only from all that has been said but in that he not only saith but sweareth Ezek. 18. 32. 33. 11. That he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that he should turn from his way and live and 1 Tim. 2. 4. That he will have all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth and that he loved the world in the gift of his Son and sent him into the world not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved Joh. 3. 16 17. And that he gave his flesh for the life of the world Joh. 6. 51. and gave himself a ransom for all 1 Tim. 2. 6. And sent forth the Gospel of this grace to be Preached to all Mar. 16. 15. and calls upon and inviteth all with promise of life to all that believe and obey it Isa 55. 6 7. Rev. 22. 17. all which this Doctrine of the damnation of the world by the Eternal Decree alone from the Sovereign will and power of God turneth into a lie and endeth the truth thereof and therefore is very irreligious to be taught or believed Christ These things seems to me to be of weighty concern and I cannot see how it can stand either with Scripture or reason for God to declare so much love to man and willingness to have all saved and yet to Decree the damnation of the world before he made it and it seems to set the Scriptures at an irreconcileable variance yet there being several Scriptures urged to prove this Doctrine I desire you to speak something to those Scriptures for clearing them in this matter Minist What are those Scriptures you especially desire to be cleared in Christ The first is Rom. 9. 14. to 24. chap. 11. 7. which are much used to prove this Reprobation of the world before they were made so Sovereignty pag. 18. 19. the Sovereignty of God proclaims it self with a yet more astonishing glory in his Eternal dispose of mens Eternal condition to shew or not to shew mercy to persons equally dignified or rather indignified in themselves to make of the same lump one Vessel to honour and another to dishonour is the most sublimest Act and most apparent demonstration of Sovereign power concerning men and that from no other reason but that of right he may do what he will with his own pag. 166. one God was the Maker of all but all was not made for the same use and end he had a peculiar scope in making some which was not common to the whole yea the whole was made for the sake of those some some God raised up to be Monuments of his power and Justice called Vessels of wrath others are called Vessels of mercy whom he formed for himself and are therefore said to be afore-prepared to glory And that Christ died only for this some c. Minist 1. I thought we should find those glorious principles of truth before mention'd by the same Author subjected and contradicted viz. That righteousness is the rule of his will and that he will not command men to do right and not do so himself and that he will punish none without a cause nor more than is deserved and yet now has Eternally disposed of men from his own will made them to be Vessels of wrath in a word to sin and be damned that 's the true sense horrible abuse to God and contradiction of himself 2. He might well call it an astonishing glory were it true enough to astonish and affright all men were it laid to heart out of all their Reason and Religion too but it being not so but a device of men it 's so far from being an astonishing Glory that it 's an astonishing Falshood and to be rejected of all sober men 3. I still thought that God had made all for himself for his own glory and not that he had made the world for the sake of some and when and where he will prove that God made any for the sake of some I do not yet know I suppose you must take his word for it as for all the rest 4. And as to the whole of this matter I have often said enough to it elsewhere viz. that we may not understand one Scripture so as is contrary to the whole Word of God that speaks of the same matter where he saith that he loved the world in the gift of his Son and calleth upon all and inviteth all to accept the grace Rev. 22. 17. That he hath no pleasure in the Death of the wicked That men by sin destroy themselves Hos 13. 9. That he would have all men to be saved 1 Tim. 2. 4. it must needs be irreligious to understand Rom. 9. so as to contradict and give the lie to all those Scriptures and many more this is enough were there no more to be said in this matter Yet further I say that those Scriptures viz. Rom. 9. 11. Chap. contributes nothing at all to that Scriptureless Notion rightly understood but rather strongly confirms the truth of what is by me asserted and this appeareth 1st In that there is nothing said about the Eternal Decrees and Sovereign Will distinct from his Sovereign rule by his own declared Laws the Apostle in the whole Treating about the people of the Jews already made and under his present Sovereign Government who did wilfully sin away their mercy in rejecting the Gospel and as a punishment of this their sin God did or might give them up to blindness and hardness of heart not that he made them for that end by Eternal Decree but in the present exercise of his Sovereign power and Providence as a punishment of their former sins so he might make of the same lump of the Jews one Vessel to honour and another to dishonour and this he has usually done in like case and it 's that which will stand with his Sovereign rule in righteousness viz. to give men up to hardness of heart as a punishment of disobedience rejection or abuse of former mercy thus he did to the same people formerly Psal 81. 11. 12. or it was a Prophecy of what was fulfilled Rom. 9. But my people would not hearken unto my voice Israel would none of me so I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own Councils So likewise he dealt with the Gentiles Rom. 1. 21. Because when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were they thankful v. 24. 28. Wherefore God gave them up unto uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts so likewise in the Apostacy fore-told 2 Thes 2. 10 11. Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this Cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie Thus God ordinarily punisheth one sin by giving up to another which was the present Case in Rom. 9. they sinned away their mercy in rejecting the Gospel and the
to dispose of all the creatures that he hath maâ—e I am well satisfied in but the matter I most question and desire to enquire into is about the manner and method of the exercise and execution of this his right and power viz. Whether God has from his own will and power as some say reprobated the greatest part of the World to damnation by an eternal decree before the world was without respect to sin as the first and just deserving cause but meerly from his own will which they say was to glorifle his justice Min. Altho I believe reverence and adore the Sovereignty of God over all and his proper right to dispose of all his creatures yet I do not believe that he hath or ever will so exercise his Sovereignty as some affirm viz. to damn whom he please from his own will and power distinct from sin as the cause thereof but that he hath doth and will exercise this his Sovereign power according to the excellency of his name and nature and righteous Laws given to men on that behalf as the boundary of his rule and Government over men and that in way both of judgment and mercy and not to destroy whom he please from his own will and power without respect had to those Laws otherwise to understand I believe it both dishonourable unto God and pernicious unto men Christ Can you prove from Scripture the manner and method of the exercise of the Sovereign power of God over men Min. I can Ps 62. 11. God hath spoken once yea twice have I heard this that power belongeth to God here is the Sovereign power stated v. 12. is the manner of its exercise and execution Also to thee O Lord belongeth mercy for thou renderest to every man according to his works The exercise of this his Sovereign power is in a way of justice and mercy to render to every one according to his works and according to his righteous Laws given to men Ps 101. 1. I will sing of mercy and judgment unto thee O Lord will I sing Christ What instances can you give from Scripture to confirm this manner and method of Gods proceedings with men viz. by his righteous Laws given to men and not from his own Sovereign will and power as distinct from and contrary to those Laws Min. 1. When he first made man he gave a Law as it was most meet it should be so wherein he stated his Sovereign rule over his creature man according to which he exactly ruled and man transgressing thereof he according to his Law as the great Sovereign Lord executes the penalty on man for breach thereof Gen. 2. 16 17. with ch 3. 6 13 19. Rom. 5 12. he did not throw down man from his first estate from his own will and power distinct from the breach of his Sovereign Law as the cause thereof 2. And after the sin and fall of man into a state of death in which he might have exercised his power either to have made a present end both of man and the world or have exercised his rule over men in this estate at a distance and distinct from all Law and rule but he from his own Sovereign love and good will to man set him upon a promise of recovery and restitution by the Womans seed Gen. 3. 15. wherein mercy met with Judgment in a needful time and since its apparent that he keeps to the true rules of his own Laws in this matter Tho probably the world might be without law written as by Moses yet not without Law both of nature and creation Ps 19. 1 2 3 4. Rom. 1. 20. And probably some teachings from God instrumentally as Jude v. 14. Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied c. and Kain and Abel offered sacrifice probably by some Law from God but Rom. 5. 13 14. puts it out of doubt that they were not without Law For until the Law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed where there is no Law therefore there was some Law that being the design of the Apostle to prove that they had some Law or there had been no sin The next great execution of Judgment upon the world was in the deluge or flood which was not executed from the Sovereign will and power of God distinct from sin against his Laws as the cause thereof Gen. 6. 5 6 7. and in this they not only transgressed his laws but resisted his spirit v. 3. my spirit shall not always strive with man c. And he gave them further warning by Noah in making the Ark waiting for their repentance an Hundred and Twenty years 1 Pet. 3. 20. with Gen. 6. 3. and without doubt would have been well pleased with their repentance so as to have prevented the Judgment sutable to Jer. 18. 7 8. and the example of the Ninivites Jon. 3. 10. and accordingly he saved Noah not from his Sovereign will distinct from his Sovereign law but as unrighteous person that walked with God Gen. 6. 8 9 7. 1. 3. Instance is Sodom and Gomorah God brought not the Judgment upon them from his own will distinct from sin as the cause wherein he exercised his Sovereign power not only as a righteous law-maker but as a righteous law-executor Gen. 18. 20 21. I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it Yea and so tender was he that if there had been but ten righteous persons he would have spared it for their sakes v. 32. and finding but one righteous Lot he spared him and for his sake would have spared all his relations if they had believed Gen. 19. 12 13. by which it 's manifest that the exercise of Sovereign power was according to the right of Law by the law-maker and executor and ready to have been mixed with mercy had there been any footing for it and Lot was saved not only from the Sovereign will and power distinct from all Law but as a righteous person 2 Pet. 2. 7 8. 4. When God called Abraham out from all the world as an act of Sovereign love will and power and owned him and his as his peculiar people nearer to him in Covenant than all the world besides he exercised his Sovereignty over them according to his righteous laws and promises in that behalf and no otherwise the contrary would be very wicked for any man to assert and in keeping thereof they had great reward Psal 19. 11. and on the wilful breach thereof great punishment as Levit. 26. 3. c. and Deut. 28. 1. c. with Lamentations of Jeremiah throughout and this was his method throughout that ministration punishing them for their sins yet less than they deserved Ezra 9. 13. and delivered them many a time upon their repentance Psal 78. 38. and 106. 43. 5. Though God left all the Nations in this choice yet he did not so reject them as to leave them at a further distance or in a worse
condition than they were before but kept his real interest in them as his own and made provision for them Psal 145. 15 16. Act. 14. 17. and kept up his Sovereign rule over them at least by such laws as he ruled over them before he called Abraham out from them and expected that they should thereby feel after God if happily they might find him Act. 17. 27. and accepted such as did so feel after him as to find him Job 1. 1. Jona 3. 7. 10. and when he executed judgment upon them it was not from his Sovereign will distinct from sin as the deserving cause but for their sinning against him as their Sovereign Lord and from which Judgment they might have been and sometimes were delivered by repentance Jer. 18. 7 8. Jona 3. 7. 10. and when he used any of them as his Rod to chastise his own people and afterwards judged them for it it was not for doing thereof but for their ill doing of it Isa 10. 5. 7. 16. Amos 1. 11. I think it 's clear from Scripture that God never executed Judgment upon any of the Nations but sin was the cause thereof Gen. 15. 16. Levit. 18. 28. and 20. 23. 6. In the Gospel ministration which is the highest and most gracious in order to glory he keeps to the same method in his Sovereign Government where the Gospel comes it s carried on all according to the righteous Laws thereof not saving and damning from his own power and will without respect had to his Sovereign Laws therein exhibited to men but hath stated and will execute life and death according to those laws otherwise to affirm is dishonourable unto God and tends to end his Laws and Sovereign rule in the Gospel which Laws are exprest in these and the like Scriptures Mar. 16. 15 16. Rom. 2. 7. 10. Heb 5. 9. Rev. 22. 14. 7. And at the general Judgment he will judge and pass sentence not from an unlimited Sovereignty but according to his Sovereign Laws made known to men in that behalf Joh. 12. 47. 48. Rom. 2. 5. 10. 2 Cor. 5. 10. 2 Thes 1. 7. Rev. 22. 10. and 20. 12. and to assure us that the world shall be judged in righteousness he will not be the immediate visible Judg himself but by that man whom he hath ordained Act. 17. 31. So that it 's most apparent from these seven instances from holy Scripture that God has throughout all ages from the beginning of the world and will to the end thereof exercised and will exercise his Sovereign power over men according to his Sovereign Laws at several times given forth to them and not from his own immediate Sovereign will and power distinct from and contrary thereunto Christ I am greatly satisfied in what you have said in this matter as to the manner and method of Gods proceedings in his Sovereign Rule and Government over the world yet it being a matter of so great concern relating both to God and men if you have any further grounds to confirm the truth I desire to hear them Minist I have yet seven Scripture grounds and Arguments for the further confirmation thereof 1. That which is contrary to the whole name and nature of God as declared in his Word is irreligious to be asserted or imagined that God should from his own will without relation to sin as the deserving cause reprobate men to eternal death make them for that end is contrary to his name and nature as opened to us in his Word and therefore it 's irreligious to be asserted or imagined 1st It 's contrary to his goodness and love to men Psal 145. 9. he is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works Christ To this it will be said that it intends temporary goodness relating to this world Minist In part I grant it but is this all the goodness they will allow to be in God towards men in general to allow them the goodness and mercies of this world only designedly to prepare them for eternal destruction as men fat their Cattle for the day of slaughter Are these the tender mercies they will allow to be in God to the world and no more The Scripture saith Prov. 12. 10. That the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel and those who thus render God in his tender mercies towards all do exceedingly wrong and dishonour him and render themselves to be very cruel and merciless for certainly it is not so Joh. 3. 16. Christ shews us the love of God to the world on the Gospel account 2. It 's contrary to his Wisdom and Justice 1st His Wisdom which is infinite and of which there is no searching Ps 147. 5. Isa 40. 28. that this infinite Wisdom should find out no more righteous a way to glorifie Justice but to make men designedly to sin and be damned is contrary to divine Wisdom and Justice and therefore is irreligious in the Assertors thereof And as for the righteousness of God the practical Discourse of the Sovereignty of God acknowledgeth Pag. 39. That his will is the rule of righteousness and righteousness the rule of his will The Saints of old were perfectly of this mind shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right And I heartily wish that all that profess Saintship now were of the same mind and not lay the sin and judgment of the world on the Sovereign will of God by eternal Decree the greatest unrighteousness that can possibly be fixed on the holy and righteous God therefore let men tremble in the thoughts thereof And further in the same Pag. saith he will not punish without a cause nor more than is deserved Which is the sum of all I plead for in this matter For then surely he decreed not the cause that being all one as to punish without a cause and methinks should sound very harsh in all good mens ears that love the righteous God who loveth righteousness 2d Reas That God from his decreed will should hate and reprobate the world before they were even from all Eternity as is affirmed by some is impossible and therefore irrational to be imagined that it was impossible is apparent 1st Because when God made man he made him good and so loved him or else he loved not that which he made though good and as the nature of all mankind was made in him so in him was all mankind alike good and beloved of God or all could not have faln from that good estate in him nor could have lost any thing by his Fall and that God should love the world in Adam and hate it too at the same time and before it even from eternity as some say is impossible and therefore irrational to be imagined 2. The Scripture lets us to know that God loved the world in the gift of his Son long since the Creation and Fall of men even such a◠shall be condemned for then sin and disobedience Joh. 〈◊〉 16. 19. and he
hardness of heart they were given up to was as a punishment of sin so that it doth not at all relate to the Eternal Decree that God made them or any other people to be destroyed but as a punishment of sin he in Justice gave them up to hardness of heart And in this sense it is the Apostle saith that wrath was come upon them to the uttermost 1 Thes 2. 16. and this the practical Discourse of Sovereignty in some Cases acknowledgeth pag. 12. viz. Ezek. 14. 9. And if the Prophet be deceived I the Lord have deceived that prophet and will destroy him and 1 King 22. touching the lying Spirit and the effectual Commission he had from God to persuade and also to prevail yet confesseth that he does not reckon these two as pure acts of Sovereignty but rather as punishing one sin by leaving to another and to this mentions Rom. 1. 21 28. by which it appears that nothing is by them accounted pure Acts of Sovereignty but an absolute dispose of persons by Eternal Decree without relation to sin as the Cause But this being granted that God doth sometimes punish one sin by leaving to another tends to lead him into a right understanding of Rom. 9. 11 Chapters it being so apparently manifest that it was as a punishment of their former sins and not from any Decree of Reprobation before the world was no otherwise than for sin as the cause thereof and no otherwise may we understand or imagin any Decreed Will in God of wrong to them or any others for this read and ponder Luk. 13. 34. 19. 41 42. Mat. 22. 1. to 8. Act. 13. 46. Mar. 16. 15 16. Rev. 22. 17. in all which Scriptures it appears that God and Christ was really for their good and for the good and welfare of all men and that damnation comes in by unbelief and disobedience Christ Though what you have said seems very apparent and plain yet I desire you to speak something more distinctly to the expressions of the Text. Minist I shall in which it will appear there is not a sentence in either of those Chapters relating to Reprobation by Eternal Decree before the world was but the present dispose of persons in way of righteousness sutable to their demeanours towards God 1. From vers 7. to 13. is the distinction that God made between Isaac and Ishmael Jacob and Esau the one being Children of the Flesh the others of Promise and purpose 1. It 's apparent it relates to the two Covenants made with Abraham one relating to his natural seed in which was the Promise of the Land of Canaan Gen. 17. 7 8. the other with the Spiritual seed in Christ which included all nations Gen. 22. 18. In thy seed shall all the nations of the Earth be blessed Ishmael being a Figure of the first seed is said to be born after the flesh And Isaac of the second is said to be born by promise And Agar and Sarah Figures of the two Covenants and with their Sons Figures of the two Seeds Gal. 4. 22. to 28. and Rom 9. clearly distinguisheth between the two Covenants and the two Seeds v. 8. to 12. the time being come that the new Covenant taketh place as a Ministration the old Covenant and Seed must give place unto it and the Children of Promise that is of Faith are counted for the seed and in this sense all are not Israel that are of Israel because the Gospel now knows no man after the flesh 2 Cor. 5. 16. This new and second Covenant taking place according to purpose and Promise now owns only the Spiritual seed of Faith whether Jews or Gentiles and this the Jews stumbled at not believing the Gospel by reason of which they were rejected this being the proper scope of the Apostle in Rom. 9. 11. Chapters 2. More particularly and distinctly the Election and rejection of these Persons personally was one was Elected to National and Covenant priviledges and the rejection of the others was from those Priviledges and not to Eternal Condemnation it having no relation thereunto nor from other great and Temporal blessings in which God abounded to them Gen. 21 13. 18. 36. 15. And this Election of Jacob and leaving of Esau being National and to special Priviledges to one above the other was alone from the free-will and pleasure of God without any relation to works done it being before they were born or had done good or evil which was a just and Sovereign liberty in God doing no wrong thereby to them that were left out of this Election as Gods calling Abraham out from the world did no wrong to the world nor was their rejection but only from that Call and Choice so was his carrying it on to Isaac and Jacob leaving Ishmael and Esau according to his just and Sovereign rule over men the promise being to Abraham and his Seed Gen. 13. 15 16. God was at liberty to fix it on whom he pleased while it was upon his Seed to whom the Promise was made and so did no wrong to either Ishmael or Esau especially he making large provision for them both and as to what is said v. 13. Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated It 's taken out of Mal 1. 2 3. spoken long after Jacob and Esau were personally dead and not before they were born as by some is vainly and foolishly suggested and relates to their Posterities so called when they were dead and gone and in this sense God hated Esau for their sins and laid his mountains waste but is never said to hate him before he was born but only this the Elder shall serve the Younger So that the design of the Apostle in the whole matter is to shew the Just liberty of God in rejecting the Jews for their sinning against him in his Gospel law of Grace as all the after instances do likewise fully demonstrate as v. 15. relates to the same people when they had formerly sinned away their mercy in making a Calf in the Wilderness Exod. 33. 19. I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy Which relates not to their Eternal Estate but to the present exercise of his Sovereign Rule over them they having forfeited their mercy by sin and God had said to Moses that he would destroy them all chap. 32. 9. to 14. and upon Moses Prayer and Intercession for them The Lord repented of the evil that he thought to do unto them Yet in this grace he reserves this Sovereign liberty to shew mercy on whom he would viz. he would carry whom of them he pleased into the Promised Land and whom he pleased should for their sin die in the Wilderness not be Eternally damned Moses and Aaron for sin died in the Wilderness and might not go into the good Land and who dare say they were Eternally damned So likewise when Christ and the Gospel was come and they rejecting their share therein Act. 13. 46. God would
now exercise the same Sovereign Power over them viz To shew mercy to whom of them he would shew mercy even of those who had alike sinned and whom he would he would give up to their own hardness of heart in which his Sovereign Power and Will was and still is exercised towards Men in like capacity And as for Vers 21. Of the Potters Power over the Clay of the same lump to make one Vessel to honour and another to dishonour It 's likewise taken from the Lords former dealing with the same People when they had Rebelled against Him Jer 18. 2. to 6. the Vessel the Potter made was marred in his hand so he made it again another Vessel as seemed good unto the Potter v. 6. O house of Israel cannot I do with you as the Potter saith the Lord And it still holds true that this or any other People that hath or shall Rebel against the Lord and his good will towards them it suits with his Sovereign Government to have mercy on whom he will have mercy he may have mercy on some such and others he may give up to hardness of heart he may do as the Potter viz. break them if he please and make another Vessel of them as he pleased as he did with them of old to which the Apostle refors and in so doing none have cause to find fault or to say unto him who hath resisted his will if they do they find fault with the Just and Sovereign rule of God over men it being in this way he makes known his Sovereign Power and Rules by enduring with much long suffering the Vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction v. 22. and to this agreeth and cleareth the whole matter to us Isa 63. 17. and 64. 8 9. and on this account it is they could not believe Joh 12. 29. Christ Have you any thing further to say for clearing this matter Minist I have yet five things further to say 1. It appears that the Apostle did not intend in his whole discourse their Reprobation by eternal decree any otherwise than as has been minded because v. 1 2 3. He declares his great heaviness and sorrow of heart for them and could wish himself accursed from Christ for their sakes And certainly he would not have been so heavily grieved and sorrowful at the Eternal Decree of God which so it must flow from his dislike thereof but it was for their obstinacy and unbelief as Christ himself was Luk. 19. 41 42. 2. Speaking of these very same People that rejected and for whom he was so grieved saith v. 4. that the Adoption and the Covenants and the Promises did belong unto them i. e. in right it did all belong unto them if they did not forfeit their right by unbelief Adoption Covenants and Promises including not only the old then ended but the new according to Act. 3. 25. Ye are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant which God made with your Fathers saying unto Abraham and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the Earth be blessed This is the new Covenant in the fulness thereof of which they were the Children the first right belonged to them by promise as they were the natural seed of Abraham if they did not forfeit and lose their right by unbelief Act. 13. 46. Luke 24. 47. And therefore could not be Reprobated therefrom by eternal decree and yet be the Children thereof till they lost their right by unbelief and disobedience to the Gospel 3. If their sin and rejection had been the fruit of the Eternal Decree then it must have been well pleasing unto God for I think it 's little less than Blasphemy against God to say he is not well pleased with the fulfilling of his Decreed will and then there could not have been so much long suffering in God while they were doing his Decreed will as it is said there was v. 22. What if God endured with much long suffering the Vessels of Wrath c. But the much long suffering in God was while they were doing that which was contrary to his Will Men are not said to suffer long while those they wait upon are doing their will and work unless they are too long about it or do it not to their minds 4. The Apostle saith Rom. 10. 1. Brethren my hearts desire and Prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved And v. 2. For I bear them Record they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledg And we cannot Religiously imagin that the Apostle would pray against the Eternal Decree of God no no he then could not Pray in Faith on any account and it would have argued that he liked not the decree but was willing to have it altered which we may not imagin but that he was grieved for the obstinacy of his Brethren and Prayed the Lord to turn their hearts having some hopes that they were not arrived to the highest Degree of wilfulness but that their disobedience did arise much from Ignorant and Blind zeal v. 2 3. On which account he had some hope that on Repentance they might obtain mercy tho he had so spoken of them before in ch 9. else he would not have Prayed for them 1 Joh. 5. 16. 5. The Foundation cause of their rejection so far as it was is by the Apostle resulted and concluded ch 9. 32. and 10. 3. to be because they sought it not by Faith but as it were by the works of the Law for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone And ch 10. 3. They being ignorant of God's Righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the Righteousness of God This was the true cause of their fall and not that God made them for that end any otherwise than has been before declared and therefore those unscriptural Conclusions unduly and untruly drawn from hence viz. that God from his own will made them and the greatest part of Mankind on purpose to damn them Eternally are to be Exploded by all true Christians And it being urged much from the Potters Power over the Clay it 's most apparent the Potter did not make his Vessel on purpose to mar it but it was marred in his hand Jer. 18. 4. and so he made another Vessel of the same Clay as seemed him good So when People mar themselves in the hand of the great Potter he is at liberty to do with them as he pleases and Men of this Principle are pleased to set forth their Scriptureless notions by other things as some by a Watch-maker who having made a Watch tho good yet hath Power to break it when he hath made it so God hath Power over Men to make them for what end he pleases It 's easily granted that he hath Power so to do but it stands not with his Will Wisdom Mercy and Justice nor with his Truth and Faithfulness in his Word so to do any otherwise than as a
power which answereth the Gospel-Law and is accepted of God in Christ 2 Nor is it meritorious obedience imperfect cannot be meritorious but such as the Gospel requires as the terms of life and way in which we must walk to Glory so that Salvation is wholly of Grace Christ Tho I am well satisfied in what is said yet there being some Scriptures much urged against it I desire to enquire into them for mine own and others satisfaction the first is Joh. 6. 44. No man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him Min. There are three cannots mentioned in Scripture The 1. Is an Ignorant cannot viz. For want of the means of Faith the Doctrine of the Gospel without which Men cannot believe and obey it Rom. 10. 14. How shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard God always working by means and sutable to it no Man can believe the Gospel that never heard thereof The 2. Is a Customary and Traditional cannot Jer. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopâ—an change his skin or a Leopard his sports then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Custom in sin makes it to become habitual and natural and begets a cannot next of kin to a will-not custom in Principles and Practice receiv'd by Tradition is very hard to be left woful experience declares the truth thereof The 3. Is a downright will-not a wilful cannot a resolvedness to cleave to sin and self inventions Joh. 50. 40. You will not come to me that you might have life Jer 2. 25. But thou saidst there is no hope no for I have loved strangers and after them will I go And ch 18. 12. But thou saidst there is no hope but we will walk after our own devices and will do every one the imaginations of his evil heart Now the cannot Christ speaks of must needs come under one or some of these three and that is Custom and Tradition wilfulness united by reason of which the cannot takes place 2. The manner of the Lords drawing is by the Gospel and that the next Verse explains every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me Gods drawing is by means and Ministry they must first hear and learn and then come to Christ but whose will not both hear and learn cannot come to Christ which was the present case with the Jews who instead of learning murmured against his Doctrine vers 41. 43. Hos 11. 4. I drew them with the Cords of a Man with the bands of Love I laid meat before them God lays the good things of the Gospel before Men which has a natural tendency to draw Souls to Christ and it 's the wilful cannot that hinders It being so far from truth to affirm that Man has no power to will his own good distinct from ignorance of what is for his good customariness or wilfulness or some other great temptation that he has not power really to will his own hurt God having placed that Law in nature not only of Men but of all sensitive Creatures to will their own good and safety so far as they understand it and have not power from God to Will the contrary but in the cases mentioned and with the helps afforded by God to cure the ignorance and wilfulness or any other hinderance Men might Will the best good Christ The 2. Scripture is 1 Cor. 2. 14. But the Natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them because they are Spiritually discerned Min. 1. It 's true that Natural Men by reason without Gospel Revelation cannot understand or discern the Spiritual things of the Gospel this is an ignorant cannot vers 8. Or 2. They do not like love or favour the things of the Gospel when they hear it it 's foolishness to them and so they will none of it and this is a wilful cannot because they have no mind to it while they account it foolishness they cannot receive it 3. And most probably the Apostle intends the Corinthians to whom he writes who as he saith were Carnal and what difference in this place we may conceive between Natural and Carnal I do not understand apparent it is that the Corinthians were very Carnal and ignorant in the great things of the Gospel vers 12. 13. The Apostle speaks of himself and those Ministers with him see how vers 14. of ch 2 and ch 3. vers 1 2 3. will unite ch 2. 14. But the Natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them because they are Spiritually discerned ch 3. 1. And I Brethren could not speak to you as unto Spiritual but as unto Carnal even as unto Babes in Christ I fed you with Milk c. For ye are yet Carnal It 's not only possible but too common for prosest Christians through their Naturalness and Carnalness i. e. Resolving to follow their own Natural Carnal and Customary notions in the things of the Gospel to account many of the Spiritual Gospel things of Jesus to be foolishness and while it is so they cannot understand those Spiritual Gospel things and yet may be high in other Gifts which was the case of the Corinthians see 1 Cor. 1. 5 6 7. with ch 3. 1. 2. Christ The 3. Scripture is Phil. 1. 13. It is God that worketh in you to Will and to do of his good pleasure This Scripture is much urged by some in this matter Min. It may be as properly râ—ad it is God that worketh in you and will work for his good pleasure so that the intention of the words plainly iâ— to encourage to the duties exhorted to viz. Do you your duty and God will assist you therein up and be dâ—â—â—g and the Lord will be with you he worketh and will work willing Christians shall not want Divine assistance this is the sum of this matter Christ If God only give the power of Willing and â—â—t the Will it self have not those that do will and obey the Gospel cause of Glorying in themselves that they had better Wills than others that obey not and sâ— give not the Glory of Willing is will aâ— the power to Will unto God and so 〈…〉 of Willing to themselves the Scripture 〈…〉 maketh thee to differ And what 〈…〉 thou not received 1 Cor. 4. 7. Min. Here seems with sâ—me to â—e the great streight in this matter 〈◊〉 Then if God has 〈◊〉 nothing for us to do in his power nor 〈◊〉 nor 〈◊〉 then cannot any thing done by 〈◊〉 be truly sâ—â— to 〈◊〉 our duty or our work in any sense nor can there be any reward of grace for any thing done or saâ—â—ered by us nor cause of humiliation for any failing for as this notion supposeth it 's God that does all himself and his work being perfect there is no need of grace and the reward must