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
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
Relation who careth for the Life of his Children nourisheth and provides all things necessary for them and if they be wicked and go from him Luke 15. and abuse his kindness and spend their substance upon Harlots as the Prodigal Son if they do but consider and return he seeing them afar off hath Compassion and runs to meet them and kisseth them and brings forth the best Robe and kills the fatted Calf and feeds and clothes them and rejoyceth over them c. Now if our natural Fathers know how to give good Gifts unto their Children how much more shall our Father which is in Heaven give good Gifts to them that ask him Mat. 7. A natural Father declining from this Rule comes under the Reproach of being Unnatural Careless Senceless c. But should he not only omit the Fatherly Love Care and Provision becoming him but also inhumanely Slay the most of his Children how odious a thing would this be amongst Men He would incur the Infliction of Death And yet the Tenents I 'm opposing lay even harder things than these at the door of the Almighty and most Merciful Father the Slaying his Children not only with Temporal but Eternal Death for the Praise of the Power of his Wrath. § 3. Jesus Christ is our High Priest and as such it is his Office to Bless us to offer up our Sacrifices to Attone and Intercede for and in our Behalf Heb. 5.1 2. Every High Priest taken from among Men is ordained for Men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both Gifts and Sacrifices for Sins who can have compassion on the igrant and on them that are out of the way c. And if Men had such great Benefit and Blessing by the High Priests after the order of Aaron how great Blessing and Benefit then have we by our High Priest after the order of Melchizedec who was before Aaron and is greater than Aaron c. Great was the Love of God unto us in giving his Son to be our High Priest to have the oversight and cure of our Souls and ineffable the Benefits Mankind receive by him who being exalted by the right Hand of God and having received from the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost hath shed forth this in some measure upon all O how wonderfully did he when he took our Nature upon him shew how great was his Goodness to the Sons of Men So if under the Cure of such an High Priest we come to any miscarriage it must be through our selves But what for a Priest do the Priests of these times make him with their Reprobate Doctrine which renders him shutting the Gates of Heaven against the greatest part of the Flock committed to his Cure and instead of interceding to God for them delivering them over to Satan and to Eternal Ruine and this not because of their Wickedness and that they will not be Reclaimed but for the Pleasure of his Father's Will even because God hath Will'd and Decreed it as they say See here how injurious is this Doctrine of Reprobation unto God and Christ in those general Relations of King Father and Priest c. CHAP. III. Reassuming the Substance of those Scriptures and Inferences mention'd in the Introduction most usually Vrged in pleading for Personal Reprobation with particular Answers and Explications to each according to their true and genuine Sense in which is clearly Refuted those false Senses and Meanings which the Predestinarians commonly impose upon them The whole comprised in Ten Objections and their respective Answers HAving thus far gone upon General Reasons I shall now come to a Particular Examen of sundry Scriptures most used in pleading for Personal Reprobation which I shall put as Objections not that they are really so to the Argument I 'm Advancing but the Misunderstanding or that false Sense put upon them So what I put down under the Head of Answer is the Explication of their true genuine Sense and Refutation of those false and foreign Senses and Meanings impos'd on them Which having for avoiding of Cavils premised I proceed Object 1. Though God be Love Good Gracious Merciful c. yet is he Excellent in Power and in Judgment and in plenty of Justice and the Scripture tells us of the Fierceness of his Anger and of his Indignation and of his Wrath and Vengeance c. Deut. 9.7 22. and 13.17 Josh 7.26 Job 37.23 Jer. 50.7 Mic. 7.9 Rom. 12.19 Answ All such places in which God's Anger and Wrath c. are spoken of have respect to Provocation and Offence given and not otherwise for all his Attributes are resolvable into Goodness and Love Mercy and Truth meet together or are united in him and Justice and Peace kiss each other or agree in one in him so speaking of God simply as what he is in himself or what is Primary and Spontaneous in him and he is all Goodness and Love Deus est primario bonus atque ex indole Naturae secundario ex accidente severus idem est ex populi peccato God is primarily good out of the inclination of his Nature but secondarily and accidentally he is severe by reason of People's sins So Anger Wrath Fury and Vengeance the executive part of Justice are consequential from God and not primarily in his Being but stirred up by the Devil and wicked Men proceeding according to his Lusts and the Inclination of their depraved Nature it is the Fruit of their Doings but the Fruit of the Spirit is Love Gal. 5.22 and God is Love God is slow to Anger it is not kindled in him nor repays he Vengeance or Wrath without great Provocation and cause given on our part take away this and Justice is our Friend and Advocate and is as sweet as Mercy It 's Transgression puts the Rod into the Hand of Justice or she Chastizeth not She never smites the Innocent or wounds the Mind that is Guiltless if so it would cease to be it would be no more Justice but it 's the Wicked that are slain at her feet and Transgressors are wounded by her And as Anger Wrath c. are not primary or voluntary in God but as effects of Provocation and Offence so neither is he inclin'd or prone thereto which is an ill Character in a Man and denominates him crabbed peevish angry implacable c. which by no means may be spoken of God Thus the Race of Mankind could not offend their Maker before they were made neither could it be consistent with him to make such a number of Living Souls so Good so Honourable and Resembling Himself to an End so Miserable as the Torments of Hell Object 2. The Scripture mentions Vessels of Wrath fitted for Destruction and also Vessels of Mercy and it is plain some Men are intended by Vessels of Wrath and some Men by Vessels of Mercy Now there is a vast difference betwixt Wrath and Mercy and the Scripture speaking of Mankind under the terms
of so great difference sheweth as if they were not all made to the same End Answ The Vessels of Wrath are them that become such through Degeneration and Sin and even towards these God exerciseth great Patience Goodness and Mercy gives them time and space of Repentance indures them with much long Suffering till the Day of their Visitation is over then they are Vessels of Wrath fitted for Destruction but that they were so from before they were Born or fitted to Destruction in their first Structure neither this or any other Scripture holds whosoever are saved it is through Regeneration and Regeneration supposeth Generation and Degeneration going before Regeneration is a restoring our Generation bringing us into our first State and Image and all such are Vessels of Mercy And the Vessels of Wrath are the Unregenerate them in the Degeneration but no Man was made a Vessel of Wrath in the Day in which he was made Object 3. The Scripture saith unto Pharaoh Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up that I might shew my Power in thee and that my Name might be declared throughout all the Earth therefore hath he Mercy on whom he will have Mercy and whom he will he hardeneth From whence some conclude Pharaoh to be made for a purpose of Destruction c. Answ This Scripture refers to Exodus 9.16 where the words in the Lattin are Veruntamen propterea feci ut restares nevertheless therefore I made that thou mighest remain c. or that thou remainest and in the Margent is put Made thee stand instead of which is put in the English Bible For this cause have I raised thee up and in Romans 9.17 For this same purpose where in the Latin both Tremellius Beza c. use the Verb Excitavi and in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same Signification None of all which Expressions relate to the Creation of Man or Pharaoh's being made to such an end but to something done to him or permitted or suffered after he was Man Nor is it deny'd but God may Judicially harden People after so long and manifest Opposition and Rebellion against him Now were past already Seven of the Plagues of Egypt and the Eighth about to be poured forth so no question God in his Justice sooner might have cut Pharaoh off Yet Time was lengthened to him and his Punishment further deferr'd for God's greater Glory that he might multiply his Signs upon Egypt and so his Power be manifest and Name declared throughout all the Earth and this is all that place imports But not that Pharaoh was made on purpose for this End of Destruction and no other nor doth Temporal Destruction always imply Eternal the terms in the Argument for instances not a few may be collected in Scripture where God pardons the Sin as to the Eternal Punishment of it and yet inflicts an heavy Temporal Punishment I come now to the second part of the Objection Therefore hath he Mercy on whom he will have Mercy and whom he will he hardeneth As to this and such Passages though our Opposers would have them carry their Sense yet read but as they should be read this Apostle's Epistles through and they explain themselves and shew in what manner and order and for what cause God declares his Wrath on the Vessels of Wrath and the Riches of his Glory on the Vessels of Mercy and also teach us That every one who is a Vessel of Wrath becomes such by slighting the Mercies of God graciously tender'd him in the Day of his Visitation For there is such a Day to every one in which they may be saved and wherein God works upon them in order to this End This is a Day of Days an entrance into Life and Glory to them that know and improve it And these are them God will have Mercy on who in the time of their Visitation receive his Grace and Love and through the Power and Work of the Divine Word attain the New Birth And those that God will Judicially harden are they who despise the Riches of his Goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering as did Pharaoh not knowing that the Goodness of God leadeth to Repentance these through their hardness and impenitent Hearts treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath. And the others do not harden their Hearts but obey the Truth Now these different States have different Rewards and thus is Mankind distinguish'd into Vessels of Wrath and Vessels of Mercy Thus is it that some find Mercy and some are Hardened And as to such Expressions as Whom he will he hardeneth and God hardened Pharaoh 's Heart c. they are not to be understood as if hardening Men were simply of God until they have rejected the Tenders of his Love or without long and great Provocation on their part Nor are we to suppose they might not have avoided the cause of such Provocation from any fore-designed Hardening on God's part For during the time of any one's Visitation God freely offers them Mercy and what he doth afterwards hath no influence upon this Argument but even that seems rather a leaving them to themselves a giving them over to a Reprobate Mind to Impenitency and Hardness of Heart than active Hardening of them And so concerning the Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart it is said Exod. 4.21 and 7.13 and 10.27 That God hardened it and in the same Book Exod. 8.32 and 9.35 it is said That Pharaoh hardened his Heart So in the Scriptures first quoted the hardening Pharaoh's Heart is spoken of as God's Act and in the latter the same is spoken of as Pharaoh's Act Which seeming Difference is thus Reconcil'd Hardening in Scripture-sense is to be understood as a Searedness and Insensibility of things concerning the Glory of God and our Happiness which Condition is an effect of a customary and habitual Sinning according to that Saying Consuetudo peccandi Peccati sensum tollit The custom of Sinning takes away the Sense of Sin So Pharaoh persisting in a course of Sin and Wickedness unto great Obdurateness thus it is said He hardened his Heart and God ceasing to strive with him by his Spirit and relinquishing him to that Obdurateness thus it is said God hardened his Heart For as his Provocation was the cause of his Plagues so his Rebellion was the cause of his being Judicially Hardened By all which we may learn in what a Qualified Sense such Scriptures are to be understood and the ill Consequence of a partial taking them which may suffice to this Objection Object 4. Thou wilt say then unto me Why doth he yet find fault For who hath resisted his Will Nay but O Man Who art thou that repliest against God Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it Why hast thou made me thus Hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same Lump to make one Vessel unto Honour and another unto Dishonour Answ God doth not find fault where his Will is not resisted
c. and makes him as old as the World because of some contained in him that shall not be saved from the beginning thereof So it 's queryable whether he makes his Adam-Belial before the Scripture Adam as he makes his Fall before his and what in the State of Creation he differed from him the Scripture calls the first Adam and not being made Male and Female how he propagates Posterity c If as he saith in p. 14. of the Reprobates they are of Adam-Belial and the Seed of the Serpent the best Construction I can suppose upon it tho' very improper is That they are of Adam according to Generation and Belial or the Serpent's Seed according to Degeneration of Adam as Men and Women and of Belial as to the Carnal Mind the Fleshly Birth c. But this sense spoils his design and brings all Men under the same Category in that all have sinned which he hath mark'd out for the Reprobates only and intangles him into this Contradiction That whereas he affirmed before of these Reprobates that they were of another Stock and Root than that Adam or Man whom God created in the beginning Male and Female c. and were not contained in him nor are his Branches Parts or Members c. This makes it that they are of the same Root and Stock with that Adam whom God created in the beginning Male and Female and were contained in him and are his Branches Parts or Members c. And if he will have it thus we must take it in the gross sense as it liess and it tells us of another Adam than the Scripture Adam one Adam-Belial of another Stock and Root and yet from the beginning and who fell before that Adam of whom Moses writes and was not created or made Male and Female but of him and the Seed of the Serpent after some manner are the Reprobate People propagated and they are of this Stock and Root c. And so opens a Door to a parcel of filthy polluted Notions such as Incubism and Succubism c. savouring more of Witchcraft than Philosophy And this sense may be fairly enforc'd upon him from his words but I have try'd to bring it under another Construction and I think the best it would bear having a mind to help him He hath told us before of an unhappy mixture betwixt the two Seeds and now of the Separation he saith In order to separate the one from the other viz. the Seed of Man from the Seed of the Serpent Christ the Seed of the Woman was promised c. is come c. and will perfectly effect that Separation of the one from the other before the end of the World Observe The Seed of Man The Seed of the Woman The Seed of the Serpent these are his Thâ—â—◠〈◊〉 By the Seed of the Woman is meant Christ by the Seed of te Serpent is meant the Serpent and so I suppose by the Seed of Man must be meant the Posterity of Adam which he makes the right Seed Wheat Gold c. The Seed of the Serpent the bad Seed Tares Dross c. The unhappy mixture to be of these two the bad with the good the Tares with the Wheat the Dross with the Gold Christ the Seed of the Woman to be the separator that separates the bad from the good the Tares from the Wheat the Dross from the Gold and that he will perfectly effect that Separation before the end of the World Then shall all Men be saved before the end of the World He 'll gather the Wheat into his Garner c. But he intimates in p. 14. Souls that were not given to Christ from the beginning of the World and which shall not be saved nay Souls neither belonging to the First or Second Adam and tells of some who at the end of the World shall be cast into the lake of Fire which is the Second Death c. Of some who after this Separation are wholly bad having nothing of the good remaining in them being meer Tares Dross Dregs and Excrement and some that have nothing of the bad cleaving to them but are wholly the right Seed and this Separation is of the Serpent from Man Then how should some Men be wholly bad after all that 's bad is separated from them Is the Man in this case absorpt and the Serpent put in the Man's Skin Can the Wheat be all Tares after the Tares are all separated from it Or the Gold all Dross having nothing of Gold in it after all the Dross is puâ—â—â—d from it Or shall the right Seed the Wheat the Gold be cast into the lake of Fire Shall all Men before the end of the World be thus purged and sanctified and washed as this Separation imports and yet some Men not be saved The preceding Mystery remembers me of a passage met with in a Book said to be his near the beginning of his out-going from the Truth it was the Passage of the Cave of Mackpelah allegoriz'd The Cave was bought for Four Hundred pieces of Silver which he saith signifies so many Vertues then giving the signification of the Hebrew Words he saith mackpelah signifies a double Burial-place and speaks of the Blessedness of it or the Blessed State thereby signified It was bought of Ephron the Hittite and Ephron he saith signifies the Dust-eater and the Dust-eater in the Scripture is the Serpent it was his doom to go upon his Belly and eat Dust Now what of a Mystery is this Is it not to send as to see 〈…〉 Happiness of the Serpent to perswade us the custody of it is 〈…〉 with him or that being so he would set no other price 〈…〉 Vertue to make the ursed Serpent or Ephron the Hittite 〈…〉 Race the Dispensers of Blessings and the 〈…〉 to put Antichrist in the place of Christ This is an odd 〈…〉 and I thought as craz'd a one and that of Adam-Belial as were to be met with and which might well enough stand together though they 're simple they 're sorting And now having done with him I leave it to every Reader to consider whether this his Doctrine of Election is so high and mysterious so precious and comfortable affording unspeakable matter of Praise unto God for his great Love p. 14. and whether it serves to clear to us his Justice and Divine Wisdom and Power to the stopping the Mouthes of Atheists Blasphemers and perverse Infidels and to the affording unto all God's dear Children most abundant cause of Divine Consolation c All which and more he saith of it Or it is an heap of broken inconsistent irregular unchristian Notions contrary to the Gospel And whether his Book deservedly bears the Title of Truth Advanced in the Correction of many gross and hurtful Errors which is its self so full of vile and gross Errors and Contradictions as are here observed in the Examining about one Sheet on 't FINIS