and therefore to conclude this Point As it had beene highest presumption in Adam in his state of perfection by his contemning of the revealed light of the word of the first seventh dayes rest to have attempted by any false light to search into the secret Councell of God to know what God had decreed concerning man So it is a most presumptuous attempt in men of this age by transcending and contemning the very foundation of the light of the whole Scripture of God which is the light of the word of the first seventh dayes rest and of the first Covenant established thereon and to obtrude the fearefull light of such a miserable absolute decree to the conscience of man as to affirme that God of the Law of Righteousnesse contrary to all righteousnesse out of his alone meere pleasure without all subordinate respect did decree to condemne all the world to the eternall torments of hell except a certaine number of men whom hee decreed to elect and save and that for the execution of this miserable decree God did decree from all eternity to necessitate Adams will by the irresistable power of this decree to fall under the eternall curse of the Law and that without any respect to his Covenant made with Adam without any respect to his Law or to Adams merit by Adams transgression of the Law Thus having removed from the perfection of mans creation the obtruded internall causes of the fall of man I come next to the declaration of the true efficient cause of the fall of man as it is set downe in the sacred Word CHAP. IV. The Angels bound and obliged to the Law of God AS Eve the woman man female was first in the transgression wee are to begin with the declaration of the efficient cause of Eves transgression of the Law of God which was meerly externall The externall efficient cause of Eves fall was principall and instrumentall The principall externall efficient cause as it will appeare by the subsequent declaration was Satan The instrumentall efficient cause of Eves transgression was first the Serpent secondly the objective fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evill thirdly the words of the first Covenant Gen. 2.17 dying thou shalt dye though the two last were but causes by accident The causes inducing Adams fall were these three and Eve her selfe which was the fourth cause Satan therefore that old crooked Serpent enemy to God and man was the principall efficient externall cause of the fall of man the rest Satan did use or rather abuse for his instruments The cause of Satans betraying of man was Satans malice against God and his envy to man advanced to such high honour of dominion over the earth and over the creatures of the earth in such high love and favour of God from whose love and glorious presence Satan was disgracefully cast downe from the Heavens for Satan by the infinite word being created a most glorious Angelicall spirit in the heighth of angelicall perfection by the power of the word of the law actually and spiritually enlightned as all Angels were created for by the immediate power of the word the Angels do live move intellectually and spiritually and have their intellectuall and spirituall being The Angels therefore according to the internall power of the word were obliged to the command of the Law of God as well as man and therefore it is affirmed by the Apostle 2 Pet. 2.4 that the Angels sinned and sinne being the transgression of the Law the Angels must be obliged to the command of the angelicall word of the Law and consequently and necessarily the Angels by the power of the word in the justice of God must be enabled with equall power to fulfill the command of the Law for as it may appeare by Satans fall the Angels are obliged to the command of the Law upon the curse of eternall death for there is but one reall word of the Law of God obliging all the intellectuall creatures created by the word though formally differing according to the differing sphere of the intellectuall creature man in the humane sphere is formally and humanely obliged to the Law of God the Angels in the angelicall sphere formally and angelically and both eternally obliged Now Satan by his proud contempt of God by his transgression of the Law having falne from the heighth of his angelicall perfection and felicity wherein hee was created under the eternall angelicall curse of the Law Satan was cast down like lightning from heaven to eternall darknesse Luk. 10.18 Eph. 6.12 without all hope of redemption eternally banished from the glorious presence of God and from the society of the numberlesse number of the blessed Angels who according to the eternall Decree of God do stand in the grace of their created perfection by the power of the Resurrection of the word made flesh of the seed of the woman as they were created by the power of the word for the Lords infinite merit by his rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed Seed doth descend to the Angels by whose infinite merit the Angels are conserved in their created estate as ministring spirits for the safety of the Elect. By reason of this shamefull and ignominious disgrace of Satan by such a high fall by the angelicall curse of the Law Satan became malitiously desperate against God for though Satan by the angelicall curse of the Law was deprived of all spirituall understanding and action yet the angelicall intellectuall power of his understanding and action which is so admirable did remaine for by this power Satan works all his mischiefe against God and man Satan therefore being puft up maliciously against God and knowing man to be the most beloved creature of God and seeing that man should hold such high soveraignty and such high favour and esteeme with God from whose favour Satan had so disgracefully fallen This did so aggravate Satans infelicity as that his malicious impatiency did carry him as it were headlong in contempt of God to work his malice upon innocent man and to induce man by the transgression of the Law of God by the word of his Law commanding man to fall into the like condemnation with himselfe for Satan no doubt did apprehend that it was as impossible for man to be redeemed from the eternall curse of the humane obligement of the Law as for himselfe to be redeemed from the angelicall curse of the Law By this meanes Satan thought to be revenged on God in the destruction of his darling man and to make the whole works of the Creation suffer in the destruction of man who was created the ornament and perfection of the works of the Creation Satan therefore knowing man to be created in such an admirable estate of naturall and spirituall perfection Satan did excogitate such a mighty temptation as was able to shake the perfection of the most perfect intellectuall creature of God as it is an intellectuall creature which may
covenant obliging and commanding all the nations of the world to the joyfull jubelizing of that blessed day The Lords day that decreed day sealed with the Lords precious blood no power day or time can determine but the second coming of the Lord the eternall day when his mysticall members shall rest in him their head crowned with an incorruptible crown of glory in the heaven of heavens eternally The Lords day therefore is the true evangelicall seventh day of the law of faith by the new covenant obliging and commanding all the nations of the world to the joyfull jubelizing of the Lords day Thus by the only and immediate assisting grace of the Lord of the Lords day without the aid or help of any mortall man have we finished these three books of the Theologicall key by manifesting of the revealed truth of his sacred day so long darkned and obscured by the darknesse of the miserable age And now for a full conclusion of this Tractate according to our pomise in the second Chapter of the second book the pretended absolute decree whereby the hearts of so many Christians hath been from time to time distracted shall be examined with other opinions in the like kinde concerning the sacred decree of Predestination which for the Readers better satisfaction shall be demonstratively resolved from the lowest and last effect in the supreme and first cause as the eternall word from the beginning hath execute the same by his first three covenants made with man as they are set down in the sacred written Word Certain Opinions concerning the sacred Decree of Predestination CHAP. I. The Pelagian and semipelagian opinions concerning the sacred Decree of Predestination COncerning the sacred Decree of Predestination there be four severall opinions set down by the Authors The first is the Pelagian and semipelagian opinion which in substance and effect are both one For by both the grace to fulfill the law of God is ascribed to the freedome of mans own election though by the semipelagian opinion the grace is parted between God and man Both the opinions are pretended to be grounded upon a fundamentall Theologicall principle which principle is set down in the first Chapter of the first book of the Theologicall key which is in this manner As God doth command the action of his intellectuall creature man as well upon the eternall curse of the law as upon the blessing of the seventh dayes rest So God in his justice by his covenant is obliged to enable man to the performing of the command of his law and man being the free intellectuall creature of God it is affirmed that it is in the freedome of mans own election to fulfill or transgresse the Law of God And that God out of his eternall prescience of mans fulfilling or transgressing of the law hath decreed accordingly the election or condemnation of man so that the suspending or not suspending of the sacred decree of Predestination by these opinions must stand at the beck of the creature The only truth of these two opinions is that the will of man is not necessitate by Gods eternall decree to transgresse the law Now because the untruth of these two opinions hath been from age to age condemned as contradictory to the sacred Word of God my purpose is not to do an act done but to declare the grosse error in the mistake of the fundamentall principle whereon the opinioâ—s are pretended to be grounded It is most certain that God in his justice doth oblige himself to man by his covenant to enable man to the fulfilling of the command of his law But by the favour of the authors and maintainers of these opinions the state of man must be considered wherein God doth oblige himselfe to man by his severall Covenant in which sense this principle is to be conceived and not simply It is without all doubt that God by his first Covenant made with man in Adam created in the state of naturall and spirituall perfection did oblige himselfe to Adam to enable Adam in the state of perfection wherein he was created by the eternall blessing of his first seventh daies rest But God did mutually oblige Adam to merit that blessing by the eternall perfection of his obedience to the command of his law obliging Adam likewise to the eternall curse of his law upon Adams disobedience whose obedience or disobedience by the first Covenant was left to the freedome of his owne election to stand or fall at his pleasure or perill for the freedome of Adams election wherein he was created was such as no increated or created power could necessitate Adams will to fall and yet Gods eternall decree was not suspendible by Adam as hath beene formerly and necessarily concluded to which I must referre the Reader So it is likewise most certaine that God hath entered his new Covenant with man in the redeemed state of man from the curse of eternall darknesse and from eternall death by that darknesse to which all men were condemned shut up in temporall spirituall darknesse till the naturall man be regenerate whereby man as he is a naturall man is enabled to give morall obedience to his calling by the new Covenant without any manner of necessitating the will of man either naturally or morally to disobedience It is likewise most certaine that God hath obliged himselfe by his new Covenant to the actuall continuation of the redeemed naturall and morall grace of man for all the day of this life upon the continuation of mans morall obedience till Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling to whose finall perseverance in his morall obedience the spirituall grace of faith is then due to the naturall man by the new Covenant And therefore the Evangel is said to be the power of God to salvation from faith to faith that is from the grace of morall faith to the grace of spirituall faith But the maintainers of these two opinionâ— must understand that God by his new Covenant hath likewise reâ—liged man to the finall continuation of his morall obedience upon the mercylesse curse of the law of faith as well as upon the eâ—ernall blessing of the law by his Evangelicall seventh daies rest Now though neither Sâ—tan or his instâ—uments can necessitate the will of man to morall disobedience yet the naturall man having no spirituall grace till he be regenerate the naturall man is easily enâ—uced by Satan to the morall finall contempt of the law of God without Gods speciall objective concursive grace to which God is no waies obliged who in this case will shew mercy on whom he will shew mercy And therefore the finall perseverance of the naaturall man and his spirituall calling is the immediate free gift of God and no waies in the freedome of man election And this twofold grace in the Scripture is called the first and latter raine which is from God immediatly And therefore to conclude this point the judicious Reader may plainly perceive the grosse mistake of
first sin with such freedom of morall grace as all the created powers of God are not able to necessitate the will of the redeemed naturall man to morall disobedience To whose finall perseverance in his redeemed grace by his morall obedience till Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling the grace of spirituall faith is due by the new covenant which is established with all men in the grace of this redeemed estate Of this redeemed estate of man God without all impeachment to his justice did decree from all eternity to elect to his mercy a certain number of this redeemed state of man known to himself by preserving of them from being finally overcome by the temptation of Satan and of his instruments in this life and to leave a certain number known only to himselfe in this redeemed estate of naturall and morall grace to be induced or not induced by Satan and his instruments to finall disobedience at their pleasure and perill For there is nothing to necessitate their will morally and finally to disobedience The immediate cause of Gods election of man in this redeemed estate is the freedome of his mercy who in this case will shew mercy on whom he will have mery in his Son Christ Jesus The immediate cause of his shewing of mercy to some in this redeemed estate is his foreknowledge of them whom from all eternity he hath predestinate to be made like to the Image of his Son in this life The immediate cause that they are predestinate to be made like to the Image of his Son in this life is that Christ Jesus the eternall Son of God made flesh of the seed of the woman in time may be the first born amongst many brethren who are his mysticall members The immediate cause that they are the mysticall brethren and members of their mysticall head Christ Jesus is that as their mysticall head by the bloody persecution of Satan and his cruell instruments did seal the truth of his fulfilled promise of the blessed seed with his heart blood So his mysticall brethren and members by tasting of the cup of his afflictions by the bloody persecutions of Satan and his cursed crue may stand in the defence of the truth of their mysticall head valiantly to the end of this life The immediate cause whereof is to the end that whereas the Lords mysticall members hath born the Image of his bloody persecution in this life So in the great day they may in their mysticall head revenge the blood of man upon Satan by the finall breaking of the old Serpents head and the head of his cursed seed to their eternall confusion And that in recompence of their valour they may in their mysticall head be crowned with an incorruptible crown of glory eternally and triumphantly in all heavenly happinesse in the life to come The immediate cause whereof is the Lords promise of the blessed seed that the seed of the woman shall break the head of the Serpent which seed of the woman is first the Word the Lord Jesus Christ begot by his Father man of the seed of the blessed Virgine And next his mysticall brethren begot by the literall and spirituall light of the Word brought forth by the woman the Church The immediate cause of the Lords promise of the blessed seed is Gods eternall decree of predestination upon his eternall prescience of the full of man by the malicious treachery of Satan The immediate cause of Gods eternall decree is Gods infinite love a and mercy to man in his Son Christ Jesus the Word made flesh of the seed of the woman from whose infinite love to man as all the effects of his sacred decree do proceed So all return to the infinit eternall word second person of the glorious Trinity God and man God equall with the Father and holy Spirit to whom with the Father and holy Spirit three coessentiall distinct persons one incomprehensible indivisible infinite essence God of all power and majesty be ascribed of all creatures all eternall honour glory power praise and thanksgiving for his infinite truth love and mercy to man the only Rock and Rest of the faith of man FINIS
cursed Altar of the cross the only Son of his love Christ Jesus begot man of the seed of the woman in time as he is man the eternall Son of God before all time to redeem man from the eternall curse of the Law for the sin of Adam by his cursed death of the cross that as Satan in the Serpent did first so maliciously betray the woman to procure the fall of man So by the resurrection of the blessed seed from the dead the head of the old Serpent Satan and his cursed seed for his malicious betraying of the woman should be broke in the great day to his eternall confusion For which cause first God decreed from all eternity to enter his second covenant with man in the promise of the blessed seed that the blessed seed should rest from the redemption of man from the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam upon the seventh day of the last Sabbath from end to end that by his fulfilling of the whole Law in the seventh day the whole Law might be fulfilled as he did bind and oblige himself to man by covenant by fulfilling whereof the first seventh dayes eternall rest lost by Adams transgression of the Law might be due to his merit by the Law that the eternall blessing of the next seventh dayes rest the redemeed state of man might be continued Secondly God by his eternall decree did decree to bind and oblige himself to man to fulfill the promise of the blessed seed by his resurrection from the grave and to enter his new covenant with all the nations of the world As God did decree from all eternity to bind and oblige himself to man in the promise of the blessed seed by the second covenant So God decreed from all eternity to bind and oblige man mutually by his second covenant to believe in his promise of the blessed seed both upon the eternall blessing of the word of the second seventh dayes rest of the Law of righteousness of faith and likewise upon the eternall merciless curse of the law of faith The promised redemption of man therefore in the promise of the blessed seed by the second covenant was as effectuall and actuall to Adam and to all men naturally to descend of Adam the head untill the promise was fulfilled as it was effectuall and actuall in the fulfilled promise by the new covenant to all the nations of the world Adam therefore and all men naturally to descend of Adam by the redeemed word of the Law literally written in the the heart of man were necessarily inabled with the power of naturall life and light and with the power of the life and light of righteousness of faith to believe morally in the promise of the blessed seed as they were oblieged by covenant though by the eternall Decree of God Adam and all men redeemed in Adam the head from the curse of eternall death and darkness were shut up and concluded in temporall darkness called unbelief and sin till they be regenerate afterwards to be declared from this enabling of man with the life of righteousness of faith to believe the promise of the blessed seed the Law of righteousnes was first called the Law of righteousnes of faith for by the formall obliegement of the Law by the second covenant the formall simple obliegement of the Law of righteousness was actually determined by the command of the word of the seventh day of the Law of righteousness of faith in the promise of the blessed seed By this decreed work of the redemption of man by predestinating the Lamb of God to the cursed altar of the cross for the sin of man the sacred Decree of God doth principally take the name to be called The eternall decree of Predestination as from the more noble and excellent part so far surmounting the works of the creation as the sacred blood of the Son of God doth surmount the excellency of all the creatures created by God And so much for the eternall Decree of Predestination for the present Next the perfection of the redemption of man is to be declared CHAP. XIII Of the perfection of the redemption of man from the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam by the cursed death of the Son of God Christ Jesus as he is man AS God by his decree from all eternity did decree by the cursed death of the promised blessed seed made flesh of the seed of the woman to redeem all men from the curse of eternall death and darkness to which all men were eternally condemned in Adam the head So God from all eternity did decree to shut up and conclude all men redeemed in Adam the head in temporall spirituall darkness till they be regenerate which is called unbelief and sin and therefore it is said Rom. 11.32 that God did conclude all men in unbelief which is spirituall unbelief proceeding from that spirituall darkness that he might have mercy upon all men to wit by enlightning of that spirituall darkness by the grace of spirituall faith in the act of regeneration In which two points the perfection of the redemption of man doth consist First therefore of the perfection of the redemption of man from the curse of eternall death and darkness And secondly of the shutting up and concluding of all men redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darkness in temporall spirituall darkness called unbelief and sin according to the eternall Decree of God The perfection of the redemption of man condemned to eternall death and darknes is by the intervention of the cursed death of the Word made flesh of the seed of the woman between man condemned to the curse of the Law and the actuall inflicting of the curse by God upon the word of the Law and life of righteousness written in the heart of man whereby man was inabled with the power of naturall life and light and with the power of the life and light of righteousness before his fall By which intervention of our Saviour by his sustaining of the actuall curse of the Law due to man condemned by the Law the word of the naturall life of man and of the life of righteousness writen in the heart of man and consequently man is redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darkness and by the power of the redeemed word in the heart of the redeemed man The naturall man is naturally and morally inabled again to live the naturall life of man and the life of righteousness of faith to believe first in the gracious promise of the blessed seed by the old covenant and now to believe in the fulfilled promise by the new Covenant As Adam therefore and the Fathers by the literall light of the Word of the seventh dayes rest of the Law of righteousness of faith then by the name of the Sabbath of the Lord which was really one with the literall light of the redeemed word of the Law and life of righteousness of faith in the heart
by the extremity of their pains they are put to it to flie to Christ the only Author of faith by whose only merit the woman is only saved And this likewise is the reason that it is said John 16.21 that the sorrows and pains of childbirth are forgotten because man is brought into the world For it is a great joy and comfort to all men and women that man is brought into the world freed from the eternall curse of the Law for the sin of Adam and a hopefull member of the Church of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ And though sorrow and pain in conception and childbirth be a great weakning to women leading to naturall death and though childbirth many times be accompanied with the losse of naturall life to the mother yet it is with great advantage to the woman the childe of God while by the determining of all the sorrows crosses and afflictions of this life she enters to the eternall joyes in the life to come It is true that it doth please God to give such strength of nature to divers thanklesse women whereby they are more able to bear this sorrow and pains in concâ—â—tion and childbirth then other women but for the most part this sorrow and pain in childbirth is fearfull sudden and dangerous in so much that while God doth threaten the disobedience of man by his unexpected judgements they are expressed by the sudden dangerous unexpected sorrows and pains of women in childbirth And though it may be conceived that some women barren and childlesse are happy in this case as not being subject to such temporall danger and hazard yet I say that the fruitfulnesse of women doth far exceed the fear of such hazard and danger for children are the greatest blessings of God and a great comfort both to poor and rich And though for the most part children too too often prove crosses and afflictions to the parents stirred up by the temptations of Satan and of his wicked instruments which is a sore affliction to the parents yet it is the hand of God in permitting of Satan to afflict their parents by their children to put them in minde of their own disobedience to Gâ—d their chief Parent or to their own naturall parents or for their triall in this life whereby they are humbled under the hand of God For by afflictions we must enter the Kingdome of heaven Against this here delivered it may be objected Though man had stood in his state of perfection yet woman must have had such sorrow and pains in conception and childbirth for they are the inseparable companions of both I answer Grief sorrow and pain and sensitive perfection do mutually plant and subplant one another for passion by sorrow and grief is the immediate cause of most sensitive diseases Sorrow and grief therefore is far from that state of sensitive perfection wherein man was created which was eternall In which state if man had continued the woman must have had eternall joy and comfort upon earth without all sensitive sorrow pain or grief either in conception or childbirth But in the mean time let it not trouble any married woman barren of children because the Apostle saith that women are saved through child-bearing for the Apostles meaning is that the extremity of labour and fear in childbirth is a means to move the woman to flie to the Lord by faith and to relie upon the Lords merit to save her from the second death and if it be his will from the present danger of childbirth and therefore the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2.15 that the woman is saved through bearing of children if she continue in faith love holinesse and modesty which are the true works of faith by which faith she is only saved Far be it threfore from any woman to conceive that child-bearing is the cause of any womans safety from eternall death which is only and immediately by faith in the only merit of the Lord of life Let never therefore the barrennesse of child-bearing discourage woman if she continue in the fruitfull works of faith for by faith she is only saved And though she be denied the bearing of children in this miserable age while so many of the children of faithfull parents are led away with the crying sins of the times and miscarry to the great sorrow and grief of their parents yet let her not take her barrennesse of children for any reproach For though barrennesse in the time of Abrahams posterity Gen. 30.23 was counted a reproach amongst women before our Saviour was born Luke 1.25 Yet the blessed child being born all reproach of barrennesse of children is taken away from women CHAP. XXV The second branch of the censure literally pronounced upon the woman as she is the body of man her husband THe second branch of the censure literally pronounced upon the woman as she is the body of her husband is subjection to the husband Hence I necessarily infer that in the state of perfection before the fall there was no other subjection of the wife to the husband but the endeavouring of the wife in all mutuall love to be led and governed by the husband her head This branch of the censure therefore doth stand with as great opposition to the state of perfection as the former which doth manifestly appear by the twofold inseparable union of man and wife in the state of perfection which was both naturall and spirituall the strictest union that can be conceived by man The naturall union is set down by Moses in these words They shall be both one flesh For the woman was made of the rib of the man which is the most solid and condensate sensitive part of man as he is sensitive for the matter of the bone is of the blood of man And therefore when Eve was first brought before Adam Adam out of the perfection of his naturall understand affirmed that Eve was flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone And therefore called her Mannes according to the originall affirming her to be man essentially adding only the distinction of the sex of man In which sense the Apostle doth call the woman mans own flesh So that if man love his own flesh naturally he must love his wife as himself Ephes 5.29 The second union of man and wife in the state of perfection was spirituall for both were equally created in the lively Image of God in the indivisible union of mutuall spirituall love to righteousnesse far surmounting the most strict union under the heavens By this twofold inseparable union of man and wife in the state of perfection by matrimoniall union the union was inseparable And therefore our Saviour speaking of Moses bill of divorcement Mat. 19.8 told the Jews that Moses did permit that bill for the hardnesse of their heart and that it was not so from the beginning For they were created male and female whereby the one did strive to overcome the other by the mutuall offices of