant common Graces to Reprobats but not sufficient to sav them So saith Lubbert God reveles not the way of salvation to Reprobats nor givs Faith and Regeneration but leavs them in sin and perdition Nor doth afford them any sufficient means of salvation with an intention of saving them Thes two Positions that God necessitats Reprobats to sin and leavs them in the snds make him chief Author of al their sins for a Caus of the Caus is Caus of the thing produced Causa Cauâ—â— â—â—â— Causa Causati whether Negativ or Positiv acts Ergo if God be chief Caus of their impenitence by want or withdrawing supernatural Grace he is tru caus of their sin according to the saying He that forbids or hinders not what is in his power bids and furthers it as they say God doth effectually wil it 'T is a poor pretext that God by withdrawing his Grace is only accidental not a direct proper caus of their sins For an accidental is when the effect is beside the Agents intention or expectation as if one in digging his ground finds gold But when an effect is expected intended or contrived the caus cannot be caled accidental as a Pilot witholding his care or skil from a Ship when he knows it wil perish by such neglect is caus of casting it away So if God detains Grace necessary not as ignorant what wil insu but precisely determins Reprobats ruin by their impenitence he becoms a tru direct caus of their sins which no wiles of wit sav among their partial poor blind Disciples can possibly decline 2. It opposeth Gods Mercy which is his Nature in the Abstract See Exod. 34 6. Mat. 7. 11. Mat. 23. 37. 2 Cor. 1. 3. Eph. 2. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 2. 1 John 4. 16. But such matchless Mercy cannot stand with a peremptory Decree of absolut Reprobation which if God doth of free pleasure he is rather a Father of Cruelties then Mercies and a Destroier then Saviour What Parent wil destin their Children to eternal death and torments for one only offens and that not committed by them but by others and imputed to them Is Gods Mercy abundant if limited to a few Elect scarsone of a hundred shal be inevitably saved Ponder thes points duly 1. That Adams sin is personaly none sav his but a sin of Nature not committed or consented to by any of his posterity which is derived by traduction but made the sin of Nature by Gods arbitrary imputation not ordinary generation 2. That God as 't is generaly beleeved pardoned Adam who freely committed it Can it then stand with his Mercy to punish others for the same sin not perpetrated by them 3. That his only Son was sent into the John 1. 29 World and suffred death for the sins of the World which might suffice to satisfy his wronged Justice for al Mankind and open a way of salvation to every Man without respect of persons But to damn a world of Reprobats by free Decree only to shew his dominion no way savours of Mercy for he is far crueler to them then any Creature els or to the very Devils who are damned for their own personal pride and rebellion but Reprobats by an absolut Decree for anothers crime The one know their doom and expect it but the other are deluded with hope and made beleev the matter is in their own hand so that if they perish 't is not for want of Mercy in God but oâ— wil in themselfs Yet by their doctrin al depends on the peremptory punctilio of Gods arbitrary absolut Decree So Devils are in better case becaus they are not injoined to beleev in Christ nor to repent fast and pray as Reprobats are Nor punished the more for not beleeving as Men are In al which regards their condition is far more ruful then cursed Fiends who are made the tormentors over them Concerning other Creatures the very basest hav a being though despicable which is better then no being Yet who would not wish if he might chuse to be resolved into nothing then in such doleful direful condition yea that they had been Toads or Serpents then Men Or what Parents wil procreat if they be perswaded they shal beget Children Fire-brands for Hel and Slavs to Satan yet not for their faults nor hav they power to help it Let Prosper shape the period He which saith God wil not hav al to be saved but a few predestinat persons only he speaks harshly of Gods high inscrutable Grace Som say Gods Mercy by this absolut Decree is sufficiently shewed to the Elect and Justice to Reprobats but the one is clothed with partial respect of persons and the other clouded with extrem rigour or severity as shal appeer 3. It is incompatible with divine Justice See Ps 145. 17. Prov. 16. 11. Isai 5. 3. Ezek. 18. 25. but the absolut decreâ— of Reprobation cannot consist with it sith it makes God punish the righteous with rebellious and innocent Men with bad Angels For Antelapsarians say expresly That God decreed Mans Fal or Fate considered without sin and therfore innocent Postlapsarians vouch the same by consequent That he lais a necessity on every Man to be born under original sin decreeing to Reprobat most part for that sin so they make God to doo 〈◊〉 3 Inst c. 23. § 7. 23. by two acts which their brethren impute to one Calvin contests That God may with equal Justice decree Men to damnation the first way so wel as the last for al are made guilty of Adams sin by Gods Decree only why then not he by the same Thes kind Patrons of divine Justice wil seem to stumble at a straw and leap over a block why els wil they not grant that of one Man which they doo of al hence we may see what to judg of this opinion That God cannot justly ordain Men to destruction sans consideration of sin for which is greater to impute another
Martyr actualy and arbitrarily who gladly gav his life to preach or publish him for the tru promised Messiah 21. John his best beloved Apostle Evangelist Analogical Martyr who suffred cruel torments and was exiled being ready to lay down his life 22. Innocents of Bethleem Juda who in deed not desire were slain by Herod the great in Christs stead tho not for his sake Thes are al the fixd Fests but his Resurrection is sanctified weekly in lieu of the seventh day Sabbath and yeerly too at Easter his Ascention 40. dais after Which are al except the holy Ghosts decent at Pentecost and Trinity seven dais after consecrat to the three Persons in Deity The last with som Appendices are Movables and three of them Easter Pentecost or Whitsunday Trinity celebrat on the Lords day Al the rest which relish of superstition invention and exaltation of the Cross the blessed Virgins pretended sinless Conception and supposed Assumption al Souls in Purgatory beside Tho. Becket a Pseudo Martyr and many mo of like bran we utterly reject renounce or repudiat What harm then in al this sith it tends soly to sanctity Yes say Malignants becaus Papists ordained prescribed and pro phaned them Indeed they abused not appointed them being instituted before by the primitiv Church as is plentifully proved but such as they superstitiously superadded are abrogated and abandoned Yet what if Papist ordeined al shal we receiv or retain none If they go on their heels shal we walk on our heads If they profes one God in three Persons shal we beleev three Gods in one Person Let pious institutions be embraced but al impious abuses or Ordinances exiled and extermined In sum I prescribe no Fests to be sanctified nor find fault Sumâ—ary with their suppression but only assert the lawful Religious use of them freely agnizing that the state or such as sit at stern hav lawful human power to annul or abrogat them and to restore or reestablish them with other Adiaphoral Ordinaces except Articles of Faith wherin we must obey God and not Man so far am I from taxing or traducing our Superiors actions that I doo and wil obey them in al indifferent things either Religious or Civil which doo not trench on a good conscience Yet if they wil be pleased to redintegrat the public Liturgy and principal Festivals which stand ratified by several Acts of Parlement unrepealed they shal make glad millions of good hearts in this Common-wealth which greatly griev at this interruption rather then abolition or suppression of them On whos behalfs sith 't is no Mony-matter nor can any way prejudice the State this poor Distich may humbly be presented Gratum Opus Angligenis si restituatur ut olim Publica forma Precum Festaque sacra foret If Common-Praier Book could as of old be had And sacred Fests English hearts would be glad Let incomparable Bishop Andrews words concerning the In a Sermon on John 8. 50. chief Soveraign Queen of Festivals close up the Catastrophe Ther is no day so properly Christs as that of his Birth which by comparing it with others wil appeer For the Passion day is not so truly or peculiarly his becaus two Theefs suffred with him at the same time place and maner nor Resurrection day sith many mo rose then too and went into the holy City appeering unto many nor Ascention day for that Enoch and Elias ascended bodily long before him much less the Circumcision day which was common to al the Jews Male-Children but the Birth day of a pure Virgin by power of the holy Ghost is soly his without Felow none ever so born none born such God and Man in one Person Therfore as no Fest els 't is attended as Christ he-self was with an Apostolic retinu of twelv Holy days Thus this sweet singer of England or golden mouthd Chrysostom descants The final result rests on two questions 1. Positiv whether Upâ—â—or it be lawful for Gods Church and al obedient Members to set apart or sanctify one day of 365. in a yeer for the memory of our Saviours manifestation in the flesh as the Jews did the Altars dedication and our State the deliverance of that Devilish Powder-plot which no sober Christian can deny 2. Comparativ whether it be superstition thankfully to celebrat one day annaly with public worship in remembrance of Mans redemption or rather wilfully to scorn slander prophane and contemn it If thes two be laid in the scales of unbiassed impartial judgment the pious veneration wil far preponderat the impious irrision in al good Mens eys Shal we set apart or sanctify divers dais of Thanksgiving and Humiliation for Temporal benefits of Victories or other occasions and cannot be content to afford to allow one for the greatest Spiritual blessing of our eternal Redemption from the power of sin and slavery of Satan began by his blessed birth and finishd by his bitter death and burial with other consequent glorious works of Exaltation viz. his Resurrection Ascention and continual intercession at his Fathers right hand in Heaven God shield us from such guilt wherto thes two Heroics may be aptly applied Absit tale nefas pudet haec opprobâ—â—a nobis Aut dici potuisse aut non potuisse refelli Far be such crime 't is shame should be imputed Thes scandals to us or could not be refuted For shâ—me then let Pulpits ring no more of such rediculous reasons prealleged not worth a Fig which if a young Sophister should urge in Schools he were worthy to be hissed out as being unwoâ—thy to be answered Dr. Hammond a deep Divine from whos learned lucubrations I hav pickd som precited materials as he and al writers borow from others in his Resolution to certain modern Quaeres wherof this concerning Christmas and other Fests is the last answers sixten addle interrogatories of his Antagonist in this point which he that lists may peruse but to requite his pains proposeth three pithy Quaeres at end of that Treatise wherto three mo shal be superadded 1. Whether the Church Catholic or any particular specialy 〈◊〉 nâ—â—rest the Apostles age hath sufficient power to make one or mo daiâ— sacrâ—d and let apart fâ—om servil works to Gods service in memory of som eminent mercy conferred on his People to be yeerly celebrated with tru piety which shal bind al dutiful Children to obey and observ them 2. Whether the annal Fest of Christs Birth being both lawful 2 Qâ—aere and laudable in the right religious use weeding out al abuses ordained by the Catholic Church may justly be abolished or abandoned by any Church or State much less privat Persons without regard to the universal sith it hath so long continued sans comptrole or contradiction by any 3. Whether it be a good ground in Conscience or Common 3 Qâ—â—â— e. reason to cancel or cashire so pious a constitution under a fucatious color of causless superstition becaus som pedissequent dais hav bin rudely
then the Sun are shadowed with death Thos Ears inured to heavenly Harmony are filled with scofs and scorns Thos Lips that spake as never Man did are wet with Gal and Vineger Thos hands which swaied Heavens Scepter cary the Reed of reproch and are fastned to the Tree Thos Feet to which al powers of Hel were a Foot-stool are nailed to the Foot-stool of the Cross That whol Body conceived by the holy Ghost is scourged wounded mangled yet al this but the outside of his sufferings but the innner part or Soul of his pains is so far beyond thos sensitiv torments as the Soul surpasseth the Body or Gods wrath Mans malice What the infinit sins of innumerable Men committed against an infinit Majesty deserved in infinit durance al this he in a short space of his Passion suffred or susteined which made him cry My God my God why doost thou forsake me he was affrighted with terrors perplexed with griefs distraught with both It was not so much for millions of Men to despair as for him to fear yet never was any so afraid of Hel as he of his Fathers wrath for our sins and in our steads Thus his Incarnation Nativity Birth place Life Death Burial Resurrection Ascention sitting at Gods right hand with many mo circumstanees of Judas treason and reward the Jews rejecting him and crucifying among Theefs were al divinely foretold of the Messias to com and directly fulfilled in or by Christ to whom only they fitly and fully agree For he is the Womans Seed which should break the Serpents head and in whom al Nations of the Earth shal be blessed The other testimonies touching the time and truth of Messias coming that he shal be of Davids linage born of a pure Virgin perfect God and Man yea a Spiritual eternal King no Temporal or Terrestrial make up a cloud of witnesses to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ is the only tru forepromised Messiah to whom be rendred al Glory Honor Prais and Power for ever Al which might be infinitly inlarged but for brevity omitted Supplementum Pietatis In the Practise of Piety THe Souls Soliquy at end of the Practis of Piety in contemplation Conclusion of Christs Passion shal shape a Catastrophe to thes divine Meditations What hast thou doon sweet Saviour to be betraied by Judas sold to the Jews and led bound as a Lamb to the slaughter What evil didst thou commit to be openly arraigned falsly accused and unjustly condemned what was thy offens or whom didst thou ever wrong to be so pitifully scourged with whips crowned with thorns scoffed with flouts buffeted with fists and beaten with stafs Lord what didst thou deserv to hav thy face spit on thy hands and feet nailed thy self lifted up on a cursed Tree to be crucified with Theefs to drink Gal and Vineger yea to hav thy innocent heart pierced with a spear and pretious blood spilt before thy blessed Mothers eys sweet Saviour how much wast thou afflicted to endure al this when I am so affrighted or amazed but to think of it which made thee cry as if God had forsaken thee being al for Mans sake forsaken of God I inquire for thy offens but can finde none no not any guile in thy mouth thy Enemies are chalenged and none dare rebuke thee of sin the Officers sent to apprehend thee testify That never Man spak like thee thy suborned Accusers agree not in their witnes the Judg publicly cleered thy Innocence his wife warned him by a dream that thou was 't a just Man and he should doo no injustice to thee the Centurion confessed thee of a truth to be the Son of God the Theef hanging with thee justified thee to hav doon nothing amiss What then Lord is the caus of thy cruel ignominy passion and death 'T is I am the caus of thy sorows my sins of thy shame my iniquities of al thy sufferings I committed the fault and thou art plagued I guilty and thou punished I deserved death and thou crucified O the depth of Gods lov and unmeasurable measure of his Mercy the wicked transgressed and the just apprehended the guilty escaped and Innocent arraigned the Malefactor acquited and Harmless condemned the Servant did the sin and Master bore the stroke I committed the crime and thou hangedst on the Cross O Son of God who can condignly express thy lov commend thy pity or extol thy prais I was proud and thou humbled I obstinat and thou obedient I ate the forbidden fruit and thou hangedst on the cursed Tree I plaid the Glutton and thou fastedst I tasted the sweetnes of the Garden and thou drankest the biternes of Gal fond Eve smiled when I laughed but blessed Mary wept when thy heart bled and died Now gracious Lord sith thou hast indured al this for my sake what shal I retribut for al thy benefits I ow already for my Creation more then I am able to pay being bound with al my powers to lov and adore thee If I ow my whol self for creating me of nothing what shal I render for giving thy self to redeem me at so deer a ransom when I was wors then nothing Surely Lord if I cannot pay such thanks as I ow for who can pay thee who givest thy Graces without respect of merit or regard of measure 't is the abundance of thy Blessings which make me a Bankrupt being so far unable to pay the principal as I cannot satisfy any part of the interest For Lord thou knowest since the loss of thy Image by our first Parents fal that I cannot lov thee with al my might and mind as I should therfore as thou first didst cast thy lov on me being a Child of wrath and lump of the lost World so now I beseech thee shed abroad thy Grace through al my faculties and affections that though I can never pay such merit of lov as thou meritest yet I may repay in such maner as thou deignest to accept in Mercy that in truth of heart I may lov my neighbour for thy sake and thee abov al for thâ—ne own sake Let nothing be pleasant to me which doth not pleas thee suffer me not to be a cast away whom thy pretious blood hath bought Let me never forget the ineffable benefit of my redemption whitout which it had bin better never to be then to hav any being Sith then thou hast vouchsafed thy holy Spirits assistance suffer me Heavenly Father who art Father of Spirits by thy Sons mediation to speak a few words in the ears of my Lord. If thou despisest me for my iniquities as I deserv yet shew Mercy for thy Sons merits who suffered so much for me Behold the mysterie of his Incarnation and remit the misery of my transgression so oft as his wounds appeer in thy sight let my sins be hid from thy presence so oft as the rednes of his blood glisters in thy eys let my sin be blotted out of thy Book The lust of my