soul the cockatrice of Adams sin was first hatched I will not now dispute whether it was in the understanding being first blinded or in the will being first perverted this I know that the will is apt to be seduced by a blinde understanding and the understanding as apt to be clouded by a perverse will The understanding * moves the will by proposing the object which the will cannot affect except the understanding knowes it the will †moves the understanding to judge and consider the object which the understanding cannot consider except the will command it Lord illuminate my understanding that it may direct my will to affect the things that thou commandest and rectifie my will that it may command the understanding to exercise its act in meditating on the things which thou commandest LXIIII. If Christs obedience had been necessarie or naturall and not voluntarie he had not been like to us in all things except sin neither had he been subject to the tentation of disobedience nor had his obedience been meritorious nor had it been more excellent then the obedience of Angels but in this was his obedience more noble then theirs in that he yeelded that obedience willingly which they doe necessarily I will strive whilst I am here to obey willingly that hereafter I may obey necessarily for though voluntary obedience be the nobler yet necessarie obedience is the surer for I may disobey in the one I cannot but obey in the other LXV Though the sufficiencie of Christs death be extended to all yet the efficacie thereof is not applied to all nor did he pray and make intercession for all By his death he procured pardon for us and by his intercession he applies that pardon to us Lord in thy birth thou acceptedst my nature in thy death thou representedst my person by thy intercession put away my sins and pardon my offences that the mediation which thou begannest in thy birth and didst accomplish in thy sacrifice and passion may be fully made effectuall to me by thy prayers and intercession LXVI Action followes the affection therefore we love and hate actually because these affections are in us radically Though hatred be no affection in God yet we conceive it as an affection God therefore rejected Esau because he hated him but he did not hate him because he rejected him Lord I know thou maist justly reject me because in me there is that pravitie for which thou maist justly hate me repaire therefore in me the lost image of thy Son and so I shall escape thy just wrath and indignation LXVII The acts of Christs righteousnesse are ours not as they are performed by him but as they are imputed to us imputed I say by his merit and goodnesse and apprehended by our faith though in much weaknesse Then I see Lord that without faith thy righteousnesse will not availe me and without thy merit and goodnesse my faith cannot prevaile with thee give me then the hand of faith that with the Hemorroisse I may touch thee and by thy merit strengthen that hand that with Jacob I may hold thee LXVIII Christ first suffered before we could be redeemed and we are redeemed before it is applyed or can receive benefit by it then are we fully redeemed when we are from Satan and sin delivered Though Christ in suffering hath sufficiently paid the ransome yet whilst we are here subject to sin and Satan we are not fully partakers of redemption Heaven not earth is the place where that shall be perfected I will therefore lift up my head with joy because by death the day of my redemption draweth nigh LXIX A double benefit we have by Christ one that he hath purchased Redemption for us by his bloud the other that he hath applyed that Redemption to us by his Spirit if he had not died I could not have beleeved if I had not beleeved he had not applyed his death and merits to me Redemption is the cause of Faith and Faith the cause of Application Lord produce Faith in me by the vertue of thy passion that by Faith I may injoy thee in a true and spirituall Application LXX That the Church injoyes life eternall she is bound to Gods dilection but that she injoyes that life alone she is bound to his election because he loved her he hath bestowed this happinesse upon her because he chose her he hath appropriated this happinesse unto her Lord I will praise thy love by which I was elected and I will praise that election by which I am separated from the reprobate LXXI Gods will is the cause of preterition his justice is the cause of predemnation he was not bound to give grace to all therefore he passed by some without prejudice to his goodnesse he was bound to punish sin in all therefore he preordaines the death of his own Son and eternall paines for reprobates that he might not suffer prejudice in his justice Lord if thou hadst passed by me I could not have blamed thy goodnesse if thou shouldst punish me eternally I cannot blame thy justice for if thou givest grace to all where is thy libertie if thou forgivest all where is thy justice and equitie LXXII God is a most free Agent because he can doe what he pleaseth not because he can doe every thing his will is the supreme cause of all externall things but not of his justice which is internall as he cannot doe that which is evil so he cannot will that which is unjust as goodnesse is the object of his actions so justice is the rule of his will Lord make my actions subordinate to thy will as thy wil is subordinate to thy justice that as thou canst not will that which in justice thou maist not so I may not doe that which in wisedome thou wilst not LXXIII Though God foresaw sin in all yet he rejected not all sin was the occasion why he rejected some his will was the cause why he rejected but some his will was the cause of discrimination but sin of reprobation Lord I confesse it was not for want of sin in me that thou didst not reject me but because there was no want of goodnesse in thee therefore thou didst elect me my sin was the cause why I might have been rejected but thy mercie is the cause why I was not rejected LXXIIII God hindred Adams sin morally by his law not physically by his power he gave a law to guide him threatnings to affright him promises to induce him sufficient grace to strengthen him but used no violence or force to restraine him he would not thwart or destroy by any violent restriction that libertie which he gave him by Creation Thus we see his prudence in not restraining sin physically and withall his goodnesse in curbing it morally LXXV God willeth the death of a sinner because he foresaw the impenitencie of the sinner this is his consequent not his antecedent will in this his will depends not on the creatures
gave them that in his providence he might use them Lord if thou shouldest leave my Will to it self in this corrupted estate I now am in what fruit can it produce but sowre grapes and wilde olives for the fruit cannot be better then the tree and men gather not grapes of thistles nor figs of thornes I had rather have a necessitie laid on me to doe good then be left at libertie to doe evil I had rather my Will should be a servant to thy commands then be master over its own actions XII If Adam had not sinned he had been saved and being a sinner yet he is saved grace had saved him then and grace saves him now the grace of Gods love had saved him then the grace of Gods mercy saves him now Gods love then had been grounded upon the first Adams perseverance it is now grounded on the second Adams death and obedience I had been happie in Adam had he not been a sinner but I am now much more happie in Christ by being my Saviour I lost Paradise by the first Adam I have gained Heaven by the second the first Adam being man would needs be God and so made us equall to the beasts the second Adam being God would needs be man and so hath made us equall to the Angels XIII Some †say that God in predestinating man looked on him as he was to be created others * that he considered him as already created and lapsed because we are predestinated in Christ but Christ is a Saviour and a Saviour presupposeth a sinner I will not dispute the question but this I know that my miserie occasioned his mercy and had I not been a sinner he had not been a Saviour XIIII I am elected in Christ who is my Mediator not only by his merit of impetration of pardon for me but also by the efficacie of application of that pardon to me Not only by his bloud hath he made a purchase of Heaven for sinners but also by that same bloud he hath delivered the possession of Heaven to sinners XV There is a Promise of Heaven made to us and there is a law of obedience and faith imposed on us Heaven is promised upon condition of faith and obedience and these are promised upon condition of divine assistance Lord if thou assist I will obey if I obey thou wilt reward but here are the odds that my obedience is the effect and fruit of thy grace and assistance but not the cause of thy remuneration and benevolence XVI God being the supreme cause can have no superiour cause of his actions yet some say he may produce an effect which may occasion him to work further thus the foresight of mans sin gave him occasion to precondemne him This well is too deep and I have no bucket to draw with I will not soare with the waxen wings of humane reason too nigh this inaccessible light nor will I prie into the sacred Arke of Gods secret decrees only this I can say that whatever his decrees were before time I am sure his proceeding to judgement is just in time He is so just that he never condemned any man but for sin and he is so mercifull that he will not condemne every man that doth sin XVII Justice and Mercy were still in God actually from all eternitie in respect of the first act to wit of existence though they were not alwayes in respect of the second act to wit of operation God could not alwayes exercise Justice and Mercy on sinners because there have not been alwayes sinners as soone as man sinned these attributes in God appeared which were eternally existent in him but not eternally exercised by him Lord thou hast exercised the eternitie of thy Iustice in punishing for me thy naturall Son exercise I pray the eternitie of thy Mercie for him in saving the soule of me thy adopted sonne XVIII God by his antecedent will decreed to bestow Faith and Grace on us which by his consequent will he resolved to deny us his former will was moved by his own goodnesse but his latter will was provoked by our wickednesse if we have unjustly rejected the grace which by his former will he resolved to give us may not he justly by his latter will deny that grace which was rejected so perversly by us Lord if thou art resolved by thy first will to bestow grace on me let me not by my disobedience provoke thy second will to deny that grace unto me XIX Our wickednesse is the cause that moveth God to exercise his acts of Justice but his own bountie is the cause and our miserie the occasion why he exerciseth his acts of Mercy When I am punished I will accuse my own wickednesse which provoked against me divine Iustice and when I am saved I will extoll and reverence that bountie which took occasion by my miserie to make me an object of his Mercy XX I finde a two-fold decree the one of Providence the other of Predestination by that God resolved to give us as much grace as might suffice to save us by this he appointed to give us effectuall grace that we might be powerfully saved by the former we may beleeve if we will by this we doe actually beleeve They are inexcusable that have sufficient grace though it be not effectuall for God hath dealt graciously with us in affording sufficient helps of our salvation and we have dealt wickedly with our selves in hindring the efficacie of these helps No man then hath cause to complaine of Gods crueltie seeing he hath bestowed on all men sufficient grace of Providence whereby they may be saved but many men have cause to admire Gods mercie who hath bestowed on some the effectuall grace of Predestination whereby they shall be saved XXI God will have all men to be saved and he will have wicked men to be damned that is his antecedent will this his consequent that is sometimes frustrated of its end this never and its fitting that seeing his will cannot be fulfilled by us it should be fulfilled upon us They that will not satisfie his will by their obedience shall satisfie his will in suffering just vengeance XXII God loves himself and so he doth man the one love is internall the other externall the one is eternall the other temporarie the one necessarie the other voluntarie for Gods internall actions if the object be internall naturally are absolutely necessarie as when he loves himself the agent the object the action are all internall and all necessarie in respect of existence but if the object be internall voluntarily as when God decreeth and understandeth externall objects which he makes internall by uniting them to his understanding then all these actions are voluntarie and free even his very decrees which proceed from his free will It was in his choice whether he would decree any thing concerning man or not whether he would bestow grace and glorie on him The eternall generation indeed of his
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