and particular concerns And the Opposites to these do give the Soul great Enlargement and Liberty viz. That Confidence that is opposite both to Fear and to Shame Delight and joy which are opposite to Trouble and Dejection of Mind and Generosity and Nobleness of Spirit whereby a man is carried forth to the loving of God the Chief Good in the first place and a hearty concern for the general welfare of his Fellow-Creatures which is opposite to immoderate Self-love First The Observance of the Rules of Righteousness casteth out Fear This is a most servile Passion the Apostle speaketh of some who through fear of â—â—ath were all their life-time subject to bondage By Fear I mean that which is expressed by the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a cowardly and dispiriting Fear None can imagine I mean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Awful and Reverential Fear such as is called Heb. 12. 28. a Godly fear Nor yet do I mean such a Fear as awakens and excites the Soul to the use of means for the shunning and keeping off evils Such a Fear as this doth not at all inslave or put a man out of his own power but is highly serviceable to the maintenance and preservation of Liberty And therefore it is commended to us by the Apostle Heb. 4. 1. Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it But as was said the Fear which is enslaving is a Cowardly Dispiriting Fear and this the Righteous and Good man is freed from He hath not received the spirit of bondage again to fear in this sence but the spirit of Adoption whereby he crieth Abba Father Rom. 8. 15. He is not afraid of God as a poor Slave is of his fierce Master or as a wicked Servant of his justly provoked and incensed Lord but not being under the guilt of wilful sins his Conscience being privy to no other guilt than that which upon good grounds he believes is expiated by the Bloud of Iesus he can go to God as a child to his loving and tender Father And as he hath no tumultuary confounding or disheartening fear of God so neither hath he of the Devil or Men or any worldly evil as knowing that all these are subject to the restraint of that good Providence which ever chargeth it self with the care of good Souls and all their concerns God hath not given him the Spirit of fear or timidity and fearfulness but of power of love and of a sound mind 2 Tim. 1. 7. This man is an affectionate Lover of God and therefore cannot question God's love to him and is assured that all things shall work together for his good for his good both in this life and in the life to come Herein is our love made perfect saith S. Iohn in his 1 Epistle 4. 17. because as he is so are we in this world because we follow the example of our Blessed Saviour in the conscientious observance of the Rules of Righteousness there is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment he that feareth is not made perfect in love That is he that is affected with such a fear as hath now been described He who is not under the power of Cowardizing dismaying Fear his Spirit is at great Liberty but a care to keep an inoffensive Conscience both towards God and men to adhere to the Rules of Righteousness and Goodness and never to swerve from them will banish this Fear The wicked saith the Wise man fleeth when no man pursueth but the righteous is bold as a Lion Prov. 28. 1. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely or confidently and securely Prov. 9. 10. To which great truth the Poet gives his Testimony in those known Verses Integer vitae scelerisque purus Non eget Mauri jaculis nec arcu c. He that 's in life upright and pure in heart Is too secure to need the Bow or Dart. hic murus aheneus esto Nil conscire sibi nullâ pallescere culpâ The strongest Bulwark's not so sure a Fence As is an inoffensive Conscience Secondly True Goodness begets that confidence which is opposed as to Fear so to Shame too There is a highly commendable shame which is proper to a Good man namely that which is expressed by the Latine Verecundia Which is a quick sense of whatsoever is indecorous and misbecoming No man can have too much of this for the more any one hath of it the better man must he necessarily be But there is another sort of Shame expressed by Pudor which is a troublesome passion arising from a sense of disgrace upon consciousness of Guilt Of this Shame the most learned Doctor Henry More observeth in his incomparable Ethicks that it neither falleth upon the worst nor the best of men For he who is conscious to himself that he constantly exerciseth his liberty in doing the best things knows that he ought not to be contemned and thereupon being above all contempt contempt it self is contemned by him which is a great instance in good men of Generosity but in bad men is the very height of improbity This Shame is a good effect of a bad cause for though it be an evil yet 't is a necessary evil and tends to the deterring men from unworthy actions for the time to come and doth actually produce this good effect where the great uneasiness and perturbation of mind which was caused thereby upon past commissions of sin is seriously and consideratively reflected upon For where this Shame is there is great Bondage where there is consciousness of guilt the mind of a man is miserably pent up confined and straitned so that he dares many times neither to look abroad into the world nor to look up to Heaven nor reflect upon himself And therefore Liberty and Confidence are expressed by the same word viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek language But while a man is careful in the observance of the Laws of Righteousness to be Righteous before God and to walk as it is said of Zacharias and Elizabeth in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless he is not affected with this kind of Shame and consequently enjoys a mighty Freedom by this means Upright Iob had the happy experience of this effect of uprightness as we find Chap. 31. 35 36 37. Oh that one would hear me saith he behold my desire is that the Almighty would answer me and that mine Adversary had written a book Surely I would take it upon my shoulder and bind it as a Crown unto me I would declare to him the number of my steps as a Prince would I go near unto him Which is as much as if he had said Oh that mine Adversary instead of secretly whispering evil things of me had drawn up a charge in writing against me I would be so far from endeavouring to have it concealed
that I would my self publish it to all the world and instead of thinking it a disgrace and disparagement I would esteem it as an ornament for my innocence would be the more cleared and my good name vindicated by the means of it And so far would I be from sneaking and skulking in corners like one ashamed to shew his head that I would like a Prince with Heroick courage and confidence go up to the face of mine Enemy and expose and lay open my whole life before him Or rather we will read these Verses as the sence of them is expressed in a late excellent Paraphrase upon this Book Oh that the truth of all this that I have been accused of might be examined by some equal judge Behold I continue still to desire of God this favour And let him that can accuse me bring in his Libel in writing against me Surely I would not endeavour to obscure it but openly expose it to be read by all nay wear it as a singular ornament which would turn to mine honour when the world saw it disproved I my self would assist him to draw up his charge by declaring to him freely every action of my life I would approach him as undauntedly as a Prince who is assured of the goodness of his cause These words with many other of his sayings shew what a blessed Liberty the Soul of this Holy man was possessed with even whilest he was deprived of all his outward comforts and in the saddest and most dismal circumstances Thirdly Nothing will free a man from Trouble and Dejection of mind like the careful observance of the Laws of Righteousness This as it is a certain consequent of Fear and Shame it must needs free a man from as it freeth from those its Causes But it incomparably beyond any thing in the world cureth this Malady of a wounded spirit how or by whatsoever it be occasioned I have shewed that it is the fate of Sinners to feel great perturbation and disturbance of mind from their corrupt Affections by the law in their members warring against the law of their minds and also by reflecting upon their folly and madness and by the fearful expectations that their manifold bold transgressions of the Divine Laws do raise in them The wicked saith the Prophet are like the troubled Sea which cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Cain had no sooner given place to Envy and Revenge but his Countenance fell and the Disquiet of his mind was bewrayed by his looks But there is no such Lightsomness and Sprightfulness of Soul no such Pleasure and Self-satisfaction as that which results from true Religion Righteousness and Goodness It 's ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths peace Prov. 3. 17. Light is sown for the Righteous and joy for the Vpright in heart Psal. 97. 11. Great peace have they that love thy law and nothing shall offend them Psal. 119. 165. The work of Rigteousness shall be peace and the effect of Righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Esay 32. 17. The Good man is free from self-accusations and from that gnawing Worm that is frequently felt in Guilty breasts He is not appalled in thinking of what is past nor cast down with the fore-thought of that which is to come His Soul is like a calm and clear River like the waters of Siloam which run softly without noise or murmur Whatsoever is Natural is for that reason highly pleasing but nothing so natural to the Heaven-born Soul of man nothing is so agreeable to our original Make as to live in conformity to the Laws of Righteousness Whilest this is our serious care we act according to our Highest principle that Principle which God and Nature designed for our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Leader and Governour I mean the Reason of our Minds And therefore so long as we follow its Dictates and behave our selves like those on whose souls the Divine image is imprinted which consisteth in Righteousness and true Holiness so long I say we live in our own Element and therefore must necessarily have Self-enjoyment And we shall enjoy our selves more or less according as we are more or less diligent in works of Righteousness and Goodness The experience of every Good man will force him to subscribe to the truth of this no such man can withhold his assent from it or call it into question any more than he can his own Feeling Such a one feels such serenity of thoughts and such great delight and satisfaction of mind in the exercise of love to God and love to men in works of Piety Justice and Charity in the exercise of Humility Meekness Patience and Submission to the Divine will and all other Christian Graces and Virtues that while he is so employed all is as well within him as he can desire he accounts it a Heaven upon Earth to be so employed I fear that many a one who would be thought a Christian cannot receive this Doctrine that it seems to him a very strange Soloecism but I could tell him of many a Heathen of whom he may learn it as well as of Christians particularly Tully who hath this brave saying in his Tusculan Questions O Philosophy the Guide of our lives O thou seeker out of Virtues and expeller of Vices One day well spent and in obedience to thy precepts ought to be preferred before a sinning immortality And all those say for substance the self-same thing who tell us that Virtue is a Reward to it self The Good man feels also no small pleasure in reflecting upon the fruits of Righteousness he hath brought forth And much more in the Contemplation of that Glorious Reward which God for Christ's sake hath promised to those who patiently persevere in well-doing The fore-expectation whereof doth greatly support him under all the crosses and afflictions wherewith he is exercised in this life And makes him not only Patient under those Tribulations he meets with for Righteousness sake but even to Glory in them as the Apostles did and Primitive Christians And moreover he receiveth great Refreshment and Comfort more immediately from the Holy Ghost especially when he is called forth to any exceedingly great suffering or extraordinary service He then marvellously strengthens the Good man with strength in his Soul to bear the one and perform the other as becomes a servant of Iesus Christ. Which he doth chiefly by giving sensible clear and lively representations to the Good mans mind of the Glory of Heaven and by stedfastly fixing it upon the Crown of Righteousness and Life which his Blessed Lord hath promised to all those who are faithful to the Death Thus was the first Christian Martyr S. Stephen strengthened who being full of the Holy Ghost looked up stedfastly into Heaven and saw the Glory of God saw the Heavens opened as ready to receive him and the Son of man standing on the
of Grace should no more have hindred his Salvation than God's Threatning against Nineveh The cause of Rejection or Damnation is Sin in man which will not hear neither receive the promise of the Gospel c. It is not a Christian man's part to attribute his Salvation to his own Free-will with the Pelagian and extenuate Original Sin nor to make God the Author of ill and damnation with the Manichee nor yet to say that God hath written Fatal Laws and with necessity of Destiny violently pulleth the one by the hair into Heaven and thrusteth the other head-long into Hell I have thus at large transcribed the words of these two Holy Bishops and Martyrs for the Reformed Religion because the Books are not easie to be met with and Bishop Hooper's not to be light on without great difficulty And I say by these Citations to which we might have added others it is very apparent not only that they undoubtedly believed the Doctrine of Christ's dying for all men and were zealous Assertors of it too but also that they rejected that Doctrine of Fatal Decrees which is the Foundation of the contrary Opinion I cannot but take notice by the way how Unreasonable and Uncharitable those men are who clamour at such a rate against their Brethren as Innovators and Apostates from the Church of England for their asserting no worse Doctrine than we have now seen was heartily approved by these Ancient and Eminent Fathers of our Church The Doctrine of which Church I presume they 'l have the Modesty to acknowledge they were as fit judges of as themselves But I must hasten to that which is much more to our present purpose viz. That no Doctrine is more clearly or fully asserted in the Holy Scriptures than this of Vniversal Redemption And that there may remain no longer the least doubt or scruple in any of our breasts concerning it let us take notice of these following particulars First How those that have a share in Christ's Redemption are expressed by our Saviour and his Apostles They are expressed by the words SINNERS indefinitely the WORLD ALL the WHOLE WORLD EVERY MAN And can the Wisdom of man invent more plain significant and full words by which to express the Universality of Mankind 1. Those whom Christ came and died to save that is to put into a Salvable state so that it will be wholly long of themselves if they perish are expressed by the word Sinners indefinitely S. Paul saith 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners of which I am chief Now 't is a known Maxim that An indefinite Proposition is equivalent to an Vniversal one And our Saviour himself saith that He came to call sinners to repentance Luke 5. 32. And to seek and save that which was lost Chap. 19. 10. He makes no exception of Sinners or Lost persons and therefore what can they be less than All Mankind But if this be not satisfactory 2. They are expressed by the word World Our Saviour saith Iohn 3. 16 17. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved I could not disparage any ones understanding more than by endeavouring to satisfie him that 't is a most pitiful and senseless shift to say that by the World is meant all the Elect in the world that is some exceeding few of the world in comparison of the rest For besides that this is to make nonsence of the former Verse as must needs be obvious to every body so by taking the same Liberty in interpreting other Texts the Bible would be made the most insignificant Book in the world The Generality of men is ordinarily called the World and Bad men are sometimes so called in Scripture because they are the Generality but to express the incomparably lesser part of men by the word World is such a Figure as was never heard of 3. They are expressed by the word All to put us more out of doubt 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. The love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him that died for them and rose again Now did ever the word All signifie a few And that by All is to be understood the Universality is plain from the former of these Verses where the Apostle proves that all were dead or obnoxious to death by this Argument that Christ died for all But we will not question whether all in the largest sence were obnoxious to death and therefore all must be understood in the same extent when it is said that Christ died for all or we shall make the Apostle a very sad Arguer For how could it follow from hence that Christ died for some that therefore all without exception were dead Again 1 Tim. 2. 6. we read that Christ gave himself a Ransom for all And ver 4. that He will have all to be saved and come to the knowledge or Acknowledgment of the truth And once more 1 Tim. 4. 10. that He is the Saviour of all men but especially of those that believe So that those that believe are not the all he is the Saviour of the all being distinguished from them And the meaning of the words is sufficiently obvious viz. He is so the Saviour of all as to put them into a capacity of Salvation but he is so the Saviour of those that believe as that they shall be actually saved Those that so believe as to obey the Gospel are at present in a state of Salvation and if they persevere shall be undoubtedly saved 4. Those whom Christ died for and came to save to make it still more out of doubt if it be possible are expressed by the Whole World 1 John 2. 6. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the Righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole World Nay 5. They are expressed by Every man Heb. 2. 9. But we see Iesus who was made a little or for a little while lower than the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour that he by the grace of God should taste death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for every man And this is the fullest and most Comprehensive Expression that can be imagined If after all these most express Affirmations in such variety of the plainest words it shall still be asserted that the Doctrine of Universal Redemption is Heretical or false there needs no other Reply but this Let Christ be true and his Holy Apostles and everyman a Liar that dares to