holinesse the subject continued though this forme perished therefore for the soul renovation is sufficient but for those graces in the soul a new creation is required Lord by thy Image I excell the beasts by it I match the Angels by it I resemble thy self but the subject of this image is by sin decayed and by sin the forme is quite abolished O thou that in my Creation didst grace me with the breath of life now in my Regeneration breathe in me the life of grace the temple of God is decayed in me and the God of this temple is banished from me repaire this temple that thy image again may stand in it and renew thy image that this temple may be sanctified by it XLI Adams sin was committed after Predestination if we consider Adams actuall existence but it was before Predestination in respect of Gods prescience What madnesse is it to think that God sees not our sinnes which we commit secretly whereas he did foresee our sins before they were committed and that from all eternitie XLII In Predestination the preterition of some men was the punishment of those men and the deniall of felicitie was their miserie but punishment presupposeth sin and preterition as a punishment must come after the prevision of sinne If this doctrine be true that the prevision of sin was the cause of preterition sure it is most true that the commission of sin is the cause of condemnation XLIII Passive excaecation or the wilfull ignorance and spirituall blindnesse in man is both a sin and the cause of sin active excaecation as it is from man it is a sin as from God it is the punishment of sin It stands with thy justice O God to punish them with blindnesse who have with delight blinded themselves and to deprive those of light who love to walke in darknesse Why shouldest thou hold out the lamp of thy Word to those that despise it and cause thy sun to shine on them who wilfully shut their eyes against it Lord deale with me as thou didst with Saul I am blinded spiritually make me blinde corporally that by losing the sight of my body I may regain the sight of my soul I will gladly lose the light of the sun moon and other planets so I may behold the light of the Son of righteousnesse XLIIII Some say that the hearts induration is not the cause of Gods indignation but that God is first angry then hardneth I am sure God hath just cause to be angry with those who will be hardned and therefore in his just anger hardneth them I confesse Lord that I have hardned my own heart therefore thou mayest justly be angry with me and because my voluntary hardnesse hath provoked thy anger therefore may thy anger effect in me and that most justly a further degree of hardnesse XLV God who by his irresistible will decreeth the hardning of a sinner yet actually by his resistible will useth to harden that sinner Though none can resist the will of his decrees yet he permits us sometimes to oppose the actions of his will in the one he shewes himself the God of power in the other he shewes his mercy in suffring man to resist the power of God O thou that diddest wrestle with Jacob and gavest him strength both to resist and conquer thee when thou wrestlest with me by tentations give me so much strength as by mortification to subdue my self and then give me leave by faith and teares to vanquish thee XLVI There is in God a two-fold negative act the one of Providence the other of Preterition by the former God denyed to Adam the gift of Perseverance and so suffered him to fall by the other he denyeth to some men the gift of Faith and Repentance and so suffers them to remain in their fall God was not bound to give Adam perseverance seeing otherwise he furnished him with grace sufficiently nor is he bound to give to those faith and repentance who fell from their former grace willingly and oppose his Word and Spirit obstinately Lord I confesse that as thou wast not in Adams debt for perseverance so neither art thou in mine for any grace but if thou wilt be pleased to bestow on me so much grace as to attaine true happinesse I will impute it not to my deserts but to thy favour and goodnesse XLVII Some say that those whom God hath decreed for Salvation may be damned but that they shall not be damned that his decree hindreth the act but not the possibilitie I leave this nicetie for the Schooles But this use I will make of it that if I may be damned I will work out my salvation with fear and trembling if I shall not be damned I will not fear though I walk through the valley of death if I may be damned I acknowledge Lord it is through my own wickednesse if I shall not be damned it is out of thy unspeakable goodnesse XLVIII It is the doctrine of many in these dayes that as God by his revealed will saves none but such as beleeve in him so he decreed by his secret will to save none but such as he foresaw would beleeve in him I am confident God could foresee nothing thing in me but what he was pleased to bestow upon me if he foresaw my faith he foresaw the fruit of his preventing grace if he foresaw my perseverance he foresaw the effect of his subsequent grace XLIX Election say some is Gods decree to justifie the faithfull others say 't is Gods decree to save man as he is man and to that end to make him faithfull In the one opinion I finde faith the meanes of Justification in the other of Salvation meanes I say but not the cause Lord the cause of my happinesse is in thee the meanes in me but the efficacie of this meanes both in my justification and salvation is only from thee L. If the decree of preterition went before the act of sin but not before the prevision of that sin I am confident the act of preterition cannot much lesse can the act of condemnation precede the act of sin Therefore how injurious are some to the God of mercy in daring to accuse him of crueltie who is so far from condemning any man but for sin committed that he would not decree mans condemnation but for sin foreseen LI. There was injoyned to Adam the law of abstinence from the forbidden fruit and the law of obedience the former was particular to Adam the other was common to him and his posteritie it was not for the breach of the former which was personall but for the breach of the other which was universall that we are condemned not Adams act of eating but his disobedience was our bane for we sinned in him sin is a transgression of the law but the law could not have been transgressed by us had it not been in him given to us Lord we have great cause to admire and respect thy mercy in saving us
for the second Adams obedience but we have no cause to suspect thee of crueltie in condemning us for the first Adams disobedience LII Punishment was prepared in Gods decree as well for the sin of Iacob as of Esau both having sinned alike in Adam but it was pardonable in the one unpardonable in the other which difference proceeded from grace not from nature Lord I confesse thou couldst see no more originall sin in Judas then in me yet thou wast pleased to punish him and to spare me if thou hadst condemned us both thou hadst done justly but in sparing the one thou hast magnified thy mercie LIII There is a two-fold grace the one of Creation the other of Election the one was the gift of God without Christ the other was the gift of God in Christ the one was the image of God the other was the renovation of that image the one was lost in Paradise the other shall never be lost in Heaven Lord thou hadst no other inducement but thine own goodness to create me to thy image but now thou hast another inducement to wit thy Sons merits to renew in me that decayed image the one thou mightst not have done the other thou canst not but doe for though thou wast not bound in the creation to bestow thy image on me yet now thou art bound by thy Sonnes satisfaction to repaire this image in me LIIII Adam could have abstained from the externall act of touching by naturall grace only but in him could not be the inward and permanent affection of obeying without supernaturall grace also Lord if Adam could not yeeld constant obedience to thee in his estate of integritie how shall I be able to persevere in obedience without thy speciall grace being now in the estate of iniquitie LV Though the habit of justice as it is the essence of God be necessarily in him yet the actions of justice which are not his essence are not necessarily performed by him He is necessarily just but a voluntarie agent He doth necessarily hate injustice but freely and voluntarily he punisheth it and decreed punishment for it Lord what should become of me and of all the other wretched sonnes of Adam if it were as necessarie for thee to punish as it is to be just But my comfort is that as justice is so necessarie in thee that thou canst not be unjust so thy actions are so free and voluntarie that thou canst pardon my sin and yet notwithstanding thou canst not be but just LVI There was no necessitie why God should manifest his justice in punishing sinners seeing he had power to manifest that in punishing his own Son for sinners In the one he shewes himself to be a God of mercy not of revenge in sparing his enemies in the other he shewes himself a God of justice in punishing his beloved Son who became suretie for his enemies LVII There is a two-fold cause of predemnation the one is sin the other is Gods decree the one is necessarie the other voluntarie sin is the cause why God may condemne all Gods decree is the cause why he will condemne but some he looks on sin as it is pardonable in some unpardonable in others the one eye by which he lookes is justice the other is mercie Lord thou didst look upon my sin with justice and severitie when thou punishedst it in thine own naturall Son therefore look on it as it is in me with meeknesse and mercy and pardon it in me that am thy adopted son LVIII Every man is not a reprobate that falls into sin but he that finally perseveres in sin for all men fell into sin by the permission of providence but wicked men only continue to the end in sin by the permission of preterition Lord that sin which was voluntary in Adam is necessary in me but although in thy just judgements there is a necessitie that I should be tainted with originall contagion yet there is no necessitie why I should lye still and persevere in actuall transgression without thy providence I could not fall without thy assistance I cannot rise as by thy providence thou hinderest not my falling because the glory of thy justice was thereby manifested so I pray thee further by thy assistance my rising again that the glory of thy goodnesse may be thereby magnified LIX In Gods externall actions there is neither naturall nor coactive necessitie for both nature and coaction exclude libertie the fire burnes naturally the bullet flyes upward violently therefore both necessarily but Gods internall actions on himself are naturall therefore necessarie the Father begot his eternall Son neither willingly nor unwillingly but naturally and necessarily so because Gods attributes are naturall and essentiall to him they are necessarily in him he is necessarily not voluntarily good because he cannot be but good he doth voluntarily not necessarily make man good because he can forbeare if he would to make him good Lord I confesse that the more free Agent thou wast in the work of my conversion the lesse free am I but the more necessitated to praise thy goodnesse and wisdome for how can I choose but honour and obey thee who couldst have chosen whether thou wouldst have redeemed and saved me LX Faith is both an habit and an action if it justifie as it is an habit I will not dispute this I know that it justifieth as it is an action for Abraham beleeved and so was justified The life then of Religion consisteth in action not onely of the outward works of the hand but also of the inward work of the heart for this is the work of God that we beleeve in him O Lord faith is thy work and it is mine too it is thy work to infuse it it is my work to apprehend Christ by it let thy work be first performed in me and then I know my work if thou assist shall be performed by me LXI Though we are not actually free from sin in this life yet there is a possibilitie that we may be free if either we consider the power of God who can mightily effect it or the will of a regenerate man who doth so earnestly affect it Lord in that I may be free from sin it argues thy omnipotencie but in that I am not free from sin I must blame my own impotencie There is in me a desire to be freed from this body of death and in thee there is power to free me who art the Lord of life LXII There was in Adam a directive light of the minde while he was falling to let him see his danger but there was not in him that perswasive light which might powerfully restrain him from danger that light had kept him from falling had he followed it and this light had kept him from falling had he received it Lord though thou didst not give Adam this light thou art unblameable seeing thou didst give him so much of that light as made him inexcusable LXIII In what facultie of the
all but mercifull onely to some yet though his grace be more universall and communicable his mercy is more wonderfull and amiable Lord the noblest of all thy Attributes is thy goodnesse to thy creatures but the excellencie of thy goodnesse is in shewing mercy to sinners Thy goodnesse made me a man but thy mercy a happy man by the one thou deliverest me from nothing by the other from worse then nothing thy goodnesse gave me being and thy mercy well being XXXII In every sin the act and the obliquitie in every vertue the act and the circumstances are distinguishable In sin the act is alwayes good metaphysically but evill morally either because it is prohibited as the act of eating the fruit to Adam or because it is repugnant to justice and sanctitie though they were not prohibited as theft and murther In every vertue the act is alwayes good both morally and metaphysically but the circumstances may be evill as to give almes is good but to give out of pride is evill I will not forbeare to doe good because the circumstances may be evil nor will I venture to doe evil because the circumstances may be good If God command that which may seeme to be evil I will doe it for his command makes it good if he forbids that which may seeme to be good I will not doe it because his prohibition makes it evil Adam sinned in eating of the fruit though seemingly good because God prohibited it and the Hebrewes sinned not in spoiling the Egyptians though seemingly evil because God commanded it XXXIII God did no wayes necessitate Adam to sin neither by inward perswasion nor by outward coaction besides he gave him a law easie to be kept and power sufficient to keep it He did then neither will nor decree his fall nor perswade nor force it only he gave way that he might fall who had power to stand that being by Christ raised from his fall he might more firmely stand Lord as thou didst permit my fall so be now pleased to remit it I fell willingly from thee make me to returne as willingly to thee Thou gavest me a will to stand or fall give me a will to rise and so to stand that I may never fall again XXXIIII There is a two-fold necessitie the one is * Syllogisticall the other is * reall there was a Syllogisticall necessitie of mans fall in respect of Gods fore-knowledge but not reall Gods prescience was an antecedent not a cause and mans fall was the consequent not the effect of that prescience but there is a reall necessitie of that which God decreeth Lord I did not sin because thou didst foresee it but because I was to sin therefore thou didst foresee it my fall was a necessarie sequell of thy precognition so let my rising be a necessary effect of thy Predestination XXXV Sin properly is not the punishment of sin because we sin willingly we suffer punishment unwillingly in sinning we are agents in punishments we are patients yet sin may be the cause of sin not that one sin can procreate another but because one sin can deserve and prepare the way for committing of another Lord free me from the guilt and stain of Adams sin which hath been both the preparatorie and meritorious cause of all my actuall sins XXXVI God worketh on the will either by a physicall motion or by morall perswasion and he perswades either powerfully by his Spirit or sufficiently by his Word so he hindereth sin either by his law prohibiting it or by his power inhibiting it let no man sin presumptuously because he is not stopped in the full careere of his sin powerfully though there is not alwayes an inhibition by his Power yet there is still a prohibition by his Law to make us inexcusable Lord work on my depraved will physically work morally work sufficiently and work powerfully by the Word by thy Spirit by thy Law by thy Sword circumcise my heart and eares the one by the Sword of the Spirit the other by the Sword of the Word if I cannot be restrained by thy Law to forbeare the forbidden fruit with Adam let me be constrained by the glittering of thy sword to stop in the wayes of wickednesse with Balaam XXXVII Though nothing is contingent to God yet his knowledge may consider contingencies as they are contingent for what by man is done contingently by him it is foreseen certainly in which regard Gods judgements are founded upon sin which may more fitly be called the object and occasion of his judgements then the cause Lord the cause of thy judgements is thy justice and my sin the occasion thy justice is eternall thy judgements are just my sins are contingent if it were not for thy judgements I should not acknowledge my sinnes if it were not for my sinnes thou couldst not exercise thy judgements and if it were not for thy justice there would be no proportion between thy judgements and my sinnes the exercise of thy judgements will cease if thou put an end to my sins but thy justice shall not cease though thou in mercy pardon my sins XXXVIII Nature is before grace and the works of creation before the effects of Predestination Man was first made a living soul by the outward breath of Gods mouth and then was made a quickning spirit by the inward breath of the holy Ghost so he decreed first to give man naturall abilitie by the work of Creation and then to bestow on him supernaturall graces the effects of Predestination Lord thou hast gifted me with naturall faculties whereby I exceed the beasts and thou hast endowed me with supernaturall graces whereby I am equall to the Angels I praise thee for the work of thy Creation much more for that of Predestination by the one thou madest me a man by the other a happy man make me to exceed the beasts as much in morall vertues as I excell them in naturall abilities so make me to equall the Angels as much in love and obedience as I come neer them in supernaturall happinesse XXXIX God did first foresee that Adam would sin before he predestinated Christ to die for sin he foresaw the disease then prepared the remedie he foresaw the leprosie then ordained the bloud of his Son to wash it for as the sinner only is capable of the grace of Regeneration so this grace was preordained to the sinner in Gods Predestination O my God if thou wast so provident as to prepare physick for my sinfull soule before I had sinned I am confident thy goodnesse is not now lessened but that thou wilt apply that same physick to my soule having sinned XL Gods Image in man consisted in nature and naturall properties in morall vertues and supernaturall graces the first were totally retained in Adams fall the third totally lost the second lost in part Again the essentiall part of Gods Image remained to wit the soul but the accidentall part was lost to wit justice and