happy inheritance which was vested in them by the Law of their Creation Therefore 2. The comparison of the Family or Community specified in the Objection is altogether irrelative to the case in hand and besides it demands that as reasonable to be granted which is nothing less For it is not better for the generality of a Family or greater Community of men that some few of the members either of the one or the other should have the greatest assurance that can be given of the greatest things that can be enjoyed all the rest of their members being left to unavoydable beggery torment and misery then that all Particulars of either should be put into such a capacity and way of being all honorable and happy that by a regular prudent and careful behavior of themselves and managing the opportunities which are before them there should none of them miscarry nor fail of such enjoyments For thus the Comparison ought to be stated to make it truly representative of the great business whereof we are in travel Now it is not better for the generality of a State or great Commonwealth that some two or three or some small and inconsiderable number of the members or inhabitants thereof should be great Favorites of the Prince or of those in chief place and have Riches Honors Offices and places of Power heap'd upon them without end all the rest being made slaves and devested of all capacity so much as of any tolerable subsisting in the State then it would be that all and every of the said members or inhabitants should be put into an hopeful and ready way by their regular industry and honest demeanor of themselves to thrive and lift up their heads and live like men although in the mean time they might either through voluntary and supine carelessness and sloath or through some vile practices otherwise deprive themselves of such Happiness That cannot be better for the generality of any Community of men which induceth an absolute necessity of extream Misery upon the far greater part of them though attended with all imaginable advantages to some few then that which is as an effectual door opened unto them all unto all Happiness although it be not so opened but that they may through a supine negligence and unfaithfulness to their own interest shut it against themselves That which is worse for the greater part cannot be better for the whole So then our Argument last propounded remains still in full force Christ certainly dyed for all Men because otherwise the World or generality of Mankinde should have been better and more graciously delt with and provided for by God in the first Adam then in the second The same Doctrine I confirm yet further by the seal and warrant of this §. 26. Argum. 9. Argument If Christ dyed not for all Men without exception then no man whatsoever in his unregenerate estate stands bound to beleeve in Him or to depend on Him at least with any certainty of Faith or Hope for Salvation But there are many Men who in their unregenerate estates stand bound thus to beleeve in Him and depend upon Him yea all Men without exception at least all that have not yet sinned the sin unpardonable stand bound thus to beleeve and thus to depend Ergo. The Reason of the sequel in the former Proposition is because no man stands bound to do that which he hath not a sufficient ground or reason to do or to speak somewhat more warily for the doing of which there is no sufficient ground or reason Yea the doing of any thing upon such terms I mean without a sufficient ground in Reason for the doing it is an act irregular sinful and displeasing unto God That the Soul be without Knowledg saith Solomon it is not good and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth p Prov. 19. 2 The former clause was rendered somewhat more plainly in our former Translation thus Without Knowledg the minde is not good i. e. though a man in what he doth means or intends never so well yet unless he knows or apprehends a sufficient Reason or ground for what he doth his good meaning will not justifie him or make him sinless in his action according to what followeth in the latter clause But he that hasteth with his feet i. e. that is forwarder in his affections then in his Judgment that falls upon action before he knows a good cause why and wherefore he so acteth sinneth Upon this account our Saviour reproveth the man that saluted Him by that honorable and divine Title of Good Why callest thou me Good there is none good but one which is God q Mat. 19 17 Doubtless the meaning of the man in stiling Him Good was good and proceeded from a reverend Opinion of Him yea in stiling Him Good he spake nothing but Truth and that according to our Saviours own Principles in as much as He was indeed God Yet because the man had not this knowledg of him and so no sufficient Reason for what he did or said in calling Him Good therefore He reproveth him for so doing or speaking To this Point also lieth that of the Apostle Whatsoever is not of Faith is sin r Rom. 14 23 i. e. whatsoever a man doth not having a sufficient ground in Reason one or more on which to ground a Belief or Perswasion of the lawfulness of it is sinful viz. quoad hominem in respect of the doer not always or necessarily quoad rem or in the nature of the thing it self Yea to beleeve any thing without a sufficient ground in Reason to satisfie or convince a man of the truth of it the Holy Ghost termeth the Belief of the simple or foolish according to that of Solomon The simple beleeveth every word s Prov. 14. 15 or as our former Translation read it The foolish will beleeve every thing i. e. as well that for which there is good Reason why it should be true as that for which there is none which is a lash loose and unsavory kinde of Faith and such as God relisheth not regardeth not no not when the object of it or the thing beleeved is a Truth For God as the wise man informeth us delighteth not in fools t Eccles 5. 4 So that if there be no sufficient ground in Reason why any unregenerate Person should beleeve or depend on Christ for Salvation with certainty of Faith most certain it is that he stands not bound in duty hereunto Now if Christ dyed onely for the Elect and no unregenerate person certainly knoweth or can know that he is one of the Elect it is a clear case that he can have no sufficient ground in Reason to beleeve or depend upon Him upon such terms That no unregenerate man certainly knoweth or can know that he is one of the Elect hath been proved formerly and that ex abundanti viz. where it was fully evinced that no unregenerate Person hath so much as
things will come to passe is there not a necessity of their comming to pass or otherwise must not the knowledge of God prove abortive and be accompanied with error I answer no if the events supposed to be knowne by God before their §. 22. comming to passe be contingent or at least such in the Production whereof Futura contingentia etiam ut subsunt divinae scientiae non sunt simpliciter necessaria Rada Contr. 30. Art 5. Scientia Dei non tollit contingentiam ab eo quod est scitum ibid. the wills of men must some wayes or other interpose if ever they be produced of which kinde of events only we now speake the certainty of the knowledge of God may be salved and yet no absolute necessity of the comming to passe of such events be supposed The reason is because at the same time when God seeth or knoweth that they will come to passe he seeth and knoweth also that there is no necessity they should come to passe but that they may well be prevented In which respect in case they should not come to passe the knowledge of God should suffer no defeature or disparagement If yet it be said yea but when it is supposed that God knoweth that such §. 23. or such an event will come to passe if it should be supposed withall that he knoweth it may not come to passe or that it may come to passe otherwise then according to this knowledge doth not this suppose or imply a consciousnesse in God of the weakness or deficiency of his knowledge I answer no but rather the contrary viz. a consciousnesse in him of the strength and perfection of his knowledge For he that knoweth not that contingent and free-working Causes which way soever they shall act in order to any particular event might yet act otherwise or suspend their actings is certainly defective in knowledge And if God did not as well know that there is a Possibility of the non-futurity or of the not comming to passe of such contingent events which he knoweth will come to passe as well as he certainly knoweth that they will come to passe he should be defective in his knowledge concerning the Nature and Property of contingent and free-working Causes in as much as this is their Nature and Property as hath been said to be at liberty in reference to particular actings to act one way as well as another or else to suspend their action Indeed if it should be said or thought that any event WILL not or SHALL not come to passe which God knoweth before hand will come to passe this would import an obnoxiousness unto error in the knowledge or fore-knowledge of God But to say or think that such an event whose future comming to passe God knoweth MAY notwithstanding this knowledge of his not come to passe reflects no dishonour or disparagement at all upon his knowledge a Cum ista Antichristus crit stat haec Antichristus potest non fore Rada Contr. 30. Art 6. Et paulo post non pugnat igitur quod Deus sciat Petrum esse peccaturum tamen quod ipse possit non peccare vel possit non esse peccaturus but rather gives an honorable and high testimony of excellency and perfection unto it For he that certainly knowes what contingent and free-working Causes will do notwithstanding their freedom and liberty either to do or not to do or to do otherwise must needs be excellent in knowledge indeed and one who needeth not count it robbery to be equall with God Concerning the acts of the wills of men which are called I know not how Properly supernaturall I meane such which have an essentiall connexion with their eternall happiness and glory how or how far they are determined by God and how and how far not we shall be better fitted with an opportunity to demonstrate in the Process of our Discourse In the meane time the reason why the great Commander and Lord of §. 24. nature leaveth his whole Militia ordinarily to move and act according to their native Properties and inclinations respectively without counter manding them or turning them out of their way are these with their fellowes First Nature with all her traine and retinue of particular Causes together with all their furniture of Principles for Motion and Action being the workmanship of his own hand if he should ordinarily or frequently interpose to change her Lawes or innovate her course he should seeme to pull down that which himself hath built up and to dislike that Portraicture and resemblance of himself which he hath drawne with admirable and unimitable art and skill in the regular and standing Progress of Nature and second Causes Secondly being conscious to himself with what excellency of Wisdom Goodness and Power the great Body of Nature with all the Parts and Members of it was at first rais'd built fram'd and temper'd by himself he knows there is no need for him either to add to or to take from or to alter any thing ordinarily in her course He hath sufficient security that his hand-maid left unto her self only with his ordinary and regular concurrence without which she can neither move nor be will no wayes mis-behave her self in order to his ends and those concernments of his glory wherewith she is intrusted So that for him to check or controule her in her way would be but a kinde of condemning the innocent which is when practised amongst men an abomination to him Thirdly and lastly if he should customarily and of course over-rule Nature or second Causes in their regular Proceedings he should overlay his own market for miracles and works of wonder and bring down the price of the glory and esteem of them to a very low rate In the dayes of Solomon Silver was but as Stones nothing esteemed * 1 Kings 10. 21. 27. by reason of the abundance and commonness of it Miracles are the rarities of Heaven and the reserve of Nature when her testimony concerning the Glory and Power of her Lord and Master is despised by Men. CHAP. III. Concerning the foreknowledge and knowledge of God and the difference betweene these and his Desires Purposes Intentions and Decrees and how these also are distinguished the one from the other IT is not to be denied but that the Scriptures do attibute 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or §. 1. fore-knowledge unto God in severall places as Acts 2. 23. Rom. 8. 29. 11. 2. 1 Pet. 1. 2. c. Though evident it is that in some if not in all of these places the word rather imports a Pre-approbation then a simple Prescience or fore-knowledge according to the known signification of the simple word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which though properly it signifieth knowledge yet in Scripture language according to that idiome of speech wherein the consequent is put for the antecedent not unusuall in the Scriptures frequently imports approbation As Mat. 7. 23. Rom.
rather importeth he implyeth not only that all our vitall actions and motions are exercised and performed by the gracious concurrence and compliance of God with us as well as our lives themselves and Principles of action preserved but further that there is a further and appropriate concurrence of God required and by him accordingly exhibited to enable men to act those very Principles of action and motion that are in them distinct from that by which their lives and Principles of action in every kind are preserved Insomuch that though men be never so well appointed or provided for action in one kind or other in respect of suitable proper and sufficiently-disposed Principles thereunto yet upon a suspension of that particular influence or concurrence by God which is appropriate and necessary both for the leading forth unto and for the supporting of these Principles in and under their proper actions there is none of them will go forth into action nor is able to maintain or support it selfe in acting But whether such a concurrence of God supposed and actually granted as is sufficient both for the leading forth unto and for the support of the Principles we speak of in their proper actings these Principles notwithstanding at least such of them whose actions lie under the command of the will may not refuse or forbear to act is another Question wherein more may be said hereafter In the mean time that God may at any time separate between Principles §. 7. and their actings even those that are most proper and connaturall to them only by with-holding that compliance of his with them which is appropriate and necessary for their conducting unto action is evident from severall passages in the Scriptures Doubtlesse the heat of the fire in Nebuchadnezzars furnace being het seven times hotter then ordinary was as proper as likely a means to have consumed Shadrach Meshach and Abednego being cast into the midst of this furnace as those who were imployed by the King only to cast them into it Nor can it reasonably be said That God separated the heat or burning property from the fire or annihilated it all the time that these three men were in the furnace For 1. unlesse we shall suppose the subject it self I mean the fire to have been destroyed or annihilated we cannot suppose that heat or a burning property being â— property inseparable from such a subject should be taken from it 2. It appears by the story that those who cast the three Servants of God mentioned into the furnace were consumed by the fire of it whilst the Servants of God remained in the furnace Therefore certainly there was true fire and true heat in the furnace whilest the three men continued in it 3. And lastly The story saith That the Princes Governors and Captains c. being gathered together saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power * Dan. 3. 27. So that there is not the least question but that there was reall fire and reall heat and that in abundance in the furnace which notwithstanding had no power no not so much as over the hair of their heads or the garments they wore What now was the Reason why this fire and this heat prevailed not over those that were cast into the midst of them as they did over those who cast them in Was it any other then this The Lord of hoasts his withdrawing the wonted conjunction of himselfe from the heat of the fire and refusing to comply with it in that expedition or attempt which it naturally inclined to make upon these men as well as upon any others to destroy them whereas he kept his naturall and accustomed union with this heat in that attempt which it made upon those other men who cast these into the furnace by means whereof it suddenly prevail'd upon them and consumed them There was the same Reason why the Bush which Moses saw burning with fire was not consumed by it The Reason likewise in all likelihood why the men of Sodom could not find the door of Lots house was because God withdrew his usuall concurrence from their visive faculty in order to the discerning of that object For that other things were all this while visible enough to them appears from their continued endevours even unto weariness in seeking this door If they had bin wholy blind so that they could have seen nothing at all it is no ways credible but that they would have desisted their enterprize at the very first This withdrawing or suspension of the wonted Presence of God with the Seeing faculty of men is called the holding of their eyes Luk. Luke 24 16. 24. 16. But their eyes were holden that they could not know him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were mightily or powerfully held they could not act or perform that which otherwise was most naturall and proper for them to do in receiving and representing to the Sensus Communis or adjudging faculty of the Soul the true species and shape of a Person standing visibly before them and neer to them through the want of that accustomed co-operative Presence of God with them in order to this act which untill now it is like had never failed them upon the like occasion Other instances we have in Scripture of such like impotencies and deficiences as these in naturall faculties through the suspension of that soveraign presence with them upon which all their motions and actions depend See Ioh. 20. 14 15. 2 Kings 6. 17 18 c. When God threatned his People of old That the wisdome of their wise men §. 8. Esa 29. 14 should perish and the understanding of their prudent men he hid Isai 29. 14. he doth not I suppose threaten an utter annihilation of those Principles or habits of wisdome and understanding in these men but only an intercision or failing of such interposals and actings from and by these Principles in order to the safety and preservatioâ—â—oth of themselves and their state which might reasonably and accordinâ— to the common course of second Causes be expected from them which wonder as he calls it was I conceive to be effected only by the hiding of his face from them without the beholding whereof no second Cause whatsoever is able to move no not in those ways of acting which are most appropriate to them This manner of execution of the judgment here threatened seems to be implyed in those latter words And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid i. e. shall not be conspicuous or discernable in any fruits or effects worthy of it not that the Principle it self should be absolutely destroyed or devested of Being This Liberty or great Interest of God which we speak of I mean to suspend the proper and most accustomed effects of second Causes by refusing to joyn in action with them causeth that time and chance as the wise man calleth them which happen now and then in those occurrences of humane affairs as
viz. when the race is not to the swift nor the battell to the strong c. Eccles 9. 11. Eccles 9. 11. §. 9. If it be here demanded In as much as second Causes and created Principles especially in men act notwithstanding such a substraction of the Divine Presence from them as hath been declared though not according to the perfection of their natures but in a troubled and miscarrying manner the eyes of the two Disciples we spake of though they were so held that they knew not Christ viz. to be the person which he was yet they represented him unto them as a man c. Whether do such actings as these proceed from their Principles without any such presence of the first Cause with them as that which we have asserted to be simply necessary for and with second Causes whensoever they go forth into action Or what manner of presence of this first Cause or how differing from that which is constant and more agreeable to their natures shall we suppose they have with them when they act irregularly or deficiently To this I answer 1. Whensoever second Causes move into action whether they act congruously to their respective natures and kinds or whether defectively they still have and must have a presence of the first Cause with them as hath beene already argued But 2. When they faile or faulter in their motions or actings if their motions be such which are not morall or commanded by the will of which kind the mis representation of the person of Christ by the eyes or visive faculty of the two Apostles was I conceive that the presence or concourse of the first cause with them is attempered and proportioned in order to the deficiency of the action I mean as well to the degree as kind of this deficiency and is not the same with it selfe in the ordinary and proper actings of these faculties The reason hereof is because faculties meerly naturall act determinately and uniformly after one and the same manner unlesse they be troubled and put out of their way by a superior power But in morall actions and such whose deficiency proceedeth from the wills of men or other creatures indued with the Whether or how the concurrence of God with the wils of men in good actions dister from that which is afforded unto them in evill actions shall God willing be taken into consideration in the second part of this work same faculty the presence and concourse of the first Cause with the Principles producing them is not at least ordinarily different from that which is naturall and proper to them and by vertue whereof at other times they act regularly or at least may The Reason hereof is because the nature and intrinsecall frame and constitution of the will importeth a liberty or freedom of chusing its own motions or acts this being the essentiall and characteristicall property of it whereby it is distinguished from causes meerly naturall Now then if this faculty when it moves or acts inordinately should be so influenced by the first Cause as hereby to be determined or necessitated to the inordinacy of its actings 1. That distinguishing property we speak of should be dissolved or destroyed and the will it selfe hereby reduced to the Order and Laws of Causes meerly naturall 2. The inordinatenesse or sinfulnesse of the motions and actings of it could not be resolved into it selfe or its own corruption but into that over ruling and necessitating influence of the first Cause upon it which it was not able to withstand nor to act besides or contrary unto the determinating exigency thereof And thus God shall be made the Author of Sin which is the first born of abominations even in the eye of Reason and Nature it selfe But of these things more hereafter Though all the motions and actings of the creature and created Principles §. 10. or faculties are absolutely suspended upon the association of the first Cause with them in their actings yet do they very seldom suffer any detriment or actuall suspension of their motions or actings hereby God never denying suspending or withdrawing that concurrence or conjunction of himself with them without which they cannot act but only upon some speciall design as for example now and then to be a Remembrancer unto the world that Nature and Second Causes are not autocratoricall i. e. do not perform what ordinarily they do perform independently and of themselves but that he is the soveraign Lord of them and hath all the strength and operations of them in his hand The battell commonly is to the strong and the race ordinarily to the swift and bread most frequently to men of understanding c. But more of this also in the following Chapter The Apostle affirming That in God we live and move in the sence declared §. 11. passeth the sentence of condemnation against two opinions which yet condemn one the other also being two extreams leaving the Truth between them in the middle The former denies all co-operation of the first Cause with the second affirming That God only communicateth that operating virtue unto them which they respectively exert and put forth and preserveth it but doth not at all co-operate with it The latter affirmeth That it is God only who acteth or worketh at the presence of Second Causes and that these do nothing but stand by act not at all The former of these opinions wâ—â— held by Durandus the Schoolman and by some others far more ancient then he against whom Augustin disputeth Lib. 5. dâ— Geâ— ad lit c. 20. The latteâ— by Gabriel Biel a School man also and some others of that Learning The Apostles assertion That we move in God in the sence asserted is visibly attended with these two consequentiall Truths 1. That God doth associate himselfe and communicate with Second Causes and all created Principles in their respective motions and operations and consequently contributes more towards their motions and operations then only by a collation and conservation of a sufficient strength or virtue in their respective causes to produce them 2. That the ordinary effects acts and operations produced in these sublunary parts are not so or upon any such terms attributable unto God but that they have their Second Causes also respectively producing them whereunto they may as truly and perhaps more properly be ascribed as unto God CHAP. II. Though there be as absolute and essential a Dependance of Second Causes upon the first in point of motion action and operation as of simple Existence or Being yet are not the motions actions or operations of Second Causes at least ordinarily so immediately or precisely determined by that Dependance which they have upon the first Cause as their respective Beings are THe simple Existences or Beings of things may be said to be determined §. 1. by God the first Cause three ways 1. In respect of their Natures or constituting Principles of their respective Beings 2. In respect of their
doe not flow from that concurrence of God with it when it acteth but from that intrinsecall form or those naturall Properties which he hath vested in it by the Law of Creation There is the same reason of other causes of this kinde in their respective actions or effects Nor are the motions or actings of the second kinde of causes mentioned as of Birds Beasts c. any whit more determined then of the former by the Presence of God with them in their actions but partly by their naturall abilities for action or motion partly by the naturall proportions and disproportions between their respective Estimatives or Phantasies and such and such Creatures or Objects whose natures are either proportioned or disproportioned unto them As for example the reason why a lamb runneth to the dam and fleeth from the Wolfe is partly the naturall sympathy between the phantasie of the lamb and the dam and the antipathy betweene the said phantasie and the Wolfe partly also that ability or nimblenesse of motion which God hath given unto this creature for the conveyance of it selfe this way or that according as the phantasie of it is affected The concurrence of God with it when it runneth to the dam and when it fleeth from the Wolfe is doubtlesse one and the same So that the difference of these two motions in this Creature doth not arise from any diversity therein but from one of the causes now mentioned In like manner the actions and motions of the third and lâ—st kinde of §. 9. causes which we termed rationall and voluntary are not determined i. e. made rationall and voluntary much lesse are they necessitated by the conjunction or Presence of God with them when they act or move but by their owne proper and free election of what they act or move unto Whilst it remained Acts 5. 4. saith Peter to Ananias speaking of his possession whilst it was yet unsold and remained with him in specie was it not thine owne i. e. Wert thou not at full liberry to have retained and kept it for thine own private use there being no Law of God imposing it as a duty upon thee to sell it And when it was sold was it not in thy power viz. whether thou wouldst part with the money which thou receivedst for it or no The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated Power doth not only signifie a Power of right but of liberty also or a freedome of will to dispose of it as he pleased otherwise a Power of right had been of no accommodation unto him nor any competent matter of the aggravation of his sin Why hast thou put this thing into thy heart viz. to dissemble and lye pretending and professing to bring the whole money which thou receivedst for the possession when as thou bringest a part of it only God concurred with the motion of Ananias will when he resolved to bring his money to the Apostles for publique distribution and so likewise when he brought it otherwise he could not have resolved or willed to do it Yet this concurrence of God with him in his act of willing or resolving did not make it necessary for him so to will or resolve because he had a Power this notwithstanding to have willed or resolved the contrary I meane either the keeping of the Possession to himself being yet unsold or the not-bringing the money received for it to the Apostles Otherwise both the act of selling it and also of bringing the money to the Apostles must be looked upon not as the acts of Ananias but of God himselfe For whatsoever a man is necessitated to do especially by a Principle of force or power out of himselfe is the act of the necessiâ—ator not his Yea the Apostle Paul counteth it no flattery either of himselfe or any other man to acquit both himself and them of all such irregular acts whereunto they are necessitated though by an inward and inherent Principle Now saith he if I doe that I would not it is no more I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in me a Rom. 7. 20. It is true the act of Ananias his will both for the selling of his Possession and bringing the money to the Apostles in the very instant of the Elicitation or Production of it was necessary in this respect viz. because now it could not be unproduced according to the common maxime every thing that is when it is must of necessity be b Unumquodque quod est quando est necesse est esse but it was not the concurrency of God with his Will that imposed any necessity upon him to produce it because then it had not been in his own power neither had it been properly his own act when produced But it may be here objected and said that though the specificall actions §. 10. or motions of all the causes mentioned be determined as hath been proved by the specificall natures or properties of every of them respectively and not by any concurrence of God with them yet their individuall and particular actions and motions are determined by some kinde of concurrence or Providentiall interposall of God As for example that Fire in the generall burneth that which is combustible being put to it is from the nature of it not from any concurrence of God with it but that it burneth such or such a mans house goods or the like this is not simply from the nature of it without some speciall disposall of Divine Providence So againe that wicked and ungodly men should in the generall do wickedly as for instance plot contrive accomplish the death of such as are godly proceedeth from themselves and from the corruption of their wills not from any concurrence of God with them nor from any speciall interposall of his in such actings But that such and such wicked men by name should plot and effect the deaths of such and such godly men by name and not the death of others godly also proceedeth not so much from the wickednesse of such men as from some speciall decree of God together with a suteable interposall of his Providence and Power for the effecting of it That which Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the Jewes did in and about the crucifying of Christ Peter saith that the hand and counsell of God had determined before to be done * Acts 4 28. §. 11. To this I answer 1. That this particular and signall attribution of some speciall actions or events unto God or to the determination of his hand and counsell other instances whereof are to be seene 1 King 12. 15. 2 Sam. 17. 14. Jos 11. 20. Deut. 2. 30. c. cleerly argueth that ordinarily actions are performed by men and events come to passe upon other terms I meane without any such particular or extraordinary interposition by God either by way of Decree or of Providentiall efficiency or contribution towards them Emphaticall and remarkable appropriations are unsavoury and
other Person or Persons by Name should have acted this his determination knowing certainly 1. That these men would act it freely and without being any wayes determined yea or in the least degree excited by him hereunto 2. That in case these had not acted it there were enough in the World besides that would But 4. Concerning those actions of men with their Consequences Productions §. 16. and Events which are so emphatically and signally as hath been said attributed unto God the reason of this attribution I conceive is partly because the conjunction of such Principles in men and Providences about men between which the actions we speake of are begotten and produced is somewhat particular and rare partly also and chiefly because the event and consequence of such actions are some speciall designe and intendment of God as is cleerly to be seen in the instances already pointed at Deut. 2. 27. compared with v. 30. Jos 11. 20. 2 Sam. 17. 14. 1 King 12. 15. Act. 4. 28. compared with Rom. 4. 25. 8. 32. c. Therefore 5. Concerning the ordinary and constant motions and actions of other §. 17. Creatures in the World though the least of them commeth not to passe without the knowledge and fore-knowledge of God in such a sence as foreknowledge is attributable unto him nor without his Prudentiall disposall of them to their or rather his respective ends yet can they not be said be to determined by him in any other sence or consideration then this viz. as he was the Author of such and such determinate Natures Properties and Beings in the Creation which by his ordinary concurrence with them for support and action are apt to move or to act after such or such a manner determinately The regular and respective motions shinings influences of the Sun Moon and Starres the flowing of Rivers from their Fountaines together with the decurrency of their Waters into the Sea with a thousand things besides of like consideration are no otherwise determined by God then as hath beene said 6. Concerning the particular motions actions and exertions of such Creatures §. 18. or Causes which though meerly naturall do not move act or exert uniformly or without variation but with a latitude and disproportion in their motions and effects there is ground I conceive to judge that God doth at least sometimes though not so frequently as is commonly presum'd Providentially interpose beyond his ordinary concurrence to occasion or bring to passe such a variation As for example that the same ground with the same labour cost and skill of the Husbandman bestowed on it doth not yeild a like proportion of increase one year which it doth another so againe that the same fruit-bearing Trees are barren one year and well-bearing another that the Seas are Pacifique and commodious for Passage at one time in such parts and places of them as when such and such Ships with such and such Persons in them passe thorough them where they are turbulent and dangerous at another time when such and such other Ships and Persons in them passe the same way with many more particulars of like consideration the reason doubtlesse of the variety and diversity of occurrences or effects in this kinde is not alwayes to be resolved either divisim or conjunction only into the native Properties of the Causes whether mediately or immediately producing them or into the ordinary and standing concurrence of God with these Causes for or in producing them but there is somewhat a more particular hand of the great Ruler of the World which formes and fashions them in such different shapes and that in order to such and such ends which though sometimes apprehensible enough yet for the most part are very hard for men to call by their Names Only this remaines true that in such occurrences and events as those now specified notwithstanding that great diversity found between them yet ordinarily all Particular Causes interessed in the Production of them act in a regular and due conformity to their respective Natures and Properties and are not forced or turned out their way by any immediate Power or interposall of God And that which he doth in order to a diversification when the difference is Preter-naturall and signally from him consists either in a multiplication of or a substraction from the number of Causes which according to the course of nature and ordinary Providence would have joyned in raising the effect or else in suspending either in whole or in part or in augmenting the operating vertue of one cause or more present with those which together raise and produce the effect Which suspension and augmentation though in a sence they may be called miraculous yet are they not direct or perfect miracles partly because they are not so obvious to any of the outward senses partly also because though they be unusuall and rare compared with the co 〈…〉 of ordinary Providence yet are they frequent in such kindes of dispensations which are either signally penall or munificent 7. Concerning such occurrences and casuall events wherein or whereby §. 19. any creature suffers losse either of being or of well-being in what kinde or degree soever neither are these determined by God though he takes speciall knowledge of them both before and when they come to passe and contrives them accordingly to their most appropriate ends When our Saviour reacheth his Disciples that a Sparrow shall not fall to the ground i. e. be taken kil'd or hurt without his Heavenly Father his meaning is not to assert a particular Decree or determination in God concerning the death or hurt of every Sparrow that either dieth or receiveth harme but to shew that God is vigilant and carefull in his Rule and Government of the World and taketh exact notice how his Creatures suffer or are diminished It is more proper of the two and neerer to the truth to say and hold that God determineth the preservation or keeping alive of those Sparrowes which fall not to the ground then that he determineth the falling to the grounds of every one that so falleth The reason is because the object of Gods determinations or Decrees is only that which is good whereas things indifferent and things that are evill are the object of his knowledge as well as that which is good But of this more hereafter So when any mans Person House or Goods are consum'd or hurt by Fire there is no competent ground to say or thinke that any of these were determined by God or that they might not have been prevented For certaine it is that he Decreed not either the negligence or carelesnesse nor yet the malice of those who thorough either the one or the other were the Authors of such accidents If it be said yea but the permission of such accidents as these is good §. 20. otherwise God would not permit them to be And if so then such a Permission may be the object of Gods
Determination and Decree And if God Decreeth the Permission of a thing doth not this include or suppose a necessity that it shall will or must come to passe If so it is as much determined or necessitated by Gods Permissive Decree as if it had been directly and peremptorily decreed by him To this I answer It is indeed the judgement of some learned men that the purpose or intent Dr. Twisse of God to permit or suffer such or such a thing to be done or such or such an accident to come to passe supposeth a necessity at least a syllogisticall or consequentiall necessity of the comming of it to passe But that the truth lieth on the other side of the way appears by the light of this consideration If whatsoever God hath Decreed or intendeth to permit to come to passe in any case upon any terms or any supposition whatsoever should by vertue of such an intention or Decree necessarily come to passe then all things possible to be or at least ten thousand things more then ever shall be must be yea and this necessarily For doubtlesse God hath Decreed and intendeth to leave naturall Causes generally to their naturall and proper Operations and Productions yea and voluntary Causes also under a Power and at liberty to act ten thousand things more then ever they will do or shall do For example God intendeth and hath Decreed to permit that fire shall burne what combustible matter soever it shall take hold of or that shall be cast into it that one sparke of it falling into a barrell of dried Gun-powder should suddainly fire it c. but it doth not follow from hence that therefore every thing that is combustible in the World shall be burnt with Fire or that every barrell of dry Gun-powder shall be blown up with sparkes of Fire falling into them So in the instance formerly mentioned God had Decreed to permit the Lords of Keilah to deliver up David into Sauls hand in case he had stayed in their City till Sauls comming to demand him this is evident from the Text a 1 Sam. 23. 12. But it did not follow from this Permissive Decree of God that therefore these Lords must necessarily deliver up David into Sauls hand for we know they did it not So likewise God hath Decreed to permit any man to destroy the life of another Vitae alienae Dominus est quisquis contemptor est suae Sen. whom he meets with I meane in respect of a naturall Power to doe the execution but it followeth not from hence that therefore every man must necessarily murther or destroy the life of his Brother that commeth in his way So that evident it is that no Decree of God whatsoever which is simply and purely Permissive doth import any necessity at all of the perpetration or comming to passe of the thing so Decreed God permitted Adam to eate of every Tree in the Garden of Eden the Tree of the knowledge of good and evill only excepted b Gen. 2. 16. 17. and therefore certainly had Decreed or Intended this Permission yet was not Adam any wayes necessitated by any vertue or influence of this Decree upon him to eate of every of these Trees nor is it in the least degree credible that ever he did eate of every of them nor yet of any one of them but only that which was prohibited unto him his ejection out of this Garden following so suddenly after this Patent or Permission granted unto him The reason why no Decree of God that is purely and barely permissive either induceth or supposeth any necessity of the comming to passe of what is only so Decreed is this First because no such Decree doth any wayes interesse God to any manner of interposall either by his wisdom power or providence in what kinde soever towards the effecting or bringing to passe of what is so decreed So that such events which are no otherwise Decreed by God then thus are in the same posture of contingency in the same possibility of being or not being wherein they would have been had there been no such Decree at all concerning them Secondly neither doth any such Decree in God suppose a futurity of such a concurrence of Causes simply requisite and necessary for the bringing of things so Decreed to passe which will actually bring them to passe Though God hath Decreed that a spark or coale of Fire falling i. e. in case it shall fall into a barrell of Gun-powder shall fire it yet it doth not follow from hence that he hath Decreed that any such sparke or coale shall fall into it without which notwithstanding the effect Decreed viz. the firing of this powder will not come to passe Or if it be said that God hath Decreed that such a spark or coale shall fall into the said barrell of powder now is not the Decree barely permissive but operative and assertive and such which ingageth the Decreer to interpose effectually for the bringing of the thing Decreed to passe But such Decrees as this in matters of that nature we deny to be in God If it be yet further objected yea but all events and whatsoever commeth §. 21. to passe at any time in any place or with relation to any person whatsoever are fore-seene and fore-known by God And if so then is there an absolute and unavoydable necessity of their comming to passe otherwise the foreknowledge of God shall be but conjecturall obnoxious to error and mistake not certain or infallible To this I answer 1. By concession viz. that the knowledge of God for fore-knowledge if we speake properly is not competible to him a Quia ca quae nobis futura sunt videt quae tamen ipsi semper praesto sunt praescius dicitur quanvis nequaquam futurum praevideat quod praesens videt Greg. Mor. l. 2. c. 23. is all light and there is no darkenesse in it at all all possibility of error or mistake are ten thousand times further from it then the Heavens are from the Earth But 2. I answer further by way of exception that notwithstanding the certainty of the knowledge of God concerning things that dayly and hourly come to passe and that will come to passe hereafter yet there is no more no other necessity of their comming to passe in respect of such his knowledge then there would or should have been in case no such knowledge were or had been in him For certaine it is that no knowledge as such hath any influence at all upon the object or thing known to cause it to be or not to be b Non ideo peccavit Adam quia Deus hoc suturum noverat sed praescivit Deus quasi Deus quod ille erat propria voluntate facturus Hieronym Dial. 3. contra Pelag. Deus praescientia sua non cogit facienda quae futura sunt Aug. de llb. Arbit l. 3. c. 4. If it be replied yea but if God knowes that such and such
meaning before Heaven and Earth were made For thâ—re was no THEN where there was no time Neither dost thou precede times in time for if so thou couldst not precede or be before all times But thou precedest all times that are past with the statelinesse or transcendent height of thine eternity which is alwayes present and art above all times that are future because they are yet to come and when they are come they will be past but thou art the same and thy yeares faile not a Si autem ante coelum terram nullum erat tempus cur quaeritur quid tunc faciebas Non enim erat Tunc ubi non erat tempus nec tu tempora tempore praecedis alioquin non omnia tempora praecederes Sed praecedis omnia tempora prâ—terita câ—lsitudine semper praesentis aeternitatis superas omnia futura quia illa futura sunt cùm venerint praeterita erunt tu autem idem ipse es anni tui non deficient Aug. Confess l. 11. c. 13. Consonant hereunto is the saying of Boetius a Philosopher Nor ought God saith he be conceived by us as more ancient then his Creatures in respect of any quantity of time but rather in respect of the propriety of his simple Nature b Neque Deus conditis rebus antiquâ—or videri debet temporis quantitate sed simplicis potiûs proprietate naturae Boet. de Consol Philos l. 5. pros 6. Fr. Arriba a late Writer and acute throughly versed in the learning of the Fathers and Schoolemen hath notably cleered this point and fully answered all Objections which as far as I am able to apprehend can be brought against it I shall present the Reader with two or three passages from him relating unto it When the Holy Scripture saith he and our Schoole-Doctors with it say and teach that things which are eternall are before things made in time they speake truly not of a priority FORMALLY so called such as that is which is found in those things unto which the consideration of what is before and what is after doth belong which I have often said cannot agree to eternity but they speake of a kinde of EMINENTIALL priority in respect of which those things which never faile but are alwayes the same indefinently are truly said to be before things that are temporall or in time not indeed formally but eminently For speaking properly of this eminentiall priority or of an eternall permanency that which is indefinently i. e. without end or ceasing is before that which sometimes is and sometimes is not c Dum Scriptura sacra simulque Doctores Scholastici dicunt aeterna esse priora temporalibus vere loquuntur non de prioritate formali qualis est illa quae reperitur in â—is rebus quibus convenit ratio prioris posterioris quod saepe diximus aeternitati convenire non posse sed loquuntur de prioritate sub quadam eminentiali ratione quatenùs illa quae nunquam deficiunt quae indesinenter sunt verè dicuntur priora temporalibus non quidem formaliter sed éminenter Proprie enim loquendo de ista prioritate eminentiali sive de aeternâ permanentiâ illud quod indesinenter est priùs esse dicitur quam illud quod aliquando est aliquando verò non est Fran. de Arriba Operis Con. l. 3. c. 15. Sect. 7. In another place he expresseth himself thus Our former Doctrine supposed it manifestly followes from thence that those words of Christ Joh. 8. Before Abraham was I am and that of Paul Eph. 1. He chose us in him before the World was made with many other like places of Scripture every where obvious are to be taken according to the manner of our understandings as meant of this eminentiall priority not of an antecedency in respect of time not of any priority properly and formally so called d Ex praesuppositâ Doctrinâ manifeste deducitur illa verba Christi Antequam Abraham fierit ego sum illud Pauli ad Eph. 1. Elegit nos in ipso ante mundi constitutione plurima alia Scripturae Sacrae similia loca qua passim occurrunt accipienda esse nostro modo intelligendi de istâ eminentiali antecedentiâ ad tempus non verò de Antecedentiâ propriè formaliter sumptâ c. Ibid. Sect. 11. The same Author elsewhere hath these words In as much as the proper and formall reason or Nature of mutability wherein the ratio or Nature of time consisteth is intrinsecall or essentiall unto time and to the differences of it as Past Present and to Come and consequently imperfection must needs be intrinsecall to them also mutability alwayes including imperfection evident it is that fuit and erit was and will be whereby that which is past and that which is to come are signified cannot with truth formally or properly be attributed unto God e Cum Tempora ejusque differentiis quales sunt praesens praeteritum futurum sit intrinseca formalis ratio mutabilitatis in qua consistit ratio temporis consequenter sit illis intrinseca imperfectio non debet tribui Deo formaliter fuit vel erit quibus praeteritum futurum significantur Ibid. c. 14. Sect. 7. This then is a third thing to be diligently considered and remembred to prevent all misprision about the point in hand no act of God is before any act of the Creature in respect of time The fourth and last thing of like necessity to be considered for the same §. 19. end is this No act of God nor Co-operation of his with his Creature imposeth any necessity upon any free-working cause I mean upon any cause which is free in the nature or constitution of it to work or not to work and to work variously to act so or so determinately nor yet supposeth any necessity or infallibility of any act or effect producible by such causes before or untill they be actually produced Nor is this any thing but the received Doctrine of Orthodox and approved Divines God saith Austine so administreth or governeth all things which he hath Created that he suffereth them to exercise and act their own proper motions a Sic administrat omniâ— quae creavit Deus ut etiam ipsa propâ—â—os exercere agere motus sinat Aug. de Civit. l. 7. c. 30. This saying of Austin is frequently cited and made use of by our best Reformed Divines as P. Martyr b Loc. Com. Class 1. cap. 14. Sect. 2. Polanus c Symph Cathol cap. 6. Thes 5. and others in their explications of the Providence of God and the manner of his concurrence with second Causes in their motions Now if God notwithstanding any influence of his upon or any Co-operation with his Creature in their motions or actings yet so far comports with them as to leave them to their native Principles Properties and Propensions in their actings doubtlesse he doth not
saith he will alter or change the will of a man being evill he makes use of Admonitions Sermons Chastisements for these are the Organs and Instruments of the Providence of God c. a Vult Deus mutare malam hominis voluntateÌ„ adhibet admonitiones Sermones castigatioÌ„es Haec enim sunt organa instrumenta Providentiae Dei c. Ib. Sect. 16. If Admonitions Sermons c. be the Instruments and Means which God useth to change the evill hearts and wills of men certainly he doth not change them by an irresistiblenesse of Power nor in any way whereby the change is necessitated because then there could be left no place for any usefulnesse or serviceablenesse at all of his Instruments in or about the change Nothing can be instrumentall in or about the producing of an action or effect but only in a way of and according to such an efficiency which is proper to the nature of it Charms and Spells written in Paper and hung about the neck are not instrumentall in the Cures which are wrought by Satan there being no Property or Quality in them which holds any proportion of causality with such effects as the Cures of Diseases are nor can such Cures be truly said to be wrought by them though haply they would not be wrought without them In like manner the nature and property of Admonitions Exhortations Chastisements c. being to perswade or worke the hearts of men to a change contingently only and not in a way of necessitation much lesse of compulsion unpossible it is that these should be instrumentall in the Hand of God in changing the hearts of men unlesse it be supposed that this change is wrought by him contingently and with a possibility at any time before it be effected that it should not be effected and this not only in respect of his liberty whether he will go through with the worke and effect it or no but in respect of the liberty of the will it self whether it will be perswaded to a change or no. But concerning the uselessnesse of exhortations c. in case conversion be wrought by an irresistible or necessitating hand we shall have occasion to speake more at large hereafter To the point in hand Polanus another Reformed Divine as Orthodox by repute as Mr. Calvin himself prefixes this title to his fifth Thesis in the sixth Chapter of his Symphony God so worketh by the meanes of Nature â—hat he worketh nothing contrary to their Nature and therefore the Providence of God constraineth not the will of the Creature b Deus sic agit per media naturae ut nihil contrà eorum naturam ac proinde Providentia Dei non coget voluntatem Creaturae The Nature of the will is to work I mean to assent and dissent freely contingently and without any necessitation either from within or from without Therefore if God worketh nothing contrary to the Nature of the will the will still consents unto him upon such terms that she is at liberty to dissent any thing that he worketh to procure this consent notwithstanding Besides if God worketh nothing contrary to the Nature of second Causes then he must needs according to the common expression of Divines as with necessary Causes work necessarily so with contingent Causes worke contingently Take the acknowledgement of the same Truth from Ursine also another late Writer no lesse Orthodox then the two former The will of man saith he even moved of God is ABLE not only TO RESIST but also to assent unto and obey God in his Motion by her own and proper Motion which doing she doth not only suffer but acteth also and raiseth up or springs her own actions although shee hath the POVVER of assenting and obeying from the Holy Ghost c Potest enim voluÌ„tas mota à Deo non tantùm repugnare sed etiam adsentiri obsequi Deo moventi suo ac proprio motu quodfaciens non tantùm patitur sed etiam agit ciet ipsa suas actiones et si vim assentiendi et obsequeÌ„di non ex se habet sed ex Gratia Spiritus sancti aceipiat Vrsin Catec Part. 1. Qu. 8. Et paulò post voluntas humana regitur non tantuÌ„ ab alio sed etiam à se Deus enim sic movet homines ut tamâ—n non vi rapiantur sed et ipsi se moveant A little after these words he saith for God so moveth men that yet they are not ravished by force or might but they move themselves also No man can more cleerly assert the perfect contingency or non necessity of the actings of the wills of men determinately under the movings and actings of God then this Author hath done in the words presented He that saith the will moved by God is able not only to resist but also to obey God in his Motion doubtlesse meaneth or supposeth that the will is able to resist him in or under those very Motions under which and by meanes whereof she is able also to consent unto him and obey him Besides saying that the will receives POVVER of assenting and obeying from the grace of the Holy Ghost doth he not plainly imply that she receives from hence no necessitating impressions unto these actions A man that is unavoidably carried or acted in or towards an action can in no tolerable construction be said to receive Power for the performance of this action in as much as the conferring of a Power to do that which a man was not able to do before doth no wayes infer the taking away of that Power such as it was which this man had before not to act Notwithstanding my sence and judgement in the point is that the will receives from the grace of the Holy Ghost not only a Power of consenting and obeying God in his gracious movings but Sensu sano these actings themselves But of this hereafter It is I suppose needlesse and would be more tedious then difficult to make the Pile of Testimonies from our best and most approved Authors for the confirmation of the Truth last asserted any whit greater He that is afraid to Believe the Truth unlesse he hath an arme of flesh to encourage him may finde many more quotations from severall Authors of best acceptance with himself for his encouragement in this kinde drawn togeby me in my late Answer to Mr. Jenkyn from p. 67. to p. 74. But for the Truth of this Assertion hitherto managed and credited by the authority of men that no Act of God is either destructive to the contingency of or impositive of any necessity or infallibility in the event upon the actions of the wills of men it hath been in part already and may in place more convenient in the progresse of our present discourse be further evicted and confirmed by dint of argument and demonstration In the meane time my request to him that shall haply undertake to answer these Discussions is that he will
which pollutes all other things unto Men a Tit. 1. 15. unbelief 2. To have been in the inward bent and frame of their minds and wills as much addicted to all other the pollutions hereof as at any time formerly 3. And lastly to have been all this while most damnable Hypocrites and Dissemblers Now that the Holy Ghost should say that Unbelievers Persons inwardly full of all wickednesse and filthinesse most vile Hypocrites and Dissemblers have escaped the pollutions of the World especially through the knowledge or rather acknowledgement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is to me and I thinâ— to all other impartially considering Men the first borne of incredibilities Can a Man be said to have escaped his enemies when he still remaines under their power and is in greater danger of suffering mischiefe from them then ever before Or is not he who being enlightned Retaines the truth in unrighteousnesse remaines inwardly full of malice and wickednesse only garbing himself with an Hypocriticall outside or meere Profession of Holinesse as much or more under the Power and Command of sin as likely to Perish everlastingly for sin as ever he was or could be before his illumination For that during that condition of escape of which the Holy Ghost here speaks from first to last the Men spoken of were inwardly full of all filthinesse and wickednesse and consequently vile Hypocrites and Dissemblers our Adversaries themselves confesse in their managing this Scripture though as they suppose to their advantage Evident it is say they that all the while they were free from the pollutions of the World they were still Doggs and Swine and if so as inwardly vile and wicked as ever because it is said of them Vers 10. But it is happened to them according to the true Proverb the Dog is returned to his own vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire But of this more anon 2. That which is here expressed to be the cause or meanes of their escape §. 46. or deliverance from the pollutions of the World their knowledge or acknowledgement rather which is somewhat more of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ plainly evinceth it to have been such an escape which is inward cordiall and reall in conjunction with true Sanctification and not externall formall or in Shew and Pretence only There is scarce any thing more frequent or familiar in the Scriptures then the ascribing of Justification Sanctification yea and Salvation it self to the knowledge sometimes of God sometimes of Christ sometimes of both By his knowledge shall my righteous servant saith Isaiah speaking of Christ justifie many b Esa 53. 11. By his KNOVVLEDGE i. e. as Interpreters generally by his being known He calls that saith Musculus the knowledge of Christ not wherewith he himself knoweth but whereby he is known by us c Scientiam Christi vocat non qua ipse scit sed qua scitur cognoscitur a nobis The Apostle Paul speaks of the KNOVVLEDGE of the Sonne of God as one of the Principall ends of that Evangelicall Ministry which was by speciall â—race given unto and is continued in His Church and joynes it with the perfection of the Saints Eph. 4. 12. 13. and afterwards in the same Chapter Vers 20. 22. c. ascribes the putting off the old man and the renewing in the spirit of our minds unto it The Apostle John makes no scruple to pronounce him a lyar who shall say that he KNOVVETH CHRIST and yet keepeth not his Commandements a 1 Ioh. 2. 4. And again that whosoever sinneth i. e. lives wickedly hath not seene Him neither KNOVVN Him b 1 Ioh. 3. 6. That of our Saviour Himself to this purpose is well known This is life eternall that they KNOVV thee the only true God and Him whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ c Ioh. 17. 3. It were easie to multiply places of like import Therefore certainly that obedience that Sanctification that Conformity in life and conversation to the Word and Will of God which is begotten and raised in Men by the knowledge much more by the acknowledgement or thorough knowledge which the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seemes to import of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is cordiall obedience true and reall Sanctification and conformity to the Will of God 3. And lastly if the escape and deliverance from the pollutions of the World §. 47. here spoken of was not inward reall and accompained with true Sanctification c. how could the Persons be in danger of an after intanglement therewith especially of an inward intanglement and wherewith the Heart should be insnared which yet the Holy Ghost evidently implieth they were Vers 14. in ascribing unto them an heart exercised with covetousnesse or of being overcome at least how should their conditions be rendered so much more grievous and dreadfull by any such entanglement then they were under the escape as the Holy Ghost here clearly supposeth If the escape here mentioned importeth not true and reall Sanctification the Persons escapeing must of necessity be supposed all the time of this their escape to have been in the gall of bitterness and bands of iniquity and particularly to have been both Hypocrites and Unbelievers Now our Saviour Himself supposeth Hypocrites and Unbelievers to be the first borne children of Hell and of the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone for ever in those two sayings of His compared viz. Mat. 24. 51. with Luke 12. 46. The tenor of the former is this The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an houre that he is not aware of and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with HYPOCRITES there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth Of the latter this The Lord of that servant will cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with UNBELIEVERS If Hypocrites and Unbelievers be of the first and Primary designation for Hell and eternall destruction which the said Passages cleerly import they cannot lightly through any apostacy whatsoever contract any worse or more grievous condition then their present condition is The truth is that I know no Apostacy of which an Hypocrite or Unbeliever is properly capable but onely that which is from Belial unto Christ or from Satan unto God All that the Adversaries of the Interpretation given and who will not acknowledge the escape here mentioned to imply any thing more then a meer §. 48. formall and outside Sanctification are able to plead from the words or Context for themselves is only that which hath been already touch'd Verse 22. The Dog is turned to his own vomit againe and the Sow c. From hence they conclude that as a Dog is a Dog retaines the same nature whilest his vomit and he are parted which he had before and so a Sow or a Swine is the self same Creature inwardly
which He was borne of Him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 remaineth in Him i. e. according to the frequent signification of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to abide or remaine in the Writings of this Apostle is or hath an actuall and present being or residence in Him And that in this place it doth not signifie any perpetuall remaining or abiding no nor any abiding with relation to the future is evident because the abiding of the seed here spoken of is given as the reason why He that is borne of God doth not commit sin i. e. doth not at present walke in any course of known sin Now nothing in respect of any future Permanency or continuance of being can be looked upon as a cause of any present effect but only in respect of the present being or residence of it The reason why the Soul moves and acts the Body to day is not because it will move or act it to morrow or because it is in the Body to day upon such terms that it will be in it to morrow also much lesse because it is an immortall substance or the like but simply because it is now or this day in the Body So the reason why the Angells at this day doe the Will of God is not because they have such a Principle of Holinesse or Obedience vested in them which they cannot put off or lose to Eternity but because they have such a Principle as we speak of of Holinesse and Obedience residing in them at the present Therefore when John assignes the remaining of the seed of God in Him that is borne of him for the reason why He doth not commit sin certaine it is that by this remaining of the seed He means nothing else but the present residence or abode thereof in this Person And if his intent had been either to assert or imply a perpetuall residence of this seed in Him that is borne of God it had been much more proper for Him to have reserved it for a reason of the latter Proposition viz. why He that is borne of God cannot sin especially according to their sence who by cannot sin understand can never sin then to subjoyne it as a reason of the former For though the future continuance of a thing in being can be no reason as hath been said of a present effect yet may it well be a Ground or Reason of the continuance of a present effect Now that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to remaine or abide frequently signifieth especially in the Writings of this Apostle only a present residence or being §. 32. whether of a Person or Thing without any reference unto or implication of a future appeares by many instances But yee know him saith our Saviour to his Disciples speaking of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i e. because he remaineth or abideth with you and shall be in you Here the latter clause and shall be in you will be found a meere tautology if the other Phrase abiding with them imports a perpetuall residence or inbeing In the same Chapter Verse 25. where the originall hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. remaining or abiding with you our English Translation renders it being yet PRESENT with you So where this Apostle saith that he that loveth not his Brother 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abideth in death a 1 Ioh. 3 14 the meaning is that such a Man is in an estate of Death or condemnation not that he will much lesse of necessity must abide for any space of time after least of all for ever in that estate For then it would follow that whoever at any time did not truly love his Brother never after became a Child of God Which saying how insupportable it is to the greatest part of those who say they believe yea and doe believe indeed any mans first thoughts may sufficiently determine It is familiar with John saith a late Writer from Cameron and Hugo Grotius to use the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifieth to remaine for the Verb Substantive to be b Familiare Johanni 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ponere simpliciter pro esse ut Ioh. 5. 38 15. 11. 1 Ep. 2. 6. 10. cap. 3. 15. 2. Ep. 2. Et alibi Edward Leigh Critic Sacra p. 259. in verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Besides that in the place in hand it must needs signifie only a present abode or being not a future or perpetuall is evident from hence because such a signification of it would render a sence altogether inconsistent with the plaine scope of the Apostle in the Context which is to exhort Christians unto Righteousnesse and love of the Brethren Now it is contrary to all reason yea to common sence it self to signifie unto those whom we admonish exhort and perswade to any duty any such thing which imports an ablolute certainty or necessity of their doing it whether they take care or use any meanes for the doing it or no. And a cleare case it is that the certainty of a perpetuall remaining of the seed of God in those that are borne of him imports a like certainty of their perpetuall performance of the duties whereunto they exhorted If it be here objected and said yea but the seed of which those that are §. 33. borne of God are begotten is said to be an immortall or incorruptible seed a 1 Pet. 1. 23 and therefore cannot perish or decay in those who are begotten of it or in whom it ever takes place I answer 1. That seed which the Holy Ghost affirms to be not corruptible but incorruptible is expresly said to be the Word of God b Ibidem Now certaine it is that the Word of God is not therefore said to be immortall or incorruptible because it cannot be lost by those who once receive it or in whose Heart it hath been once sown but partly because it is in the Nature and Essence of it incorruptible in respect whereof though all the World who are now partakers of it should reject and cast it out of their Hearts so that it were no where to be found under Heaven yet it would be in the Nature and Essence of it every wayes the same and suffer no alteration or change hereby at all partly also because it is endued with such an excellent vertue or property that it is able to derive and confer immortality and incorruption upon those who are begotten of it yea and will actually derive and confer these glorious Priviledges upon them if they suffer not the spirit of this Heavenly Birth to be extinguished and quench'd in them before the season of the actuall collation thereof comes For as that seed which is corruptible is not therefore termed corruptible because it may be transferr'd or removed from the subject or soyle wherein it remaines at present but because according to the Nature and Elementary constitution of it it may be corrupted and suffer a change
it continues thus effectuall and potent but the present effectualnesse or Potency of it in a subject that is mutable and successively capable of both contraries is no sufficient Argument to Prove that therefore it must needs alwayes continue Effectuall or Potent in the same degree And if it may abate or fall one degree why not another and if two why not all considering that all and every Degree hereof is but of one and the same Nature If it be here said yea but such a strong antipathy against Sin as you suppose §. 36. and grant in Regenerate Men is inconsistent with any such abatement or declining cannot reasonably be looked upon as capable of any Falling Sinking or Losing so much as one Degree of its strength in as much as such a Falling or Losing as this cannot be without Sin and till there be such a declining as this in that Holy Principle we speak of the Person is supposed to be full of the hatred and abomination of Sin Therefore unlesse he shall be supposed capable of Sinning even in sensu composito i. e. whilest He is yet under the greatest and most perfect hatred and abhorrency of Sin which seemes to be dura suppositio and to need good Proof he must be supposed uncapable of any declining at all in such his Principle and consequently much more uncapable of falling away either totally or finally To this I answer 1. That according to the known Sence and Principles of our adversaries themselves in the cause depending Faith in Men Regenerate or the Grace of Regeneration it self to what Degree or Perfection soever raised or advanced in the subject may notwithstanding very possibly decay or decline though not totally or in all the Parts or Degrees of it yet in some yea in many yea so far that in appearance it may seeme utterly and totally lost If so then every Particular Grace in such a Person may possibly abate in the strength and fal from the height of it and consequently that antipathy or hatred against Sin which is in him how perfect soever it be may lose ground also and abate of its perfection Therefore 2. When we suppose or grant a strong antipathy against Sin in those that are borne of God we doe not suppose withall either this antipathy to be un-impaireable or any such Principle which cannot decline in the strength and Power of it or that it can be impaired or decline without Sin in him who suffers an impairement of it to be made in him When we suppose the greatest antipathy against Sin in a Man that flesh and blood is lightly capable of we doe not hereby suppose him without the reach of temptation or a Man not subject to incogitancies forgetfulnesse and other humane frailties We may very well and ought to suppose Solomon to have been the wisest of Men and yet suppose him withall even in the height and excellency of his wisdome to have been a man capable or under a possibility of doing weakly or foolishly Nemo omnibus horis sapit There is no acquired habit or created Principle whatsoever seated in the heart or soule of a Man that doth at any time act him or cause him to act congruously to it without the actuall intention of the minde upon and the like concurrence of the will with the action Again 2. most certaine it is that the minde of a Man being a finite faculty cannot intend plurality of objects actions or occasions at once or at one and the same time 3. As certaine it is as either of the former that neither the minde nor will of a Man are compell'd or necessitated by any habit inclination or disposition whatsoever alwayes or indeed at any time to intend them or their motions and actings or to concur with them herein but are in some degree at least of liberty and power to tuâ—ne aside from them to severall other objects and occasions as they please It is true habits and inclinations especially when they are much grown and rooted in the Soul by frequent and long-continued actions have a great Power over Men to intice and draw them into a frequent repetition of the same kinde of action by which they were first introduced and whereunto they have so long prevailed with such Men to accustome themselves And in respect of this Power it is that the Scripture so frequently ascribes a kinde of morall impotency unto Men to act contrary to the tenor of such actions whereunto they have much accustomed themselves yea or to suspend or forbear them upon opportunities and upon the same account represents Persons as servants as in subjection and bondage to those respective kinds of actions or courses whereunto they have voluntarily inured themselves for any considerable time Of this notion are such passages and sayings as these Verily verily I say unto you that whosoever committeth Sin i. e. frequently and customarily as we formerly interpreted the import of the Phrase in the Writings of the Apostle John a Cap. 9 Sect. 11. is the SERVANT of Sin b Ioâ— 8. 34. So againe Know yee not that to whomsoever yee give your selves as servants to obey his SERVANTS yee are whom yee obey whether it be c Rom 6. 16. c. So also CAN the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may yee also doe good that are accustomed to doe evill d Jer. 13. 23. Of like consideration is that also of our Saviour A good Tree CANNOT bring forth evill fruits neither CAN a corrupt Tree bring forth good fruit e Mat. 7. 18. To omit many others But 4. And lastly when the Scripture supposeth or asserts a morall impotency in Men as in the passages now cited with their fellows either wholly to cease from their long-accustomed actions or to act contrary to them it neither supposeth nor asserts a naturall simple or absolute impotency in respect of either For it is the Nature Property and Condition of all habits or created Principles in Men whatsoever by discontinuance or long suspension of their appropriate actions to languish and abate of their wonted strength and vigor and in time wholly to expire So then it remaining still in the Power of the minde and will of a Man even under the greatest captivity or subjection unto any Habit Disposition or Principle whatsoever whether sinfull or holy to suspend and discontinue as hath been proved their proper actings respectively by denying or withholding their concurrence with them in order towards such actions evident it is that they have Power and may shake and weaken every such Habit disposition or Principle in themselves to what degree they desire yea and in time wholly enervate dissipate and expell them Therefore it is no dura a suppositio no hard supposition to suppose that a Person invested with the strongest antipathy against sin whereof he is capable especially in the State and Condition of mortality may notwithstanding even in sensu composito
according to the terms of the comparison have any right to enter or to be admitted thereunto and consequently his Leprosie I meane his apostasie had been finall and so unto death Therefore there is nothing gained to the Dort cause by this Similitude though it should be allowed a Preheminence above similitudes and permitted to run on all four And whereas they say and grant that a truly righteous man may for a time viz. from his turning aside into ways of wickedness until his renewing by Repentance lose though not Jus his right unto yet aptitudinem his fitness or meetness for the Kingdom of Heaven they argue quite besides the Argument levyed against them from the Passage in hand For in this reasoning they take it for granted that their righteous man never dyeth in those ways of wickedness into which he turneth aside but always cometh to be â—enewed again by Repentance before his Death whereas Ezekiel expresly and in terminis supposeth a possibility at least that his righteous man may dye in or under his Apostacy from Righteousness and in his committing of iniquity When a righteous man saith he turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity AND DYETH IN THEM for His iniquity that He hath done shall He dye a Ezek. 18. 26 Therefore all this while the Prophet of God and the Synod of Dort are two Nor is that Distinction made choyce of by Dr Prideaux to arbitrate and §. 7. umpire the difference between them able to set them through or make them friends There is saith He a double Righteousness one inherent or of Works by which we are sanctified another imputed or of Faith whereby we are justified A righteous man may turn aside from His own Righteousness viz. from His Holiness and fall into very heinous sins but it doth not follow from hence thaâ— therefore He hath wholly shaken off from Him or out of Him the Righteousness of Christ b Duplex enim est Iusticia inhaerens sive opâ—rum qâ—â saÌ„ctificamur imputata Christi seu fidei quâ justificamur Quibus positis ex â—copo Prophetae respondeo justum posse se a vertere à Justiciâ suâ suâ nimirum sanctitate et in atrocia incidere peccata non inde tamen sequitur illum justicâ—am Christi seu fidei penitus excussisse Dr Prid. Lect. 6. de Persever Sanctorum But 1. The Doctor here presents us with a piece of â—ew Divinity in making Sanctification and Justification no more intimate friends then that one can live without the company and presence of the other Doubtless if a mans Justification may stay behinde when his Holiness is departed that assertion of the Apostle will hardly stand Without Holiness no man shall see the Lord c Hebr. 12. 14 And if they that are Christs i. e. who beleeve in Christ and thereby are justified have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts another assertion of the same Apostle how their relation unto Christ should stand and yet their Holiness sink and fall I understand not But I leave his friends to be his enemies in this 2. He seems by his word penitùs wholly throughly or altogether to be singular also in another strain of Divinity and to teach magis and minus in Justification For in saying that from a mans apostaâ—izing from his own righteousness it doth not follow that therefore he hath WHOLLY or ALTOGETHER shaken off the imputed righteousness of Christ doth he not imply that a man may shake off some part of the righteousness of Christ from him and yet keep another part of it upon him or else that by sinning he may come to wear the intire garment or clothing of it so loosely that it will be ready to drop or fall off from him every hour and consequently that the righteousness of Christ sits faster and closer upon some then upon others yea upon the same person at one time then another 3. And lastly Were it granted unto the Doctor that from a mans turning aside from his own Holiness it doth not follow that therefore he hath wholly devested himself of the Righteousness of Christ imputed yet from Gods determination or pronouncing a man to be in an estate of condemnation and of death it follows roundly that therefore he is devested of the Righteousness of Christ imputed if ever he were invested with it before because no man with that Righteousness upon him can be in such an estate Now we have upon several grounds proved that the Righteous man under that Apostacy wherein Ezekiel describes and presents him is pronounced by God a childe not of a temporal but of eternal death and condemnation This indeed the Doctor denies but gives no Reason of his denial for which I blame him not Onely I must crave leave to say that the Chair weigheth not so much as one good Argument with me much less as many So that all this while he that spake and still speaks unto the World by Ezekiel is no friend to that Doctrine which denyeth the possibility of a righteous mans declining even unto death Notwithstanding some formerly it seems in favor of this Doctrine attempted §. 8. an escape from that sword of Ezekiel lately drawn against it by pretending that by the righteous man mentioned in the Passages in hand is not meant a person truly and really righteous but a kinde of formal Hypocrite or outside Professor of Righteousness But this shift had so little colour in the face of it that it caused the after-Patrons of the Doctrine to blush and be ashamed of it The Synod of Dort it self though it accepted of many helps in other cases of every whit as little strength as this yet judging it self better provided at that point where this was offered to relieve it it was rejected by the Members of this Synod and that with some kinde of disparagement put upon it I will not say with any such intent or eye that they who thus rejected it might be looked upon as men who would own nothing but what was solid and substantial The fore-mentioned Doctor also rewards the Synod of Dort with his approbation for refusing to entrust their cause in the hand of such a sorry Advocate as this So that we shall not need to cause this Interpretation to pass through the fire for the tryal of it in as much as it hath been publiquely stigmatized for reprobate silver by the greatest Masters of that cause for the maintenance whereof it was devised And indeed the whole series and carriage of the Context from Vers 20. to the end of the Chapter demonstratively evinceth that by the righteous man all along is meant such a man as was or is truly righteous and who had he persevered in that way of Righteousness wherein he sometimes walked should have worn the Crown of Righteousness and received the reward of a righteous man As by the wicked man all along opposed to him is meant not a person
men in most things and in the main orthodox are any demonstrative grounds of the unsoundness of this Opinion or that it is not from God How much less when that Opinion indeed which suffers rebuke from men upon such terms was neither taught nor held by the one nor rejected or opposed by the other but onely an Opinion in some outward lineaments somewhat like unto it but in heart and substance of matter altogether differing from it The Doctrine of Election or Predestination unto Life from foreseen Faith or Works is commonly decryed and made odious unto men upon this pretence that it was a Doctrine held by Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians and condemned and cast out of the Church for an Error by all the Orthodox Fathers long since Whereas it is evident from the Records of Antiquity that the Opinion concerning Predestination from foreseen Faith or Works which was held by the Pelagians and rejected by the Orthodox Fathers was not simply this that God Predestinated those unto Life whom He foresaw would beleeve or live holily but whom He foresaw would beleeve or live holily out of the strength or abilities of Nature The Orthodox Fathers themselves held and taught Predestination from foreseen Faith and Holiness as well as the Pelagians but with this difference The Fathers taught it from the foresight of such a Faith and Holiness which men should be enabled unto by Grace the Pelagians from such whether Faith or Holiness which men should raise or exhibit by the strength of Nature This is evident from what Gerardus Vossius a diligent and faithful Surveyor of Antiquity demonstrateth in the sixth Book of his Pelagian History The Greek Fathers saith He always and all the Latine Fathers who lived before Austine are wont to say that they are Predestinated unto Life whom God foresaw would live godlily and well or as some others speak whom He foresaw would beleeve and persevere who should beleeve on Him to Eternal Life 1 Tim. 1. 16. Which they so interpret as to say that Predestination unto Glory is made by God according to His foreknowledg of Faith and Perseverance But they did not mean the foresight or foreknowledg of such things which a man was to do by the abilities of Nature but by the strength and assistance of Grace as well preventing as subsequent So that this consent of Antiquity no ways helpeth either the Pelagians or Semi-Pelagians in their cause For both these held that the cause of Predestination is assignable on mans part according to all the effects of it whereas the Orthodox Fathers acknowledg that the first or preventing Grace is conferr'd not of merit but freely So that their Opinion was that there was no cause assignable on mans part of Predestination unto preventing Grace a Graeci Patres semper Patrum Latinorum verò illi qui ante Augustinum vixerunt dicere solent eos esse praedestinatos ad vitaÌ„ quos Deus piè rectéque victuros praevidit sive ut alij loquuÌ„tur quos praevidit credituros perseveraturos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut est 1 Tim. 1. Quod ita in terpretaÌ„tur ut Praedestinatio ad Gloriam â—acta dicatur secundum praescientiam fidei perseverantiae Verum non intellexerunt praescientiam eorum quae homo acturus erat ex viribus naturae sed quae esset facturus ex viribus gratiae tum praevenientis tum subsequentis eóque antiquitatis ille consensus nihil vel Pelagianos vel Semi-Pelagianos juvat Nam utrique illi crediderunt Praedestinationis causam dari ex parte hominis secundum omnes effectus At Catholici agnoverunt gratiam primaÌ„ non ex merito sed gratis conferri Quare nec putârunt ex parte hominis causam dari Prâ—destinationis ad gratiam praevenientem c. Gerard. Johan Vossius Hist Pelag. lib. 6. Thes 8. c. This to have been the true and clear difference between the Ancient Orthodox Fathers and the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians touching the Point of Predestination He sheweth with an high Hand of Evidence and Proof from several Passages cited out of the Authors themselves in the Prosecution and Proof of His said Thesis As the Doctrine of Predestination from foreseen Faith and Perseverance §. 2. as it is at this day held and taught by some which yet is none of my Sence or Opinion as I may have occasion I conceive more particularly to declare in the Progress of the Work in Hand is unjustly traduced as if it savored of Pelagianism and had been long since thrown out of the Church by all Orthodox Antiquity whereas it was the express Doctrine as we have heard generally held and taught by them so is the Doctrine of Conditional Perseverance and which asserteth an amissibility of Grace and true Faith both total and final most unduly and unworthily branded with this reproach that it is a rotten Popish Error and was never heâ—d by Orthodox Men. We shall therefore in the former part of this Chapter wipe off this aspersion and prove by express Testimonies and these not a few that this Doctrine was a branch of the Faith of the Primitive Christians and of those who were and are at this day esteemed to have been the most Orthodox and sound in their generation Some Testimonies of this import we have already as I remember cited upon other occasions in the preceding part of this Discourse and to save transcriptions as much as with convenience may be we shall not repeat the words of any Author which have been already expressed but onely give the sence of the said words in English and for the words themselves send you to those quarters of the Discourse where they are lodged and easie to be found We shall do the like in the latter part of this Chapter in respect of such Testimonies from Modern Writers which have been already presented in the express words of their respective Authors upon another account In the first place I shall account unto the Reader what the forementioned §. 3. Author Gerard Vossius delivers in His said Pelagian History for the sence and judgment of Orthodox Antiquity in the present Question about Perseverance From this additament of Austin's Opinion saith He speaking Ex altero hoc Augustinianae senteÌ„tiae additamento satis clarè liquet tam Augustinum Prosperum quà m Pelagium ejus reliquias super eo convenisse quòd Fides justificanâ— et gratia regeneranâ— amitti possit à plerisque amittatur of what this Father had added to the common Doctrine of those who had gone before Him touching Perseverance which He had expressed in His former Thesis it is manifest enough that both Austin and Prosper and Pelagius with His Followers agreed in this That Justifying Faith and Regenerating Grace may be lost and that they are lost by very many A little after Therefore they understand not the Doctrine or Judgment of Antiquity who when they read in Augustin and others that the Elect of God
and these pregnant and strong Sixthly The truth of this latter Doctrine hath been further ascertained by several instances and examples of persons who by their fallings have caused the said Doctrine to stand impregnable Seventhly This Doctrine hath been countenanced also by the concurrent sence of all Orthodox and Christianly-learned Antiquity Eightly It hath likewise received Testimony from the generality of that Learning and Religion since the times of Reformation which have commended themselves unto the World in the Works and Writings of that Party of men in the Protestant Churches which is commonly known by the Name of Lutheran Ninethly Substantial proof hath been made that the professed Adversaries of the Doctrine we now speak of even the most steady grave and best advised of them have at unawares given large and clear Testimony unto it being not able without the help of the spirit which speaketh in it to manage like themselves their discursive affairs in other cases Yea Tenthly and lastly that the Synod of Dort it self convening with a conscientious if not with a concupiscentious prejudice also for this is the strong suspicion of many against it with its fellows and intending and provoking one another to lay the honor of it in the dust for ever hath at several turns and in divers expressions according to the interpretation and sence of their own most orthodox and learned Friends yea and some of themselves fully comported with it asserting that in clearness and evidence of Principle which they deny with solemnity of protest and with a Religious abhorrency in conclusion We now return to the further prosecution of the business principally intended in this Discourse from which we have made somewhat a large digression upon the occasion formerly specified and to compleat our Demonstration of this great and most important Truth viz. That the ever-blessed Son of God and Saviour of the World the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself a Ransom in His Death for all and every man without exception of any CHAP. XVI Several other Texts of Scripture besides those formerly produced in ranks and companies argued to the clear eviction of Truth in the same Doctrine viz. That the Redemption purchased by Christ in his Death was intended for all and every man without exception of any HAving in our late Digression largely vindicated some material proofs §. 1. from the Scripture formerly levyed for the defence of that Great and most important cause both of God and men the Universality of Redemption by Christ we now proceed to a further levy upon the same account and shall raise up more Scriptures to plead the same cause Let us begin with the Parable of the marriage-feast as it is reported by Matthew and Luke We shall not need I suppose to transcribe the whole Protasis of the Parable which is very large but onely insist upon some few known passages of it such as I conceive will joyntly if not severally give a light of demonstration to the Truth of that Doctrine the proof and confirmation whereof is the prize contended for in this Discourse However if the Reader desires an entire enter-view of the Parable He may repair Matt. 22. 2 3 c. Luk. 14. 16 17 c. without much trouble to the Evangelists themselves First Expositors generally agree that by those who were the first and second time called or invited to the wedding He sent forth His servants to call them that had been called a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the wedding Mat. 22. 3. are typified or meant the Jews whom God had anciently invited and called by the Ministry of His Prophets and several other ways to partake of that great Blessedness which He intended to confer upon the sons and daughters of men by means of His onely begotten Son Jesus Christ and who were the second yea and the third time also invited hereunto first by Iohn the Baptist and the Lord Christ Himself and afterwards by His Apostles Secondly The Tenor or form of the invitation which the servants sent forth to call those that had been formerly invited were injoyned by the King to use in calling them is this Behold I have prepared my dinner my Oxen and my Fatlings are killed and all things are ready Come unto the marriage b Matth. 22. 4 When he saith to those that are invited I have prepared my dinner my oxen c. doubtless His meaning is not that He had prepared His dinner for others or that His Oxen and Fatlings were killed for the entertainment of others and not for those who were invited by Him Such an intendment as this in His invitation had been meerly delusory and altogether unmeet to represent the intentions of God in calling men to communion and fellowship with His Son Iesus Christ by His Ministers of the Gospel He that should invite a man to a feast and use such an Argument or motive as this to perswade Him to accept of this His invitation and to come accordingly viz. that He had made very liberal preparations for such and such other men but had provided nothing for Him should He not render Himself ridiculous by such a strain of Oratory Thirdly Evident it is that very many of those who were invited to this Marriage-feast by the King and consequently for whom the feast was prepared and for whose sake the Oxen and Fatlings were killed never came to partake of the said Feast but were rejected and excluded from it with great indignation by Him that had so graciously invited them But when the King heard thereof viz. how they had mis-used and murthered His Servants He was wroth and sent forth His Armies and destroyed those Murtherers and burnt up their City c Verse 7 Concerning whom likewise the King said to His Servants that had been sent forth to invite them I say unto you that none of those men that were bidden and refused to come shall taste of my Supper d Luke 14. 24 Fourthly It is no less evident that the true ground or reason why those that were thus excluded from the Feast or suffered this exclusion was not any precedent purpose or intendment in the King to exclude them for had any such intention harbored in Him questionless He would never have invited them no nor yet that subsequent intendment in Him to exclude them when He saw their great unworthiness but this unworthiness of theirs it self Then saith He to His Servants the wedding is ready but they which were bidden were NOT WORTHY Go ye therefore into the high ways e Mat. 22. 8. c. Clearly implying that it was the UNVVORTHINESS of the persons invited which was the true and proper cause of their exclusion Neither the import nor sentence of the Law nor yet the Judg or His just severity in giving sentence according to the Law are so properly the cause of the punishment or death of the Malefactor as the crime committed against the Law by himself It is
meerly accidental to the Law and to the Judg and so to their intentions respectively that such or such a person becomes a Malefactor and consequently that he suffers death But the suffering punishment or death are the natural and proper fruits of the violation of the Law justly inflicting them in whomsoever it be found And if the matters of Fact deserve punishment or death it would argue a defect in the Law and in the Judg if they should not according to their different capacities give sentence accordingly We have as I remember elsewhere shewed that neither God nor any Decree or Law of his are any cause intentionally or directly of any mans either sin or punishment but occasionally or accidentally only and that so that whosoever sinneth or comes to be punished for sin might have avoided both any Purpose Law or Decree of God notwithstanding And to this purpose pertinent is the Observation made by Musculus upon our Saviours expression Mat. 22. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. the Kingdom of Heaven is made like or become like not is like unto a certain King c. For saith he the Kingdom of Heaven is not such a thing that all the particulars here in this Parable reported of it should belong to the nature of it but several of them are accidental to it through the wickedness of men Otherwise this Kingdom doth not of it self or in its proper nature tend to the destruction of any man a Observaâ—duÌ„ est quà m notanter siâ— dictuÌ„ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Similâ— factum est Non enim in seipso tale quid est regnum coelorum vt quae hîc de illo coÌ„memorantur ad illius pertineant naturaÌ„ sed accidunt illi improbitate mortalium Alioqui non facit naturâ suâ ad cujusdaÌ„ Pâ—rditionâ— c. Proinde rectè non dicit Simile est regnum coelorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed simile factum est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Fifthly and lastly The pregnant Result of the premised Particulars is this That the marriage Feast in the Parable was provided by the King and the Oxen and Fatlings here spoken of killed not only for those who upon their invitation were perswaded to come and partake of them but as well and with equal if not with more especial intentions on the Kings part for those also who never came to taste of them and consequently that the Death of Christ signified by the Oxen and Fatlings slain and the blessedness accruing unto the children of men hereby signified by the Feast it self were equally meant and intended by God for those who perish and for those who are saved and consequently for all men without exception of any And indeed this purport of the Parable lieth so large and full in the carriage of it that Calvin himself could not but subscribe unto it as he that shall please to peruse his Commentaries upon Mat. 22. 2. and withall acknowledg what is evident must needs confess Amongst several other passages facing this way having specified some points of difference between Matthew and Luke in recording the Parable he saith That yet in the sum and substance of the matter they very well agree viz. that whereas God vouchsafed this peculiar Honor to the Jews to provide and FVRNISH A TABLE OF ENTERTAINMENT FOR THEM they rejected this Honor prâ—ffered to them And saith moreover That Whereas many Expositors refer the Marriage of the Kings Son in the Parable to this Point That Christ is the end of the Law and that God had NO OTHER INTENT IN HIS COVENANT with this people then to set him as a King or Ruler over them and by the sacred band of a spiritual Marriage to joyn a Church unto him I freely accord with them herein b In summâ quideÌ„ optimè conveniunt quòd cum Deus Judaeos peculiari honore dignatus fuerit quasi mensam hospitalem illis instruens illi oblatum sibi honoreÌ„ contempserint Quòd nuptias filii Regii hûc refereunt multi Interpretes quia Christus finis est Legis neque aliò spectavit Deus in suo foedere quà m ut eum populo suo praeficeret sacroque spiritualis conjugii vinculo EcclesiaÌ„ ei conjungeret libenter amplector Afterwards upon vers 9. of the same Chapter But saith he if God then spared not the natural Branches the same Vengeance hangeth over us at this day unless we answer when he calleth Yet shall not the Supper PROVIDED or prepared FOR US be lost but God will furnish himself with other guests a Quod si tunc non pepercit naturalibus ramis eadem nobis bodie impendit ultio nisi vocanti respondeamus Nec vero peribit coena quâ— nobis parata erat sed alios sibi convivas Deus accerset Calvin Harm p. 188. In these passages this Great supposed Enemy to the Universality of Redemption by Christ clearly supposeth or affirmeth rather the same to be a truth For he expresly affirmeth that God provided a Table of Entertainment for those who rejected it and never came unto it and supposeth that the Supper provided by God for us may through our neglect of our invitation hereunto be withheld from us and that others may be admitted unto it in our stead If the Death of Christ and Salvation by him were provided and prepared by God as well for those who reject them as for those who imbrace them doubtless they were intended for all men without exception Which truth as was lately observed is so necessary for the due managing of the Scriptures and many other the most important affairs in Christian Religion that the Professed Enemies thereof are ever and anon constrained and forced to make use of it both in opening the Scriptures as likewise in their other Theological Discussions and Debates and so consequently to give testimony unto it And the very truth is that it is one of the main Pillars that supports and bears up the weighty Fabrick of that Divinity and Religion which the Scriptures hold forth unto the World Another piece of Scripture rising up in assertion of the same Doctrine is §. 2. that which speaks in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. word for word For there hath appeared the Grace of God which is saving unto all men b Tit. 2. 11. or being saving unto all men that is which is of a saving nature property or tendency unto all men The Syriac Translation reads Servatrix omnium the savioress of all men Our last English Translators rendering the place thus For the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men shew themselves more indulgent to their own sence and opinion then will well stand with the ingenuity and faithfulness required in Translators an infirmity too too apparant in them at several other turns though the truth is that this Translation of the words damnifies their Opinion one way as much or more then it
of such things which are simply and absolutely necessary to the effecting of any such end which He desireth especially when His desire in this kinde is raised and built upon foundations of Righteousness and sound Wisdom which is not questionable in or about any the desires of God Now then if God intends He must needs also desire the increase of guilt and punishment upon wicked men or the generality of men if He desires this He hath no cause to be offended with these men for their unthankfulness or for any such abuse of His Mercies or good things conferred upon them without which it was unpossible for Him to attain His desired end viz. an increase of guilt and condemnation upon them as was asserted The Reason is because according to our late asserted principle no man hath cause to be offended with another for doing that which is directly and absolutely necessary for the bringing to pass of any such end which is maturely and according to sound Principles of Wisdom and Righteousness projected and desired by Him Nor is there the least question to be made but that if God intends and consequently desires the increase of guilt and condemnation upon the generality of men both His Intentions and Desires in this kinde are most regular in respect of all regularity that either Wisdom or Righteousness can give unto them Not will it much if any thing at all here help to say that though God §. 6. doth not intend the Salvation of the generality of men in giving unto them the good things of this life to enjoy so abundantly as for the most part he doth but the increase of their guilt condemnation yet in as much as no particular man knoweth but that God may intend His spiritual good and Salvation in such Dispensations all aâ—e bound to conceive this Hope of themselves and consequently every man standâ— bound to be thankful unto God for what He receiveth from Him in this kinde and to seek more after Him And if any man shall be found neglective of what is His duty herein or shall turn the Gâ—ace of God towards Him even in these outward things into wantonness and not into thankfulness He deserveâ— to be punished so much the more severely for it For to this I answer No man stands bound to beleeve that or to conceive Hope of that which He hath no sufficient ground of belâ—eving or why He should beleeve it much less to beleeve that which He hath much more Reason to question or doubt of then to beleeve Solomon informeth us that it is the property of a fool to beleeve every thing or every word a Prov. 14. 15. viz. as well that which He hath no ground or reason to beleeve as that which He hath And it is commonly said and taught amongst us that in matters of Religion and of Salvation nothing ought to be beleeved by any man but what He hath a sufficient ground in or from the Word of God to beleeve If so if no man ought to beleeve in matters appertaining to Salvation but what He hath a ground or warrant in the Word of God to beleeve much less ought He to beleeve any such thing the truth whereof the Word of God administers much more ground to doubt question and suspect then to beleeve So that if this be a Truth revealed in the Woâ—d of God That God doth not intend the spiritual good of the generality or of far the greatest part of men in their outward mercies and good things but the contrary certain it is that every particular man at least that hath no sufficient proof of His Regeneration hath ten twenty if not an hundred times more reason to doubt and question whether His spiritual good be intended by God or no in the things we speak of then to beleeve that it is intended As in the business of a lottery where there are fourty it may be an hundred blanks for one prize no man hath so much reason or ground to hope that He shall draw a prize in case He should adventure his money this way as that He shall draw a blank And upon this account lotteries have still been accounted little better then cheats or unworthy devices contrived gin wise to catch the money of simple and inconsiderate people men of understanding easily discerning the fraud and so keeping their foot out of the snare And whether that Doctrine which teacheth that God intendeth onely the Salvation of a few but the condemnation of many and yet commandeth all to beleeve that they may be saved doth not make the glorious Gospel of God like unto one of such lotteries I leave to all understanding and unprejudiced men to consider In the mean time evident it is that this Opinion that Christ dyed not for all men but for some few onely is as it were calculated and the face of it bent and set to make the distance between Heaven and Earth between God and His creature Man greater and wider then yet it is to multiply jealousies and hard thoughts in the hearts and mindes of men and women concerning God where they are more then apt enough to engender and multiply without the irritation of such a Doctrine Yea whereas God hath put Himself into His Christ God was in Christ saith the Apostle as we heard formerly a Cap. 5. sect 28. reconciling the World unto Himself that by the means of Him and by the Tender and Promise of Forgiveness of sins unto men through Him upon the gracious terms of beleeving He might prevail with the World to love Him to think well and honorably of Him this Doctrine seeks to put Him out of His Christ again at least in reference to any such glorious design as that of reconciling the World unto Him yea and saith in effect unto the World it self Beleeve Him not though He speaketh never so graciously unto you when He promiseth you Life and Salvation upon the fairest and freest terms He hath War in His Heart against you and intendeth to destroy you If it be yet objected that upon the same ground no particular Person §. 7. should have any sufficient ground or Reason to beleeve that He is one of those that shall be saved in as much as the number of those that shall be saved is affirmed to be but small I answer True it is no man is bound to beleeve simply and absolutely that He is one of those that shall be saved but conditionally onely viz. in case He shall beleeve and persevere beleeving unto the end All that a man is bound to beleeve in this kinde positively is that He is one of those that may be saved and the Doctrine asserted by us viz. that Christ dyed for all men without exception administreth a fair ground and full footing for such a Faith as this unto every man Whereas the Doctrine opposite hereunto which affirmeth that Christ dyed for the Elect onely leaveth no foundation or ground
at all of this Faith unto any man whatsoever at least being yet in His Natural condition and unconverted For 1. if onely those men be in a possibility of being saved for whom Christ dyed And 2. if Christ dyed for the Elect onely And 3. if no unregenerate or unconverted Person hath any ground to beleeve that He is one of Gods Elect It roundly follows and with pregnancy of consequence that no such Person I mean who is yet unconverted hath any sufficient ground to beleeve that He Is one of those that may be or that is in a possibility of being saved All the said Hypotheses or Premisses as viz. 1. That no man is in a possibility of being saved but onely those for whom Christ dyed 2. That Christ dyed onely for the Elect And 3. that no unregenerate Person hath any sufficient ground to beleeve that He Is one of the Elect are authentique and unquestionable according to the known Principles of our Adversaries therefore the conclusion specified must be admitted and owned by them If they will admit the said conclusion and judg it no ways prejudicial either to themselves or their cause so to do I would demand of them what foundation of encouragement they can lay to perswade unregenerate men either to strive to enter in at the strait gate to labor for the meâ—â— that endureth to everlasting life or to apply them selves seriously and effectually in one kinde or other to the means of beleeving We know that without Hope or an apprehended possibility of obtaining what is endevored and sought after all motives or grounds of perswasion unto action amount to no more then to the beating of the Ayr the Hearts of men are not at all taken or wrought by them Despair of Salvation quencheth all thoughts all endevors all desires of beleeving Therefore if an unregenerate Person hath no sufficient ground of Hope that He is one of those who are so much as in a possibility of being saved He is not capable of any impressions from any ground or motive whatsoever to beleeving If it be here said though an unregenerate Person hath no sufficient ground §. 8. of Hope that He Is one of Gods Elect and consequently that Christ dyed for Him yet He hath sufficient ground of Hope that He MAY BE one of these and so that there is a possibility that Christ MAY have dyed for Him and upon the account of such an Hope as this He hath encouragement sufficient to apply Himself to the means of beleeving I answer 1. That such an Hope which amounts onely or very little more then to a bare apprehended possibility of obtaining hath but a very feeble and faint influence upon the Heart of a considering man by way of encouragement unto action especially unto such action which is of a laborious and difficult import and wherein He must deny Himself in matters of ease pleasure profit c. and this to an eminent degree Now it is generally known that that action or course of engagement wherein they must labor and exercise themselves who desire to beleeve unto Salvation is of such an import as we speak of it is a course of action wherein men must put forth or give out themselves with all their Heart and with all their Soul with all their minde and with all their strength wherein they must labor strive watch and pray continually deny themselves crucifie the old man c. or otherwise not expect Salvation 2. Neither is it so clear a Truth especially according to the Principles of those against whom we now argue that an unregenerate man hath a sufficient ground of Hope that He may be one of the Elect. For if He be not at present one of these there is no possibility according to the said Principles that ever He should be such If it be replyed that the meaning of this assertion a regenerate man hath a sufficient ground of Hope that He may be one of the Elect is not that He may be one of these hereafter whether He be one of them at present or no but that He may be one of them at the present I answer that Hope in propriety of import respecteth not what is or may be at present but what may be or is like to be in the future Nor do I remember any instance throughout the Scriptures where they make or suppose any other object of Hope but onely that which is or may be future nor that any definition of Hope given by learned Divines assigneth any other So that it is very improper at least to say that an unregenerate man hath ground of Hope that He may be at present one of Gods Elect. But 3. A little to indulge impropriety of terms I demand whether the Scriptures do not constantly represent and make unregeneracy or an unbeleeving condition especially joyned with an habitual practice of known sins a ground of fear that a man is not at present one of the Elect of God or rather whether they do not make such a condition a ground of certain knowledg that a man is not at present one of the Elect of God According to the Principles of the adverse Party in the Question in hand all the Elect shall certainly be saved and inherit the Kingdom of God but the Scriptures constantly teach and affirm That unbeleevers and unregenerate men especially living in known sins shall not inherit the Kingdom of God as we have in the two next preceding Chapters shewed at large Therefore unless we shall say that the Scriptures are divided in themselves it is unpossible to shew or prove that they any where exhibit or afford any ground of hope to such unregenerate and unbeleeving persons as we now speak of that they may be at present the Elect of God The Scripture no where excludes the Elect of God from Salvation but every where asserts them as Heirs hereof Therefore those whom it excludes from part and fellowship in this business are not at least in Scripture sence nor indeed in any sence consistent with Reason the Elect of God 4. If such unregenerate persons as we speak of have any sufficient ground to hope that they MAY be at present the Elect of God then have they the like ground of hope that they ARE at present of this number and the Elect of God The Reason of this sequel is plain because what a man is and what he may be at present are one and the same it being unpossible that he should be at present any thing besides or any other then what he is at present no subject whatsoever being capable of any otherness or alteration in an instant according to that known Maxim in natural Philosophy Mâ—tus non fit in instanti No motion can be in an instant of time as also that other Quicquid est quando est necesse est esse i. e. Whatsoever is whilest it is must of necessity be that which it is Therefore he that hath ground to
c. So that in this respect there is much more reason why in the place in question he should speak unto them or consider them as Beleevers with Himself then as Elect with Himself in such a notion of Election wherein Elect are distinguished from Beleevers as was lately declared But now to make the Apostle to say that God is patient towards us BELEEVERS not willing that any of us who BELEEVE should perish but that all WE should come to Repentance is to make him speak beneath the line of common sence For 1. the Patience of God towards Beleevers who are in a present capacity of Salvation and according to the Principles of our Adversaries out of all Possibility of perishing is no means of their non-perishing neither need He be patient towards them in reference to any such end 2. Neither have these need to come to Repentance in order to their non-perishing unless we shall suppose them in a Possibility of a total loss of that Faith that is in them yea and that they will defacto totally lose it 2. That the Apostle doth not in the place in hand speak of the Christians to whom He writes as they were Elect in the common sence of the word appears from hence viz. because in case there were any Elect in this sence the Patience of God towards them would be no argument or sign of His non-willing their perishing or of His willing that they should come to Repentance because He shews the same or greater Patience towards such Persons who are not Elect in that sence and who never come to Beleeve or Repent 3. The Lord is not here said to be not willing that any of the Elect should perish or but that all these should come to Repentance but simply and indefinitely that any should perish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and universally but that all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should come to Repentance Now these indefinite Particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as likewise these universals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do frequently in Scripture we shall not need to cite places being so numerous and obvious signifie men simply and absolutely considered the former partitively distributively and sometimes interrogatively the latter universally but no instance I presume can be found where either the one or the other signifie men in any special capacity or under any particular consideration unless haply it be where such capacity or consideration is either in the same period or else in the same contexture of speech and neer at hand particularly mentioned and expressed Now concerning the place in debate certain it is that the capacity or consideration of Election is not onely not at all mentioned or specified in the same period nor yet in the same Passage or Contexture of Scripture or any where neer at hand but not so much as in all the Epistle from first to last Therefore doubtless 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all do not here signifie any of the Elect and all the Elect but any men and all men 4. Neither can God in any tolerable construction or propriety of speech or sence be said to be patient or long-suffering towards those whom He loves with the greatest love that is and this unchangeable for such is the love of Election supposed by those against whom we argue to be especially if it be supposed withall which these men suppose likewise that though they be wicked yet they cannot Repent cannot cease to be wicked until God comes with a strong and irresistible Hand to cause them to Repent For when we ardently and affectionately love a Person one or more we cannot reasonably be said to be patient towards them though we do not punish them for such miscarriages or actions wherein they are prejudicial unto us in case we know it to have been impossible for them to forbear such actions unless we our selves had effectually restrained them from them It would not argue any patience in a Parent towards His young Infant which He tenderly loves to forbear correcting it in case it should let fall and break a Venice glass or some like brittle commodity which were put into the hand of it Patience we know is a Grace or Vertue whereby a man is enabled and disposed to moderate the Natural Passion of Anger and to prevent the exorbitant and undue motions of it So that Patience hath no place or opportunity to express it self but onely in such cases wherein this Passion is apt to be stir'd and provoked Now the Passion we speak of Anger is not apt to be raised or provoked but onely by such actions wherein or whereby we apprehend either our selves or some neerly relating to us to be neglected or despised according to the Philosophers discourse and description of it wherein He mentions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the neglect or contempt of a Person or of some related to Him as always the cause of it a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Rhet. 2. cap. 2. which description if need were we might shew to be very agreeable to what the Scriptures themselves deliver concerning the same Passion So then in case there be no ground or reason upon which God can judg himself or any of his neglected or despised by the impenitency of his Elect in their sinful ways whilest they continue in them He cannot be said to be patient or long-suffering towards them though he forbears to punish them with death for it Now when that onely is done by a man which he is either in one kinde or other necessitated to do and cannot possibly refrain the doing it no Person whatsoever what damage soever he may receive by what is done upon such terms hath any sufficient ground to judg himself or any of his neglected or despised in such an action nor consequently to be provoked unto anger by it 5. Neither can the Elect in such a sence as many call Elect truly or reasonably account the long-suffering of the Lord Salvation unto them which yet the Persons here spoken of and to are in the sequel of this Chapter injoyned to do And account that the long-suffering of the Lord is Salvation Vers 15. For they that have Salvation infallibly and infrustrably against and above Death Life Angels Principalities Powers things present things to come height depth every creature whatsoever ascertained assigned or designed by the irrevocable Decree of God unto them stand in no need of any respite or reprievement from death through the long-sufferance of God in order to the obtainment of Salvation Because in case they should dye either the first moment that they are born into the world or after never so much sin committed yet the Decree of God concerning their Salvation being peremptory absolute and irresistible must needs take place and produce their Salvation against all obstructions and impediments whatsoever Therefore as a man hath no reason to set any such high prize upon a Receipt prescribed unto him
Principles i. e. to do any thing uncomely or imprudently so may it truly be said of God in the matter of granting means of Faith and of Salvation unto men that he cannot in the ordinary and standing course of his Providence or Dispensation of such Means rise so high give Means of that transcendent Nature Efficacy and Power which he can and doth give now and then in some special cases and in order to some great and special end As for example God was able no Principle of his Wisdom opposing to vouchsafe unto Paul that extraordinary means of beleeving or for his Conversion which we spake of a glorious Vision from Heaven But it doth not follow from hence that therefore he is able we still speak of his Moral ability or of the ability of his Will to afford the like Vision or any other means like unto that for efficacy and converting Power ordinarily or unto all other men When he demands thus concerning his ancient Church and People of the Jews What could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it c Isai 5. 4. He had not done any such thing in it or for it as he did afterwards for Paul nor had he multiplyed those Miracles and great works of wonder some Particulars whereof he did work for them and amongst them to such a number or with such frequency as by his Power simply considered and without relation unto his Wisdom he was able to have done and yet he might truly say and profess unto them as his demand mentioned imports that he could do no more for them to make them fruitful to bring them to Repentance and so to make them a prosperous and happy People then He had done i. e. He had done the uttermost which his Wisdom in such a case as theirs was permitted him to do So when he vouchsafeth a greater sufficiency of means to one City then he doth to another as he did to Capernaum above Tyre and Sidon to one Nation then to another to one age or generation of men then to another the Reason of this difference is to be resolved into the same infinite uniform though manifold Wisdom of God as the Apostle calleth it or which is the same into the Counsel of his Will d Ephes 1 11 not simply into his Will but into the Counsel of His Will i. e. that infinite Wisdom or Prudence by which his Will is as it were steered and directed in all the motions and actings thereof according unto which counsel he is said to work all things e Eph. 1. 11. And it may be as truly and as properly said of him when he vouchsafeth the least and lowest sufficiency of means unto some men as when he affordeth the greatest and richest of all unto others that he did or doth what he could or what he is able to do as well for the one as for the other And in such cases of difference as these that admiration of the Apostle lately mentioned is most seasonable and proper O the depths of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledg of God! How unsearchable are His Judgments and His ways past finding out f Rom. 11. 33. By his Judgments in this place we are not I conceive to understand onely his penal inflictions upon men in one kinde or other but his dispensatory Administrations as he is the Judg and great Ruler of the World indefinitely considered as well such as are Munificent as those which are Penal and so the word Ways in the latter part of the Verse added it is like for explication indifferently implies as well the one as the other But how or in what respect are his Judgments or Ways of Administration in the World said to be unsearchable or past finding out The former part of the Verse clearly informeth us of this as viz. that they are unsearchable in respect of that abundance of Wisdom and Knowledg by which and according unto which they are first ordered and contrived and then executed by him First they are unsearchable viz. unto Men yea and to Angels too in respect of that most absolute and perfect Knowledg which God hath of every particular circumstance from the least to the greatest of all the actions and ways of all the Men in the World and so of all Cities and of all Nations in all succeeding generations from the Morning of the World until the present hour thereof upon which actions with all and every their respective circumstances compared and layd together by God as by Reason of his perfect Knowledg of them they readily may be he builds and forms by means of his Wisdom of which presently that entire series or Tenor of his Administrations as well Munificent as Penal which from day to day and from age to age take place in the World amongst the Sons and Daughters of Men. Now because neither Men nor Angels are capable of knowing or considering all that infinite and endless multitude and variety of actions with all their circumstances respectively which are done in the World upon which and according to the exigency of which not any one of them from the greatest to the least omitted or left out the Providential Administrations of God in the World as well of Justice as of Mercy and Goodness are founded and framed hence it is that the Apostle concludes in a posture of admiration that the Judgments of God are unsearchable and His Ways past finding out in respect of the depths of the riches of that Knowledg which he maketh use of in forming them meaning that no Creature who knoweth not as much as God himself knoweth concerning the Grounds and Reasons why he ordereth the Affairs of the World of Persons of Cities of Countries of Ages as he doth and not otherwise can possibly understand or comprehend the absolute exactness and accurateness of them how ever he may apprehend somewhat yea much of them I mean chiefly concerning the Equity and Righteousness of them Again 2. These Judgments and Ways of God are unsearchable and past §. 17. finding out in respect of the depths of the riches of that Wisdom which is in God according unto which also they are all calculated and formed by him For look as in a Judg who is to administer Justice and to give sentence in the Causes of Men that are brought before him there ought to be these two things 1. A perfect Knowledg of the respective Cases wherein he is to give sentence in all circumstances relating to them before he doth give sentence 2. A Principle of Wisdom to weigh and ponder aright every of these cases in all their circumstances respectively that so he may be able to form such a sentence wherein every circumstance great and small relating to every case may have its due consideration and weight So there are and of necessity must be in God to make him an absolute Judg as he is of all the World 1.
accordingly once and again already or that this Covenant is not made upon the same terms and conditions with all those interessed or included in it which is a conceit of no whit better an accord either with Reason or Truth Secondly If all Men have not a sufficiency of Means granted unto them §. 28. by God then God dealeth with the generality or far greatest part of Men more rigorously and with less mercy and this under the Covenant of Grace then He doth with the Devils themselves The Reason is plain because in case Men have not a sufficiency of Means whereby to be saved they have onely Means given them whereby to increase their Condemnation yea such means and so and upon such terms given them that they cannot but use them to their greater and more heavy Condemnation then that whereunto they should or could have been liable had no such Covenant of Grace been made with them or tendered unto them For if they be not enabled by God to Repent and to beleeve the Gospel they must needs be subjected to an absolute necessity of despising or neglecting it there being no medium between accepting the great Salvation brought unto them therein which is done by Faith and the neglecting of it which is always accompanied with Unbelief Now a neglect of the Gospel and of the great Salvation tendred therein by God unto men is the first-born of Provocations in the sight of God and maketh men sevenfold more the Children of Wrath and of Death then otherwise they would have been How shall we escape saith the Apostle if we NEGLECT so great a Salvation z Heb. 2. 3 c. implying that this sin is unquestionably more exasperating incensing enraging the Almighty against His Creature Man then any other sin or sins whatsoever Yea if a man by means of the Gospel and the Grace offered unto him therein be not brought to Repentance and to a forsaking of ways and practices of sin the sins themselves which he shall commit under the Gospel will turn to a far deeper and more dreadful account in condemnation unto him then the like sins without the Gospel would have done So that it is clear on every side that in case men be not enabled by God to Repent and beleeve the Gospel the exhibition and tender of the Gospel unto them must needs be an heaping of coals of fire upon their heads by God a project and design â—o render them two-fold or rather an hundred-fold more the Children of Hell Misery and Torment then otherwise they had been Whereas most certain it is that God hath designed nothing acted nothing in one kinde or other to increase the Punishment or Condemnation of the Devils especially in any way of an unavoydable Necessity above the demerit of their first sin Thirdly If God doth not vouchsafe sufficient means unto all Men whereby §. 29. to repent beleeve and so to be saved then will He condemn and destroy or at least increase the Condemnation and Destruction of far the greatest part of Men for that which is no sin I mean Impenitency and Unbelief For 1. I suppose that it is no sin at all in the Creature not to perform or do any such act which is proper onely for God Himself to do or which requires the lighting down of His Omnipotent Arm to effect it 2. I suppose that which hath been both lately and formerly proved that God doth and will condemn and destroy men for Impenitency and Unbelief So then if to Repent and to Beleeve be such acts or works in the Soul which cannot be produced raised or performed by men by means of that strength or those abilities which are vouchsafed unto them but absolutely require the Omnipotent Power of God to effect them it is no ways more sinful in the Creature not to exert or perform them then it is not to be God and consequently if God should punish men for the non-performance of them He should punish them for that which in such a case and upon such a supposition would be no sin Yea if God should punish men for not endevoring or not doing that which is in their power to do in order to Repenting and Beleeving He should punish them for not attempting to make themselves equal in Power unto God Fourthly If God hath not vouchsafed a sufficiency of Power to beleeve §. 30. unto those who notwithstanding do not beleeve then did our Saviour without any ground or cause in the least wonder at the Unbelief of many in the Gospel yea and at the Faith of others And He could there do no mighty work save that He layd His Hands upon a few sick folk and healed them And He MARVFLLED BECAVSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF a Mark 6. 6 On the other hand When Jesus heard it i. e. the Answer of the Centurion He MARVELLED and said unto them that followed Verily I say unto you I have not found so GREAT FAITH no not in Israel b Mat. 8. 10 First there is not the least cause or occasion why any man should marvel that Creatures or second Causes should not act above their sphere yea though there be the greatest conjunction of such means which are proper and helpful unto them in order to such actings which lie within their sphere As for example though the year be never so seasonable and fruitful yet there is not the least occasion to marvel or think it strange that the Thorn should not bring forth grapes or the Thistle figs. So in case there be twenty great lights shining in a room it is no matter of wonder at all that a blinde man seeth nothing at all that is before him In like manner in case it be supposed that men are utterly destitute of a Power of Beleeving there is not the least ayr or colour of an occasion why any man should think it strange that they should not beleeve what helps or advantages soever for oâ— towards beleeving they have otherwise So again when causes or means which are known â—o act necessarily uniformly and constantly in their way do move and act accordingly there is not the least occasion given why any man should marvel or wonder at it When the Sun shineth or fire burneth when birds fly or fishes swim no man is tempted or provoked to the least degree of admiration Nor is there any whit more reason or cause of marvel that any Person at any time should beleeve though under the greatest disadvantages for beleeving in case it be supposed and known that that Cause which worketh or produceth Faith in Men as viz. the Power of God by which Faith is always produced in Men when they do beleeve should always work or act necessitatingly or irresistibly in the production of it Possibly the Grace of God by which men under signal disadvantages are according to our Adversaries Principles necessitated to beleeve may be just matter of admiration unto men but the vouchsafement of such grace