Office not only in that he was an Apostle Perkins in Gal. 2.9 with others but also of great honour and respect among the Apostles and in the Church he being Act. 15. a principall member some say President in the Council of Jerusalem where he gave his advice in a great Controversie and it was highly esteemed and followed and in regard of his high esteem in the Church and usefulnesse he is with Cephas and John Gal. 2.9 called a Pillar for although all the Apostles were equall in degree of office yet there were some of them endowed with more eminent gifts and had greater esteem then the rest and therfore we read of Paul's comparing himself with the chiefest of the Apostles 2 Cor. 11.5 and 12.11 of which James was one And wheras Mark 15.40 he is called James the less 't is conceived it was not to distinguish him from the other James the son of Zebedee as if the Scripture hereby would denote our James lesse in respect of age calling to Apostleship or of stature much lesse of esteem but he may be called the lesse in comparison of his father Ista majoritas minoritas est inter patrem filium inter Jacobum Alphaeum Jacobum Alphaei filium Vid. Boulduc in ver 1. Jud. Videantur Epiphan Hieron Egesippus c. who as a learned man thinks was called James also as well as Alpheus which opinion of his he probably confirms in his Exposition upon this place 2. Ecclesiasticall History speaks of him also as a most worthy person both for the admirable and rare holiness of his life and his constancy in professing of Christ at his death 1. For his life Hierom in allusion to his name James or Jacob calls him the supplanter of sin and vice of those times wherein he lived preach'd and wrote And as many write most highly in commendation of him so particularly Eusebius in his second Book Chap. 1. 22. For his holinesse he was called the Just 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Euseb lib. 2. c. 22. one that was much in fasting and prayer for the pardon of that sinfull people the Jews with his frequent and long praying his knees were hard The Jews were generally much convinced of his holines insomuch as the enemies of Christ hoped if they could procure him to deny Christ that most of those that professed would abandon the Faith of Christ 2. For his Death The Scribes and Pharisees earnestly besought him to disclaim Christ openly and to that end they set him upon the Temple that in the sight and audience of the people he might declare that Jesus was not Christ but he to admiration profess'd his own faith in Christ telling the multitudes that Christ was in heaven at the right hand of God and that in the clouds he should come again to judg the world with which profession his enemies being enraged cast him down from the Temple and afterwards murdered him he before his death praying that God would pardon their sin unto them the same Author as also Josephus lib. 20. Antiq. cap. 8. testifying that those who were of the wiser sort thought that this detestable fact was that which shortly after drew down the judgment of God to the utter destruction of that bloody City Jerusalem that had among others butchered so holy a man Thus far Eusebius This though I relate not as Canonicall yet neither do I look upon it as fabulous it being by many famous and godly Writers testified And this for the first particular to be explained Who this James was The second Branch of Explication was Why Jude stileth himself the brother of this James Of which I finde two reasons given both probable 1. That he might difference himself from others of that name especially Judas Iscariot of which also the Scripture seems to take especiall care Hence Joh. 14.22 he is spoken of with an addition of a not Iscariot this traytors name being grown detestable in which respect 't is generally conceived Mar. 3.18 Matt. 10.3 that he had the names of Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus put upon him as was before noted and thus he wisely preserves himself and Epistle from undue prejudice and by the clearnesse of his person prevents dislike of his performance 2. He expressed this neer relation between himself and James Act. 12.17 Gal. 2.9 in regard this Apostle James being better known then himself of high estimation and reputation in the Church Jacobi celebr is ob virtutem apud omnes fama effectura erat ut hujus Apostoli doctrina apud auditores majorem haberet authoritatem libentiús que admitteretur praesertim si is qui genere sanguine cognatus esset non alienus à cognati moribus sed sub uno Domino Christo degens idem servitut is jugum cum fratre c. commonly known by the title of the Lords brother respected by Peter famous for his sanctity of life accounted a Pillar in the Church President of the Council of Jerusalem Jude might hereby win attention and credit to himself and his Epistle from those to whom he wrote And this is the reason that Occumenius gives to this effect The fame of James for his vertue would put the greater authority upon Judes doctrine especially when it should be seen that Jude was as neer him in his practices and conversation as in blood and kindred Besides by the naming of James with so much respect it could not be imagined but that he consented with him in that wholsom doctrine for which James was famous in the Church and yet though our Apostle provides for the acceptation of his doctrine neither he nor his brother James ambitiously advance their own reputation both of them though the Lords brethren yet contenting themselves with that humble though indeed truly honourable title of the servant of Jesus Christ. 2. I come to the Observations flowing from his using this title of the brother of James 1. How needfull is it for a Minister to be of an unteinted reputation Obs 1. Jude provides for it both by making it known how far he was from Iscariot and how neer unto James 1 Tim. 3.7 A Bishop must be of good report saith Paul It s necessary for his own salvation that he should be good and for the salvation of others that he should be accounted so How great was Paul's care that the Gospel should not be blamed 2 Cor. 6.3 Sometime the people are occasioned to love the Word by the worth of the Minister though we should love the Minister for the Word A crack'd Bell is not good to call men together nor is a Minister of crack'd reputation fit to perswade others to holinesse To have all speak well of us is not more impossible then suspicious Antisthenes the Athenian when he heard some unworthy men did highly commend him said I fear I have done some evill that I know not of And another would frequently say Would we know
which is given by some Papists who haply to wave the Doctrin of reprobation expound this fore-writing here mentioned to be the predictions by writing which went before in the Scriptures concerning these Seducers Nor can this writing here mention'd so be attributed to God as if either he could properly be said to have a memory or to remember any thing or had any defect or weaknesse of memory or had any materiall books wherein he wrote any thing at all but this writing or booking is spoken concerning him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of resembling him to man who what he purposeth exactly to remember or certainly to do he books and writes down before hand And the Scripture speaks of four Meta phoricall books or writings which God hath 1. The Book of his providence or Gods knowledge and decree of all the particular persons things and events that ever vvere or shall be in the world and in this book were written all the members of David Rom. 5.1 Summa judicii aequitas ex humano foro significatur Pareus in Apoc â—0 Psal 132.16 And all the tears of David Psal 56.8 2. The Book of the last and universall judgement which is the perfect knowledge that God hath of the actions of all men good and bad according to which at the last day he will give judgement thus Dan. 7.13 it s said The thrones shere set up c. and the books were opened And Revel 20.12 I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened It 's a term taken from publick judgements here among men wherein are produced all the writings of informations depositions of witnesses c. to shew that Gods Omniscience shall discover and rehearse all actions and his justice proceed accordingly 3. The Book of life Rev. 20.12 and 22 19. called also the Lambs book of life Revel 13.8 and 21.27 which is Gods eternall decree to bestow grace and glory upon some Phil. 4.3 and in this are set downe the names of the elect of these it is said often Their names are written in the book of life Luk. 10.20 and at the last day this book is said to be opened because it shall then be manifested to all who are elected 4. This writing here mentioned by Jude namely that black bill or the Catalogue of those whom God hath appointed unto wrath 1 Thes 5.9 ordinarily considered as the Positive or Affirmative part of Reprobation wherein God decreed justly to damn some for sin For Reprobation is considerable in a double act First Negative which is that of preterition or passing by of some and Gods will not to elect them Secondly Positive which is Gods ordaining them to punishment for sin And in both these acts there is a double degree In the first the Negative act Gods denying his grace in this life And 2. his denying them glory and salvation in the next life In the Positive or affirmative act 1. Gods ordaining the wicked to blindnesse and obduration here And 2. eternall condemnation hereafter And upon holy Scripture are both these acts and both the degrees of each of them evidently grounded 1. Concerning the Negative act speaks the Spirit of God John 10.36 Yee are not of my sheep And Matth. 7.23 I never knew you Mat. 13.11 To them it is not given to know the mysteries of the Kingdome And Mat. 11.25 Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent c. for so it seemed good in thy sight And Rev. 13.8 20.15 There are some mentioned whose names are not written in the Book of Life 2. Concerning the Positive or Affirmative act speaks the Spirit of God in 1 Pet. 2.8 where the Apostle mentioning those that stumbled at the word and were disobedient saith they were appointed thereunto And Rom. 9.18 Whom he will be hardneth And ver 21. he speaks of Vessels made to dishonour And ver 22. 1 Thes 5.9 Of Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction And John 17.12 Judas is said to be a son of perdition And here Jude saith that these Seducers were written down and appointed to this condemnation which was their abode among the faithfull with an obstinate opposing of the truth and faith of Christ making way to their own eternall condemnation A doctrine I confesse not more distastfull to the bad then hard to be understood by the best It is no where as Pareus notes treating upon it Rom. 9. perfectly apprehended but in that eternall School I profess my greater desire to study then discuss it I did not seek it nor dare I altogether shun it ever remembring that though we must not rifle the cabinet of the secret decree yet neither bushel the candle of Scripture-discovery the former being unwarrantable curiosity the later sinfull ingratitude Briefly therefore 2 For the second in what respect this ordination is said to be before of old The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of old is sometime applyed to a thing done a little time before Pilate asks of Joseph who came unto him to ask the body of Jesus whether he had been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any while dead The word as Doctor Twiss observes doth not signifie any definite time It is applicable even to eternity And though as he notes the signification of the word be not extended to eternity by any force in it selfe yet from the matter whereof the Apostle treats viz. the ordination or decree of God which is eternall it ought to be so extended The denyall of the eternity of Gods decree was one of the prodigious doctrines of Vorstius As the ancient of dayes was before there was a day so this of old was before there was an age Which as it refers to the forementioned ordination comprehends in the judgment of many Learned and Godly Divines as well 1. The independency and absolutenesse of this ordination As 2. The immutability and unchangeableness of this ordination 1. For the first This ordination according to some was absolute from all causes in the creature of old before these Seducers were before their sins were in respect not only of their actuall existence but even of their prevision also and foresight of their futurition or coming to passe hereafter And in delivering their judgement herein 1. q. 23. Art 5. they consider Reprobation with Aquinas and other Shoolmen either in respect of the act of God reprobating Gods willing and decreeing or in respect of the effect thereof the things willed or decreed as God wills that one thing should be for another 1. As to Reprobation in respect of the act or decree of Gods reprobating or Gods willing or decreeing they say the sins of the creature cannot be assigned as the cause of reprobation Non est assignare causam divinae voluntatis ex parte actus volendi Aquin ubi supr and herein they agree with Aquinas and the sounder Schoolmen They conceive that the decree of reprobation was not without the
salvation blown out here in this life salvation is in the bud Saints are here saved from the power of their corruptions they are here in the Suburbs of Heaven they here sit together in heavenly places in Christ Ephes 2.6 They here have salvation not only in their desires and expectations but in its Cause 2 Pet. 1.11 They have an entrance into the everlasting Kingdomof Christ They are by faith united to that Head which is already in heaven They are freed though not from the company of and contention with yet from conquest by all their enemies and there is alway the certainty of this salvation in respect of it selfe the object though not in respect of us the subject 4. The People of God are safe and saved Observ 4. even while they are in dangers Their enemies are but nominall The keeper of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps Psal 90. per tot Though they be tempted sick persecuted banished yet never unsafe and when ever God brings them into these conditions 't is because they are the safest for them Their graces are alway safe their souls their comforts safe because Christ their Head their hope their all is safe The poorest Saint hath his Life-guard He who provided a City of Refuge for those who kill'd men will much more finde out a City of Refuge for thee when men shall labour to kill thee Of this more before Observ 5. 5. Our dangers and enemies in this life should exceedingly commend heaven to us The Tempest commends the Haven the Pursuite of the Enemy the City of Refuge the Storms the Shelter We are never fully safe till we arrive at eternall salvation It 's strange that Saints should long no more to get into the bosome of Christ in glory that they should be so unwilling to leave the lions dens and the mountains of leopards Cant. 4.8 Mundus turbatur amatur We love to handle the world though God makes it a bundle of thorns what should we do if it were an heap of roses 6. Observ 6. God hath appointed the holy Writings for our salvation Jude writes to further the salvation of these Christians 2 Tim. 3.15 The Scriptures are able to make us wise to salvation Gal. 6.16 Eternall peace is only upon those who walk according to this rule The Scripture tels us not only what we shall find heaven to be when we are there but how we should find the way thither They are the pillar and cloud in our wildernesse The light which shines in a dark place for our guidance Let us labour to have salvation further'd by them How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation How sad is it to carry these Letters of Heaven about us only as Vrijah carried Davids for his own destruction 7. The furthering of the salvation of others Observ 7. should be the end of our writing To write the same things to you saith Paul is sufe Phil. 3.1 2. 1 Pet. 5.12 1 John 2.1 Videtur quicquid literis mandatur id commendari omnium eruditorum lectione debere Cicero 2 Tusc quaest I have written saith Peter exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherin ye stand My little children saith John these things I write unto you that ye fin not We must not write to shew our learning much lesse to obscure the truth Nothing should be written but what the reading of the best should commend The best thing that many do by writing is to make paper dear but which is worse they make their reader worse it were well that either they would not write at all or else write a Book of Retractations But among us Sectaries after conviction write with more rage instead of retractation If these will not amend readers are to take heed of buying their books lest they imbrace their errours and rather to dig in the Mine of the Scriptures for gold than to wallow in the mire of the Books of Sectaries and Seducers This for the first the nature of that subject about which the Apostle was to write Salvation The second follows the property of it Common common salvation Wherein by way of Explication we may shew two things 1. In what respect Salvation is called common Explicat 2. Why the Apostle here in this place doth call it so Common cannot be here taken according to the usage of the word somtimes in the Scripture as 't is opposed to holy and as importing as much as prophane or that which every one may use or belongs to every one as 1 Sam. 21.4 that bread which was not consecrated to God or hallowed and of which any might eat is called common So Act. 10.14.28 and 11.8 Meats forbidden by the Leviticall Law are called common and unclean because the prophane Gentiles did commonly use those meats which the Jews being an holy people might not eat Heb. 10.29 And so those Apostates are said to account the bloud of the Covenant a common or unholy thing they esteeming the bloud of Christ no more then if it had been the bloud of some ordinary person or of some wicked or guilty one Nor is common here to be taken unlimitedly for that which is common universally to every one as if none were excluded from this salvation Mat. 7.14 Aug. de haeres cap. 43. Origen is charged as if he held that those who lived and died the most flagitious of sinners nay that the divell himselfe and his angels after a thousand years torments should be saved But Common is here taken in a limited sense this salvation being common only to the faithfull who all have an interest in the same it belongs to one of them John 17.12 Rev. 7.9 Acts 1.8 Rom. 1.16 Acts 10.35 as well as to another the meanest are not excluded it Christ loseth none of his It 's a salvation for Jewes and Gentiles rich and poor honourable and ignoble bond and free learned and illiterate And thus 't is common salvation sundry wayes 1. In regard of the meritorious purchaser of this salvation There is one common Saviour Ephes 4.5 Ephes 5.23 the Saviour of the body Every member thereof hath influence from this head There is one Lord 1 Cor. 10.4 1 Cor. 3.11 John 1.16 there is this one Mediatour between God and man They of old all drank of the same spirituall rock Christ Jesus Of his fulnesse we have all received He is the sun that gives luster and light to every star the Well that fill'd every pitcher the only foundation laid by all 1. It 's common salvation in regard of the rule and way by which we are guided thither There is but one faith called also Catholick God calls all his people with one voice Omnis unâ voce invitat Cal. in 4. Eph. There 's but one way to heaven the good old way there 's one rule prescribed to all somtimes it hath been more
principally means the Gospel with which God had instrusted him So Tit. 1.3 c. 2. But not excluding the former by the Saints to whom the Faith was delivered I understand All the people of God to whom it was delivered by the fore-mentioned servants of God And as some of these were Saints in regard only of visible profession and dedication and others were made Saints in respect of true and saving sanctity so the faith was delivered unto these differently to the former by way of outward administration and visible dispensation to the later who were made true Saints by way of saving and effectuall operation They who were and continued to be onely visible and externall Saints had the faith delivered unto them as the common sort of Israelites had to whom God wrote the great things of his Law and yet they were accounted a strange thing Hos 6.12 and to whom were committed the oracles of God Rom. 3.1 and yet they beleeved not Isai 53.1 contenting themselves in the retaining the letter of the Law declaring Gods Statutes and taking his covenant into their mouth in the mean time never regarding to have the law written in their hearts Psal 50.16.17 c. but hating instruction and casting the word of God behind them They who had the faith delivered unto them by way of efficacious and saving operation did not only hear but beleeve the report of Gods messengers and the arm of God was revealed to them Isai 53.1 To whom it was given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God although to others it were not given Mat. 13.11 and for whose sake alone the faith is delivered to others who got no good at all thereby but onely an estimation for members of the visible Church 1. The Word is to be laid out and delivered to Observ 1. not to be laid up and kept from others The Saints are to be the better for it The Ministry is in Scripture compared to light what more diffusive to seed it must be scattered to bread it must be broken and distributed to every one according to their exigencies to salt it must not be laid up in the Salt-box but laid out in seasoning the flesh that it may be kept from putrefaction He who hides truth buries gold Ministers must rather be worn with using than rusting Paul did spend and was spent The sweat of a Minister as 't is reported of Alexander's casts a sweet savour His talents are not for the napkin but occupation How sinfull are they that stand idle in a time of labour how impious they who compell them to stand so 2. They who retain and keep the Faith are Saints Observ 2. Visibly those are Saints and that is a Church which keep it by profession and ministerially A Church that is which is the pillar and ground of truth 1 Tim. 3.15 Rom. 3.2 to whom the Oracles of God are committed as Paul speaks of the Jewes None are so to complain of the defects of our Church for what it wants as to deny it a Church considering what it hath It holds forth the truth of all Doctrines which serve both for the beginning and increase of faith It 's one of Christs golden Candlesticks wherein he hath set up the light of his Word and though Sectaries do not yet Christ walks in the midst of them I must be bold to fear that because our adversaries cannot rationally deny that while we hold forth the Truth we are a true Church they labour by their errours to extinguish the Truth that so we may be none 3. How much is the world beholding to Saints 3. Observ They have kept the Faith the Word of life for the ingratefull world ever since 't was first delivered Were it not for them we had lost our Truth nay lost our God These are they who have in all ages with their breath nay with their bloods preserved the Gospel kept the word of Christs patience Rev. 3.8.10 And rather then they would not keep the Faith they have lost their lives They profit the world against its will they are benefactors to their severall ages like indulgent Parents they have laid up the riches of faith for those who have desired their deaths It 's our duty though not to adore them yet to honour their memory Satan knows no mean between deifying and nullifying them Imitation of them is as unquestionably our duty as adoration of them would be our sin 4. 4 Observ Vnholiness is very unsutable to them to whom the Faith is delivered It 's delivered to Saints in profession and they should labour to be so in power They should adorn the Doctrine of God Tit. 2.10 How sad a sight is it to behold the unsanctified lives of those to whom this faith hath been long delivered How many live as if faith had banished all fidelity and honesty or as if God had delivered the faith not to furnish their souls with holiness but only their shelves with Bibles Books in the head not in the Study make a good Scholar and the word of faith not in the house or head but in the heart and life make a Christian Oh thou who art call'd a Saint either be not so much as call'd so or be more than call'd so otherwise thy externall priviledg will be but an eternall punishment If God have delivered his Faith to thee deliver up thy self to him 5. 5 Observ The Fewness of faiths entertainers is no derogation from faiths excellency They are a poor handfull of Saints by whom the faith is preserved and to whom it is delivered in the world The preatest number of men and nations have not the faith delivered unto them ministerially and of them the far greater part never had it delivered efficaciously It s better to love the faith with a few than to leave it with a multitude Numbers cannot prove a good cause nor oppose a Great God 6. Observ 6. The true reason of Satans peculiar rage against Saints they have that faith delivered to them which is the bane and battery of his kingdom that word which is an Antidote against his poison that doctrine which discovers his deeds of darknesse Satans policy is to dis-arm a place of the word when he would subdue it he peaceably suffers those to live who have not the weapons of holy doctrine he throws his cudgels against fruitfull trees he lays wait as a thief for those who travel with this treasure They who are empty of this treasure may sing be merry when they meet with him he never stops them Others who have the faith he sets upon annoyeth I have given them thy word saith Christ the world hath hated thē John 1.7 3. Jude saith in this amplification Explicat the faith was once delivered once 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Three things may be touched in the Explication 1. The meaning of the word once 2.
esset c. In adversis um braest vel similitudo non ipsares Ansel 2 Cor. 6.9 Put sin into its best dresse and it s but gilded condemnation 2 Spirituall judgements are ever the sorest In Gods withdrawing his grace and delivering up to a reprobate sense there is something of Condemnation The soul of a judgement is its seizing upon the soul The greatest misery which can befall the body is but for the soul to leave it and what proportion bears this to the misery of Gods leaving the soul The death in death is the miscarriage of the soul If a man be not heart-sick though otherwise distempered he is not feared and if not soul-sick and the union between God and him weakned there is no danger Bodily miseries are but appearing and opinionative and there is a vanity in outward troubles as well as enjoyments The Apostle makes the greatest suffering of the body to be but as such rather a dream then a reality of suffering The poorest Saint never had a drop of condemnation in a sea of calamity His affliction is not laniena but medicina not Butchery but Chirurgery nay the end of Gods chastning is that he may not be judged 1 Cor. 11.32 How different is the condemning of a Malefactour from the reprehension of a Son the Fathers rod from the Executioners axe Heb. 12.7 Ne timeas flagellari sed exhaeredari If we endure chastning the Lord deals with us as with sons Strive not so much to get the rod taken off thy back as to get it into a Fathers hand How madly merry is every obstinate sinner in all his worldly enjoyments How unsutable is thy musick when thou art sacrificing that which should be dearer to thee then thy dearest child celebrating the Funerals of thy precious soul Si doles condoleo si non doles doleo magis Who would not commiserate his mirth who goeth dancing to his own execution whose only strife is to double his misery by shunning the thoughts of that which he cannot shun Be not taken with what thou hast in gift but what thou hast in love In receiving of every mercy imitate Isaaks jealousie and say Art thou that very mercy that mercy indeed which comes in the blood of Christ Art thou sent from a Father or a Judge Satius est ut vim qualemcunque mihi inferas Domine quam parcens mihi me in meo torpore securum derelinquere Observ 3. What do I receiving if I shall never be received It 's infinitely better that God should correct thee so as to awaken thee then by prospering to let thee sleep in sin till it be too late to arise It was better for the Prodigall to be famish'd home then furnish'd out 3. These condemned ones should warn us that we incur not the like condemnation with them Saints should be examples of imitation and sinners of caution A good heart will get good even by bad men and take honey out of the carcasse of a Lion These Seducers were mentioned and stigmatized by Jude with this black mark not only to shew that God was righteous in punishing but that we might not be unrighteous and wretched in imitating them And that we may not 1. Neglect not undervalue not the truths of the Gospel Rom. 1.26 Shut not thy eyes lest God suffer Satan to blind them How severely did God punish the Heathens for opposing the light of nature and will not Christ when clearly discovered and unkindly neglected 2 Thes 2.9.10 much more heighten thy condemnation If Christ be not a rock of foundation hee will be a stone of stumbling Fruits which grow against a wall are soon ripened by the Suns heat and so are sins which are committed under the Sun-shine of the Gospel The contempt of the Gospel is the condemnation of the world John 3.12 2 Pet. 2.1 it brings swift destruction 2. Preserve a tender conscience Tremble at the first solicitations of sin which make way for eternall by taking away spirituall feeling This deluge of impiety in which these Seducers were drowned began with a drop Many knots tyed one upon another will hardly be loosed every spot falling upon the cloathes makes a man the more regardlesse of them and every sin defiling the conscience makes a man the more carelesse of it He who dares not wade to the ancles is in no danger of being swallowed up in the depths Modest beginnings make way for immodest proceedings in sin The thickest ice that will bear a cart begins with a thin trembling cover that will not bear a pibble As these Seducers crept in by degrees into the Church so did Satan by degrees creep into them 2 Tim. 2.16 They increased to more ungodlinesse They went down to this condemnation by steps and after they had begun they knew not where or whether they should stop 3. Take heed of turning the grace of God into wantonnesse of abusing his goodnesse either to soul or body to impiety Take not occasion to be sinfull because God is mercifull to be long-sinning because God is long-suffering to sin because grace abounds to make work for the blood of Christ to turn Christian liberty into unchristian libertinisme This must needs incense even mercy it self to leave and plead against thee and what then will justice do They who never enjoyed this grace of God go to hell they who have it and use it not run on foot to hell but they who abuse and turn it into wantonnesse gallop or go to hell on hors-back This for the first way in which the punishment of these Seducers was considerable viz. Its severity This condemnation The second followes namely its certainty they were before of old ordained to it EXPLICATION In this two things require Explication 1. What this ordination is of which the Apostle here speaks 2. In what respect it is said to be before of old For the first Metaphora sumpta ab tis qui in codicillis scribunt memoriae causâ qua statuunt agere Haec Metaphora inde sumpta est quòd aeternum Dei consilium quo ordinati sunt fideles ad salutem Liber vocatu◠Calv. De quibus olim praenuntiatum est in Scripturis quòd deventuri sunt in judicium Est in loc The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated Ordained properly signifying forewritten enrolled bill'd book'd or registred It seems say some to be a Metaphor taken from Records in Courts wherein things are set down for an after remembrance of them Or according to others from books of remembrance wherein for the greater surenesse of doing any thing men write down what they purpose to do and desire not to forget Calvin draws the allusion from Scrip ture in which the eternall counsell of God wherein the faithfull are elected to salvation is called a Book Sure we are 't is a Metaphoricall speech and by none of our Protestant Divines as I remember is that interpretation imbraced
fore-sight of sin Yet that the sight of sin was neither in order of nature or time before Reprobation nor after it but purely evenly and equally accompanying it That Gods decree to permit sin from whence comes prevision of sin and to condemn for sin were not the one subordinate to the other or of a diverse order as if the one were the end and the other the mean but co-ordinate and of one and the same order and means both accommodated to one and the same end God neither condemning that sin may be permitted nor permitting sin that he might condemn but permitting sin and condemning for sin that the glory of his justice might be manifested the glorious manifestation of his justice being not advanced only by permission of or only by condemning for sin but by both joyntly or together according to which apprehension sinne fore-seen could not bee the cause of Reprobation They conceive that God not depending upon any condition in the creature no other way fore-knew the futurition of sin than by his own decree to permit it And they further urge if consideration of sinne were before Gods decree of Reprobation then the decree of permission of sin should have been before the decree of Reprobation and so God should intend the permission of sin before he intended the damnation of man for it and then it would follow in regard that what is first in intention is last in execution that damnaton for sin should be in execution before the permission of sin for which men are damned And this is the Argument oft urged by D. Twiss to which he sometimes adds that whatsoever is first in intention hath the nature of an end in respect of that which followes it but the permission of sin cannot be considered as an end in respect of the damnation of men it being impossible that men should be damned to this end that sin should be permitted And they of this opinion assert that if because God decreed that condemnation shall onely be for sin it followes that sin is a cause of that decree it will also unavoidably follow because God hath decreed that salvation shall onely be in a way of good works that good works are a cause of that decree they conceiving that though good works do not go before salvation with the same efficacity wherein sin goeth before damnation good works being only dispositive causes of the one and sins meritorious causes of the other yet that they go before it Non eadem dispositionis eâ—icacitate sed tamen eodem necessitatis ordine with the same order of necessity And they adde that the Apostle removes both from the election of Jacob and the reprobation of Esau the consideration of all works either good or evill as well in respect of their prevision as actuall existence to the end that he might shew that the purpose of God according to election was not according to works but of him that calleth and so by the same reason that the decree of the reprobation of Esau was not of evill works but of him that cals and leaves whom he will 2. As to Reprobation in regard of the effect or rather consequent thereof the things decreed and willed or as God wills that one thing should be for another It is not doubted albeit Gods eternall volitions or decrees depend not upon any temporall object or causes as the prime motives therunto but that God by his eternall decree ordained that this or that event in the temporall execution shall not follow but upon this or that going before as that in those of years the actuall bestowing of eternall life shall depend upon beleeving repenting and persevering and that the actuall punishing with eternall death shall depend upon finall unbelief and impenitency This is not to make the eternall decrees of Election and Reprobation dependent upon the fore-seen contingent Acts of mans freewill but to make temporall events Acts or Things one to depend conditionally upon another for their being or not being in time And yet 1. The cause of Reprobation in respect of denying of grace external whether in regard of the outward means or internall either common or saving is the will and pleasure of God As it is the meer will and pleasure of God whereby in time men are reprobated from grace was from eternity for as God doth or doth not in time so it he purposeth to do or not to do from all eternity Now that in time the denyall of grace is from the will and pleasure of God is most evident from Scripture which teacheth that God calls to grace and gives the very means of salvation to whomsoever he will Act. 16.7 Mat. 11.24 25 Deut. 29.4 Nulla sunt tam detestanda facinora quae possunt gratiae arceredonum Prosp The Spirit suffered not Paul to preach at Bithynia To you it is given saith Christ to know the mysteries of the Kingdome of heaven and to them it is not given And because it seemed good in his Fathers sight he hid these things from the wise and prudent Tyre and Sidon would have made better use of the means of grace than the Jews yet God bestowed those means not upon the former but up on the later But 2. The cause of Reprobation in regard of Gods denyall of glory is not meerly from Gods will and pleasure but from the pravity and sin of men God in time denyes glory in regard of mens impiety and therefore he purposed to deny it for that Depart from me will Christ say only to the workers of iniquity Mat. 7.23 There shall enter into the new Jerusalem nothing that defileth The unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdome of God And 3. The cause of Reprobation in regard of blindnesse and obduration in sin in this life and eternal damnation in the life to come is from mans impiety God decreed that Condemnation should not be but for sin nor hardning but for preceding rebellion nor that the wages of death should be paid without the work of sin No man is ordained to a just punishment but for some sin but the with-drawing of grace the blindnesse and obduration of sinners are the punishments of preceding sin as appears Rom. 1.27 God gave them up c that they might receive the recompence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of their error which was meet To crown or to damn is an act of judiciary power and proceedeth according to the tenour of the revealed Gospel The eternall dedecree of the damnation of the very Devils was never determined to be executed otherwise than for their own misdeeds 2. This expression of old notes the immutability and unchangeableness of this Ordination the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De rationâ— aeternitatis est immutabilitas Aug. Cons l. 12. c. 15. the immutability of his counsell that which is eternall is unalterable This Ordination is like such a booking and writing down of a thing as shall unfailingly be performed Nor can this book or
writing of God as a mans book may be lost or burnt but it continues irreversibly and inviolably to be performed he who wrote it wants not skill nor will nor power to bring to pass whatever he hath written in it What God hath written he hath written and though sometimes he changeth his denunciations yet never his decrees I am the Lord I change not Mal. 3.6 The strength of Israel is not as man that he should repent 1 Sam. 15.29 His counsell shall stand Prov. 19.22 The Lord hath purposed it who shall disannul it Isai 14.27 The number of those appointed to wrath 1 Thes 5.9 is determined as well materialiter who as formaliter how many they are Gods appointments are peremptory not depending upon the variable will of man as if God had determined certainly concerning none but only as he sees they will beleeve or not beleeve for how sutes it with the wisdome of God so to work as to determine nothing of the end of his work To make man and not to appoint what shall become of him How with the love he bears to his own glory to have creatures more beholding to themselves than their Maker To hear them using this language That we may escape hell if we will we thank God but that wee do wee thank our selves who by the use of our free-will made that possibility beneficiall to our selves OBSERVATIONS 1. Obser 1. Groundless are the exceptions which corrupt mindes raise against the delivering this Doctrine of Reprobation and weak are the calumnies with which they load it Exceptions prevented 1. For the first God cannot be charged with cruelty in any mans Reprobation It is no cruelty in God to deny him grace to whom it is not at all due but an act of just liberty and free power Rom. 9.21 nor can it be cruelty but vindicative justice for God to appoint men to punishment for sinne Rom. 9.22 This will be more clear if we consider Ea gratia quae per communis providentiae administrationem sive sub lege naturae sive sub gratiâ Evangelicâ hominibus vario dimenso dispensatur per hunc praeteritionis actum non adimitur sed potius praesupponitur Synops pur theol p. 290. Deus nunquam indurat nisi habito respectu ad praecedentia peccata Riv. disp that by Reprobation all grace is not denied but onely that grace which is peculiar to the Elect. That which is afforded by the administration of common providence either under the Law of Nature or the dispensation of the Gospell being not taken away God leaves the reprobate to their own free-will under his common providence and in it affords to them those benefits which in the state of innocency were sufficient to salvation and which in this state of corruption especially under the Gospell make men altogether without excuse before God And God never decreed to leave and harden any in sinne but such who by their own free-will leave God harden themselves against his wayes and abuse his abundant mercy extended towards them God never appointed that any should stumble at the word but for their contempt of it From falling into which impiety that the Elect are prevented is to be attributed to the free will or mercy of God extended indeed to them but due to none 2. Nor secondly by decreeing the reprobation of sinners can any conclude that God is the cause of the sins for which the reprobate are damned Deo reprobante non irrogatur a liquid quo homo fit deterior sed tantum non erogatur quo fiat melior Aug. Inter antecedens consequens non intercedit Causalitas Although by reprobation God puts forth no act whereby man is made holy yet neither is any thing done by it whereby a man is made wicked 'T is true sin is a consequent of Gods decree or that which followes upon it as its antecedent but no effect flowing from the decree as its cause It followes not because God gives not that therefore he takes away repentance from sinners and that he throws down because he raises not up The Sun cannot be said to be the cause of darknesse although darknesse necessarily followes the withdrawing of it nor is reprobation the cause of sin Liberalitas Dei quâ conservamur ne cadamus Labilitas nostra quâ cadimus nisi conservâ—mur although sin infallibly follow reprobation It s Gods bounty whereby we are preserved from falling our own unstablenesse whereby we fall unlesse we be preserved Predestination is an effectuall cause in the producing of all salutiferous actions but reprobation is no effectuall cause in the producing of wicked actions and neither the one nor the other implyeth any compulsion or forcing unto actions whether good or evill True it is that God decreed not only privatively and permissively but also with an energeticall working will to be conversant about sinfull actions As 1. That he would give to the sinner at the very time when sinfull actions are committed the power and use of understanding and free will without which hee could not sin And 2. That he would concur ad materialem actionem peccati to the matter of the action it self which otherwise could not come into act or being 3. That he would deny all such means as would have prevented the sinners sinning 4. That he would lay before sinners those occasions and possibly stir up in them those cogitations which he knew they would abuse to the committing of sin 5. That he would so limit and order their sins that they should break forth in no other measure at no other time upon no other persons than hmiself hath fore-appointed 6. That all their sins should turn to his own glory and the good of his Elect but any energeticall operative will of God which so hath a working in sinfull actions as that it is the cause quod talis actio fit cum tali defectu or that it should work the contrariety and repugnancy of the sinners will to the Law of God or that there should be any influence sent into the wils of men from the decree to cause this we utterly deny and disclaim The liberty of the will is not at all extinguished by the decree of God but freely and upon deliberate choice wicked men doe as they doe having not only potentiam in se liberam but liberum usum potentiae and the dominion of free-agents over their actions which ever are the productions of their own frail and defiled free-will The decree of Reprobation never shews it self by any such influx or impression as instills any malicious quality into mans will or forces it unto any malicious action 3. Neither can this Doctrine of Reprobation justly bee charged to be a meanes of driving men to Despair rather granting the truth of this Arminian conceit that all were reprobated who were not foreseen beleeving and persevering with much more dreadful advantage may Satan fasten temptations on poor wretches
discovered his humbling quickning strengthning presence to thee in thee Let no Sacrifice please thee without fire Love the Ordinances because God meets thee in them If God be not at home think it not enough that his servants his Ministers have spoken to thee Let the society of Saints be thy solace and deerly esteem those in whom thou beholdest any resemblance of God With the wicked converse rather as a Physician to cure them than as a companion to delight in them Let not thy heart be taken with any comfort any further then thou beholdest the heart of the giver in it or findest thine own raised to serve and delight in him 4. No distress should dishearten those here Observ 4. to whom God will not deny his presence hereafter Though God brings them into miseries yet he will not exclude them with the miserable If men cast them out of their company yet Christ will never say to them Depart from me If they want an house to hide their heads in and a bed to rest their bodies on yet their Fathers house and bosome will supply both Let men do their worst they may send Saints to him not from him How little do those rods smart in striking with which the Lord takes not away his loving-kindnesse What hath that poverty more then a name which is not accompanied and followed with the loss of God himself In a word Though sometimes the Saints sit in darkness and see no light yet is light sown for them they shall not lie under darknesse but after the darkest night of desertion shall arise to them that glorious Sun of Gods presence which shall never go down again but make an eternall day Thus farre for the first part of the punishment of the Angels viz. that which they undergoe in in the prison The second follows viz. that which shall be laid upon them at and after their appearing at the barr and in that first to what they are reserved viz. to judgment EXPLICATION There are two things may here bee enquired after 1 What we are to understand by the judgement to which these angels are reserved 2 How the angels which are punished already are yet said to be reserved to judgment 1 For the first Though the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 judgment be frequently in Scripture taken more largely and improperly for the cause of punishment John 3.19 for the government of the world John 5.22 amendment or reformation John 12.31 c. for the place of judgment Matth. 5.22 yet in this place it comes more close to its own proper signification according to which it imports a judiciary trial of and proceeding about causes In which respect it s taken in this place and oft in the new Testament for the solemn action of the last and generall judgment Mat. 10.15 Mat. 11.22 24 and 12.36 Mark 6.11 2 Pet. 3.7 Where we read of the day of judgment and Ecc. 11.9 12.14 Luke 10.14 Heb. 9.27 10.27 where there is mention made of this judgment Which judgment consists of three parts Veritas in inquisitione nuditas in publicatione serenitas in executione 1 A discussion and manifestation of the faults for which the prisoners were committed 2 A pronouncing sentence upon them for every crime discussed and manifested 3 A severe executing upon them the sentence so pronounced 1. Act. 23.3 1 Tim. 5.24 Act. 16.15 2 Cor. 5.14 In this judgment faults and causes shal be discussed and manifested and judgment is sometime in Scripture put for this discussion and discerning of causes some mens sins are open before hand going before to judgement c. 1 Tim. 5.24 c. And this knowledg of the cause is intended Cunctaque cunctorum cunctis arcana patebunt Ezra 4.15.19 and 6.2 Est 6.1 Deu. 32.34 Psal 56.8 Jer. 3.22 Hos 7.2 1 Cor. 4.5 Rev. 20.12 Where we have mention of those who stand before God of the opening of the books and the judging out of those things which were written in the books For though at the last judgment God will make use of no books properly so called yet all the works of the judged shall be as manifestly known as if God kept registers rolls and records of them in heaven and at his coming he will bring to light the hidden things of darknesse and will make manifest the counsells of the hearts that the righteousnesse of his proceedings may appear to all These books of discovery are two 1 that of Gods omniscience 2 that of the creatures conscience 1 According to the former every creature is manifest in his sight and all things are opened unto his eyes Heb. 4.13 Mat. 3.16 Joh. 2.25 Jer. 23.24 Mar. 4.22 Rom. 2.5.16 he hath a book of remembrance he needeth not that any should testifie of man for he knoweth what is in man As God hates sin wheresoever he knows it so he knows it wheresoever it is Men may hide their sins from men from God they cannot Men may like foolish children when they shut their eyes and see none think that none sees them but the light and the darknesse are both alike to God Nor can any Isa 29.15 by seeking deep to hide their counsels from the most High help himself Never hath one sin since the creation of the world Deus nec fallitur nec flectitur slip'd from the memory of Gods knowledg though he hath been pleased to put away the sins of some out of the memory of his vengeance Nor doth he forget any sin out of necessity but meerly out of mercy 2 According to the later * Ad hunc librum emendandum omnes alii libri sunt inventi Quid libri aperti nifi conscientia non atramento scripti sed delictorū inquinamento Amb. in Ps 1. Psal 51. Idem judex reus testis tortor flagellum the book of Conscience the Lord will in the generall Judgment bring to every mans remembrance what he hath done he will set the sins of the wicked in order before them Psalm 50. their consciences shall then be dilated and irradiated by the power of God Here in this life Conscience is brib'd and gives in an imperfect but then it shall bring a full and impartiall evidence against sinners who shall be speechlesse and have their mouthes stop'd Hence Jude 15. it is said that God shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 convince all the ungodly Their faults shall be so demonstrated to them that they shall have nothing to object but shall be compelled to acknowledge all both in point of fact and desert That which before was almost imperceptible shall being held to the fire of vengeance and the light of conscience be made legible 2 In this judgment to which these angels shall bee brought there shall be a decisive definitive sentence Isa 5.3 Matt. 7.1 John 18.31 Acts 24.6 Acts 17.31 Matth. 19.28 1 Cor. 6.3 Acts 4.19 And frequently and most properly in Scripture is judgment taken for a
fire of zeal for God the more hotly burning by how much the cold of prophanenesse is the more increased but as this shews the strength of grace so yet doth that grace the greatnesse of Gods power Insteed of imitation let us bewayle the sins of the times and what we cannot bear down for the good of others with a stream of power let us for our owne overcome with a floud of teares 3. Corrupt greatnesse is very influentiall upon Observ 3. and into inferiors The lesser Cities sinn'd after the same manner with Sodom and Gomorrha Jeroboam the son of Nebat made Israel to sin Ephraim walked after the Commandment Hos 5.11 When the sin which we love is joynd with that greatnesse which we admire needs must it be very drawing Rev. 13.3 All the world wondred at the beast which had received power and authority Let those who are powerfull in place take heed lest they bee strong to sin Exod. 2.2 Dan 3.18 Amandus est generator sed praeponendus est Creator Tert. l. 1. de idol c. 12. Jussum est principis ore Galieni Quod princeps colit ut colamus omnes Aeternum colo principem dierum Factorem dominumque Galieni Prud. Hyrn 6 for if they improve their power against God they shall be powerfully punish'd by God Who so causeth the righteous to go astray in an evill way he shall fall himself into his own pit Prov. 28. Without the sins of others our own would be insupportable if unpardoed and 't is too much to be so much as a follower in sin The Examples yea the injunctions of the best the greatest are limitted and bounded by the pleasure of a greater The Midwives of Egypt and the three servants of God threatned with the fiery furnace are standing monuments of religious disoebdience Fear God is put before that of Honouring the King Our earthly is below our heavenly Father he who begat us is to be beloved but he who created us is to be preferred The greatest the richest cannot put in security to save us harmlesse at the day of Judgement for following their example even their followers shall be punish'd Admah and Zeboim the daughters of Sodom sinn'd and smarted in like manner with Sodom 4. Observ 4. How fitly is the title of Spirituall Sodom bestowed upon Rome Sodom hath now met with her match Not to speak of that cloystred crew of Sodomiticall shavelings Vid. Speeds History the Leprosie of whose sin had eaten so deeply into the wals of their Monasteries in England Bale de act Rom. Pont. Bishop Jewel defens Apol. p. 354. Sleid Commen ad annum 1550 Constans fuit opinio Casam Pauli secundi gratiam prae ce teris egregiè au cupatum sibi ad purpuratorum patrum decus aditum paravisse quorum in cortu clamà pontifice adnumera tus cum esset ac designatus invida mox sug gerentium ex prorbatione turpi lasciviae notâ culpatus c. Job Imperialis Musae um Historic pag. 27. Tolle de Ecclesiâ honorabile conjugium nonne reples eam concubinariis incestuofis masculorum concubitoribus Bern. Cant. ser 66. A lupanari ad missam unus tantum passus Rivet that the justice of God both pulled down them and pluck'd up their foundations but look upon their holy Fathers and their purple Cardmals their Mitred Prelates and you shall find a second Sodom raised out of the ashes of the former My pen is ashamed to write what I read concerning the two Juliusses the second and third Sixtus the fourth Paul the third Leo the tenth Prodigious was that impure Monster John Casa Arch-Bishop of Beneventum and Legat Apostolicall who wrote a book in commendation of the sin of Sodomy and printed it at Venice and by the license of Julius the third were other books set forth in praise of that villany Perpetuall will be the infamy of that Johannes imperialis a Popish Writer who published a book in commendation of this Arch Bishop Casa and others of the same stamp wherein he writes That when Pope Paul the second observe his Holinesse endeavoured to advance the said Casa to the dignity of a Cardinall he was by some persons enviously upbraided and blamed for lasciviousnesse Nor will Rome ever be or be accounted other then as Sodom a mother of Harlots and a stable of uncleanness a fit place for the seat of the beast so long as her lawes for prohibiting of Marriage and permitting of Whoredome are in force 5. Observ 5. How hellish black is the depraved nature of man The fountaine surely was filthy and poysonfull that sent forth such streams of Sodomiticall uncleanness Sodoms lake of Brimstone is not half so unsavoury as were their streams of Fornication nor were these so filthy as that springing puddle of polluted nature from which they issued Who reads not without horror and amazement the overflowing of this sin of Sodom into the lives of those accounted the best of heathen and the wisest of Philosophers Rom. 1.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Naz. O. rat 1. Contra. Jul. pag. mini 78. Laert. in vita Platonis Lego partem semenâ—ae Atticae in Socraiem corruptorem a dolesâ—entium pronuntiatam Tert. Apol. cap 46. to whom that which might he known of God was manifest who professed themselves wise and yet burned in lust one toward another Tertullian and Gregory Nazianzen charge this foul abomination upon Socrates himself and others upon Aristotle Zeno and Periander but most of all upon Plato how unworthy the name of divine Who might not be more then amazed to read that Solon and Licurgus should make laws as they did according to Chrysostome for the toleration of this sin To the fountain of this Heathenish filthinesse we are led by the Apostle when he declares that Rom. 1. this uncleannesse was Through the lusts of their own hearts What cause of humility have the best when they consider they were born with the nature of the blackest Sodomites And how greatly should they praise and admire that love whereby and laver wherein they were washed and sanctified To conclude this What is there in the world for which tears and blushing seem to be made but for the pollution of that nature which is the same with that of a Sodomite 6. Nor yet should the most deeply defiled Observ 6. Zech. 13.1 either in nature or practise despair Even Sodomites returning shal be accepted and washing in the fountain set open even for their uncleannesse shall be cleansed The blood of Christ can wash from the sins of Sodom Even a people as bad as Sodomites have been invited by and unto mercy for Isai 1.10 the Prophet calls the Jewish Princes the Princes of Sodom and their people the people of Gomorrha that is such Princes and people as matched Sodom and Gomorrha in wickednesse and yet he inviteth them unto repentance with proffer of mercy and promise of pardon and