St. Paul 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a Faithful Saying and worthy of all Acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to Save Sinners The stress of my Argument hence lyeth here that the Doctrine of our Redemption by Christ is a most comfortable Doctrine Not only a Truth but a most acceptable Truth a Principle that sufficiently recommends it self to every Man and Deserves to be Received by every one in the World for the inestimable Consolation it carryeth along with it Now this necessarily implies and proves That Christ came into the World to make every Sinner in it capable of Salvation in a better World because this is the onely substantial ground of that Comfort I speak of the only Principle whence we can with Reason gather that Satisfaction which makes the Doctrine of our Redemption worthy to be Accepted by us all A Man's Soul had neeâ— have all possible satisfaction touching the Reasonableness of his Hopes especially when he prepares himself for important Offices of Religion or is about to Die Then it stands in need of a solid and sure bottom to support it and give it rest nor do I see any other such grounds for reasonable satisfaction and the Comforts of a Man as this great Truth That Christ Died for the good of all Mankind Though some are ready to flee to God's Decrees for succour and to Cherish themselves with a confident perswasion that they were Elected to Salvation from Everlasting yet this is no sure Foundation to build on 't is unreasonable to take Sanctuary there and to fly for Refuge to the secret Counsels of God's Will This is the Work of Fancy and strong Imagination and many People may be willing to work themselves into it partly out of a principle of spiritual Pride and partly to quiet an evil Conscience and heal some inward sores which a Vicious Life hath made Nor are any so ready to run to God's Decrees as immoral People whose Sins pursue them with a great Cry Alass it is impossible for any of us without immediate Revelation which is not afforded now to Read our Names in the Book of Eternity or to know Infallibly that they are there those secret things belong unto the Lord our God by us they are Unsearchable and past finding out and therefore we cannot gather any reasonable Comforts that Way NOR Indeed doth the Revealed Will of God the Holy Scriptures themselves afford us much without that most acceptable Doctrine which I am now defending For neither in this Book can any of us find our Names Written no more than in the Volum of God's Decrees The Scripture is silent as to the state of particular Persons and all the Comfort any single Man can gather from it comes by making reasonable conclusions as to himself out of general Premises There are in the Bible many necessary Laws prescribed and many excellent promises given to the Faithful indefinitely and at large and when a particular person compares his private state with the common Rule and upon a due comparison discovers that according to his Power he hath sincerely and honestly observed God's Commands or doth now do so and resolves stedfastly by God's Grace to persevere to the end in so doing he may then very reasonably Hope and Cherish himself with an Humble Modest Confidence that he shall be Happy Yet all this is upon a supposition that Christ Died for him for if Christ be not a propitiation for his Sins such a Man is lost and utterly undone notwithstanding all his performances And how I pray can any particular Man be reasonably assur'd of that but by being assur'd first That Christ tasted Death for every Man This general Truth being believed That Christ was a Sacrifice for all Mankind and for the whole World it is easy and necessary for that particular Person to conclude That Christ was a Sacrifice even for him because he is one of Mankind and a part of the World But without this most Acceptable Principle I cannot see with what Reason and Comfort he can conclude for himself the Scripture tells him nothing of that as to his own particular all that he hath reasonably to rely on is That the Son of God Died for all Take away this Principle and farewel all Faith all Obedience all hope and comfort with it I mean all solid Reason of Hope and Comfort Fancy and Imagination there may be in this Case too but I speak now of Rational Convictions and Rational Consolation all that must depend upon this bottom and foundation that Christ came into the World to Die and offer himself up for every Child of Man This makes the Doctrine of our Redemption a most Acceptable Doctrine indeed a most Comfortable Saying worthy of all Men to be received whereas without this Latitude and as some People are willing through the pride of their Hearts to understand it 't is so far from being Acceptable unto all Men that it seemeth a very Frightful Doctrine For if the Son of God Died not for all Men to the utmost extent though he had past by but One in the whole World and had excluded but One from having any Benefit by the propitiation upon the Cross that one Person being not Known nor Mentioned how could any one of us all tell but he was that Person I might have been fearful it was my self another might have been though with less Reason as fearful as I a third as fearful too a fourth as fearful as the rest and so on ad infinitum For every one in the World might have thought himself equally concern'd to Fear and consequently to Despair as well as another Every one would have been in suspence and perplexity at least as People that are forced to draw Lots for their Lives not knowing how the chance would fall out till the Day of Judgment To be sure this Tormenting Doubt would be incident to all People of scrupulous Minds and great numbers of very Pious People are such and then what would become of Christianity Considering the Hereditary Weakness of our Nature the many Actual Sins we are Guilty of and how unworthy the very best are of eternal Happiness what Heart or Encouragement would any one have to undertake or persevere in Religion if Christ by passing any one by had put every one thus under Fears and Dangers of being Cast-aways at last This would have served to spoil the whole Work of Redemption and to have damp'd the Faith of all at least it would have brought on such a Faith as St. James speaks of in those most Miserable Spirits who Believe and Tremble I have insisted upon this Argument the longer to shew you of what great Consequence this Point is and what weighty Reasons we have to inculcate and urge the Belief of it The Interest of Christ's Religion and the Peace of every Christian's Mind depends upon it for which cause the Catholick Church of Christ hath maintained it from the Beginning to
means of Grace to the Gentiles as well as he had to them Had bestowed many Privileges upon the Gentiles as well as upon them had Adopted the Gentiles as formerly he had Adopted them nay had called the Gentiles to be his peculiar People and Rejected them because of their Unbelief the Apostle shews that the Jews had no Reason to Stumble and be Offended at this for this was no unjust or unusual Act of the Divine Oeconomy God did not bind himself to observe Privileges or to consider Precedency witness his dealing with Ishmael first his passing them by and his granting the Land of Canaan to Isaac though he was the younger Brother and witness his dealing also with Esau his passing him by too and his continuing the former grant to Jacob though he waâ— the younger Brother likewise Upon this Account the Jews should not depend upon their Primogeniture neither It was not an Unrighteous thing in God to grant now the outward means of Grace and and Privileges Evangelical to the Gentiles and to make the Gentiles his peculiar People to enjoy them in a high degree and to take away those singular Prerogatives and outward Blessings from the Jews though they were the Elder People This is the plain Account of St. Paul's design and meaning in the ninth Chapter to the Romans and all that can be reasonably gathered thence out of the instance of Esau is what I observed before in the instance of Ishmael namely that God did not give him such outward Advantages in this Life as he gave his Brother Jacob but deny'd him special Favours for some Reasons best known to himself And in all this there is nothing of God's laying Esau under the dismal Curse of Eternal Reprobation There is not a Word of Esau's Damnation nor any thing like it nor do we meet with any thing I think in the Scriptures sufficient to make Men conclude that he was a Damned Person Indeed the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews calls him a Prophane Person because for one Morsel of Meat he Sold his Birth right to which the Kingly Power and the Priestly Office did in those Days belong But that single Act is the only great Wickedness that is Recorded of him and of that in all probability he did Repent too when he besought his Father to Repent of giving away the Blessing from him However that was we do not Read that he ever Apostatiz'd from God or that in the whole course of his Life he deserted the true Religion Practised by his Father Isaac and therefore there is no apparent ground for the heavy Sentence which is commonly past upon him by some who perhaps are more prodigal of other Mens Souls than they are careful of their own I have insisted the more copiously upon these Famous instances because the true account of them is not vulgarly known and because some who should have understood these things rightly have quite misapply'd them and have argued from them to destroy the Belief of God's Love to the World which is one of God's great Glories and the great Hope of all the Ends of the Earth AND now to draw this point to an end God's dispensing of his special Favours in this Life whether they be bestow'd upon particular Persons or on whole Nations can be no Token of their Fortunes in another Life and therefore we must not Measure God's Love to Mankind by the Proportions or Disproportions of his Providence in distributing and ordering Affairs here God hath a sincere Love for the whole Race of Adam though he be not pleased to give us all here the same equal Advantages and in all this God is Righteous because it is an Eternal Rule that we find Luk. 12. 47 48 That Servant which knew his Lords Will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many Stripes but they that know not and do things worthy of Stripes shall be beaten with few Stripes For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more We must not conclude that all People are in a Lost condition who do not enjoy those singular Blessings which others have especially if they make a due use of the Advantages which God hath given them For these are things which God hath a Power and Right to dispose of according to his own will and pleasure And however he is pleas'd to dispose of them he doth no wrong to any Besides this World is not the place for Rewards and if some fall short as to these outward Matters here they are capable of having an abundant compensation made them in a Future State But this is not their case who once fall under everlasting Condemnation and therefore Mens Lots in another World ought to be determin'd not according to Pleasure but according to Righteousness Their sad condition there is Remediless and unchangeable and the Torments they endure are not only Simply and Infinitely Evils but they are Evils too which are supposed to be inflicted on them under the notion of punishments and therefore they must be in consideration of antecedent Crimes Knowingly and Deliberately and of choice committed for to Inflict Eternal Torments upon Men for what they cannot avoid is Inconsistent with the Righteousness of God contrary to Eternal Reason and utterly Repugnant to the infinite excellency and perfections of his most Blessed Nature CHAP. VII That we must not judge Uncharitably of other People upon a Presumption that we our Selves are of the Number of those who are Elected to Everlasting Life and what the Scripture means by the Elect. Fourthly CONSIDERING God's Love to the whole World we must be careful not to Judge Uncharitably of others upon a Presumption that we our selves are of the Number of those who are Elected to Everlasting Life Divines usually give us a Scholastical Distinction between Election unto Glory and Election unto Grace By Election unto Glory they mean God's purpose of bringing all those and only those unto Eternal Life who Believe in Christ and observe his Laws Now though the consideration of this be of great Comfort to all who Love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity yet the Decree it self as far as it is known to us is General it is Revealed to us in general Terms as to particulars it is secret particulars are not to be known nor can any ordinary Christian be Infallibly certain that he is chosen to Everlasting Happiness till he is gone out of the World WE Read indeed of a Book of Life wherein Men's Names are said to be Written St. John speaks of such a Book he saw in his Vision the design whereof was to represent things to us in a way which was most adapted and suitable to our Capacities The meaning of the Vision as to that is that God doth infallibly Know and at the Day of Judgment will openly Declare Reveal and Reward those who
him as our Supream Good in feeding our Desires with the Ravishing Ideas of him in Delighting and being highly pleased with the Sense of him and in such other Beatifical Acts which are answerable to Rational Appetites Every Divine Lover hath something of all this in this Present Imperfect State 't is the Fruition which now Crowneth our Affections that Spiritual Fellowship of Communion with God which we enjoy in this Life To Express therefore our Love to him in this respect we should have him always in our Minds be full of worthy Conceptions of him and make the thoughts of his Glorious Essence and Attributes to dwell in our Hearts daily We should Exalt him in our Minds above all things and make our Souls sensible that we have none in Heaven but Him none upon Earth to be desired in Comparison of Him We should take Pleasure in Divine Contemplations and endeavour constantly to Satiate our Souls more and more with Delights of that Nature We should every day possess our Hearts with such Affecting Meditations as These O God! How Excellent is thy Name How Radiant is thy Glory How Adorable are thy Perfections How Wonderful are thy Works How Beautiful are all thy Ways How Righteous are thy Actions How Equal are thy Commands How Precious and Sweet are thy Promises How Infinite is thy Goodness How Astonishing are thy Mercies How Charming is thy Love How Helpfull and Saving is thy Power How Tender is thy Pity How Blessed and Praise-worthy and Desirable art Thou O Thou great Lover of Souls and Redeemer of the World To kindle in us such a Divine Flame and to raise our Desires still touching the Fruition of God we should Form our Hearts into a Devout Temper give our Selves to Prayer and to the Love of it daily Insensate and Careless People know not the Comforts the Pleasures the Divine Enjoyments which Transport the Minds of those who Pray to God with Stay'd Fervent and Affectionate Hearts Certainly what Happiness there is here below Men of Holy Humble and Devout Spirits have it And that our Fruitions thereby may be the greater and the more desirable we should evermore be mindful of Publick and Solemn Devotion Chiefly when Two or Three are gathered together in Christ's Name then is he in the midst of us and then is God with us then we Enjoy him in a more especial manner and measure in the Congregation in the Assembly of the Saints in his House of Prayer There he scatters his Blessings there he gives us participations of himself there he refresheth us with a portion of those Pleasures which are at his Right Hand And this was the Reason of those Raptures Wishes Groans and Longings of the Holy Psalmist which upon the like occasions we should be full of too My Heart is fixed O God my Heart is fixed I will Sing and give Praise Awake up my Glory I will go into this Sanctuary and fall low on my Knees at thy Footstool Like as the Heart desireth the Water-brooks so longeth my Soul after Thee O God My Soul is a Thirst for God yea even for the Living God When shall I come to appear before the Presence of God! O How Amiable are thy Dwellings O Lord of Hosts My Soul hath a Desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord for one Day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand I had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness Now see how passionate that good Man's Love to God was though for the present Fruition of him And if the Gleanings of the Grapes be so desirable what is the whole Vintage I mean that abundant and Eternal Enjoyment which is Reserved for us till that Day when we shall have duly transacted all our Services here and shall pass from these Houses of Prayer into that Building of God not made with Hands the Everlasting Habitation of his Glory This Future Everlasting Fruition of God ought to be the chief Object of our Desires because it is our highest good and because it is the Ultimate end of the Divine Oeconomy and of all our Labours of Love in this World It is impossible for us truly and earnestly to Love God and not to groan within our Selves whilest we wait for this last Adoption the Redemption of our Bodies that we may be Cloathed upon all over with Immortality and have these our vile Bodies changed and fashioned like unto Christ's own Glorious Body that we may be in every Respect fit to be with that great Lover of our Souls and when we see him may rejoyce with him and with a joy like unto his when after all the Ignominy and Torments of the Cross he had this most Comfortable Reflection It is Finished PRAYERS OLord who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy Stedfast Fear and Love Keep us we Beseech Thee under the Protection of thy good Providence and make us to have a perpetual Fear and Love of thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen OGod who hast prepared for them that Love Thee such good things as pass Man's Understanding Pour into our Hearts such Love towards Thee that we loving Thee above all things may obtain thy Promises which exceed all that we can desire through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty and Everlasting God who hatest nothing that Thou hast made and dost forgive the Sins of all them that are Penitent Create and make in us New and Contrite Hearts that we Worthily lamenting our Sins and acknowledging our Wretchedness may Obtain of Thee the God of all Mercy perfect Remission and Forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen OAlmighty God who alone canst Order the Unruly Wills and Affections of Sinful Men grant unto thy People that they may Love the thing which thou Commandest and desire that which thou dost Promise that so among the sundry and manifold Changes of the World our Hearts may surely There be fixed where true joys are to be found through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen GRant We beseech Thee Almighty God That like as We do Believe thy only Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have Ascended into the Heavens So We may also in Heart and Mind thither Ascend and with Him continually dwell who liveth and raigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost one God World without End Amen FINIS Books lately Printed for W. Crook 1. A Practical Discourse upon the Blessed Sacrament shewing the Duties of the Communicant before at and after the Eucharist Octavo Price 3s 6d 2. A Practical Discourse upon Prayer in Octavo Price Is. 3. A Practical Discourse upon Charity in its several Branches and of the Reasonableness and Useful Nature of this great Christian Vertue Octavo Price 3s These three are also bound together having the Title of Dr. Pelling's Three Practical Discourses Vol. 1. Price 6s together 4. A Practical Discourse upon Humility wherein is shewn the Nature Reasonableness and Usefulness thereof together with the ways of Expressing and Increasing of it Price 2s 6d All Written by the Reverend Dr. Pelling Author of this Book