that were to find fault where there is none then he would not do right to Men. And shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right This were to slay the Righteous with the Wicked and if it were thus the Righteous should be as the Wicked But Abraham communing with God Gen. 18.25 saith That be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the Righteous with the Wicked and that the Righteous should be as the Wicked that be far from thee If this were God should not be a Righteous Judge neither should he Judge the World with Righteousness or the People with Equity But the Lord is the Righteous Judge with Righteousness shall he Judge the World 2 Tim. 4.8 Psalm 98.9 and the People with Equity Some may query Doth not the Apostle call such Reasoning a Replying against God Which Word is diversely rendered as Repliest or Answerest again or Disputest thou with God Now there is a great Variety in God's Works and there are Degrees of Honour he hath put the Heavens above and the Earth below and in Heaven he hath made several Degrees and Orders of Angels and hath caused one Star to differ from another in Glory and in Magnitude yet the less Glorious are Stars too and all Stars are from brightness and shining the least hath its lustre And in the Earth there are different Ranks and Degrees of Men Superiours and Inferiours c. even in the Natural Body some parts are more some less Comely yet the less Comely parts though not so Honourable are of great use in the Body And this is that thing we are not to dispute with God why he hath made us thus He is the Former and We the thing formed who are but as the Clay to the Potter in comparison of him So We unto him that striveth with his Maker let the Potsherd strive with the Potsherds of the Earth Shall the Clay say to him that fashioned it Isa 45.9 10. What makest thou c. Wo unto him that saith to his Father What begettest thou Or to the Woman What hast thou brought forth It 's our place to be content with what God hath done both as to what he hath Made us and as to the Station and Capacity he hath plac'd us in and not to murmur or have Emulation against such as are greater than we or are more indued with Power and the Divine Wisdom but be thankful for them as Helps in the Church c. and to God that we are related to him and not the thing formed say to him that formed it Why hast thou made me thus Ay but say some hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same lump to make one Vessel unto Honour and another unto Dishonour We dispute not God's Power but assert his Act and aver He hath not in our first Creation made any Man in a strict and proper Sense a Vessel of Dishonour to break or destroy it for all the Vessels of the Potter are by designation Vessels of Use he makes none on purpose to break them in pieces again and to no other end but meerly to shew his Power over the Clay and even this if he did so would not answer to God's making Men to an End of Eternal Destruction because of the Torment of that State whereas the other is but dead Clay Though he hath the Potter's Power he is not as that foolish Potter who counted it his Glory to make counterfeit things wisd 15.9 The Prophet Jeremiah gives a Relation of his going down to the Potter's House and the Vessel that he made of Clay was marred in his hand so he made it again another Vessel as seemed good to him and the Word of the Lord came to him saying O House of Israel cannot I do with you as this Potter Behold as the Clay is in this Potter's hand so are ye in my hand Here God declares his Power what he could do and then his Act what he would do the order and manner of which is especially observable and is thus At what Instant I shall speak concerning a Nation to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it if that Nation against whom I have pronounced Jer. 18. â— turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them Is not this great Grace and Mercy If as to such then as Miscarry God would amend their default how much less would he make any to miscarry Here are in this Text People denoted who had swerved from their proper End and who saving God's Power were marred for being Vessels of Honour and God according to his great Power and Justice might have concluded them under Everlasting Dishonour yet he forbore the Execution of this being still ready to spare them if they would turn from their Evil. And if he be thus sparing concerning them that have sinned to put the Seal of perpetual Dishonour upon them for Vengeance is his strange Act which whenever he executes he puts on his Armour how much less hath he made any to be Vessels of Wrath and Dishonour For whatsoever is Good is Honourable but God made all things Good therefore he made all things Honourable Whatsoever tends to stain God's Honour is false and wicked but it 's a Dishonour to the Maker to make any thing Dishonourable therefore to hold that is false and wicked In short it 's contrary to Reason and Scripture and to the Verity and Honour of God the Maker and Creator of all things to say he made any thing Dishonourable in their first Structure in a strict and proper Sense but it is allowed comparatively or with respect to Degrees of Honour Now this is as to our first Make but what God may do with us afterwards because of our Sin or we make our selves or the Enemy may make us relates not to our first Creation or Being The Potter wrought a Work on the Wheel and the Vessel that he made of Clay was marred or broken in his hand Jer. 18.3 4. so he made it again another Vessel as it seem'd good to the Potter to make it Now Man is compared to this Vessel of Clay which was marred in the hand of the Potter and he made it again another Vessel as seem'd good to him and though we cannot miscarry in God's hand through any deficiency in him as a Workman yet we may miscarry in our own Conduct after we are formed and fashioned by him as free Agents at liberty to choose the Good and eschew the Evil. And 't is not God's Power but Man's going into the Evil is the cause many miscarry and become Objects of God's Displeasure and Vessels of Wrath. Thus Men's Destruction is of themselves and not of God And it 's plain when the Potter wrought his Work on the Wheel it was first intended for another thing but being marred in his hand he made it another Vessel as seem'd good to the
but be it so or not there is a great Misunderstanding of them amongst many People who from hence 1. Distinguish all Mankind into Elect and Reprobate 2. The first they make but a very small Number 3. The latter an huge Number and abundance of Infants and young Children among them 4. They conclude all the first under Salvation 5. And all the last under Damnation 6. And that the first can in no wise miss of Salvation nor the latter escape Damnation by any endeavours whatsoever they are both so fixed and unavoidable upon them 7. And they also hold That the Salvation of the one and Damnation of the other are by an absolute Decree without any respect to their Good or Evil Deeds All which resolves into this 1st That God loved but a few and hated the far greater part of Mankind from all Eternity or from the Fall or at least from before they were Born 2dly That those few whom he loved he ordain'd to Salvation so positively and absolutely as that they could never in any wise or by any means miss it 3dly That that great Number whom God hated he ordain'd to Damnation after the same positive and arbitrary manner and so absolutely as they can never in any wise by what means so ever avoid it 4thly That as God of his own free-will and choice loved those few without respect to any thing in them either Good or Evil when as yet they had done nothing to deserve or procure it so after the same manner he hated the other great Multitude without any cause or respect but to his own Will having yet done nothing to procure or deserve it Now it is hereby intended to detect and remedy and to expose the Evil Tendency and Consequence of such Abuse and Misunderstanding of these and several other Scriptures of like import The First Part. Treating Principally of Reprobation CHAP. I. Wherein is laid down Two Positions opposing the Doctrine of Reprobation and the same demonstrated by sundry Arguments 1. From God's Work of the Creation in the beginning and from his Divine Nature and Attributes 2. From Solomon's Observation of that great Work 3. From the Rejoycing of the Heavenly Host over that Blessed Work 4. From the Creature made the Vniversality of Christ's Death and of the Gospel and God's Grace and Love to Mankind 5. From sundry Destructive and Pernicious Consequences naturally and clearly resulting from this Doctrine 6. From sundry clear Texts and Authorities of Scripture AND for the better ordering the Argument to treat of Election and Reprobation severally to avoid the inconvenience of keeping no Method by handling them Promiscuously I shall begin with Reprobation and shew 1. That God did not Hate and Reprobate the greatest or any part of Mankind from all Eternity or from the Fall or from before they were Born 2. But that we came forth into this World free and clear from any such fix'd Decree accompanied with the Grace and Love of God being God's Delight and so far from the wretched Condition this false Doctrine represents us in crawling under the Burden of a Decree of Destruction which let us struggle under its weight never so long and do our utmost endeavours we must at length be overcome of it and fall inevitably under Ruine thereby Both which are demonstrative § 1. From the Work of Creation that great and first of the Works of God in time that began with the beginning of Time and is the Date of Mankind in which we come to our Spring Head and are Streams from thence If this was a Work of Blessedness Goodness Grace and Love in a most comprehensive and intire Sense then no part of Mankind was Predestinated to Damnation or Hated of God from all Eternity for that would be an exception to its being a Work of Grace and Love Destruction and Misery are not from thence that sweet Fountain sends forth no such bitter Streams But that this Work of Creation was a Work of Blessedness Goodness Grace and Love is shewn From the Divine Nature and Attributes of God the great and blessed Author of it by whom we are taught That as is the Workman so is his Work A good Tree bringeth not forth corrupt Fruit neither doth a corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit c. Luke 6.43 45. A good Man out of the good Treasure of his Heart bringeth forth that which is good and an evil Man out of the evil Treasure of his Heart bringeth forth that which is evil As is the Man so is his Work and as is God so is his Work But God is good in the greatest Eminency the Treasury of Blessing is with him he is abundant in Goodness Grace and Love which the Beloved Disciple makes his Definition 1 Iohn 4.8 in so many express words saying God is Love Then his chief Motive in the Creation of Man must be his own Benignity Goodness Grace and Love and his End that Man might partake of his Glory and enjoy Him for ever Which shews God did not Hate Man nor put him under any such unavoidable Decree of Destruction from all Eternity § 2. From the Observations of Solomon upon this great Work of Creation which are first Negative That God made not Death neither hath he pleasure in the Destruction of the Living Wisd 1.13 14. Then Affirmative That he created all things that they might have their Being and the Generations of this World was healthful and there was no Poison of Destruction in them or Kingdom of Death upon the Earth But we were made in Righteousness and true Holiness Ephes 4.24 or Holiness of Truth And to have our Being as such is to have or injoy God the Divine Life for a Man cannot properly be said to have what he doth not in some measure possess or injoy so this End to which we were made is an high State of Glory above Death Destruction or Misery all which made their Entrance through the Fall Neither hath he pleasure in the Destruction of the Living Then he hath not from all Eternity had pleasure in Decreeing their Destruction for otherwise he was not a free Agent in so Decreeing but under some necessity of working against himself of acting and doing contrary to his pleasure which subjects him to Misery shewing as if He who is the most Soveraign and free Agent of all received Controul from some other which is absurd and blasphemous as are all the Consequences of this false Principle There was no Poison of Destruction in them or Kingdom of Death upon the Earth Then there was no Curse but all was in the Blessing then God had not Hated or Decreed the Destruction of any number of Men for if so there had been some Poison of Destruction and there had been some Kingdom of Death upon the Earth And if God had not then done it in the beginning of the World which was in Time being computed about Five Thousand Seven Hundred Years since much
the Destruction of the Wicked to be of God and not of themselves and that Evil is no cause of it but God's Decree c. hides and conceals the Malignity and Poison of Sin which of its own Nature is pernicious and destructive to Man's Soul tainting and infecting it with Corruption and Rottenness by which it slides into the deep Abyss of Death and Misery as a due Reward This Doctrine searcheth not into the Wound of the Soul made by Sin which decays it and of its self brings Death and Ruine if not timely cured And this Doctrine makes the Physitian the Malady the Healer the Destroyer the most Soveraign Balm the Canker of the Wound So if we can admit of all these Absurdities and abundance more we may admit of Decretal Reprobation which cannot be § 6. For the Scripture declares 1 Thes 4. v. 3. That this is the Will of God even your Sanctification Vers 4. That every one should know how to possess his Vessel in Sanctification and Honour Vers 7. That God hath not call'd us unto Vncleanness but unto Holiness Ezek. 18. v. 32. That he hath no pleasure in the Death of him that dieth Chap. 33. v. 11. That he hath no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and live Luke 15. v. 7. That there is Joy in Heaven for one Sinner that Repenteth c. Now as Holy Writ hath given us this true Account of God's Will for us to conclude him Acting quite contrary to it is to affront the Scripture and oppose God against himself making him Will one thing and Act another Who worketh all things according to the Counsel of his own Will But for us to conclude him Decreeing any Man's Eternal Destruction from all Eternity or from the Fall or from before his Birth without any respect to his Deeds c. is to conclude him Acting quite contrary to his declared Will in Scripture c. Then he that worketh all things according to the Counsel of his own Will and willeth not nor hath pleasure in the Destruction of the Wicked he hath not without any respect to their manner of Life decreed it But God works all things according to the Counsel of his own Will and willeth not nor hath pleasure in the Destruction of the Wicked therefore he hath not absolutely Decreed it c. Object But they say God hath his Declared Will and his Secret Will and that Men are Decreed to Election or Reprobation according to his Secret Will c. Answ As to this we read of Secret things that belong unto God Deut. 29.29 Psalm 25.14 and of his Seerets that are with the Righteous and with them that fear him This Secret Will of which they talk Job 15.8 must be the one of these two sorts if of the first how do they know it Do they understand the Secrets of God And do they restrain Wisdom to themselves If of the latter what Proof give they of it Or how do they reconcile it that there should be in God two opposite Wills the one Secret the other Reveal'd and these contradictory to each other the one preservative the other destructive of Men According to the one he hath Sworn He wills not the Death of a Sinner according to the other He both Wills and hath Decreed it because of his Will not because of their Sin And thence come so many Thousand innocent Infants to be in Hell according to them among the Damned A witless graceless merciless gospel-less Opinion a most staring Piece of Confusion and Blasphemy which either chargeth Schism upon God or reconciles Contradictions There have been none so bad but what have had Offers of Salvation Cain had it the Old World had it Sodom and Gomorah Gen. 4.7 and 6.3 and 18.30 c. Jonah 3. Jer. 51.8 9. Rev. 2.21 Nineveh c. Nay even Babylon God call'd to Mourning for 'em saying Howl for Babylon take Balm for her Wound if so be it may be healed he would have healed Babylon And of Jezebel he saith I gave her time and space of Repentance but she Repented not In the next Chapter I shall take account of some general Relations of God to us and shew from them That our Preservation not our Destruction is his Work Will and Delight c. CHAP. II. Being a further Refutation of the Doctrine of Reprobation by Arguments deduced from some General Relations of God to us viz. 1. From his Regal Office and Power 2. From his being the Everlasting Father 3. From the Office of Jesus Christ as our High Priest c. § 1. THe Lord most High is a great King over all the Earth Psalm 47.1 2. Mal. 1.14 Rev. 19.16 And Regis est Regnare it is the Property of a King to Reign According to which there are several Powers or Prerogatives belonging to him the Power of Soveraign Rule Power to execute Justice and Judgment Power of Life and Death of Punishing and Pardoning Offenders c. Where the Word of a King is there is Power and who may say unto him What doest thou But all this Power is lodg'd in him not for the hurt but good of his Creatures for their Benefit not Detriment His Office is not to Destroy but to Preserve and Defend them against the Violence and Spoil of foreign Enemies and the Injuries of one another their Safety is his Law Salus populi suprema lex He is the Terror of the evil doer and Praise of them that do well Now should a King use his Power to an evil end to bereave the greatest part of his Subjects of their Properties and Lives not because of their Fault but of his own Arbitrary Will and Pleasure and had only this to be said for him That he was extraordinary kind to a few Or suppose he agreed with his Rebelling Subjects on these terms 1. To forgive all past and accept them still on Condition they behave themselves well and dutifully for the time to come 2. That their Treason should not attaint their Children or subject them unto any Forfeiture or Punishment and should pass these Covenants into Laws Yet should notwithstanding all this without Provocation by any new Offence break out into Fury against them and should utterly Kill the far greatest part of them and their Children meerly for his own Will or to shew his great Power over them or to set forth the Terribleness of his Wrath or to spread his Name abroad c. In an Earthly King this would be accounted and that truly the height of Persidiousness Cruelty and Tyranny and yet these Predestinarians consequentially lay all this at his door and aver it to be the way and manner of the great King § 2. God is called in Scripture the Everlasting Father and we are called his Off-spring The Off-spring of God c. For he is the Father of us all by Creation Now this is not a Destructive but a Preservative
Agent above all other so hath he made Man in his Image an intelligent Being a free Agent A Marvellous Work of the great Worker of all things With respect to which David said Psal 139.14.104.24 I am fearfully and wonderfully made c. And concerning the variety of God's Work he saith O Lord how manisold are thy Works In Wisdom hast thou made them all c. Now it behoves That He who made all things in Wisdom should exercise an Order of Wisdom amongst them all should rule and govern them in Wisdom every thing according to its Capacity and Creation Should he do otherwise it would be contrary to his Work of Creation in framing Man's Heart so as it is not ordinarily wrought upon but by Perswasions Accordingly he draws Men with Cords of a Man even with Loving-kindness and saith I will instruct thee Hosea 11.4 Psalm 32.8 and teach thee in the way thou shalt go I will counsel thee with mine Eye c. § 6. Here is God's Wisdom exalted in that he deals with us as is proper to Creatures of our Frame and Make voluntary intelligent Beings that may distinguish and choose for our selves and if we be chang'd to Good through Obedience to the Grace of God or to Evil through yielding to the Enemy's Temptations must receive Rewards or Punishments accordingly But once pervert this Order of Heaven and we should let in Confusion amongst God's Works c. Also The Love and Justice of God is here exalted His Love Because he would have all Men come to the Knowledge of the Truth and be saved but Men cannot come to this Knowledge nor cannot be saved without this Grace And his Justice that as saith the Psalmist He might be Justified when he speaketh and Clear when he judgeth for if this Grace were not given Psalm 51.4 Men should have no Sin because where there is no Law Rom. 4.15 there is no Transgression And concerning the Persecuting World Iohn 15.22 Christ saith If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin but now they have no cloak for their sins So take away this Divine Light and Grace of God which is the Standard by which Good and Evil are measured and there should be neither Vertue nor Vice Rewards or Punishments So this is the Wisdom and Manner of God his Oeconomy or Houshould-Order his Way in the Creation that having set Life and Death before us with Exhortations to choose Life he leaveth us according to the wise Man in the hand of his Counsel that is so far as we are left to our own choice and not forced for this would be repugnant to our Constitution For He himself made Man from the beginning and left him in the hand of his Counsel saying If thou wilt keep the Commandments Ecclus 15.14 15 16 17. and perform Acceptable Faithfulness He hath set Water and Fire before thee stretch out thine hand unto whither thou wilt Before Man is Life and Death and whether him liketh shall be given him But there had been none of the Life here spoken of if he had not had Grace and a Day of Visitation c. § 7. Having now past this Objection I would query To what purpose hath the Grace of God appear'd to all Men Which the Scripture calls Gratia illa Dei Salutifera benignitas Dei servatrix omnium the Salvation-bringing Grace of God the Goodness of God the Preserver of All and which those Men call Common Grace To what purpose I say hath it appear'd to all Men And why is it called The Preserver of all if no Man whatsoever obtain Salvation by it Which is according to their Principle Having hitherto in this Second Part clear'd up my Passage by these few more General Arguments I shall come now to treat more particularly of those Terms under Examination CHAP. II. Treating 1. Of God's Fore-knowledge 2. Of Predestination the Definition thereof and how to be understood in the Scripture-Sense which is Conditional with Two Objections answered to clear that Point 3. That Predestination Calling and Justification may be forfeited or fallen from 4. That Predestination is imply'd in Calling Election and Adoption all which may be lost or forfeited Of God's Fore-knowledge § 1. IT is granted That known unto the Lord are all his Works from the beginning he knows all things past present and to come but there is no necessity of Sinning proceeding from this Foreknowledge This Knowledge in God how and in what manner things will come to pass that are Evil is not at all the cause of their coming so to pass for then the fault would be upon God when things are so and issue ill If we should charge any fault on God and make him the Author of Sin or else that there should be no Sin we should let in great Blasphemy and Absurdities as is in part already shewn in answer to the Objection taken from Jude c. in page 24. preceding Of Predestination § 2. Predestination is Fore-appointment or Ordaining before what shall come after which some understand according to the Praedestinatiani a kind of Hereticks that held fatal Predestination of every particular Matter Person or Action and that all things came to pass and fell out necessarily especially touching the Salvation and Damnation of particular Men and that Omnia suint salo c. And it is thus defined by Walter Raleigh in his first Book folio 16. We can saith he difference Predestination no otherwise from Providence and Prescience than in this That Prescience only foresees Providence foresees and cares for and hath respect to all Creatures even from the brightest Angels of Heaven to the unworthiest Worms of the Earth and Predestination is only of Men and yet not of all to Men belonging but of their Salvation properly or Perdition c. So herein these differ the first hold it Of every particular Matter Person or Action c. the latter Of Man only and yet not of all to Men belonging c. And yet in one thing they both agree which is nevertheless a great Error That Predestination hath respect unto the Damnation and Perdition of Men which is no where found in the whole Scriptures But where-ever we read of any being Predestinated it is unto the Adoption of Sons unto Salvation unto Eternal Life and unto Glory c. but never unto Destruction and Misery So Predestination is not unto Perdition And as it respects the Salvation of Men it is not to be understood simply or absolutely and positively but is to be understood secundum quid according to the Covenant betwixt God and Man in a conditional Sense For if otherwise all would be saved because all were made to an End of Salvation which signifies their Fore-appointment unto Glory or in other terms their Predestination for to be Predestinated or Made or Ordain'd or Fore-appointed unto Glory all import one and the same thing Again If Predestination were
thy Father's Children shall bow down before thee c. Gen. 49.48 Whence and from several other Scriptures may appear That Judah had the first place in the Love of God before any other Tribe or Family then upon Earth yet God would not bear their Wickedness but was provoked by it so as he slew Er the First Born Son of this great Father of the Tribe and from whom it took its Denomination And in After-time when their Kings did wickedly God was provoked with it as appears particularly in the Instance of Manasseh who did evil above all that the Amorites did which were before him for which cause God said He would bring such Evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that whosoever should hear of it both his Ears should tingle And further I will forsake the Remnant of mine Inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their Enemies and they shall become a Prey and a Spoil unto all their Enemies because they have done that which is Evil in my sight and provoked me to Anger c. And notwithstanding the great Reformation soon wrought in Judah by that good King Josiah who was this wicked King's Grand-Child of whom 't is Recorded That like unto him was no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his Heart neither after him arose there any like him Yet so far was the Lord provoked upon so great a defection of the People that he turned not from the Fierceness of his Wrath wherewith his Anger was kindled c. but said I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel and I will cast off this City Jerusalem which I have chosen and the House of which I said My Name shall be there c. § 3. So 't is clear People in great Favour with God could forsake him by Disobedience and forfeit their share in his Love and instead thereof draw down his Displeasure and Wrath upon them For no Man shall please the Lord or continue long in his Favour who does not Love Honour and Serve him and it hath been in many Instances observable That the nearer God takes any People unto himself the more need they have to be humble reverent and holy as they are nearer the Divine Presence For the Lord hath said He will be sanctified in them that come nigh him which when Moses expounded of the sudden and miraculous Death of Nadab and Abihu Aaron held his Peace this high Priest could not deny the Exposition Levit. 20.1 2 3. So for People to take a greater liberty in their Words Actions and Conversation because of an Opinion of their being more Beloved of God and his People in a more peculiar manner than others is exceeding foolish and erroneous this hath introduc'd that evil Licenciousness with some People that they could think those things tolerable in themselves which they condemn in others and hath found out that hurtful distinction between the Sins of the Saints and the Sins of the Wicked and hath brought a strange Species of Sin for they 'll not allow it to be of the common fort into the Prayers and best Duties of the Saints which many will plead for as though it were either necessary or unavoidable Whereas the Man that is thus stated with respect to the Divine Favour should rather shew it forth out of a good Conversation with Holiness of Truth Next Amos the Prophet saith in God's Name unto this Select People Amos 3.2 You only have I known of all the Fumilies of the Earth therefore I will punish you for all your Iniquities which hath come to pass on this once Honourable Tribe as well as on the rest of the Jews whose Government is overturn'd their Country inhabited by another People and they under a more visible Dispersion into other Lands than any other People or Nation under Heaven and remain to this day as a sort of Vagabonds and Fugitives scattered up and down upon the face of the Earth having neither King or Nation of their their own for as Levi hath lost his Dedicate things so hath Judah his Regalia the Scepter is departed from him the Lawgiver from between his knees CHAP. V. Being 1. An Inquiry into the Infamous Race and Posterity of wicked Ham whom their Father Noah Cursed with great Bondage and Servitude notwithstanding which Curse and Rejection many good People were found amongst them 2. That their General Restoration is held forth in Scripture § 1. HAving taken a view of the two most honoured and beloved Families upon Earth let us next take a view of the most Accursed and Infamous Family upon Earth that of Ham's not Excluding even those that wear the black Badge of Darkness in the surface of their Skin the Posterity of him who blush'd not at his Father's Nakedness became as it were uncapable of a Blush Our Saviour himself speaks of this People in comparison of the aforementioned as Dogs to Children Mat. 15. So that if there had been such a special Election according to which some had been sav'd without any respect to their Faith Obedience c. it would have been found among those or if there had been such an absolute Reprobation according to which some had been cast headlong into Perdition without any respect to their good or evil Deeds we should find it among these But in the trace of the former it 's shewed how that notwithstanding their special Election many of them were rejected and fell away So it may appear concerning these that such of them as walked according to the Grace given them were received and accepted for good For Instance 1. Vriah the Hittite one of David's Worthies a Man of great Zeal and Vertue who was with Israel in their Wars against Ammon and his Zeal for God was such as coming on an Errand from the Army he refused the King's Order to go home unto his Wife saying The Ark and Israel and Judah abide in Tents 2 Sam. 11.11 and my lord Joab and the Servants of my lord are incamped in the open Field shall I then go into mine House to eat and to drink and to lie with my Wife As thou livest and as thy Soul liveth I will not do this thing 2. The Widow of Zarepha or Sarepta to whom Elijah the Prophet was sent after he had prophecy'd against Ahab King of Israel and she was a Woman of great Faith as the following Passages shew At that time there was a sore Famine in the Land and she was run to the last extremity having left her but an handful of Meal in a Barrel and a little Oil in a Cruise and she was gathering Sticks to bake it for her and her Son being resign'd unto Death after that their last Cake was eaten And yet even in this extremity she was perswaded to feed the Prophet with this her Food and to believe him contrary to the common course of things that her Barrel of Meal should not waste nor
and to Eternal Life and Happiness as the End to be in due time obtained by the said Means Answer Reprobation he here makes conditional and relative and Election certain and absolute and by Election he understands God's Choice of all such Souls of Mankind who shall be saved both to Faith and Holiness as the Means and to Eternal Life as the End c. By which it appears that in his account there are some Souls of Mankind God hath not made choice of not only who shall not be saved but according to his next Paragraph which I mark 4. that are not to be saved But God made all Souls of Mankind so according to Geo. Keith God made some Souls of Mankind that are not to be saved and some that are to be saved Now to be sure such Souls as are not to be saved are not made to that End nor hath God intended the Salvation of such So then there must be an absolute Reprobation of them But he saith He is well perswaded there is no absolute Reprobation c. Contradiction 1. Then according to G. K. God made not Choice of all Souls of Mankind from the beginning but only all such as should be saved c. But the contrary is evident For Adam our first Parent and the common Representative of Mankind was made in God's Image was Christ's Delight was made Good c. And God hath ever chosen his own Image he beholds and loves his own Image above every Image And Christ's delighting in Men shows his Choice of them Besides he never made any Good thing to an Evil end and he hath expresly said All Souls are mine Ezek. 18.4 And after the Fall God made a Promise unto Adam That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head which afterwards he renewed with Abraham c. And all Mankind had their share and interest in this Promise and Covenant of God made with Adam their common Parent and Representative so all Mankind were again made capable of Salvation after the Fall So I would query of G. K. whether after the Fall there was not the means of Restauration free and offered unto all Mankind But if Faith and Holiness be included in this Election pleaded for as the Means of their Salvation so Elected and as the Effect of their Election before the World began then either all Men are Elected unto Salvation or else none can be saved but who are so Elected and all the rest of Mankind must of necessity be Damned because not Elected unto Faith and Holiness as the Means and Salvation and Happiness as the End And then what 's become of Universal Grace so much pleaded for by G. K. heretofore and with his now being well perswaded there is no absolute Reprobation of any of the Souls of the Children of Adam c Contrad 2. He saith That in all Souls that are to be saved both Holiness and Eternal Life is to be their free Choice But upon the matter he makes this free Choice no Choice at all but rather a Soveraign Act of God upon the Creature Then the Creatures Act like the Ranters who say If God would have me to be good he can make me good c. We own that it is of Grace that we choose the Good c. But if it were by such a soveraign Act of God as he seems to hold forth then it would not be Choice for Choice is our Act and God perswades us to make that good Choice but it must be our free Choice He compels none for that would be contrary to his Wisdom in framing our Hearts so as they are not ordinarily wrought upon but by perswasion He brings some Scriptures to prove his Doctrine as Whom he did foreknow Rom. 8.29 he also did predestinate c. But I wholly pass by these here they being particularly spoken to in the foregoing Treatise of Election and Reprobation His next Scripture is He hath chosen us in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World Ephes 1.4 to be holy and without blame before him in love To this All things were made by Jesus Christ and for him and all Mankind was made after his order as he is the Son of Man so all Men chosen in him before the Foundation of the World c. But he saith in p. 10. Augustine well observed about Twelve Hundred Years ago That it is not said God hath chosen us for our foreseen Faith and Holiness but he hath chosen us to be Holy So that our Faith and Holiness is wholly the Effect of God's Election not at all the Cause or Condition of it Notwithstanding the Antiquity of this Observation its famous Author and G. K's Commendations of it yet to me it seems rather an Amusement than an Argument For here 's an Election which he saith our Faith and Holiness is not the cause of whoever pretended it so to be Nor is it he saith the Condition on 't but wholly the Effect on 't but says This Effect is not forcibly produced it is a Work of God's Grace And this Grace is Universal and for the same end to all so that in whom it produceth not this Effect the cause is Thair resisting the Grace and not their non-Election And there is a Fallacy in seeking to separate the Condition from the Effect the Condition and Effect of a thing may in sundry respects be the same and often as here are as it were interwoven in each other But If as G. K. saith Faith and Holiness be wholly the Effect of God's choosing us in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World from thence it follows That none can have Faith and Holiness unless they be chosen of God in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World And if Faith and Holiness be wholly the Effect of this Choice then to all Men who are not thus chosen Faith and Holiness are impossible But to them to whom Faith and Holiness is impossible Eternal Life and Happiness is also impossible for no Man cometh unto the End but by the Means And if to some Men Eternal Life and Happiness is impossible then there is an absolute Reprobation of them But G. K. saith He is well perswaded there is no absolute Reprobation c. Contr. 3. And if as he saith God hath chosen all such Souls of Mankind who shall be saved from the beginning of the World c. Then this Election either comprehends all the Souls of Mankind or it takes in but a part of them If but a part of them the other part cannot be saved G. K. saith further in p. 11. If such a Conditional Election were it would be General or Vniversal and comprehend all Mankind for why are one part more than another seeing Eternal Life and Salvation are held forth Conditionally to all But the Scripture no where holdeth forth a General Election but only of some and therefore Christ taught That though many are Called yet few are
Potter to make it Now it is a received Axiom Nullum simile currit quatuor therefore as no Work of God was marred in his hand Mankind came forth from him according to his designation in his own Image a Vessel of Honour c. Object 5. The Children not being yet born neither having done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to Election might stand not of Works but of him that calleth it was said The Elder shall serve the Younger as is written Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated c. Answ The Scripture speaks sometimes of singular Persons or Individuals when it is to be understood 1. Of Nations or People descending from them or 2. Of certain Spiritual States and Conditions We have instance of the first in Canaan the youngest Son of Ham Gen. 9.25 whom his Grand-father Noah cursed and denounced him a Servant of Servants to Shem and Japheth And in Esau and Jacob of whom it was fore-told The Elder should serve the Younger Gen. 25.23 And in Ephraim and Manasseh of whom it was said Gen. 48.19 The Younger should be the greater None of all which things were fulfilled in their Persons but in their Posterities c. For instance of the second Abraham had his Son Ishmae by Hagar Sara's Hand-maid a Bond-woman of Egypt of the Posterity of Ham this is said to be born after the Flesh And he had his Son Isaac by Sarah the Free-woman and this is said to be by Promise And these things saith the Apostle are an Allegory for these are the two Covenants the one from Mount Sinai Gal. 4.26 which is Hagar answering to Jerusalem that now is the other answering to Jerusalem from above The like Instance we have in Isaac Abraham's Heir and the Heir of God's Promise he had by his Wife Rebekah two Sons Jacob and Esau under whose Types are typified the Spiritual and Carnal Mind and Birth the Degenerate and Regenerate the Earthly and Heavenly c. So they are a double Instance to us in treating of this Text which is to be Mystically and not Literally understood as appears from the Blessing of Esau with the Fatness of the Earth Gen. 27.39 and the Dew of Heaven from above which is the same in effect with Jacob's Blessing only he had rule given over him but 't was only for a time for in the said Blessing the time is prophesied in which Esau should break Jacob's Yoke from off his Neck Now if God had hated Esau then Isaac could not at all have Blessed him in the Faith for whatsoever is done in the Faith is done in concurrence and accord with God but if God hated Esau and Isaac blessed him they would be contrary and repugnant the one to the other for all Blessing is of Love and so Isaac's Blessing of Esau had not been in the Faith for in it only things pleasing and acceptable to God are done and no works of jar and disagreement or contrariety to him these are not of Faith but the Scripture is express in it Heb. 11.20 That by Faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come so it must needs be that these things are an Allegory and that God did not hate Esau's Person but spoke of what he hated under the Type or Figure of him Take this Scripture literally to relate unto Esau in a strict and proper Sense and it would be of absurd and blasphemous Consequence for if it represents God as at Variance with himself and in a great degree Unhappy working without Pleasure Grace or Goodness in the Production of wretched hated Beings to Eternal Misery even Nature shrinks and is in horror at any dissimulate and monstrous Birth much more it is contrary to the God of Nature and to suppose othewise of God is no Christian but an Heathenish Notion it is so remote from Divine it is not Humane that God should be imployed in the making so many Thousand of People for the Torments of Hell Fire Such Notions had the Heathens of old concerning their Moloch and other false Deities to appease whose imagined Fury they caused their Children to pass through the Fire and become Burnt Sacrifices Having shewed the Blasphemy and Error that attends a Literal Construction of this Text and that it should be Mystically understood I shall proceed to speak something of its Mystery before I pass from hence We read in Scripture of two Seeds Mystically the Seed of the Woman which Seed is Christ who is also the Seed of the true Church and of the Kingdom of God and the Serpent's Seed or Seed of Antichrist of which cometh the false Church and Kingdom of Darkness And as every Birth hath its beginning from some Seed so of the first of these proceedeth the Birth of the Spirit called in Scripture Regeneration the New Birth the New Man c. And without this be there is no Salvation and how pure and spiritual a Seed is this Seed of the Living God of which Souls and Spirits are born Of the other proceedeth the Birth of the Flesh called in Scripture The Old Man with his Deeds Degenerate or the Vncircumcision the Reprobate Birth c. And how filthy and polluted a Seed is this Seed of the Serpent whereby Men become as Dogs Swine Serpents Dung Filth c. Now as according to the first we are in Christ Branches of him and Christ is God's Elect in whom his Soul delighteth blessed above all for ever And according to the other we are of the Devil Children of him Sprouts out of his Stock and the Devil only is God's Enemy cursed above all Cattle and above every Beast of the Field So of the first of these Election is predicated and Reprobation of the latter We are in a State of Election or Reprobation as we are related to the one or other of these Births if we live according to the one we shall die or the other we shall live Note For the prevention of mistakes in the weakest Reader that this Birth called the Birth of the Flesh is not to be understood simply of the Natural Birth but as fallen into Carnal-mindedness And the Scripture teacheth That to be Carnally-minded Rom. 8.6 7. is Death but to be Spiritually-minded is Life and Peace that the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God it is not subject to the Law of God nor indeed can be so they that are in the Flesh cannot please God This Mind is Dead an Enemy a Rebel and can never be otherwise it 's not capable of being made better to please God or to be subject to him or live there is neither Life Salvation or Blessing belongs to it it is not Heir to or capable of any good it is none of God's Works but is of the Evil One This is the Reprobate's Description On the other hand That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit this Birth is willing to all good it is its