whatsoever they be Doctrine no not the good works of men have any hand or stroke in Gods election of some to life and glory in heaven and his effectual calling of some in time these two things they are merely and onely of the free grace of God and not of the works of man whatsoever their works be be they never so good or excellent works in themselves And this being the proposition that it may rightly be conceived and that we erre not in the beginning we must know that Gods grace in Scripture hath a threefold acception First it is taken for Gods free favour which is of the nature of God and essential unto him the places of Scripture are obvious and plain unto us Secondly The grace of God in Scripture it is taken for the working of grace so some Divines take it for the operation extending and reaching out that free favour unto others Thirdly it is taken for the gifts of grace whether those gifts be habitual or actual as faith love joy hope peace patience and the like these are stiled by the name of grace now the proposition that we deliver is That Gods election is of his free grace my meaning is it is not the gifts of grace but by grace we are to understand the free grace and favour of God and the reaching and extending of that grace in time so that this being premised the point is to be thus conceived That Gods eternal election of some to life and glory in heaven it is of the free grace and favour of God being extended and reached out to his chosen and not of the works of man be they never so good or excellent though they be the works of grace and for the proof of this it is manifest in Rom. 11.5 The Apostle saith that at this very day there is a certain remnant of the Jews under the election of grace then he subjoyneth in the sixth verse Now if it be of grace then not of works for then were grace no grace and if of works then not of grace for then were works no more works so that the Apostle maketh a flat opposition and a contrariety between works and grace that the one of these being admitted and granted the other cannot stand but must fall grace and works cannot stand together in the same case Ephes 2.8 9. saith the Apostle by grace you are saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God and then he subjoyneth not of works lest any man should boast 2 Tim. 1.9 The Apostle speaking of God saith he hath saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own eternal purpose and grace and Titus 3.4 5. VVhen the bountifulnesse and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared not by the righteousnesse that we had done but of his own mere mercy he saved us These and many others do sufficiently evidence unto us the truth of the point That Gods free grace and favour is the cause of eternal election and not the works of men which are but splendida peccatam glittering sins Because God will have all the glory of all the good that cometh to his Reason 1 chosen or is done to them he will not impart his glory unto any other he will have the beginning the increase and consummation of it to come of his free grace and not of the works of man lest any man should take any part of the glory to himself Ephes 2.9 no not of the best works lest they should pride presume and magnifie themselves in their own good works and so detract from the glory of God and so mans mouth might be stopped Reason 2 The Lord will have his chosen to have sound and solid comfort in the certainty of their election and of their effectual calling not a comfort upon a rotten ground but sound comfort when Gods chosen come to be assured of it that they are in the number of Gods elect and have evidence that they are effectually called God will have that evidence and assurance of theirs to be built upon a sure ground namely upon his own free grace which is indeed unchangeable as his own blessed Majestie and essential in him and so a ground immoveable not built upon any works of theirs because they are variable and changeable in their own Nature it is true indeed Faith shall never fall away not by any immutability in faith it self but because grace doth continually support and uphold it but faith and good works of men in their own nature are variable and changeable weak and imperfect corruption cleaving unto them and unchangeablenesse belongeth neither to Saint nor Angel nor any thing but God himself it is his Attribute so that upon these two grounds we may resolve that Gods election and effectual calling is onely of his free grace and not of mans works Vse 1 First of all this truth is of great force and beareth strongly against the merit of good works which is held and taught by the enemies of Gods grace those of the Antichristian Synagogue of Rome whether it be merits of congruity or merits of condignity for this is their tenent the good things done by men before their conversion those do merit ex congruo but such as are done after calling those they magnifie and say they merit ex condigno by a kind of dignity equal to the works of glory that it is just with the Lord to give them salvation for it yea the point now delivered meeteth directly with that Popish conceit that grace and works do concur say they and so make a mingle mangle and hotch-potch grace and works do concur and meet together in the justification and salvation of a sinner they are good friends and at amity in flat opposition to the words of God which do teach that in the matter of justification and salvation these two are at odds in matter of good life faith and good works must be but not in matter of justification or salvation as they teach Again we find that justification and salvation they are by the Apostle derived and fetched from the very same beginning and cause namely the free grace and eternal love of God as well as election and vocation Rom. 8.30 Whom he predestinated them he called whom he called them he justified whom he justified them he also glorified so that election vocation justification and glorification come all from the same grounds Object 1 But yet further the Papists do seek to elude and to put out the clear light by many shifts as first of all say they the places alledged in Rom. 11. Ephes 2. and others where the Scripture maketh an Antithesis and opposition between grace and works you must know the meaning of the Holy Ghost his meaning is Ceremonial works not Moral works Ceremonial works have no hand in Justification Answ To this I answer The Apostle speaketh indefinitely shutting out all works whatsoever they
matter of comfort to believing soules and particularly comfort those that are capable of comfort He telleth him that he believing in these promises shall certainly be saved For thus runneth the tenour of the Word and the Gospel Whosoever truly believeth in Christ Jesus shall certainly be saved hereupon the Minister standing in the room and place of Christ being his Ambassadour doth make this particular application and draw out this conclusion The text saith he that believeth shall be saved The Minister saith Believe thou Richard Thomas William or whatsoever thou art and thou shalt surely be saved And this is as much as if Christ himself did preach by his immediate voyce from heaven For why Christ hath committed to us Preachers the delivery of his Word as appeareth 2 Cor. 5.19 20. And therefore upon the ground of believing the general promises of the Gospel that such shall be saved they may assure themselves they shall be saved And a man finding faith in his heart and soul which he may prove by the fruits and works of faith may thereupon assure himself that he is in the number of Gods chosen and shall certainly be saved And thereupon we may see it is but a cavil that these enemies of God affirm That the Minister knoweth not whether a man belong to Gods election or no when the Minister assureth him not upon that ground but upon the ground of believing Is this so that the Minister of the Word must not onely make known Vse 2 general Doctrines but particularly apply them Surely then the hearers of the VVord must not onely hear the general truth of the VVord made known unto them but they must also be content to have those truths applied unto them particularly by way of instruction by way of exhortation and by way of just reproof as occasion is offered And beloved men must not start aside and fret and chafe and take on when that the truth of the word is brought home unto them and applied particularly unto their souls for the discovery of their particular sins as their pride and vanity of apparel or whatsoever it is no they must willingly chearfully and readily yield and submit themselves unto it and not begin to quarrel with the affection of the Preacher and say now he speaketh out of malice and spleen and distemper and now he speaketh against such a man as if the man and the sin were one substance the Minister cannot speak against pride garishness of apparel long shagged hair but he speaketh against the man as if the sin were the man and the man and the sin all one therefore take heed of being in a chafe when thy sins are reproved And know that if thou thus do fret and chafe it is not onely an Argument that thou art possessed with a spiritual pride and a spiritual frenzy and madness but it is a sign of Gods heavy wrath and judgment ready to break out upon the souls of those men that so fret and chafe and take on in impatiency It is an immediate fore-runner of Gods heavy wrath when men cannot abide to be touched or to have the word of God applied particularly they are impatient of reproof and must have the Preacher to speak pleasing things and to daube them up with untempered morter this bringeth upon them the hand of God unto remediless and easless Destruction Esay 30.13 14. of saith the Prophet this is a foul sin when men teach their Preachers what to say it is like the breaking of a high wall that is sodain or like a bump in a wall a swelling knob that upon a sodain falleth down to the ground and is broken all to pieces like a Potters Vessel that is broken in shivers and there is not so much left as to hold fire or water so it is with those that repine at the particular application of the word their destruction is sudden Again further consider we if so be we be willing and ready to hear the word of comfort applied unto us though it belongeth not unto us and we can accumulate the preaching of the Gospel and yet put away from us the word of reproof we cannot endure that surely the Lord will then punish us in the same kinde he will deal with us proportionably and accordingly he will make his word of comfort that we so eagerly take hold on an unprofitable word and a word that shall yield no comfort unto us when we lie on our sick beds and in the hour of death because we receive the word of comfort that appertaineth not unto us and put away the word of reproof therefore he will make the word of comfort comfortless Consider to this purpose the example of Herod Mark 6.20 Herod heard and did many things gladly that John Baptist taught and found much comfort in hearing of him but when John came to touch him and to hit him on the bare his beloved sore and pleasing Dalilah that it was unlawfull for him to have his Brothers Wife then Herod shewed what he was he carried then a splenative minde and a grudge in his heart and never left till he had his head what touch my beloved Sin And the Lord dealt with Herod accordingly for those comforts that he appropriated to himself from Johns preaching were fruitless he went on in his sin and perished fearfully in his folly Then learn we to hear the word not cunningly for our instruction and comfort but in matter of exhortation and just reproof to be taxed for our sins And when the Lord meeteth with us in his word for our particular sins to say it is his Mercy and his blessing and to thank God that we have Ministers which do not daube us with untempered morter and to say as David saith in Psal 141.5 let the righteous smite me it is a pretious balm this is the affection of the godly but if we do accumulate to our selves the comforts that are promulgated in the Gospel and cast away the reproofs denounced against our sins God will then make his comforts comfortless and they shall do us no good So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy HAving formerly handled the reference this verse hath with precedent matter I now come to handle the matter of the verse it self And first of all we see the Apostle in the first place doth deny Gods eternal election of some to life and salvation to be in him that willeth good or worketh good And so the observation is briefly this That nothing in man or done by man coming from him Doctrine is the cause and ground of mans election or salvation Neither any mans willing of good or working of good no not the willing or working of good by a regenerate person by a person truly sanctified and in the estate of grace not his willing or working of good that is the cause and ground of his election or salvation And so to prevent an
rejected others out of the mere good pleasure of his will without any thing in man either good or bad quality or any thing done by man either good or evil No doubt God did foresee these things in man but not as a cause moving him thereunto but his election is free And indeed it is an act of Gods soveraignty that he hath over the creatures which is altogether independent upon any thing in the creature or done by the creature as the cause of it as for example In the first Creation of all things when God created the world he first made the matter of all things a confused Chaos and out of that he made the distinction of several things and creatures in their several kinds Now as in that first Creation when that the whole matter of it was alike a confused heap then there was reason why one part of that matter should become fire another water another the ayr and another earth Because this was necessary both for the beauty of the world and the use of the creatures that they might be useful both to man and beast but why this or that part of the first matter should be fire and not water why God would make that part water and another part earth a baser element no reason can be imagined of this but onely the will of the Soveraign Creator because it pleased God to make one part of that first matter water and another fire and another earth and another ayr he might have made that part fire which was water but it pleased the Almighty Creator to make them so So in the general there was Reason why the Lord would receive some to salvation and reject others to damnation both for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy and justice but why God would appoint this or that particular man or woman to life and salvation and not another man why Peter and not Judas not any reason can be imagined rightly and truly but the good will and pleasure of God Vse 1 First of all this truth serveth for the confutation of some erroneous opinions that are contradictory unto it as namely that of the Papists in that they hold and affirm that God indeed foreappointed some to life and salvation from everlasting no doubt say they but how upon his foresight of their free will working together with his grace upon a foresight that their free will would co-operate and co-work with his grace to the doing of good works and thereupon and in respect of that did God fore-appoint them to life and salvation a mere device and shift to delude silly people withal And likewise this truth now delivered meeteth with the erroneous opinions of the Arminians and Anabaptists for they are near one to the other The Arminians hold and affirm that God did decree the choyce of some to life and salvation not actually chuse them but decree some to life and salvation upon the foresight of their faith with perseverance and so say the Anabaptists it was upon the foresight of their faith and obedience to the Gospel so that they jump together in the matter the one upon foreseen faith and the other upon foresight of obedience to the Gospel the Lord did foresee that some would imbrace the Gospel some would believe in Christ some would seek salvation by faith in Christ upon the promises of God and thereupon did he decree the choyce of some to life and salvation or at least say they mincing the matter it was the rule which God did follow in his choyce we will not say they stand upon it to be the cause but it was the rule A frivolous distinction to distinguish between cause and rule or cause and reason But for the opinion it is most false for if so be the foresight of faith and of the obedience to the Gospel was the cause working God to decree the choyce of some to life and salvation then this will surely follow that that which hath onely a being in time was the cause of that which was altogether before time then faith which hath no being in nature but in time it shall be the cause working God to decree the choyce of some to life and salvation before all times a most grosse and absurd thing that the thing in time should over-rule the decree of God from everlasting Again if so be Gods fore-appointing of some to life and salvation had faith foreseen for the cause of it what need then had the Apostle to bring that question or make that Objection that he doth in the 14 verse of this Chapter What shall we say then is there unrighteousnesse with God there would be no shew nor semblance of any injustice or unrighteousnesse with God if so be this were true that Gods fore-appointing of some to life and salvation had faith foreseen for the cause if any had moved this question that it seemeth hard that before the children were born God should receive one and reject the other and so should conclude then God is unjust and unrighteous Then we might answer speaking in the language of the Arminians God did foresee long before that Jacob would believe and Esau would not and this would clear God from any suspition of injustice and this cavil would be quite taken away and so we should make the Apostle to speak very absurdly to move a question that needed not and make an objection needlesly which were most wicked and blasphemous once to suppose such a thing of the blessed Apostle which was guided by the holy Spirit of God infallibly who had cause to move this question so then let the Arminians and Anabaptists passe away with their idle fictions of their idle brains contrary to the truth of God Is this so that God hath fore-appointed some to life and salvation Vse 2 and rejected others merely of his good pleasure and will here then is ground of sweet comfort to thee that hast good evidence of it that thou art in the number of those whom God hath appointed to life thou art sometimes troubled it may be with the consideration of thine own unworthinesse of thy own great unworthinesse and the sight thereof doth many times perplex and trouble thee and make thee walk on very heavily and very uncomfortably and doth much trouble thy Conscience Oh then remember and consider this to thy comfort that the Lord hath set thee apart thou having evidence of thy election to life and salvation before thou hast done any thing without respect had to any thing done by thee either good or evil and will the Lord now reject thee and cast thee off because of thy unworthinesse which thou complainest of no surely he respecteth it not he respecteth neither thy worthinesse or unworthinesse he hath freely chosen thee to life and salvation before thou couldst do any thing and assuredly to thy comfort he will freely save thee he will passe by thy infirmities and pardon all thy sin he will hide them
Lord at the last opened mine ears and eyes and enlightened my mind gave me understanding and made me see what I would not see he touched my heart with his grace and the power of his Spirit and changed my Affections whereas before I had no mind of heaven no desire of salvation untill he made me see what I have not he hath not dealt thus with all many thousands there be that go on without this touch of heart and remorse of conscience without this powerful work of grace they go on in their sins though they hear the Word from Sabbath to Sabbath what was I better then they surely nothing at all by Nature Oh then how am I bound unto God nothing moving the Lord to shew mercy unto me but onely his mere good will and pleasure how am I bound to magnifie the goodnesse of God And indeed this is that glory of the free mercy of God which the Lord would have us to yeeld unto him he would have us to yeeld unto him this glory of his free mercy and how pleasing this is to God and how the Lord esteemeth of this magnifying of his mercy may appear by that description Exod. 34 6 7. The Lord the Lord strong merciful gracious slow to anger and abundant in goodnesse and truth Reserving mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin c. Thus the Lord doth proclaim himself for this is that wherein the Lord doth take delight to have the glory of his free mercy given unto him And this is the name by which the Lord Jesus will be known to his Elect and chosen in all ages I am a merciful God this is the name by which I will be magnified and in which he delighteth that we should give him the glory of his mercy that we can say when the Lord vouchsafeth mercy unto us that it proceedeth onely from the Lords free will And know that it is not more vile pride in a Begger to attribute the almes that is given unto him unto his own deserts then it is for us to ascribe any the least mercy that God vouchsafeth unto us to our own worthinesse it is monstrous pride in a beggar to ascribe the almes that are given him to his own deservings But it is far more for thee to ascribe and attribute that to thy self which is freely given of God Let us therefore consider that every rag we have it is of the free mercy of God Oh did proud persons consider this they would not so gorgiously adorn themselves and disgrace the holy profession of God if they did consider they have nothing but from the free Fountain of Gods mercy nothing moving him they would not be such carelesse fellowes in their careless bands which sheweth their carelesnesse as they be Vse 3 Again Is Gods mercy reached out unto his chosen most free and depending upon nothing out of God himself surely then a child of God one to whom God hath reached out saving mercy may conclude and gather to his comfort that Gods saving mercy it shall never be removed from him but abide with him for ever for why it dependeth upon the free will of God and that is unchangeable even as God himself And I may say as Pilate saith in Joh. 19.32 when he had written a superscription over Christ and they demanded why he writ so he answered quod scripsi scripsi what I have written I have written so may the Lord say I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy Mal. 3.16 I am Jehovah I change not Mercy is mine and who shall take it from me shall the devil no nor all the powers in hell can hinder or frustrate the will of God Oh then consider to thy comfort God hath reached out his mercy to thee and he will never take it from thee for he hath said I will have mercy on whom I will VERSE 16. So then it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth But God that sheweth mercy THe Apostle in this Verse determineth the point touching Gods Justice in his free choyce of some particulars amongst men to life and salvation In the Verse foregoing he proveth it by the speech of God unto Moses that God hath free liberty and absolute power to shew mercy unto whom he will and compassion to whom he will without respect had to any thing in them Now the Lord having thus described his shewing of mercy merely to depend upon his good will and pleasure hereupon our Apostle in this 16. verse doth bring in a consectarie and infer this conclusion that therefore Gods eternal election of some to life and salvation is not to be ascribed unto the will or unto the works of any man but unto Gods free grace in shewing of mercy So then it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy In this 16. verse the general things are two First a removal of that which is not the cause of Gods eternal election of some to life and salvation and what is that mans willing and mans running it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth Secondly the describing and the assigning of the onely true and proper cause of Gods choosing of some to salvation and that is Gods shewing of mercy but in him that sheweth mercy Now I will lay forth the sense and meaning of the words of this verse So then or So therefore it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the text Original these words it is are not to be found but they are necessarily to be supplyed So then it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth what is that that is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth surely that which the Apostle had spoken of Gods eternal election of some to life and salvation that is not in him that willeth nor runneth Some do here understand Jacobs willing and running particularly but by their favour that is too narrow and too strict for the purpose of the Apostle is more large and general these words being a conclusion of the verse foregoing I will have mercy on him on whom I will And this word him must have as large a sense as the words in the verses foregoing yet Jacob is not to be excluded but rather included and so the meaning is it is not in Jacob or in any other man that willeth or runneth in him that willeth That is in him that willeth and desireth good and endeavoureth after that which is good and that by the power and strength of his mind will and affections or any part or all the powers and faculties of his soul nor in him that runneth We are not to understand as some do Esau's runing onely no nor yet Jacobs running to the fold to fetch a Kid for his father Gen. 27. but the meaning is it is not in him that worketh as it is not in
Objection in the beginning For the Papists they say eluding the evidence of this text in this manner It is not in him that willeth or runneth after the flesh and according to Nature but by your leave say they it is in him that willeth and runneth by Faith which is grounded upon Gods mercy may agree with Gods mercy A poor shift and thus they seek to shift off the Evidence of this text directly contrary to the meaning of the Holy Ghost in this place For the opposition here is not between man willing and running after the flesh and mans willing and running by faith they are not here opposed But mark the opposition it standeth thus Between mans willing and running and Gods shewing mercy these are the things that be here opposed and set in Contradiction one to the other mans willing and running in a good way and in the way of sanctification and salvation and the Lords shewing of mercy so that neither the willing of good nor the working of good by any though a regenerate person is the thing that is available to election or salvation As in 2 Tim. 1.9 The Apostle there denyeth that either himself or any other true believer and regenerate person that they were either called or saved by their own works for saith he He hath called and saved us Not according to our own works but according to his own grace whether they were works natural or supernatural so also in Titus 3.4 5. verses he saith in the fourth verse when the bountifulnesse and love of God appeareth then in the fifth verse he subjoyneth not according to the works of righteousnesse which we have done but of his own mere mercy he saved us so that the willing or working of good is not the cause of any mans election or salvation The Reason is Because the goodnesse which is in the will of man Reason and the goodnesse which is in the works of man it proceedeth from Gods election it is an effect and a fruit of it It proceedeth from that root and so is the fruit of holinesse and righteousnesse as the Apostle saith expresly in Ephes 1.4 God hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world was laid that we should be holy so that holinesse followeth Gods eternal election And therefore the willing or working of good by regenerate persons cannot possibly be the cause of Gods eternal election it being the effect for it is not possible that the same thing can be the cause of the same thing and the effect in one and the self-same thing For Application First of all this meeteth with that opinion which Vse 1 some do hold That it is of God a man may be saved But that men are saved That particular persons amongst men come to be saved that is of themselves This do some hold and affirm And it is their tenent That the possibility of the salvation of man that it is possible for men to be saved that is of God But that this possibility becometh profitable and effectual to some men that is of their own free will A foul and a grosse errour directly contrary to the truth now handled and delivered unto us if it be so that the possibility of the salvation of man becometh profitable to some particular persons amongst men from the freedom of their own will surely then it must needs be from the goodnesse of their own will and from their well-willing And then a believing soul a soul that shall be saved and now is in the state of grace and of salvation hath ground to boast of in himself And may lift up himself even against God himself in ostentation and may thus magnifie himself say unto God Lord that there was any possibility for me to be saved it was of thee I freely confess it but that this possibility proveth not an impossibility to me as it doth to many thousands in the world that was my own doing I did that of my self That I could be saved the thanks of that belongeth to thee Lord but that I am now in the state of grace and salvation And that I am sure to be saved the thanks of that belongeth to me my self For thy love to me was no more then to them that are damned till my willingnesse to receive grace and faith put a difference between me and them till the inclination of my soul made me thine I might for all thy love have been damned eternally as well as Cain Judas Saul or any other Reprobate had not I out of the righteousnesse and freenesse of the freedom of my own will chosen grace it was not of thee Lord but of my self that I chose grace And damnation had been mine had I not of my own free and voluntary will chosen and used grace Oh beloved is not this intolerable and monstrous pride and ambition thus in ostentation for a man to lift up himself against God Is this a thought to come into any Christians heart no it is to be renounced For this boasting and ostentation doth naturally follow upon this their tenent that they teach the possibility of salvation cometh from God but that that possibility cometh into Act is of mans free will And this ought by every Christian to be abjured renounced and cast away as blasphemous erroneous and false Vse 2 Again This being a truth that no mans willing or doing of good is the cause of election or salvation Then let this teach us to take heed that we ground not our salvation upon any thing willed or done by us be it never so good yea though it proceed from the root and radix of true sanctifying grace It is mere madnesse in the Papists enemies to Gods grace to ground their hope of salvation as they do upon the performance of those good things that God requireth of them so far forth as they are able to perform them thus they ground their hope of salvation Now they so grounding their hopes they have no reason in the world to hope for any good at the hands of God for who seeth not unlesse he be wilfully blinded and blindfolded by his own self-love self-will and self-conceit who seeth not I say how far short we come of doing those good things we ought to do either in the state of nature or in the state of grace And the Papists themselves to joyn with them when they deal against that comfortable and holy truth of God that is held and taught in our Church That a Child of God may in time of this life be infallibly assured of our own salvation the Papists when they deal against this holy and comfortable truth then they plead and say alas we are frail and we are weak creatures and we fail in the manner of doing good duties and therefore we cannot assure our selves of salvation What say they do you say we may be assured of our salvation upon our faith and doing good duties Alas we are full of imbecillity