first sin with such freedom of morall grace as all the created powers of God are not able to necessitate the will of the redeemed naturall man to morall disobedience To whose finall perseverance in his redeemed grace by his morall obedience till Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling the grace of spirituall faith is due by the new covenant which is established with all men in the grace of this redeemed estate Of this redeemed estate of man God without all impeachment to his justice did decree from all eternity to elect to his mercy a certain number of this redeemed state of man known to himself by preserving of them from being finally overcome by the temptation of Satan and of his instruments in this life and to leave a certain number known only to himselfe in this redeemed estate of naturall and morall grace to be induced or not induced by Satan and his instruments to finall disobedience at their pleasure and perill For there is nothing to necessitate their will morally and finally to disobedience The immediate cause of Gods election of man in this redeemed estate is the freedome of his mercy who in this case will shew mercy on whom he will have mery in his Son Christ Jesus The immediate cause of his shewing of mercy to some in this redeemed estate is his foreknowledge of them whom from all eternity he hath predestinate to be made like to the Image of his Son in this life The immediate cause that they are predestinate to be made like to the Image of his Son in this life is that Christ Jesus the eternall Son of God made flesh of the seed of the woman in time may be the first born amongst many brethren who are his mysticall members The immediate cause that they are the mysticall brethren and members of their mysticall head Christ Jesus is that as their mysticall head by the bloody persecution of Satan and his cruell instruments did seal the truth of his fulfilled promise of the blessed seed with his heart blood So his mysticall brethren and members by tasting of the cup of his afflictions by the bloody persecutions of Satan and his cursed crue may stand in the defence of the truth of their mysticall head valiantly to the end of this life The immediate cause whereof is to the end that whereas the Lords mysticall members hath born the Image of his bloody persecution in this life So in the great day they may in their mysticall head revenge the blood of man upon Satan by the finall breaking of the old Serpents head and the head of his cursed seed to their eternall confusion And that in recompence of their valour they may in their mysticall head be crowned with an incorruptible crown of glory eternally and triumphantly in all heavenly happinesse in the life to come The immediate cause whereof is the Lords promise of the blessed seed that the seed of the woman shall break the head of the Serpent which seed of the woman is first the Word the Lord Jesus Christ begot by his Father man of the seed of the blessed Virgine And next his mysticall brethren begot by the literall and spirituall light of the Word brought forth by the woman the Church The immediate cause of the Lords promise of the blessed seed is Gods eternall decree of predestination upon his eternall prescience of the full of man by the malicious treachery of Satan The immediate cause of Gods eternall decree is Gods infinite love a and mercy to man in his Son Christ Jesus the Word made flesh of the seed of the woman from whose infinite love to man as all the effects of his sacred decree do proceed So all return to the infinit eternall word second person of the glorious Trinity God and man God equall with the Father and holy Spirit to whom with the Father and holy Spirit three coessentiall distinct persons one incomprehensible indivisible infinite essence God of all power and majesty be ascribed of all creatures all eternall honour glory power praise and thanksgiving for his infinite truth love and mercy to man the only Rock and Rest of the faith of man FINIS
old Serpent Rev. 20.2 from his stinging and killing of man from the beginning The poison of his sting is malice the bait whereby he doth bait his sting is his false pleasing deceitfull light called Satans darknesse for by the pleasing light of his miserable sting man doth greedily swallow the bait whereby man is stung to the heart From the great power of Satans sting whereby he did sting all men to eternall death from the beginning Satan Isa 27.1 is called a Dragon Satan Rev. 20.2 is called the great Leviathan which devoureth so many fishes at one mouthfull Satan from his stinging of all men from the beginning is called the Murderer of mankinde From his continuall stinging of man to make them fall by finall impenitency under the mercilesse curse of the Law of Faith Joh. 8.44 Satan is likewise called a Murderer Rev. 12.9 Satan is called the Devill because Satan having stung man by inducing man to commit sin upon sin Satan doth object to wretched man the severity of Gods justice continually accusing man for his sins against God and the impossibility of Gods mercy to the multitude of his sins whereby wretched man without Gods preventing mercy in his Son Christ Jesus is stung with the sting of despair Satan for his stinging of all men by his first blasphemous lie against God whereby he betrayed all men is called Joh. 8.44 the father of lies For lying is the first seed that he sowes amongst men even in a manner from the cradle From the great power of the false light wherewith he baits his sting to deceive man Satan is called the Prince of darknesse because by the power of his great false light the literall light of the word of the Law and life of righteousnesse written in the heart of man is obscured and darkned and in this sense Satan is likewise called 2 Cor. 4.4 God of the earth from the multitude of his followers As the cause of the curse is first set down and then the curse of the Law is literally pronounced upon the sensitive Serpent So the cause is first mystically set down to Satan and then the curse is pronounced upon the old Serpent Satan The cause is set down in these words because thou hast done this The mysticall sense of the words is this Satan because thou hast done this that is because thou hast been the first cause and author of this mischief to wit not only of the condemnation of Adam and of all men naturally to descend of Adam to eternall death and darknesse by the curse of the Law of righteousnesse but because thou art likewise the cause of the cursed death of Christ Jesus the eternall Son of God as he is man in redeeming of man from the eternall curse of the Law cursed therefore art thou above all the intellectuall creatures of God as thy instrument the Serpent is cursed above all the cattle and beasts of the field because thou hast done this According to the two branches of the curse literally inflicted upon the sensitive Serpent The two branches are mystically inflicted upon Satan in the Serpent The first is Vpon thy belly thou shalt goe Mystically Satan must go upon his belly the mysticall sense of the words is this Satan thou art cast down upon the belly of thy great power whereby thou didst so maliciously betray and deceive the first Adam and all men created in Adam the head so that thou shalt never rise again Rev. 20.10 with such a high hand of power to deceive and betray the second Adam to wit Christ Jesus and his mysticall members This mysticall sense of the first branch of the curse inflicted upon Satan is set down by the Apostle Jude chap. 6. to be the eternall chains of darknesse to which Satan ever since is chained like a Bear to the stake the compasse of which chain Satan must not passe over neither do within the compasse of that chain but what Satan is permitted by God For though Satan was cast down from the heavens like lightning Luke 10.18 by the curse of the Angelicall obligement of the Law which he did transgresse For Satan sinned Satan therefore transgressed the Law whereby he was Angelically obliged Yet Satans power was wonderfull untill he brought himself within the compasse of the curse of the humane obligement of the Law by his betraying of innocent man which is now pronounced by God upon Satan whereby Satans high power is curbed and himself confined and chained till the great day when Satan shal receive his final judgement and be cast down in the eternall burning lake Rev. 20.10 for his malicious betraying of man Who as he did first betray the woman man female so by man the seed of the woman he shall be condemned in the great day to wit by man Christ Jesus and his mysticall members who is the mysticall man which must break the head of the great Serpent in the great day to his eternall confusion And this is the reason that Satan did so saucily challenge our Saviour Mat. 8.29 for tormenting of him before his time Because our Saviour crossed Satan by dispossessing of the man possessed with Satans malicious spirit The second branch of the curse literally inflicted upon the sensitive Serpent as the literall curse doth concern the Serpent in particular is mystically inflicted upon the old Serpent Satan in these words Dust shalt thou eat all the dayes of thy life By the mysticall sense of this branch of the curse Satan is necessitate to feed upon the dust of the earth By the dust of the earth the foul dusty stinking sins of man since the fall is mystically signified which Satan must lick up and feed upon Mich. 7.17 or Satan must starve himself with his malice Prov. 14.28 Satans hunger and thirst therefore to make wretched man sin is one of the chief causes that Satan goeth about continually like a roaring Lion 1 Pet. 5.8 seeking whom he may devoure for Satan is necessitate by the curse to feed upon the sins of man whose insatiable hunger and thirst by reason of the necessity of this curse is never satisfied Another cause of Satans continuall going about seeking whom he may devoure is Satans fear lest too many should be regenerate and become mysticall members of the mysticall man and become Satans heavie judges in the great day For the Lord Jesus Christ united to his mysticall members is the mysticall man by whom Satants head and the head of his cursed seed in the great day must be finally and eternally broke to their eternall confusion And so much of the censure of God as it doth concern the sensitive Serpent and mystically the old Serpent Satan Next of the censure inflicted upon the Serpent as the censure doth likewise concern the woman CHAP. XIX As the censure inflicted upon the Serpent doth concern the woman THe censure of God upon the Serpent as it doth concern the woman is set down by Moses in these words Gen.
seventh dayes Evangelicall rest is as due morally to the morall faith of the naturall man as spiritually to the spirituall faith of the regenerate And this is all that can be affirmed to God by his relinquishing of man in the grace of his redeemed estate Who is therefore able to say that these men are the vessels of dishonour do not the regenerate man many times foulely fall and many times more foulely then the naturall man for these men whom God hath thus relinquished are known to God alone except a few who are branded in this life that all men may be warned by forsaking of their sins Phil. 2.12 to work out their salvation with fear and trembling And therefore we are commanded not to judge for who knows the time of Gods spirituall calling doth not the greatest sinner many times by his spirituall calling in Gods prefixed time become a pillar of the Church and such was Paul Then the question may be moved How comes these men thus relinquished by God to be made by God the vessels of dishonour The Apostle doth answer the question which is this in a word God doth suffer these wicked men to contemne his patience so long with such a high hand as God to shew his wrath and to make his power known Rom. 9.22 hath justly made them to destruction and these are the vessels of dishonour and the vessels of his wrath The immediate cause therefore that God hath made these wicked men the vessels of his wrath is their obstinate finall contemning of Gods long patience and the immediate cause of their finall contemning of Gods long patience is the base abusing of the freedome of their morall grace purchased at the high rate of the sacred blood of the Son of God for by their finall continuing in unrepented actuall sin and wickednesse they abuse the free power of their morall grace without any manner of power to necessitate their disobedience and by their abusing of the grace of their redemption they do tread underfoot the blood of the new covenant It is in the behalf of these wretched men that the Apostle doth move the objection in the 19. verse of this Chapter and answers to the objection The sense of the objection is this If God hath made me to destruction who hath resisted his will or who can help it God hath made me thus and I much not be against it To this the Apostle answers O man who art thou that pleadest so injustly against God shall the thing formed say to the former why hast thou made me thus to wit while thou hast given him so just reason to make thee thus Hath not the Potter power of the clay to make of the same lump one vessel to honour and another to dishonour As if the Apostle would have said Was thou not made of the same lump of the redeemed state of man that the elect was made and was not thou left in the like grace of morall power with the elect and was there any thing to necessitate thy foul finall contempt and disobedience more then was in the elect And now while by thy wilfull finall obstinate contempt of God thou hast brought thy self to such a miserable passe that God hath most justly made thee the vessel of his wrath thou dost now most injustly blame God for thy own miserable act But in the mean time we must warily consider against whom Paul doth presse this point For Paul doth here dispute against the Jews whose salvation he prefers to his own And therefore we must consider that the Apostle by pressing of this point is far from giving any occasion to the Jews to dispair of the mercies of God in his Son Christ Jesus which of all sins is the most fearfull For the Apostle by pressing of this point labours to break the Jews from their ceremoniall works of the Law whereby they did so obstinately contemn the Evangelicall Law of Righteousnesse of faith exhorting them to the end of the Epistle by the works of repentance and amendment of life and as it were to work out their election and salvation with fear and trembling and to leave off their ceremoniall works of the Law to the upholding whereof they were so incensed by the power of Satan and his instruments whereby they did so contemn the long patience of God leading them so graciously to repentance Here ariseth an objection to be answered God by his Decree of election hath predestinate a certain number out of the redeemed state of man to eternall salvation God therefore according to the rule of contraries by his eternall Decree hath predestinate a certain number relinquished in their redeeemed estate to destruction reprobation and actuall condemnation I answer First the inference is most false and blasphemous For by this inference God is made the inevitable author not only of actuall sin but of the finall continuance of man in actuall sin and of mans contemning of his long patience whereby man is made the vessell of wrath to his eternall destruction and all by God Secondly I answer that the election of man out of his redeemed estate of man to salvation and the reprobation destruction or condemnation of man are no wayes immediate contraries and therefore the inference most false and fallacious For though the election of man out of the grace of the redeemed estate and the relinquishing of man in the grace of the redeemed state of man be immediatly opposite yet many things doth interveen before God can make man the vessell of his wrath to destruction to shew his wrath and to manifest the glory of his power according to the Apostles words For first temptation of Satan and his instruments must incense the heart of man to the pleasure of sin Secondly man must continue in sin wickednesse and uncleannesse Thirdly though the naturall man continue in sin yet all this while he may morally repent for as yet there is nothing to necessitate his morall impenitency For it is only the finall ostinacy contempt and impenitency of man that bars him from morall repentance Fourthly God must suffer his patience to be long provoked untill the obstinate finall contemner make himself the compacted vessell of Gods wrath past all feeling of sin giving himself over to all uncleannesse with greedinesse And this is the man whom the Apostle saith that is made by God to destruction the immediate cause whereof is the immediate precedent act of man for God cannot condemn man but by the mediate condemnation of the Law and his Law can never condemne man but by the merit of mans finall obstinate contempt and impenitency to the command of the Law interveening Against this it is instanced all things that comes to passe in this world are by the power of Gods Decree of predestination That these men therefore do so contemne the long patience of God and that God doth so suffer in this world it is by the power of his Decree To this I answer It
is most certain that all things that doth or can come to passe in this world falls under the compasse of Gods decree but all things that comes to passe in this life are not from the positive actuall power of his Decree For a world of things comes to passe by the permissive power of his Decree and so doth his suffering of his long patience to be so contemned by these wicked wretches on whom he hath decreed to shew his wrath and to declare his power to their eternall destruction which is never actually inflicted upon man till the great day because this fiery wrath of God doth proceed from the curse of the Law inflicted upon man in the full extent as he is man intellectuall and sensitive which never can be inflicted upon man in this life because of the dissolution of man in the intellectuall and sensitive nature of man and because of the new covenant whereby man hath all the day of this life to repent Out of this which is declared in these last two Chapters arising from the light of the truth of the sacred Word of God I do inferre this necessary conclusion That absolute imaginary decree whereby God is affirmed out of his alone meer pleasure to elect a certain number of men to salvation without all respect to the immediate object of his election without respect to his spirituall calling whereby the election doth stand without respect to the immediate object of his spirituall calling which is the Lords only merit and consequently without all respect to the Lord himself second person of the glorious Trinity And that absolute imaginary decree whereby God is affirmed out of his alone free pleasure to condemne the rest of the world to the eternall torments of hell which is the curse of the Law without all respect of mans meriting by his transgression of the Law without respect to the first covenant whereby God and man were mutually obliged without respect to the creation of man in the state of naturall and spirituall perfection whereby man was perfectly enabled to fulfill the command of the Law of Righteousnesse withot respect to the fâ—ll of man from that state of perfection under the eternall curse of the Law without respect to the redemption of man from that fearfull curse by the sacred blood of the Son of God without all respect to the new covenant whereby all the nations of the world are called to believe in the Lords merit by his fulfilling of the pomise of the blessed seed to whose faith the blessing of the Lords merit by his Evangelicall rest which the blessing of eternall life is most freely offered which is most freely cut off from all men by this miserable imaginary fictious decree for by this blasphemous fictious decree the immediate cause of the salvation and damnation of man is peremptorily affirmed to be the alone free act of the will and pleasure of God which is but the only immediate cause that God doth elect one and not another out of the redeemed estate of man for the immediate cause of his election is his eternall love to the elect in his Son Christ Jesus by his spirituall calling as the immediate cause of the condemnation of the reprobate is their own immediate act by their obstinate finall contemning of the long patience of God as may appear by the words of the Apostle faithfully delivered in these two last Chapters CHAP. XXXVIII The childe departing this life unbaptized is saved by the precious blood of Christ Jesus by the immediate act of the redemption NInthly it is objected out of our Saviours words John 3.5 Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God Children therefore departing this life in originall sin unbaptized are condemned by the eternall curse of the Law I answer the inference is fallacious For first our Saviour speaks here to Nicodemus a Ruler and Teacher of the Jews and not to man that is a child Secondly Christ speaks not here to Nicodemus simply of the externall sacrament of Baptisme which was then administred by John and the Apostles but of spirituall Baptisme which the externall sacrament did represent by which spirituall Baptisme the naturall mans spirituall darknesse wherin he is shut up and dead as he is a spirituall man is spiritually inlightned by the sanctifying power of which spirituall light the naturall man is quickned again and raised a new lively spirituall man by spirituall faith who by the eyes of his spirituall faith doth now see to enter the spirituall Kingdome of God And this is the spirituall Baptisme which our Saviour doth call the birth of the Spirit and tels Nicodemus that a man by externall Baptisme simply without this spirituall Baptisme cannot enter the Kingdom of God because it is the free gift of God and not tied to the externall administration of the Sacrament of Baptisme And therefore our Saviour doth compare this free gift of God by regeneration Joh. 3.8 to the freedome of the wind For as the wind doth freely blow where it listeth so doth the spirituall light of God enlighten whom he listeth by dispercing the spirituall darknesse of the soul of man to see the way to enter into the Kingdome of heaven As concerning the childs departing this life unbaptized by the externall sacrament of Baptisme First the child is freed from the curse of the Law in Adam the redeemed head of man in whom the child transgressed the Law who by the perfection of the redemption is freed from the eternall curse of the Law by the first covenant Secondly there is no actuall sin in the child whereby the child can be liable to the curse of the law of faith by the new covenant which curse is due only for actual sin by final obstinate contempt of the Law of faith The child therefore is baptized with the sacred blood and water issuing from the blessed heart of our Saviour upon the crosse which the externall sacrament of Baptisme doth represent The child therefore departing this life is saved by the sacred blood of Christ Jesus and a glorious Saint in heaven for of such are the Kingdome of heaven As the child therefore is said to sin in Adam so the child is redeemed in Adam It is not therefore the want of externall Baptism which can condemne the child unlesse the child were of such discretion of understanding as the child did contemne the sacrament of Baptisme by the sacramentall water signifying the water of eternall life wherby the baptized is washed from his actuall sins wherein he is as it were drowned and dead and is raised to the new life of faith to believe in the Lords merit to save him from the second death For in the primitive Church they were only baptized who did actually believe Al children therefore in the Primitive Church departing unbaptized by the consequence of this fearfull objection should be damned contrary to the very words of the
referred to man where we shall meet with the two like collaterall causes all which 4. Causes as they are effects they are al produced by one and the same next and immediate superior cause from whence we arise to the supreme cause of all By the last and lowest effect therefore of the new Covenant as it is referred to God God in his Son Christ Jesus doth oblige the naturall man in his redeemed state of natural and morall grace First and immediately to the Evanglicall faithfull worship of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law as the eternall word Christ Jesus hath revealed himselfe by his Evangelicall seventh dayes rest arising from his bloudy rest Truth in the fulfilling of his promise to man and in that truth God in the three coessentiall distinct persons of the glorious Trinity cleerely and Evangelically without all propheticall mystery or Ceremony Secondly God doth oblige the faithfull Evangelicall obedience of man to the command of his whole Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith implyed in the Evangelicall seventh dayes commanded worship both upon the eternal blessing of the Lords dayes Evangelical rest upon the mercilesse curse of the law of faith The immediate cause of Gods obliging of man thus by his new Covenant is Gods eternall purpose to manifest himselfe mercy and justice to man by rendring of the reward of his Evangelicall law of faith according to the faith of man obliged by his law The immediate cause whereof is Gods enabling of the naturall man with such freedome of naturall and morall grace as he is able to give morall obedience to his calling by the new Covenant without any manner of necessitating of his morall disobedience To the naturall mans finall perseverance in which morall obedience till Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling the spirituall grace of faith is due to the naturall man by Covenant whereby he hath the temporall blessing of the Lords dayes of Evangelicall rest in this life and eternal rest in the life to come The immediate cause of such naturall morall grace is the perfection of the redemption of man And here we fall in with the two former causes of the first covenant for both the creation and redemtion of man are by the same immediate cause we must therefore yet stop our resolution till we meet with the fourth colatorall cause arising from the new covenant as the new covenant is referred to man which must be likewise resolved both as the new covenant is fulfilled by man and as the new covenant is broke and transgressed by man The last and lowest effect of the regenerate man as he is obliged to the command of the law of faith by the new Covenant is the faithfull Evangelicall worship of the Lords day to whose thankefull faithfull worship the blessing of the Lords daies Evangelicall rest is temporally naturally and spiritually united in this life and eternally in the life to come as the temporall naturall morall blessing of the Lords daies rest is morally united to the morall worship of the naturall man The immediate cause of the regenerate mans faithfull worship of the seventh day implying his obedience to the command of the whole law is his spirituall faith The immediate cause of his spirituall faith is his love to spirituall righteousnes The immediate cause of his spirituall love is the sanctifying light of the holy Spirit enlightning his understanding by his spirituall calling in the immediate act of regeneration The immediate cause of his spiritnall calling is the finall perseverance of the naturall man in his morall obedience according to the word of promise Mat 13.13 whosoever shall endure to the end shall be saved This end to the naturall man is Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling for the naturall man by his spirituall calling being actually regenerate is saved by spirituall faith and consequently justified The immediate cause of the naturall mans finall perseverance in his morall obedience is first and immediately the perfection of the redemption and secondly Gods speciall free concursive grace in saving of the naturall man from being overcome by Satans temptations This immediate cause of the perfection of the redemtion doth fall in collaterally with the three former causes and so we have foure in number But yet we must not rise without resolution from these foure causes till the new Covenant be resolved as the law is finally contemned and transgressed by man obliged to the new Covenant The lowest and last effect to the Reprobate obliged to the new Covenant is his finall willfull obstinate contempt of the gracious promises of Salvation purchased by the sacred bloud of the son of God To the reprobates finall wilfull contempt whereof by his unthankfull merit the mercilesse curse of the law of fayth is eternally united whereby the reprobate is eternally condemned by God upon his eternall prescience of the reprobates finall contempt according to his eternall decree which is actually inflicted upon the soule of the reprobate so soone as he departeth this life and in the full extent both of soule and body in the great day while by the resurrection from the dead the soule and body being essentially reunited the curse of the Law in the full extent is actually and eternally inflicted upon man as he is man The immediate cause of the reprobates finall wilfull obstinate contempt is the hardning of his heart The immediate cause whereof is the reprobates wilfull impenitent obstinat continuance in all sin and wickednesse by his contemning of God in the contemning of his law and truth and of the professors of the truth The immediate cause whereof as the cause is externall is the objective temptations of Satan and of his wicked instruments whereby the reprobate is spiritually and morally corrupted from his childhood The immediate cause of the reprobates continuance in sin as the cause is internall is his wilfull yeelding to be induced by the temptations of Satan and of his instruments while there is nothing to necessitate his morall disobedience whereby the reprobate doth so wilfully ungraciously unthankfully and presumptuously contemn the blood of the new covenant Thus having the foure causes met together we are to ascend from the foure causes as they are effects produced by the next superior immediate cause to the supreme cause of all The immediate cause therefore of these foure severall effects as they are the immediate subordinate effects of the next and immediate superiour cause is Gods eternall purpose of the election of man in his Son Christ Jesus For the immediate object of Gods eternall purpose of election is the state of man redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darknesse shut up in temporall spirituall darknesse till he be regenerate For in this estate all men are equally redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darknesse for their sin in Adam all equally shut up in temporall spirituall darknesse all equally reconciled to the love and favour of God for that