Obligations upon him to make Honourable Vessels 2. The Goldsmith makes curious Vessels oft-times for the Pride and Luxury of Men yea sometimes such as are redundant and superfluous and Mens adoring the Gods of Silver and of Gold in those Honoured Vessels doth truly change them into Vessels of Dishonour but God is compared by himself to a Potter for 1. The Materials of a Potter are Vile and Sordid to wit Clay So more answering fallen Mankind out of which God maketh his choice We are not only Clay Job 4.19 but sinful Clay thro' the Fall 2. The very Vessels of Dishonour which the Potter makes are for the Necessities and Conveniencies of the Houshold 2 Tim. 2.20 the great Housholder must have Vessels of all sorts some for Inferiour Uses as well as others for Honourable Service 3. The Potter doth not make this Difference among his Pots from any foreseen inherent Goodness in his Clay for the whole Lump before him is of an Equal Temper and Quality but from the pleasure of his own Will Thus the Potter's Power over his Materials is clearer from Exception than that of the Goldsmith so more illustrates the Absoluteness of God's will in this choice both of Vessels of Honour and Vessels of Dishonour Argum. a Minori Why. Yet is not the Argument a pari but a Minori For 1 st The Distance 'twixt the Clay and the Potter is but a finite Distance the Distance 'twixt one Creature and another animate and inanimate but the Distance 'twixt God and Mankind is Infinite not only the Natural Distance 'twixt God and us as we are Creatures but also the Moral Distance 'twixt God and Us as we are Sinners 2 dly The Potter must have his Clay made to his Hand though he temper it for his Work when he hath found it out but the great God creates his own Clay He created the Earth out of which Man was formed Gen. 1.1 2.7 It follows then that God hath not only as much more Power over Mankind as the Potter hath over his Pots which he maketh Base or Noble according to his will but much more for those two Reasons aforesaid if the Potter by an Absolute Will dispose of his Pots 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much more God Consectaries 1. If this Absolute Will of God be the Universal Cause of all things then no Event can fall beyond or besides God's Will and Fortune in the Sense of the Gentiles is but the Devil's Blasphemous Spitt upon Divine Providence 2. God's absolute Will cannot be resisted Rom. 9.19 as he hath willed so it shall come to pass Isa 14.24 Psal 115.3 Job 42.2 there is no hindering of the Execution of his Will 3. Then learn we Submission to the Will of God declared Proud yet Brittle Clay will be knocking their sides against the Absolute Will of God till they break in pieces so did Adonijah 1 Kings 1.5 with 1 Chron. 22.9 when Solomon must rule CHAP. VI. Of the Fourth Property of the Divine Decree it is Free THE Fourth Property of the Divine Decree is the Freeness of it as it is not Conditional but Absolute so 't is not Necessary but Free as flowing only from the Pleasure of God's Will God is a Free Agent and cannot fall under any Obligation so as to Necessitate him in any of his Emanations to the Creature but as he is graciously pleased out of his own Free Love to oblige himself Reason 1. The First Argument to prove the Freeness of the Divine Decree is Such a Decree as passeth without any Obligation to Necessitate the passing of it must needs have the Property of Freeness but thus it was with the Divine Decree Therefore c. If thore be any Obligation it must be either in respect of Objects or of Acts or of Motives but God was not obliged in any of those Respects Therefore c. Respect 1. Not in respect of Objects for God was under no Necessity of having either any Elect or any Reprobate and was Happy in himself from all Eternity and would have been so for ever without either of them Illud est perfectum cui nihil potest addi and to affirm that God stood in need of any such Objects is to deny the Perfection of God God was infinitely happy in himself and needed not to have looked out of himself for any additional Happiness and therefore it is call'd an Humbling of himself to look down on Things in Heaven much more on Things on Earth Psalm 113.5 It must needs therefore be Granted that he needed them not but would have been God blessed for Ever without them Respect 2. Nor in respect of Acts as they are Necessary by a Moral Obligation God was under no Moral Obligation to Man he had done Man no wrong if he had never willed Man to be much less to be Holy and Happy God was not bound to any of his Actions concerning Man either Election Vocation Justification c. for God cannot be a Debtor to Man any other way than as he makes himself a Debtor of his own good Pleasure As in his Promises his Love mov'd him to make them and his Truth binds him to perform them otherwise those Actions would be Actions of Debt and not Acts of Grace contrary to the Tenure of many Scriptures that makes the whole Work of Man's Salvation to flow wholly from the Free-grace of God Respect 3. Nor in respect of Motives Neither First In the Creatures Not Secondly In Christ 1. Not in the Creature First Not in the Creature it self for the Being of the Creature much more the Faith and Good Works of the Creature was the Effect of the Decree of God so could not be the Motive thereof God could not foresee any Faith or Works antecedently to his own Purpose and Decree but in his Purpose and Decree of giving them both In Massâ corruptâ which the * Arminius in the 1 st of his four Divine Decrees Arminians assent to nothing that is good can be foreseen but what is caused by that Grace which was eternally prepared for them in the Decree of Predestination and actually applied in the Effectual Vocation So that Faith as foreseen is but a May-be and the Decree or Will of God causeth it to become a Shall-be and therefore it cannot in any good Sense be the Moving Cause of the Decree for then must it be the Cause of its own Cause But of this Point much more when I come to confute the Conditional Decree 2. Not in Christ Secondly Nor is Christ himself the moving Cause of the Divine Decree for Christ is the Effect of God's Eternal Love not the Cause of it John 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his Son There is a Sic without a Sicut and God's Love gives Christ Christ is not the Cause of this Eternal Love tho' he be the Cause of our Salvation which is the Application of the Divine Decree but not of the
to Worms succeeds the Work of Creation But this special Decree of Predestination is not Extensive as the General is to all Individuals but is discriminating and particular as before and yet tho' it be not extended Ad singula generum yet is it Ad genera singulorum Though the Exception lay not in the Gospel which is to be preached to every Creature but in the Decree yet is the Decree an Extensive Thing as it extends it self 1. To all Ranks First To all Sorts and Ranks of Men to Princes and Peasants to High and Low to Rich and Poor to Bond and Free It extends it self to Kings 1 Tim. 2.4 for among them God hath his chosen Vessels his Davids and his Solomons Though the Scripture say Not many Noble and Mighty yet doth it not say not any for God hath had some great Ones to own his Ways in all Ages It extends it self to Servants also Tit. 2.9,11 for God bestows his Love on those in Rags as well as on those in Robes and the Poor do receive the Gospel Mat. 11.5 God is no Respecter of Persons 2. To all Sexes Secondly To all or both Sexes is the Decree extended to Male and to Female God hath his Elect Ladies 2 John 1. and both Male and Female are one in Jesus Christ Gal. 3.28 Electing Love hath appeared to both Sexes in the Old Testament and in the New 3. To all Ages Thirdly To all Ages To Young and to Old to Children and to those of Riper Years Yea to very Infants that lay in the Womb of the Eternal Decree before ever they come out of their Mother's Womb Jeremy was sanctified and ordained before he came from the Womb Jerem. 1.5 and John Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost even from the Womb Luke 1.15 and 't is probable David did believe that his Child belonged to the Election of Grace and that its Soul was bound up in the Bundle of Life when he comforted himself with this I must go to it but he cannot come to me 2 Sam. 12.23 David's going to the Grave to it could yield him very little Comfort 4. To all Nations Fourthly To all Nations It is not immured in any one Nation but is extended to Jew and Gentile to Barbarian and Scythian Col. 3.11 some of every Nation under Heaven Acts 2.5 This Predestinating Love effectually calls its Sons out of all Quarters Isa 43.4,5,6 and threw down the Partition Wall betwixt Jew and Gentile saying I have other Sheep that I must gather John 10.16 Yea and while this Wall stood this predestinating Love brought over it sundry Proselites to the Church as Jethro who was the first Proselite that was added to the Church in the Wilderness as it became a Church and many others 5. To all Generations Fifthly To all Generations doth it extend it self Predestinating Love is like a River that runs under Ground and breaks out in certain Places above the Earth So fresh Veins of Election breaketh forth sometimes in One Generation and sometimes in another It is not bound up as to Time neither before the Law nor under the Law nor after the Law but in every Generation God hath his Church Visible on the Earth and the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against it As God is no Respecter of Persons so nor of Places Nations nor of Generations but hath his Hidden Ones to the Worlds End Consectaries 1. If predestinating Love extend it self to all Degrees then they which are poor of Wealth may be Rich of Faith and a Master's Servant may be the Lord's Freeman 2. If to both Sexes then the Weaker Vessel may be a chosen Vessel and may be in Christ before the Stronger Vessel as Priscilla was 3. If to all Ages then Believing Parents may have Faith for their dying Children they may belong to the Election of Grace and may be bound up in the Swadling Bands of the Covenant of Grace so they are not as without Hope for them 4. If to all Nations then the Ends of the Earth may look towards Christ the Serpent lift up on the Pole of the Gospel and be saved Isa 45.22 5. If to all Generations then predestinating Love is an Inexhaustible Fountain crying always Is there yet any of the House of Mankind that I may shew the Kindness of God unto 2 Sam. 9.3 as David's Love did CHAP. IX In which are contained Arguments against the Conditional Decree Objection First THE First Objection against this Doctrine of the Divine Decree is That it is a Conditional One upon the Foresight of Faith Works Perseverance c. Answ To this I answer that the Divine Decree of Predestination cannot be Conditional upon a Foresight of Faith c. for these following Reasons Argum. 1. That which the Scripture faith is the Cause and Ground of our Election that and that only must be the Cause and Ground thereof but the Scripture propounds the Good Pleasure of God as the only Cause and Ground of our Election not any Fore-sight of Faith c. therefore c. that the Scripture doth so appears in Eph. 1.5,9,11 Mat. 11.26 Rom. 9.11,15 11.5 't is an Election of Grace Exod. 33.16,17 2 Tim. 1.9 all those Places quoted do shew us that this Divine Decree floweth only from the Absolute Will and good Pleasure of God Argument 2. That which makes Election an Action of Debt ought not to be received but this Doctrine of the Conditional Decree doth so Ergo c. the Proposition is proved thus an Action of Grace and an Action of Debt are contradictory Terms if Election be an Act of Grace as those Scriptures forecited evidence and as the whole Work of Man's Salvation a capite ad calcem hath been prov'd to be wholly and solely from Free-grace Chap. 6. Argum. 2. then 't is abominable and to be rejected to make it an Act of Debt The Assumption is prov'd thus If the Decree be Conditional upon Foreseen Faith and Perseverance then is it an Act of Debt and not of Grace an Act of Justice and not of Mercy Ex debito et necessitate non ex Dei bsneplacito a Decree of giving Glory to Believers persevering as their Reward must be nothing else but Remunerative Justice Argument 3. That which makes God go out of himself in his Immanent and Eternal Actings ought not to be received but the Doctrine of the Conditional Decree doth so Ergo the Assumption is proved For it makes God look upon this or that in the Creature upon which the Will of God is determined this makes Man to be Author of his own Salvation and not God and to assign a Cause of God's Will extra Deum is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but blasphemously ungods the great God and makes as it were a Mortal Man of an Immortal God For this Doctrine of the Conditional Decree sets God upon his Watch-Tower of Fore-knowledge to espy what Men will do whether they will
the Primus Justum Primum in aliquo Genere est Regula Posteriorum God's Will is not only Recta but Regula yea Regula regulans the Rule ruling not Regula regulata as if regulated by Man's Depraved Reason So that God's Ways are always equal though Men think otherwise of them Ezek. 18.25 and though they be sometimes secret as Rom. 11.33 yet are they always just God is too kind to do us harm and too just to do us wrong 3. Qui suo Jure utitur Nemini facit Injuriam i◠the Law indeed of Reason Jacob and Esa◠were equal in the Womb yet had an Unequa◠Disposing Decree concerning them this was God's Right and Power to do This the Apostle demonstrates 1 st From Moses Testimony Exod. 33.16,19 God will be gracious to whom he will c. i◠is his Right to do so And 2 dly From the Example of the Potter who hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Power over his Pots yet less than God over hi◠Creatures suprâ Now that which the Pot cannot do with the Potter that Man may not do with his Maker but the Pot suppose it could speak could not blame the Potter of Injustice in appointing Equal Lumps to Unequal Ends. Ergo. 4. God's Decree is not an Act of Justice but of Lordship and Sovereignty Justice always presupposes Debt but God who was perfect in himself from all Eternity could not be a Debtor to Man who was not and had his All from God The Decree is not a Matter of Right and Wrong but of free Favour Grace is God's own he may do what he will with it Mat. 20.15 If he give it to some and not to others 't is no Wrong in him that is not bound to give it to any 5. God is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Respecter of Persons because he doth not choose Men for their Works sake but before Jacob and Esau had done either Good or Evil he finds all alike in Massâ corruptâ and nothing to cast the Ballance of his Choice but his own meer Pleasure not as partial Judges that respect the Rich for their Bribes more than the Poor when their Causes are Equal or worse but God is a Free Agent and under no Law in giving Grace Objection 2. Sarcasmus Diabolicus Of Cruelty as if God were worse to his Creatures than Tygers to their Young than Rat-catchers who stops up all Holes then hunts them with their Dogs to make them fly in their Faces Or Lastly than Tiberius who because it was unlawful to strangle Virgins caused the Hangman first to deflour them and then strangle them Quod libet licet bad been a more Congruous Instance Answ 1. This is a charging God foolishly seeing no Act of God can be a Means to damn Men but Acts of Men to wit the fulfilling their own Lusts the Negative Will of God and no more is the Decree of Non-Election cannot be the Cause of Man's Destruction but the positive Will of Man does it Reprobatio nil point in reprobato As Reprobation gives not such a Grace as infallibly to make them better so it works nothing in them whereby to make them the worse 2. 'T is a meer Fallacy a Non causa pro causâ as if the Decree of Non-Election were the procuring Cause of Man's Damnation which is an Antecedent only but not the Cause as Sin is the Consequent of Reprobation but not the Effect of it so Sin is the Cause of Damnation and only the Consequent of Reprobation David's Order to Solomon concerning Joab and Shimei 1 Kings 2.5 was not the Cause why either the One or the other came to an Untimely End but it was Treason against Solomon in Joab and running from Jerusalem in Shimei procured their Ends v. 28 40 42. Death precedes Resurrection but procures it not 3. 'T is a false Hypoehesis to suppose that God in the Decree of Non Election doth by as Effectual Means intend to bring Men to Damnation as in the Decree of Election to bring others to Salvation for Salvation is a Favour undue to any Man so God may absolutely give it or deny it to any but Damnation is a Punishment so hath Relation to a Fault Means to the former are Bona gratuita but to the latter Mala voluntaria it is God that fitteth Peter for Salvation but Judas firs himself for Damnation 4 God doth not make the Creature to damn it for if that were God's End he gives it a Nature and Quality to sit it for that End but that comes from the voluntary defection of Mens own Will to fit themselves for Destruction Rom. 9.22 God endures it but does not insuse it Judas fitted himself for his own place Acts 1.25 and the Carnal Jews fill'd up the Measure of their Fathers Mat. 23.32 Vessels of Wrath fills their Measure of Sin and then God fills them with such a Measure of Wrath As Man is from God he is capable of Salvation so not made for Damnation 5. Should God constrain the Creature to sin and then damn him for it he delighted in the Destruction of his Creature contrary to Ezek. 18.23 33 11. but God did not thrust Adam unwillingly into his Sin as he thrust him after it out of Paradice but his Sin came freely from himself and God's Delight is not terminated in the destruction of his Creature but in the Manifestation of his own Glory Hos 14.9 Man's Punishment is from God as a Judge but Man's Destruction is from himself as a Sinner 6. God doth not reprobate Innocent Creatures No Man is unworthy to be predertinated unto death God might have reprobated all fallen Mankind as he did all the fallen Angels without Cruelty for none deserved better at God's Hands 't is not Cruelty in the Potter to make Vessels of Dishonour Praestat esse matulam Principis quam simplex lutum Thus this durus Sermo was urg'd to Christ Objection 3. It is Objected against the Absolute Decree That it makes God guilty of Dissimulation in calling such as are under the Negative part of it to repent c. which is as if God should bid blind Men whose Eyes he had closed to judge of Colours This cannot say they be done seriò but simulatè Answer 1. The Non-Elect's not repenting is not only from want of Power Joh. 6 44. but also from want of Will John 5.40 None are damned because they can do no better but because they will do no better If there were not Will there would be no Hell and this will be the very Hell of Hells that they have been Self-destroyers * Felones de se Cesset voluntas propria et non erit Insernas That never dying Worm is nothing else but a continual Remorse and furious Reffection of the Soul upon its own once wilful Folly as well as upon its now wosul Misery but more of this in its place 2. Paul did not dissemble in bidding the Philippians work out their Salvation yet
God draws us fortiter strongly yet he doth it suaviter sweetly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrysostom As we are drawn we have not a Freewill to Gond for then Adam had lost in his Understanding only and not in his Will Yet are we Voluntiers Psal 110.3 not that Christ finds us so but makes us so in the Day of his Power and when he speaks to us with a strong Hand as Isa 8.11 We are Naturally Haters of God and at Enmity with him Rom. 1.30 8.7 but Divine Grace doth Violence to the Corrupt Qualities of the Soul and puts the Will on moving when its Corruptions are removed the Spirit gives a New Power and then acts that Power to Good so draws as it were a Camel thro the Eye of a Needle Luke 18.25 a God-hater to love him this is more then a bare Perswasion to a Stone to be warm and to go out of its place for God takes away the Heart of Stone and gives an Heart of Flesh Ezek. 36.26 which cannot hang on a meer Entreaty Sccrater said He was but as a Midwife to his Schollars she helps forth the Birth already conceived so he drew forth that which was Naturally in them but this is a begetting us anew in Christ Jesus through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4.15 and Christ finds nothing that is Good in us Rom. 7.18 Quis trabitur saith Austin August cont 2 Ep. Pelag. lib. 1. c. 19. si iam volebat et tamen venit nisi qui velit c. Non ut Homines quod fieri non potest nolentes credant sed ut ex nolentibus volentes fiant God gives the very Power of Coming to Christ Man's Will is made pedissequa but not praevia attending Grace but not going before it Co-operando persuit Deus quod operando incepit Austin Grace is Dux Comes and the Will a Subordinate Agent under Grace and it being moved afterwards does move it self Argument 10. If the Soul of Man be passive in Effectual Vocation then there is in fallen Man no Free-will to good but the former is true Ergo the latter The Truth of the Antecedent appears The Spirit of Grace is compared to a precious Liquor that is infused and the called and chosen of God are stiled Vessels of Mercy now a Vessel is a Passive Receiver of this precious Liquor poured into it Zach. 12.10 Rom. 5.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 poured out and infused into God's Vessels Rom. 9.21,23 2 Tim. 2.20,21 The Will of Man in respect of this first Reception of Grace hath neither Concourse nor Co-operation active but is actuated to an Obediential Subjection and is made capable and apt to receive Impression as the Air is passive when it receives an Enlightning as Adam's Body was a passive Receiver of Life when God inspired it thereinto Gen. 2.17 Though it was formed and Organiz'd yet was it lifeless and breathless And as the Soul of Nebuchadnczzir when deprived of Reason receiv'd the Impression of the Agent God Almighty in causing his Reason to return to him again so in this Case Christ infuses Grace into us against our Wills and 't is an Hell to us to be brought from Hell though it be an Hell to us to stay after God hath open'd our Eyes and touch'd our Hears Corrupt Nature cannot contribute any thing to destroy it self in its own Corruptions We are without Ability in our selves to put forth any Causal Vertue in Order to such an Effect and accordingly we have no Power to resist the Impression and Effect which proceedeth from a super-natural Cause In the first Work the Will moveth not it self but is only moved by God The Will as a Creature must obey its Creator yet as a sinful deprayed Will it obeys not God willingly till made willing so 't is not a Collateral Agent The Water descends Naturally yet Ne detur vacuum it ascends Man's Will is the Untamed Heiser or Wild Asses Colt Christ the Rider tames it and brings it to his Yoke Nolie est a Carne vells a Spiritu Luther Argument 11. To deny Grace special Grace and gracious Dispensations is abominable but the Doctrine of Free will denies these for they say If a Man improves his Naturals God is bound to give him Spirituals what is this bat a turning Grace * Non est gratia ullo modo si non sit gratuita omni modo into Debt and a Symbolizing with the Jesuites Meritum de congruo if not condigno And to say That the Reason why one believes and another does not believe is from the Co-operation of the Free-will of him that believeth is quite to destroy special Grace peculiar to the Elect * Special Grace is irresistible for 't is not two of equal force but as Michael too hard for Satan so the stronger Man Christ too hard for the strong Man our own Will contrary to these Scriptures John 6.37,45 12.39,40 14.17,22 Rom. 8.14 1 Cor. 1.23,24 1 John 4.13 and many others Neither can there be if this Hypothefis be granted any gracious Dispensation either in Respect of Person Place Time or Means all which God freely makes choice of As 1. Of Person He quickens whom he will John 5.21 Rom. 9.18 Then Wise Men would be Evangeliz'd nor the Poor and Foolish for they have the best understandings to guide their Freewilts The Heart of one Sinner melts like Wax before the Fire and receives God's Seal while the Heart of another remains as unmovable as Marble and as the Rock that cannot be shaken this is the work of Gracious Dispensation 2. Of the Place No Child can choose the Place where to be begot or born in nor We for our Conversion The Spirit blows where it listeth John 3.8 3. Of the Time A Child cannot choose the Time of its Begetting or Birth no more than of the Place so nor We of our New Birth God may drop in Grace with Life and regenerate a Babe before it be brought forth Luke 1.15 and yet that Saying hold true Christiani non nascuntur sed fiunt and others may be cast into the Womb of the New Birth when dropping out of the World even at the Eleventh Hour of the Day as the Penitent Thief Oh! who can order the Ways of Grace and set Bounds to the Spirit of God in its Breathings on Man 4. And of Means Out of the mouths of Babes God ordains Strength Psal 8.2 The Iberians were converted by a Woman the likeliest Persons have not always Children a Child cannot choose its own Father nor We who shall beget us to God All these are special Dispensations of God's Good Will to Men and so depends not on the Free-will of Man Ergo Argument 12. The Twelsth Argument ab Incommodo That which brings along with it many Absurdities may not be received but the Doctrine of Free-will to Good doth so Man's Will is the Principium quod not the Principium quo that is Grace We must be renewed in the Spirit of our Minds Eph. 4.23 Absurd 1. It makes Man the Proximate and Immediate Cause of his own Salvation 2. It puts Grace into Man's Power not Man's Will under
must abide in the Ship It was true in Sensu Composito to wit in the Connexion of the End and Means but not In sensu diviso either that the Shipmen should not abide in the Ship or that any Man in the Ship should not be saved 2. Ludovicus the Eleventh King of France under this Temptation was convinc'd in his Sickness of his fond Saying Si salvabor salvabor by his Wise Physitian who told him If your Time be come no Physick I can give will do you good The King pondering that Saying crys out Must I use means for the good of my Body and not of my Soul Hereupon became he upon further Conference and taking Physick to be cured of Soul and Body 3. God's Decree doth not nullifie the Property of Secondary Causes in Natural Things but includes them and disposes of them to their Proper End and so in Things Spiritual God decrees that the Earth should be fruitful this doth not exclude but include that the Sun must shine upon it Showers must water it and the Husbandman must till it as his God instructs him Isa 28.26 God decrees that fifteen Years shall be added to Hezekiah's Life this made him neither careless of his Health nor negligent of his Food he said not Though I run into the Fire or into the Water or drink Poison I shall live so long but Natural Providence in the due Use of Means co worketh so as to bring him on to that Period of Time pre-ordained for him Man's Industry is subservient to God's Decree 't is call'd the Life of our Hands Isa 57.10 we may not tempt the Lord our God Ora labora admotâ manu Invocanda est Minerva 4. The Golden Chain hath so link'd the Means to the End and Sanctification in order to Salvation that God doth infallibly stir up the Elect to the Use of the Means as well as bring them to the End by the Means therefore he promises to sanctifie whom he purposes to save Ezek. 36.26,27 two of those Links to wit Predestination and Glorification are kept fast in God's Hand but the Middle Links are let down from Heaven to us on Earth that we should catch hold on them We may not pluck those Parts of the Chain out of God's Hands or break the Chain to make it Useless The Elect Lady must look to her self 2 John ver 8. though the Decree be absolute the Execution of it is not which two may not be confounded 5. The Arminian Eternal Prescience iufers as absolute a Certainty and Necessity of Events as our Predestination doth for Things must be fore-ordain'd to be before they can be foreseen that they shall be ut suprd so Men may argue from their Grounds If I be Eternally foreseen to believe I shall believe and be saved And o contra yet further they teach Men to say I can repent when I will I may be elected though I live still in Lewdness I have a Free-will to repent on my Death-bed so I may be saved This will make Men remiss indeed but to read the Heart of God towards us thus Absolutely Everlastingly Effectually and Peculiarly doth constrain and unite our Hearts to God for ever Luke 1.74,75 and 1 Cor. 6.20 Cyrus acts freely finding himself fore-ordained Isa 44.21 Objection 7. Reprobation as absolute makes Men desperate Si damnabor damnabor Let me do what I can I shall be danmed I am under a fatal Necessity Answer 1. This is to suck Poison out of a sweet Flower and to dash against the Rock of Ages this is to Stumble at the Word 1 Pet. 2.8 whereunto they were appointed and like prophane Beasts to fall into the Pit that was diggd for better purposes why hath God order'd all things by an Absolute Decree for ever It is that Men should fear before him and not make such desperate Inferences Eccles 3.14 2. The Stoical Opinion of Fate puts God in Subjection to Nature as in Homer's Jupiter Neptune ut supra over-power'd by Fate but the absolute Decree e contra puts Nature in subjection to God and does not necessitate Men to do so much Evil and no more Good tha they do as before largely for God as an Infinite Cause can influence the Will of Man Prov. 21.1 and determine it so as not to destroy the Liberty of it because he determines it in a way suitable to it 's own Nature God acting freely as the First Cause and Man acting freely as the Second Cause in Concurrence not by Constraint 3. No Man may judge himself a Reprobate in this Life excepting in that sin unto Death and so to grow desperate for final Disobedience the infallible Evidence of Reprobation cannot be discover'd till Death We are not to question the Secret Will of God which is the Rule of Events but to mind his Revealed Will which is the Rule of Endeavours and to lay our Souls under his Commands One may fulfil the secret Will of God and do ill as Judas and the Jews in killing Christ Acts 2.23 and one may cross the secret Will of God and do well as David in praying for the Life of his Child which God had decreed should then dye We must look into our own Bosoms and so know what we are in the Bosom of God 4. The Arminian Doctrine God foresaw what good Courses I would take out of my Free-will so did elect me is miserable Comfort to one whose Heart is privy to Myriads of Deviations from God and to tell Men they may be justified and sanctified c. yet for all this may become Reprobates and be damned in the end is desperate Doctrine Whereas our Doctrine is only liable to false Inferences as Christ's was Luk. 18.25 Who then can be saved not of it self but by corrupt Consequences drawn from it CHAP. XI The Second Point Universal Redemption in the sense of the Arminians cannot be a Gospel Truth for these following Arguments and Reason Argument 1. OPera Trinitatis ad extrasunt oequalia God the Father's Election God the Son's Redemption and God the Holy Ghost's Sanctification must be all of equal Extent and Latitude But Universal Redemption in the Arminian Sense makes these unequal therefore c. The Proposition is clear for the Father Word and Spirit are one as in Essence so in Willing Working and Witnessing the Redemption of Sinners Upon Earth Blood is not alone nor Witnesses alone but where Water and Spirit are also So in Heaven the Word witnesses not alone but the Father and Holy Ghost also these three agree in one 1 John 5.6,7,8 Whom the Father elects the Son redeems and the Holy Ghost sanctifies If then there be an Universal Redemption then there must be an Universal Election and an Universal Sanctification and so by consequence an Universal Salvation too That the Son redeems no more than the Father elects is evident from two Scriptures the first is John 5.23 the Son must be honoured as the Father but to say that the
lay down his Life for them John 10.11,14,15 the latter is the Evidence of the former 4. Christ could not intend to waste the Blood of his Covenant whereof he was the Surety upon Cain and Pharaoh damned long before his Death in direct Opposition to the Eternal Decree of his own Deity There cannot be a Surrogation of Christ's Person in the room of the damned Argument 5. If the Covenant of Grace be not to all then Christ dyed not for all but the Anrecedent is true therefore c. the Consequence is prov'd thus Christ's Blood is called the Blood of the Covenant Heb. 9.20 with 8.13 and Exod. 24.8 and the Blood of the New Testament Mat. 26.28 the Covenant and the Seal of the Covenant have a necessary Connexion together and Mens Covenants are Insignificant without a Seal Moreover where a Testament is there must also be the Death of the Testator otherwise 't is of no force while the Testator liveth Heb. 9.16,17 The New Testament and New Covenant are undoubted Synonima's and are in Scripture of the same sense and signification The Assumption to wit the Covenant of Grace is not to all is true some are without the Covenant Eph. 2.12 Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus and Salvation is of the Jews John 4 22. for 't is made with the House of Israel only Jer. 31.31,32 't is only with those in whom the Condition not only required as in that of Works but absolutely promis'd is effectually wrought to wit a putting his fear in their Hearts and writing his Law in their Minds which the Election only obtains And if we enquire after the first giving of this Covenant in Paradice Gen. 3.15 None dare say that God enter'd into a Covenant of Grace with the Seed of the Serpent but only with those whose Heel the Serpent hurteth and it would seem a Mocking of Mankind to make a Covenant with all and not to make it known to the greatest part of them the word of Reconciliation is not preach'd to all Psal 147.19,20 Acts 14.16 16.6 None can be Partaker of the Covenant without Faith and Faith comes by Hearing which the greatest part of the World have not Rom. 10.14,17 Argument 6. If Christ died for his Sheep for his Friends and for his Church only then he dyed not for all but the Antecedent is true therefore the Consequent is true also The Assumption is plain in several Scriptures John 10.11,15 15.13 Acts 20.28 Eth. 5.25 Tit. 2.14 such as were Paul and Titus not such as were Pharaoh and Judas who were Goats and not Sheep Mat. 25.33 Psal 33.12 144.15 Hosea 2.23 Mat. 1.21 his People from their sins John 11.51,52 for the Children of God called Psal 107.2 The redeemed of the Lord. Now seeing those for whom Christ dyed are such as Hear his Voice and follow him to whom He gives Eternal Life John 10.27,28 Such as He sanctifies and cleanses and presents them to himself without spot or wrinkle Eph. 5.23 Such as are Redeemed from all Iniquity to purifie them to himself a peculiar People Titus 2.14 such as are his People his Chosen his Children c. It cannot be intended for all unless we will say either that Pharaoh Judas c. were of the Sheep Friends and Church of Christ or that Christ miss'd of his End intended in his Death Redemption and Remission of Sins are the Inheritance of the Saints and of such as are made Heirs of the Kingdom of Christ Col. 1.12,13,14 'T is true he dyed for Enemies Rom. 5.10 but it was to reconcile them to God such as Paul who had been an Enemy to Christ and the Believing Romans which Christ before that had called Sheep John 10.16 though then not actually converted because in his Eternal Decree he purposed to give them Faith by which they might be gathered to his Fold so that condition to come was already present in the Eternal Purpose for the Father had given them to Christ from all Eternity but Pharoah Judas c. can in no such sense be called the Saints of Christ or Friends of God as Abraham and the Disciples were Argument 7. Quibus intenditur mors Christi ijs applicatur Those for whom Christ's Death was intended to them it must be applied but it is not applied to all therefore it is not intended for all The Proposition is thus proved If the Application of Christ's Death be according to the Intention of God concerning the Latitude and Extent of it then it is applied to all for whom it is intended but the Antecedent is true Ergo c. The Truth of the Antecedent appears thus That which is according to the Will and Purpose of God is according to his Intention but the Application of the Death of Christ is according to the Will and Purpose of God concerning the latitude of it Ergo. The Application of Christ's Death is according to God's Intention as to the Latitude of it The Assumption is proved if the Efficacy of the Means of Grace be according to the Will and Purpose of God concerning the Latitude of it then is also the Application of the Death of Christ c. but the former is true for the good Pleasure and Purpose of God is the Cause ruling and measuring this Efficacy so this Efficacy must be according to God's good Pleasure and Purpose in the Extent of it Mat. 11.26 Rom. 9.15,18 Eph. 1.5,11 proves it sufficiently Ergo the latter must be granted as true also Argument 8. If Christ dyed for all then must all be actually reconciled to God but all are not so Ergo c. The Proposition is proved nothing but sin hinders Reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 Rom. 5.19 11.15 Christ's Death merits Reconciliation with God as it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ransom and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Propitiation so that all for whom Christ died must be reconciled to God for Positâ causâ ponitur et Effectus the Death of Christ is the Cause and Reconciliation the Effect must follow it The Assumption is Evident for then if all be reconciled all must be saved Remissa culpâ remittitur et poena and nothing can be laid to the charge of any take away the Sin and you acquit the Sinner and to grant such an Acquittance and Reconciliation to all brings in many Absurdities Paul rejoyc'd in his Reconciliation by Christ Rom. 5.11 which he would not have done had it been a common Benefit to Herod and Pilate as well as to himself For upon this Hypothesis it follows 1. That Cain Pharaoh c. were reconciled to God by Christ's Death when they were at the time of Christ's dying in the Torments of Hell and never to be delivered from them 2. That God damns reconciled Persons 3. That God takes double Pay for one Fault in punishing both the Surety and the Debtor whereas Nemo bis tenetur pro uno delicto 4. That Christ's reconciling of some is ineffectual c. But
the Power of Grace 3. It robs God of that Honour in making one to differ from another and ascribes it to Man 4. It allows Man a Liberty of Boasting to God saying God I thank thee that thou gavest me Power to will but that thou gavest to Judas as well as to me but I thank my self for the Act of Willingness yet I receiv'd from God no more than Judas did 5. It tantamount exempts the Creature from the Power of God as if Man like the Spider could spin a Thread out of his own Bowels whereon to climbe to Heaven saying Mihi soli debeo and as if he were bidden to do as he will 6. It maketh Man the Cause why God willeth this or that so God must attend on the Will of Man and not be infallible in his Decrees nor working all things according to the Counsel of his own Will Eph. 1.11 Psalm 115.3 135.6 7. It supposes a Power of Believing in all the Blind Nations of the World on Jesus Christ of whom they have not heard Rom. 10.14 but especially in those under the Gospel contrary to Deut. 20.4 Mat. 13.11 8. Then James lyed in saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Every good Gift is from God Jam. 1.17 If there be something in Man already before Conversion v. 18. 9. Then Paul was mistaken also Rom. 9.18 c. who should have said It is of Man that willeth and runneth and not of God that sheweth mercy They dare not give Potentiam credendi to Man the Posse velle et ipsum velle convertere est a Deo Objection 1. There is a Law writ in the Hearts of fallen Mankind Rom. 2.14 Answer 1. Adam begat a Son in his own Image Gen. 5.3 not only as a Man but as a Sinner Generatus sequitur Naturam Generantis That which is born of the Flesh is Flesh John 3.6 Job 14.4 The Originale Originans Adam's Sin brought forth Originale Originatum Original Corruption in us which spreads over the whole Man and puts the whole Frame out of Frame so cannot do any thing that accompanies Salvation Man had Divine Wisdom to direct and Divine Wlllingness to follow that Direction now nothing able to direct nothing willing to follow that Direction there is an Impotency in the Will of the Flesh while we are Christless we are without Strength Rom. 5.6 2. Those Reliques in the Gentiles are sufficient only to leave them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1.20 and may stir them up to External Work as to Matter but not as to Form either in the Mind or Manner of right Doing all their Works are but Splendida Peccata being faulty Quoad foniem quoad finem Without Faith 't is not possible to please God Heb. 11. 6. 3. The Devils have more Light than Men yet are they altogether dead in Sin tho' They believe and tremble Jam. 2.19 and confess Christ c. Luke 4.34 Mark 1.24 They sin freely yet cannot avoid it but must sin and tho' it be necessary yet it is Sin and voluntary too Objection 2. Why is Man blam'd for resisting the Spirit Acts 7.51 Heb. 10.29 Mat. 23.37 if no Free-will Answer 1. They resisted the Outward Means as is declared in the following Words not the Inward Work As the Creature cannot hinder nor further his own Creation nor the Child his own Generation nor the Dead Man his own Resurrection c. nor Man his Conversion 2. That resisting the Spirit of Grace Heb. 10. 29. is the Sin against the Holy Ghost for which he saith There is no Sacrifice Yet that Grace they resisted was not the Grace of Regeneration Adoption c. peculiar to the Elect and will not Authorize the Arminian Universal Grace 2 Pet. 2.21 3. How often would I Mat. 23.37 is only Voluntas Praecepti an Inviting by an Outward Calling Jerusalem i. e. Her Rulers believed not yet many of her Children were gathered to Christ to wit as many as Christ would Voluntate Propositi the City is one Thing and her Children another this proves not the Point 4. 'T is one Thing to resist and another to overcome the Latter is deny'd not the Former Objection 3. Why doth God say What could I do more to my Vineyard Isa 5.4 Answer 1. God did enough in making Man upright and if he hath lost his sufficient Grace he must thank himself and not blame God who is not bound to restore it Man now hath a Treacherous Heart inventing Evil against God and against his own Soul 2. This was said to Israel a Type of the Church God dealt not so with other Nations Psal 147.19.20 Acts 14.16 Eph. 2.12 this is far from Universal Grace 3. 'T is only meant of External Helps which the Prophet reckons not a Warm Sun Good Air fruitful Rain Vital Juice or Vegetative Faculty those signifie Inward Grace 4. Neither doth he speak of Grace that God gives to particular Men peculiarly as saving Grace the Power of believing c. but of that given to a whole Nation altogether 5. It cannot be said God had done all he could strictly tho' all they could challenge for he could have given them saving Grace To will and to do 2 Cor. 4.13 Acts 11.17 c. 6. The Pagans and the World that lies in Wickedness is not God's Vineyard and have not sufficient Grace wanting sufficient Means much more their Children and so no Universal Grace Objection 4. Then God mocks in his Commands if he would reap where he hath not sown Answer 1. See more of this in the 1 st Point about Predestination in Objection 3 4. God's Commands are the Rule of our Duty not the Measure of our Ability God bids us make a New Heart Ezek. 18. 31. yet promises to give it Ezek. 36.26 so Jer. 31.18 Deut. 10.16 with 30.6 We are bid work out our Salvation but with Power from God Phil. 2.12,13 2. God seriously declares in those Commands what is pleasing to himself and what is our Duty and what he will work in his Elect for the Election obtains those Graces required we do not learn in the Law what we are able to do but what we were able before the Fall 3. Commands are upon Devils which can do nothing else but sin yet would it not be sin were they under no Command Much more Unbelievers that can outwardly reform Objection 5. Man's Will cannot be determin'd ab extra being a Self determining Principle Answer 1. Irresistible Grace takes not away that Natural Liberty which the Will hath by Creation but the Pravity of it only knocking off its Fetters but not destroying its Nature God gives not such an Insolency of Will as to will whether God will or no. 2. Man never enjoys his will so much as when God's will
Foundation would not stand sure 2 Tim. 2.19 yea and God's Gifts would not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without Repentance Rom. 18.29 and Men would not be beloved according to the Election v. 28. if God did not absolutely purpose to give those Means that are conditional in the Execution of the Decree to wit Faith and Perseverance to his Elected Ones and if he should not bestow on them a Power and a Will to perform those Conditions hereupon the Covenant of Grace runs in this Tenure I will be a God to you and ye shall be a People unto me that is I will make you so Consectaries 1. A Name writ in Heaven where no Thief no Rust no Moth comes to destroy it is better than to be enrolled in Metropolitan Corporations or at Princely Courts 't is a Name better than of Sons and Daughters a free Denizon of Heaven 2. Though we be changeable Creatures yet unchangeable Love is towards us that keeps faster hold of us than we of it 3. 'T is Infinite Condescension that the Great God should hold a poor Lump of Clay so fast in his Hands John 10.28,29 as to secure our Interest to all Eternity 1 Pet. 1.4,5 CHAP. V. Of the Third Property of the Decree to wit It is Absolute THE Third Property of the Divine Decree is It is Absolute in respect of the Efficient Impulsive Cause which cannot be any Thing Extra Deum these Reasons evince Reason 1. If the Divine Decree be Eternal it must be Absolute for nothing can be assigned before Eternal to go before it as the Efficient Cause of it There can be no Cause of Predestination assigned Quoad actum praedestinantis for there cannot be a Cause of the Will of God Quoad actum volentis because it is actus prime primus it is an Immanent Act of the Divine Will and so not only the Cause but also the first Cause of all Created Beings and therefore cannot in any good Sense be said to depend upon fore-seen Transient Acts in the Creature so by Consequence must be an Absolute Act unless we will make Volitiones Dei c. the Volitions of God to come behind the Created and Temporary Volitions of Man which is grosly absurd And if those Contingent Acts of the Creatures believing and persevering have a Futurition before God's Decree it does not only deny God to be the first Cause of all Things but it also quite disanuls the Eternity of God's Decree which was proved to be Eternal in Chap. the 3 d. Reason 2. If God be God if he be an Alnighty All-wise All-free and an All-disposing God then his Decree of Election must be Absolute for a conditional Decree makes a conditional God and plainly ungods him y ascribing such Imperfections to him as are unworthy of his Majesty and below his Divine Being As It opposes 1 st his Omnipotency First It opposes his Omnipotency If some Conditions be Antecedaneous to the Will of God then the same are Antecedent also to the Power of God This must be true for his Power as determined by his Will is the Cause of all things then it was not in God's Power to save more than are to be saved or to damn sewer than are to be damned if the Decree of God be praedetermined by contingent Acts in Men. If the Actings of Divine Omnipotency depend upon the contingent Actings in the Creature then God must say I will elect all if they will believe then must God think they can believe without him and so he is not Omnipotent Is it not safer to say that God will give us this Faith that brings us from the Conditional to the Absolute Decree Besides the former Hypothesis puts a Lye upon Christ who was Truth it self both in saying that he could of very Stones raise up Children unto Abraham and that he could send for Legions of Angels to deliver him from his Enemies 2 dly It opposes his Wisdom Secondly It takes away the Glory of Divine Wisdom in ordering all Occurrences of things for if Peter must be willing to believe before God's Decree concerning Peter then Divine Wisdom doth not at all determine about the Order of things but Order is absque primo ordinante and that which happens to Day might have happened Yesterday And the Master of the Asse might not have sent his Asse to Christ upon that same Day when that Prophecy of Christ's riding on an Asse to Jerusalem Zech. 9.9 was to be fulfilled Yea and Man might have fall'n before the Angels and many such Occurrences might have happen'd otherwise in the World whatever the Wisdom of God hath determin'd to the contrary 3 dly It opposes his Freedom Thirdly It takes away the Glory of God's Absolute Liberty of his Arbitariness and Independency For if Peter's Believing and Judas's not Believing must be antecedent to the Decree of God concerning them then God hath not an Absolute Dominion over his own Creatures but Peter and Judas make themselves the formal Object of Election and Non-Election and the Rotter hath not an Arbitrary Freedom to make this Lump of Clay a Vessel of Honour and that a Vessel of Dishonour according to his Pleasure but this Difference arises more from the Quality of the Clay then from the Will of the Potter and God's Will herein must have Dependency on the Will of Man for its Determinations which plainly overthrows the Independency of God 4 ly It opposes his Providence Fourthly It takes away the Glory of his All-disposing Providence If his Decree be not Absolute how can God otherwise be said wholly to dispose of Lots Prov. 16.38 that are cast into the Lap Shall we say that the Lot of the Apostleship fell to Matthias by chance and that it was not absolutely ordained and ordered by the Lord Acts 1.26 to whom the Apostles prayed v. 24. and not to Dame Fortune Thus the Lord found out Acban to be Israel's Curse and Saul to be Israel's King by his whole Disposing of Lots in the Lap Thus God is said to deliver the Man into the Hands of the Hewer of Wood to be slain by the Head flying from the Helve upon his Head Deut. 19.5 with Exod. 21.13 Homo proponit Deus disponit Man purposeth but God disposeth because God by an Absolute Decree hath fore-ordained all things that do come to pass They do not fall out casually and beyond God's Intention thus it is said It behooved Christ to suffer Luke 24.44,46 and to those things we are appointed 1 Thes 3.3 and Goddess Fortune cannot make void the Counsel of God Isa 14.27 46.10,11 Reason 3. If the Will of the Potter be an Absolute Will over his Pots then much more is the Will of God an Absolute Will over Mankind It is God's own Comparison Rom. 9.20 God doth not compare himself in his Divine Decree to a Goldsmith For 1. A Goldsmith hath costly Materials such as Silver and Gold which lays some
Believe or no Obey or no Persevere or no and according to his Observation of their Actings so he determines his Will concerning them thus the Perfection both of the Divine Knowledge and Divine Will is with one Breath denied and such Notions are fitter for the doting Anthropomorphites then for well Instructed Divines for Idea Dei non advenit ei aliunde Argument 4. No Temporal Thing can be the Efficient Cause of our Eternal Election which hath its Existency from all Eternity but Faith Obedience c. are Temporal Things as they are wrought in us in their appointed Time Ergo What is this but to prefer Time before Eternity and to set up a Post-destination instead of Praedestination Yea 't is a plain Denying the Eternity of the Decree for if the Volitions of God be placed behind the Created and Temporary Volitions of Man those Volitions of God cannot be Eternal the contrary whereunto was proved before Argument 5. That which is the Fruit and Effect of the Divine Decree cannot be the Efficient Cause thereof * We may not make that an Antecedent to Election which is but the Consequent of it but Faith Perseverance c. be the Fruits and Effects of the Decree Ergo. That the Assumption is true appears from many Scriptures Joh. 6.37 Such as are given to Christ by this Decree do come to Christ and John 10.26 Others that do not believe the Cause is because they are not of his Sheep Acts 13.48 As mary as were ordained unto Life believed We may not according to the Arminian Notion read it As many as believed were ordained unto Life for this would be a plain Hysterologia a setting the Cart before the Horse as if the Means were ordained before the End We are predestinated that we should be Holy not because we are holy Eph. 1.4 we are fore-ordained to walk in good Works not because we do so Eph. 2.10 We are predestinated to be conformed to the Image of Christ not because we are so Rom. 8.29 It is the Election that obtains Faith and not Faith that obtains the Election Rom. 11.7 and in 2 Tim. 1,9 the Apostle excludes all Works both foreseen and existing shewing that God's graclous Purpose is the Original of all And Paul himself was chosen that he might know the Will of God not that he was foreseen to do so Acts 22.14 and he tells the Thessalonians That God had chosen them to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and Belief of the Truth 2 Thes 2.13 so that we are elected to Faith not for it or from it Paul obtained Mercy to be Faithful 1 Cor. 7.25 not because he was so and Christ chooses us to bring forth Fruit Joh. 15.16 Argument 6. That which sets up an Inferiour Cause before a Superiour ought not to be admitted but the Conditional Decree doth so Ergo. 'T is plain that God is Causa Causarum acknowledgld by Heathens the Cause and the first Cause of all Things and there can be thing no Being but from him as there can be nothing before him Rom. 11.36 Acts 17.28 Rev. 4.11 God is the Chief Efficient Cause and the Illtimate End of all Beings but if any Being have an Antecedency to the Determinations of God's Will this plainly takes away the Dignity of the Supream Cause and makes an Act of Man to be the Superiour Cause of an Act of God yea and of such an Act as is Immanent and Eternal It must needs therefore be a gross Mistake to suppose a Cause of the Will of God either before it besides it or without it and to place a May be as Faith and every Created Being only is Ab Aeterno which becomes a Shall be merely because God hath decreed it to be so before the Decree it-self Faith is a Subalternal Cause of Salvation not a Meritorious Cause as Sin is of Damnation but a dispositive Cause as it makes us meet Partakets of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light but cannot be the Supream Cause of Election Argument 7. That which taketh away the Certainty and Unchangeableness of the Divine Decree ought not to be received but the Conditienal Decree doth so Ergo c. the Assumption is proved if any thing in Man move God to choose Man then the Purpose of God cannot remain firm by him which calleth as in Rom. 9.11 but depends on some contingent Act in Man be it Faith Works or Perseverance and if it depend on our persevering in Faith it cannot be firm as depending on such a Condition which to our last Breath according to the Arminian Doctrine of falling away is uncertain What is this but to make the Divinâ— Decree more changeable than a Decree in Chaâ—cery that is for the Plaintiff to day and againsâ— him to Morrow For the Arminian Hypothesiâ— states the Decree of God after this changeablâ— Dress viz. I will save all if they will obey meâ— but I see they will sin I must permit them buâ— I will condemn them all yet this Decree shall not be peremptory I will send Christ to redeem all to save all again if they will believe buâ— I see they will not I will decree to save sucâ— as I see will believe and persevere in Believing Thus never any changeable Picture made sucâ— changeable Representations as this Conditionaâ— Decree doth of this Unchangeable Decree oâ— God This hath been proved before by many Irrefragable Arguments in Chap. 4. Argument 8. That which maketh us to choose God before God chooses us ought not to be received but this Conditional Decree upon Faith foreseen doth so Ergo c. The Assumption is plain according to the Arminian Doctrine for if God do not choose us before he foresee Faith in us in that Grace of Faith we make our Choice of God in Christ and cleave to him Yea they say further we must be foreseen not only to believe but also to persevere in believing that is not only to chuse God for our God but also to continue in that Choice to the last Moment before we can be fit Objects of God's Choice or Election Then must it necessarily follow that we choose God before he chooses us and we love him before he loves us contrary to these Scriptures John 15.16 1 John 4.19 Argument 9. That which taketh away the Mysteriousness of the Divine Decree ought to be â—ejected but this Doctrine of Faith foreseen doth â—o Ergo. It is dangerous Presumption for Men to â—ake upon them quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Unwashed Hands to unriddle the Arcana Imperij or Deep Mysteries of God with their Carnal Reason where the great Apostle stands at the Gaze cryâ—ng 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh! â—he Depth How Unsearchable and Who knowâ—th the Mind of the Lord When Paul objects â—s there Unrighteousness in God Rom. 9. 14. â—ad he been of the Arminian Perswasion he would have answered Those are Elected that â—re
perlubentem Inclinationem a principio interno though God decreed it to be yea and concurred also as the Universal Cause yet Man exercis'd the proper Motions of his own Will saith Austin The Liberty of Man tho' subordinate to God's Decree freely willeth the Self-same Thing and no other than what it would have willed if upon supposition of an Impossibility that there had been no Decree 4. It was a Truth from Eternity before there was either Man or Sin that Man should certainly sin yet the Sin it self was but possible in it self nevertheless that Possibility passed into a futurition by the Will of God for God wills that Sin should be quia bonum est malum esse non vult ipsum malum quia bonum non est ipsum malum because it is good Sin should be but God wills not the Sin it self for Sin it self is not good Therefore God by decreeing Adam's Sin did not subtract from Adam any Grace that he had for he decreed that he should sin voluntarily so did not diminish any power that he was endued with but only he super-added not that Grace whereby Adam would infallibly not have fallen which Grace was no way due to Man nor was God any way bound to bestow it on him so it was according to God's Will not from it for what God simply would not have done that cannot be done at all 5. If Man can determine his own Will and not destroy the Liberty of it how much more may God do so that is Intimior intimo nostro more inward with us then we with our selves The Will is its own free Mover yet is not the first Mover 't is only a second Free Agent and God the first So the subordinate Free Agent the thing being yet to do may either do or not do the same Act although which of the two Man will freely incline to be infallibly sore-ordained Thus Adam might stand in respect of himself yet certainly fall in respect of God 6. The Jews might have broke Christ's Bones in respect of their own Free-will in such Actions yet was it not possible they should do so as the Will of Man is subordinate to the Will of God John 19.36 It was possible respectu rei that Christ should be delivered from his Passion by a Legion of Angels yet impossible respectu Dei for God had decreed that Christ should dye It was possible in respect of the thing that God might have pardon'd Sinners without a Christ but impossible it was as God had decreed Christ to be the Ransom And to argue on their Hypothesis of Free-will respectu Rei 't is possible none may be saved or none may be damned yet respectu Dei both are impossible for then either Heaven or Hell would be superfluous Things Objection 5. The Fifth Objection is The Predestinarians cannot agree about stating their Decree some stating it before the Fall as the Supralapsarian such be Creabilitarians and Existentialists and Others after the Fall as the Sublapsarians Answer 1. The Arminians by the Law of Reâ—…liation may be called Submortuarians for their holding no full Election 'till Men dye and Postdestinarians for placing the Eternal Decree behind the Race of Man's Life This plainly inverts the Apostle's Order Rom. 8. 30. putting Predestination behind Vocation and Justification Surely when Believers dye they are Subjects of Glorification and not of Election Paul expected then a Crown of Righteousness and Christ should have said upon this Hypothesis to the penitent Thief This day thou shalt be fully elected not Thou shalt be with me in Paradice And may they not also be stiled Relapsarians for saying that the Elect may totally and finally fall away and that he who is a Child of God to day may be a Child of the Devil to Morrow 2. Those Notions of Sub and Suprd are but Intellectus nostri fictiones as Dr. Davenant saith Humane Conceptions of the Order of the Divine Decree which so far transcends our Understandings that our weak Capacities cannot comprehend it but after the Manner of Men and those two Opinions of sub and suprd do not differ In Re sed tantum in modo explicandi for if Mankind be considered whether massa nondum condita or condita sed pura et nondum corrupta or massa condita et corrupta in a common equal Estate to be the Object of Predestination there is no such material Difference as is pretended seeing all Men are look'd on In pari statu both ways especially when one of these Perswasions doth not speak Exclusively of the other 3. The Arminians do worse in founding the Divine Decree not In statu integro nor In statu lapso but In statu reparato et tantum non glorificatos in making Believers the adequate Object of Election which cannot be for there be many that believe yet are are not Elect Ones as Simon Magus c. that believed yet had not the Faith of God's Elect and there be many that are elected yet believe not as Children This Mistake makes them say that Apostates aequè verè sideles sunt non aeque dici that he who perseveres is not more elected than the Apostate only he is longer so 4. Yet far worse is their Platform in Marshalling this Eternal Immanent Act of God into First Second Third and Fourth which must needs saith Dr. Davenant be a weak Imagination of Man's Brain and so Uncertain that amongst many who give us such Delineations not Two of Twenty can be found agreeing in Numbring and Ordering their Decrees but where One makes Four another maketh Five Six or Seven c. and that which one sets the first another sets the last therefore here Clodius accusat Moechos till themselves be better agreed they should not upbraid us with Differences 5. Those several States of Man before and after the Fall are not in the Divine Understanding as they are in ours by a Succession of Acts one after another but God uno Intuitu videt omnia by one single Act orders all things and the Divine Idaea in the Decree is a Representation of all those States at once they are not Subordinanda but Co-ordinanda not this after that but altogether in one Instant of Eternity for Non datur et posterius in Deo therefore we should not contend about Priorities and Posteriorities in God which are but Humane Conceptions Objection 6. The Positive Part of the Divine Decree makes Men remiss in Duty saying Si salvabor salvabor However I live live as I list I shall be saved Answer 1. God's Decree stablishes Means but removes them not unless by Accident as the Gospel hardens For it doth not only ordain the End but the Means to the End 't is a meer fallacy of Division to sever the Means from the End As in Acts 27.30 Except ye abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved a Decree was past for their Safety that not a Man of them should perish v. 22. yet they
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotle in his Fol. lib. 2. cap. 2. shows is not taken strictly always for every Man individually and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 2.9 is restrained to Sons brought to Glory v. 10. and to sanctified Ones v. 11. the Hebrews appropriated the Messiah to themselves as if not for the Gentiles too 5. When we say all Men travel such a way to London we mean not that every Man travels thither but such as do travel thither travel such a way The Prophet saith All men are Lyars take the Word strictly and he must be a Liar that said so Thus other Scriptures frequently restrain All. 6. 1 Cor. 15.22 is meant of the Resurrection and of those that are Christ's v. 23. or the Sense is No man is made alive but by him as Aristotle taught all Men Philosophy i. e. no Man learn'd Philosophy but by him not all individually Objection 4. God gave Christ to the World John 3.16 and for the Sins of the whole World 1 John 2.2 Answer 1. N. B. Contrary Scriptures are to be consider'd both at once and by the Scope of the whole are to be interpreted 't is not Concordia discors betwixt Rom. 3.28 Jam. 2.24 but Discordia concors Luther said Grammatica Theologiae cedat Words must give place to Matter Matter is not for words but e contra words for matter The Word World is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of various Significations John 3.16 cannot be meant of the World containing for that is not a Subject capable of Salvation nor of the World contained in a strict Sense for so Brids Beasts and Fishes and all Inanimate Things are comprehended which cannot have Everlasting Life nor can it be the World of Men but as he is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Preserver of Man and Beast Psal 36.6 there is God's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Love to Creatures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Love to Men and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Love to good Men God's Love was the Cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of sending Christ Not the first of these nor the Second properly but as an Evidence that some out of Mankind was saveable which was not granted to the fallen Angels and the Word Whosoever plainly restrains this Love of God to some not to others Whosoever in this World believeth c. and in v. 17. 't is meant the saved World which must be God's People for many of the World were damned at the time of God's sending Christ and some had been so 4000 Years as he was not sent to reverse God's Decree for then the Pains of Hell were not Endless so nor did his Death cross the Decree It must therefore be properly God's Love to good Men the third Love not such as he found so but such as he made so out of his Love to them 2. It must be meant of that World whereof Abraham is said to be the Heir Rom. 11.13 which is explained to be of all Believers v. 11. both Jews and Gentiles in every Nation thro' the World In this sense it is taken John 6.33 as Manna was only for Israel so Christ the Bread from Heaven gives Life to the World of Believers only 1 Tim. 3.16 Christ was believed on in the World of Believers only Heb. 2.5 that World which is made subject to Christ the reconciled World 2 Cor. 5.19 and that World to which Christ was a special Saviour John 4.42 3. World cannot be taken for all and every Man for then he would send his Word to them and work his Grace in them that this Love of God might not be fruitless and it must follow that either God loves the Damned in Hell or that he loved them while in the World but He is now changed 4. It is granted that God hath a Respect for all Mankind above Devils in offering a Saviour to them and Christ is the Saviour of all Men 1 Tim. 4.10 Omnes redimuntur per Christum i. e. all that are redeemed Sed soli Electi sunt in Christo not of Eternal Preservation but of Temporal Reservation for the Wages of Sin would be paid at Birth and the World through confusion by sin would have fallen about Adam's Ears had not Christ been the Glorious Undertaker 5. That in 1 John 2.2 signifies that the sins of no Man in the whole World are remitted but by Christ There is no other Name under Heaven wherely we can be saved Acts 4.12 John wrote to the Jews Gal. 2.9 and he tells them Christ is not a Propitiation for them only but for the Gentiles too as Acts 10.35 Gal. 3.28 Col. 3.11 for Christ is not Heb. Copher a Cover for the Sins of all and every Man and seeing John comforts them against Sin this cannot be done from the Impetration of Attonement but from the Application of it which none ever said was Universal therefore c. 6. Christ was sufficient as a Medicine to save the whole World as the Brazen Serpent was to heal all Israel yet only those that looked up were healed So 't is only those that apply this Medicine * 1 John 5.11,12 Habet in se quod omnibus prosit sed si non bibitur non medetur Prosper Objection 5. Christ hath as much Essicacy to save as Adam to damn Rom. 5.18 Answer 1. There is a Difference betwixt a Necessary Extensiveness and a Voluntary One The Efficacy of Adam's sin was Extensive necessarily but that of Christ's Death is of Free-grace and wholly at God's Pleasure and therefore 't is call'd the free Gist Rom. 5.15 not of the same manner 2. Christ is no where compared to Adam 〈◊〉 the Extent of his Object but only in the Efficacy of his Obedience and more Merit is required to the saving of one Soul than of Demerit for the losing of Ten Thousand 3. As all the Off spring of Adam did fall by his Sin so all the Off spring of Christ are saved by his Death All and every one are not in Christ radically as they were in Adam and all are not given to Christ * John 17.19 but As many saith Christ as thou hast given me The Seed of the Woman could not be made the Head and Root of the Seed of the Serpent Christ represented not Cain Pharaoh c. then God had been well pleased with Christ for them Mat. 3.17 and 17.5 Eph. 5.2 and they should not have been damn'd as Adam represented all Mankind As all that are in Adam dye so all that are in Christ are made alive 4. This Rom. 5.18 is spoken of such as receive much Grace and Justification v. 17. which the Arminians cannot say All and Every Man do Objection 6. Rom. 14.15 saith Destroy not him for whom Christ dyed And 2 Pet. 2.1 Denying the Lord that bought them Answer 1. Destroy is not there to condemn but to scandalize which as much as in us lies leads them to Destruction 2 Cor. 10.8 but to
Working this is the fourth Gradation then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies such strength as is in the Arms of Valiant Men that can do great Exploits is the fifth Lastly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Power that can do all things his Power an Omnipotent Power and surely had there been an Internum Principium in us towards this great Work or any Free-will to Good Paul would not have used all those Gradations nor such a lofty Emphatical Heap of most Divine and Significant Expressions This Work of Regeneration would not then have required the effectual forcible Power of the Valiant Arm of God even such a Power as raised up Christ from the dead whereby he was declared to be the Son of God Acts 2.24 Rom. 1.4 Cadaver fricatione nudâ seipsum nòn resuscitat I need say nothing of the raising up of Ezekiel's dry Bones wherein the Spirit was the Favonian Wind that wholly and solely caused new Life in them Nor of the raising of Lazarus out of the Grave which cost Christ a Prayer above all his other Miracles working and Lazarus contributed no thing to the Work Argument 7. If Moral Perswasion be altogether insufficient of it self to recover Man from his fallen Estate then fallen Man hath no Free-will to good but the Antecedent is true Ergo The Consequent This appears because then God would be only a Moral Cause of Man's Conversion but Man needs more from God and God therein is more to Man therefore c. Then Faith would be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Easie Work and not require such Mighty Power as Eph. 1.19 c. Causes are of three Sorts 1. A Moral Cause which is Improperly and Metaphorically only a Cause because it produceth not properly an Effect only it proposeth Arguments to induce and perswade 2. A Physical Cause which really and truly produceth and Effect this the Schools call an Effectual-Cause 3. A Miraculous Cause is that which worketh above the Course of Nature in producing Effects God in Man's Conversion cannot be only a Moral Cause for these Reasons Reason 1. Then the Working of Faith in us needs not the putting forth of any such Energetical Power as was in raising of Christ from the dead God did more to Christ than Morally perswade him to come out of the Grave and Christ did more to the raising of Lazarus Besides as such like Swasions are alone Ineffectual so dead Carcasses are incapable of them alone in Christ's saying Lazarus come forth there was a mighty Power went along with the Command Dixit sactum est God doth not Verba dare sed rem Reason 2. Moral Perswasions cannot be sufficient to bring sorth super-natural Effects Qualis causa tale causatum as when a Child hath an Apple held out by its Father to come to him the Child is only allured but not enabl'd thereby to come 't is not enough to perswade a Prisoner to come forth but his Chains must be struck off and the Prison Doors must be opened Acts 12.6,7,10 so must have a Physical Cause also Phil. 2.13 Reason 3. Yet Man is more than a Prisoner and stands therefore in need of a better Plaister for his Sore than a Moral Swasion which is not so much as a Removens prohibens which is only a Causa sine quâ non and so no proper Cause at all for he is dead in sin so must not have only Gratiam excitantem et moraliter suadentem but also Gratiam sanantem et vivificantem an healing and quickening Grace which this can never do Nemo fortunoe suae faber est nifi subordinate Reason 4. Then God hath no greater Influence in converting Man than Satan hath in perverting him to his Destruction he hath a perswading Slight but no Enforcing Might he may sollicit but he cannot compel Infirmus hostis est qui non potest vincere nifi volentem saith Hierom hence we are bid to resist him with peremptory Negatives and then he cannot touch us tactu qualitativo with his deadly touches Now to ascribe no more Power to the Creator than to his Creature Satan is to narrow it below Divine Majesty and to derogate exceedingly from Omnipotency Argument 8. The Eighth Argument further illustrates this Truth that more than a Moral Swasion is necessary to recover fallen Man if Christ be All in All in Matters of Salvation to us then Man is nothing in himself as to that Work and hath not a Free-will to Good so must stand in need of more than moral Swasions but the Antecedent is true Col. 3.11 Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ergo the Consequent This is manifest for these Reasons following Reason 1. Christ's first Work in order to Salvation is to bore the Ear which is stopped like the Adders to the Charms of the Charmer Psal 58.4,5 Christ gives the Understanding Ear Deut. 29.4 Psalm 40.6 Job 36.10 Isâ—… 50.4 This moral Perswasion cannot alone remove we naturally reject the Counsel of God Luke 7.30 Reason 2. Christ opens not only the Ear but also the Heart Acts 16.14 The Lord open'd the Heart of Lydia not she her own Heart which she might have done if she had a Free-will to Good the Key of the Heart as doth the Keys of the Heavens of Hell and of the Womb hangs at Christ's Girdle He soutteth and no Man can open no not our selves our own Hearts Much less will moral Swasion be effectual Reason 3. Besides Christ there is no Saviour but this Hypothesis makes Man a Co-Saviour with Christ as if there were an halfing of it 'twixt the Grace of Christ and the Will of Man and the latter dividing the Spoil with the former yea deserving the greater share for if Christ be only a Monitor and perswade to Good then Man 's own Will is the principal Author of its own Goodness and he makes himself to differ from others hath something that he receiv'd not at Conversion 1 Cor. 4.7 and whereof to boast of before God Rom. 11.18 Swasion leaves the admonish'd Will to its own Indifferency not changing it at all so Man becomes his own Saviour not Christ or however not Christ only how then is Christ All in All Then Christ is not our Creditor but we are Debtors to Free-will Argument 9. The Ninth Argument still adding more Lustre and Light to the former is If fallen Man must be drawn to Goodness then hath he no Free-will to Good and moral Swasion cannot be sufficient alone but the former is true John 6.44 12.32 Cant. 1.3 Ergo the latter The Antecedent is prov'd Drawing is a Bringing of any thing out of its proper Course and Channel by a Violent and Over-pouring Influence from without and not from an Innate Power or Principle from within Jet draws Straw the Load-stone Iron and the North-pole the Sea-man's Compass so the Sun the Heliotrope It is not said Lead but Draw in Drawing there is less Will and more Violence than in Leading and though