making away themselves or destroying their own lives though there be no absolute Decree of God to secure them in this behalf the Naturall desire of self-preservation which God hath planted in them easily over ruling by the Power and Strength of it all motions â—or dispositions towards self-destroying which are wont to arise from such occasions in like manner the strength of that inclination or desire which is or ought to be and very possibly as hath been Proved might be in the Saints to save their Soules and consequently to preserve themselves from apostasie is sufficient without any such Decree in God as was mentioned to secure them both from all danger and from all feare of apostatizing to destruction notwithstanding all weaknesses or infirmities that they are subject unto The truth is that the infirmities and weaknesses of the Saints as such are so far from being any necessary or just ground of fear unto them that they shall fall away that the sence and acknowledgement of them are most cleer pregnant and effectuall Antidotes and Preservatives against falling away For he that is inwardly and truly sensible of his own weaknesse and inability to stand will especially being a Saint or Believer most certainly depend upon him for strength who is both able and willing to supply and furnish him upon such terms 3. And lastly upon the former accompt and for a close of this Chapter §. 36. I answer that if the Doctrine of falling away be so uncomfortable unto the Saints as the objection pretends the truth is as we have in the Premisses of this Chapter made it to appear they are not much relieved at this Point by the Received Doctrine of Perseverance For this Doctrine as hath been shewed scarce suffereth any man to believe upon any Rationall competent or sufficient grounds that he is a true Saint or Believer yea and doth little lesse then tempt him to such things which are exceeding apt and likely to fill him with feares and questionings touching the truth of his Faith And what great comfort can it then be unto him to hear or believe that true Believers cannot fall away or perish whereas the other Doctrine leaveth them a good latitude of competent ground whereon to judge themselves true Saints and true Believers nor doth it deprive them of sufficient ground on which to secure themselves both against the danger and against all feare of the danger of Apostatizing or falling away to Perdition This Doctrine therefore of the two is questionless of the more benevolous aspect and influence upon the Peace and Comforts of the Saints CHAP. X. A Continuation of the former Digression wherein the Texts of Scripture commonly alledged to prove the impossibility of Saints declining unto Death are taken into consideration and discharged from that Service BEing occasioned and after a sort necessitated for the securing of §. 1. some passages of interpretation Cap. 8. being of main concernment to the Principall cause undertaken in this Discourse to ingage home in the Question about Preseverance I should according to ordinary Method and that hitherto observed in the traverse of the maine Doctrine first have argued my Sence and Judgement in the Question 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assertively and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. by answering such Objections whether from Scripture or otherwise which are wont to be levied by Men of contrary judgement in opposition thereunto But finding by experience that weaker men through too much fulnesse and aboundance in their own sence in matters of Controversie and this chiefly by meanes of some Texts of Scripture running still and working in their heads which in sound of words and surface of Letter seeme to stand by them in their Sence and Notion are under a very great disadvantage either for minding or understanding such things which are spoken unto them for their information in the Truth I thought it best for their relief in this case to invert that Method in the present Dispute and first to endeavour to take from them those weapons whether of Scripture or argument wherein they trust and afterwards present them with such other Scriptures and grounds which are Able Pregnant and Proper to build them up and establish them in the Truth We shall not tie our selves to any Rule or Prescript of Order in bringing §. 2. those Scriptures upon the theatre of our Discourse which men of differing judgement in the cause in hand are wont to plead in defence thereof themselves as far as I have observed observing none but shall produce them one by one as God shall please to bring them to mind unlesse haply two or more of them by reason of affinity or likenesse in Phrase or import may commodiously enough be handled together Most of the places compelled to serve in this warfare I finde scituate in the New Testament The first that commeth to hand is that of our Saviour unto Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it a Mat. 16. 18 From hence it is argued that those that are once built by Faith upon the Rock Christ or upon the truth of the Gospell are not in danger or in a possibility of being prevailed against viz. to destruction by all the Powers of darkness whatsoever I answer 1. That this promissory assertion of Christ the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile §. 3. c. doth not necessarily respect every individuall and single Person who de praesenti is a Member of his Church so as to secure him of his Salvation against all possible sins or wayes of sinning whereunto he may or can be drawn by Satan but may well be understood of the Church in generall i. e. considered as a body of men separate and distinguished from the world Now the Church in this sence may be said to stand and be secured against all the Power and Attempts of the Devill though not only some but even all the Particular Saints of which this body consists at present should be prevailed against by Satan to destruction Because the ratio formalis or essence of the Church in this sence doth not consist in the Persons of those who do at present believe and so are members of it for then it would follow that in case these should die or when they shall die Christ should have no Church at all upon the Earth in as much as nothing can be without the essence of it but in the successive Generation of those who in their respective times believe whether they be fewer or whether they be more whether they be such and such Persons or whether others As suppose there be not now one drop of that Water in the chanell of the River of Thames as it is like there is not which was in it seven years since yet is it one and the same River which it was then and so put the case there be not one Person now alive in any
of the Companies in London of which they respectively consisted 40. yeares since yet are they the self same Companies which they were then So then the saying of Christ that the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against His Church may stand clear and firme though many particular members thereof should be overcome Therefore there is nothing in this Scripture to evince that universall Perseverance of all Saints which is commonly taught and received amongst us 2. When our Saviour promiseth that the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile §. 4. against His Church his meaning questionlesse is this that death or the Grave which may very properly be called the Gates of Hell because they that goe or are sent to Hell enter by them thereinto or else that Hell it self shall not prevaile i. e. shall not have a full or finall conquest over those that shall die built upon the Rock he speaks of by Faith as by Reason of their most formidable strength they are like to have over all other Men. According to this interpretation his meaning only is that those that shall continue firmly built upon him by Faith shall in time be rescued and delivered out of the hand of all adverse Powers yea from death and the grave themselves the most formidable of all others This Exposition fully accords with what Chrysostome hath upon the place §. 5. If saith he Paraphrasing the words of Christ they shall not prevaile against it my Church much more shall they not prevaile against me Therefore he not troubled when thou shalt heare that I shall be Betrayed and Crucified a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These words clearly imply that by the prevailing of the Gates of Hell the Author understands the finall prevailing of Death or the Grave and not the prevailing of Satan by subtilty or temptations in one kinde or other Amongst our late Protestant Divines Cameron who comonly strikes as §. 6. happy a stroake in opening the Scriptures which he undertakes as any man doth not only deliver but with an high hand asserts argues and evinceth this Interpretation This then saith he seemes to have been the minde of Christ in this place Let those who believe lie for a time dead let death have dominion over them let death exercise his right or execute his Law upon them hold them fast shut up in the Grave as in a Prison bound with bands or fetters yet shall he not alwayes have his will over them he may or shall doe much against them but shall never have a full conquest over them b Haec ergo Christi hoc in loco mens fuisse videtur Jaceant fideles ad tepus demortui mors in illos dominetur exerceat jus suum in Sepulchro veluti in carcere eos teneat conclusos vinculis quasi constrictâ—s haud tamen usque usque obtinebit valebit quidem certè at non prevalebit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Exposition he confirmes 1. by instancing severall other places of Scripture as Job â—8 17. Psal 9. 13. Psal 107. 18. in all which by the Gates of Hell or of Death is clearly meant the Grave To which he add's Psal 18. 16. Psal 116. 3. as places of affinity with these 2. By shewing that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated Hell is never in Scripture except once used to signifie Hell properly so called i e. the place or state of the damned but constantly either the Grave or the state and condition of those that are dead 3. By minding us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Grave and Death are elsewhere termed the enemies of the Church yea the last enemies as 1 Cor. 15. 26. to which he adds the consideration of their being cast into the Lake of Fire Revel 20. 14. 4. and lastly by particular arguments against every other interpretation offered by Expositors Musculus though by the Gates of Hell he understands as well the Policy §. 6. as Power and strength of the Devill yet by the Relative Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it a Mihi videtur certius ut ad Petram â—d est Ecclesiae fundamentum referamus non quod dâ—bitem de Ecclâ—siae soli ditate sed quâ—d ea si ex pâ—tra super quam aedificaâ—a est quae tam est robusta c. he doth not understand the Church but the Rock or Foundation of Doctrine on which the Church is built So that his sence of the place seemes to be this that that Doctrine on which the Church is built is so firme and strong that all the Policy and Power of Satan though joyning together shall never be able to prevaile against it so as either to evict it of falshood or otherwise to destroy and cast it out of the World None of all their interpretations suppose any such thing deducible from the place as this that those who are once Believers or Members of the Church of Christ shall never be seduced by Satan to destruction The place speaks nothing of Satan much lesse of his Subtilty Policy or Power to seduce the Church but supposing the exceeding great and formidable strength of Death and the Grave asserteth the glorious and finall conquest of his Church over them notwithstanding So that this passage of Scripture perfectly sembleth with these and the like He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die b Ioh. 11. 25 26. And againe And this is the Fathers Will that hath sent Me that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up againe at the last day c Ioh 6. 39. See also Joh. 5. 25. 28 29 c. That which is pleaded by some for such a sence of the place which carries §. 7. the Doctrine of Perseverance in it is weake and value lesse Whatsoever say these opposeth the building of the Church upon the Rock or the constant adhering of it unto Christ is meant by the Gates of Hell prevailing For in these words and the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it Christ must needs be supposed to remove whatsoever is contrary to that which he had asserted in those And upon this Rock will I build my Church But the politique and subtile tentation of Satan to seduce Believers are opposite to the building of the Church upon the Rock and to the constant adhering of it unto Christ Therefore by the Gates of Hell not prevailing against the Church must needs be meant the defeature or non-prevailing of the strategems or counsells of Satan against Believers and consequently their persevering unto the end For to this I answer 1. By denying the Major Proposition in the Argument For that which Christ takes away in this clause And the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it is not whatsoever opposeth the building of His Church upon the Rock but
whatsoever opposeth the happiness of it being so built and adhering constantly and perseveringly unto him For the Pronounce Relative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it doth not Relate to the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will build but to the Substantive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Church 2. Whereas in the said Proposition Christs building of His Church is expounded by the constant adhering of this Church unto him that which is the Principall thing in question is taken for granted which is very in-argumentative For the matter in question is whether the Church of Christ in all the members of it once built upon the Rock must or doth necessarily so adhere to him 3. And lastly the said exposition renders a sence very preposterous and importune For upon this account Christ should speak at no better Rate of of Reason then thus The Gates of Hell shall not prevaile i. e. the Subtilty Policy and Machinations of Satan shall not be able to seduce those that are built upon the Rock i. e. that constantly adhere unto Christ Which amounts to no more then if he should have said the Devill shall not be able to make those inconstant who shall be and remaine constant or to cause those who shall firmly adhere unto Christ not to adhere firmly to him Which strain of discourse whether it becomes him who spake as never man spake I leave unto sober men to judg Another Argument urged by some against the interpretation given is §. 8. this If by the prevailing of the Gates of Hell be meant nothing else but the eternall condemnation of or perpetuall prevailing of Death against the Church then Christ here promiseth nothing but only in the behalf of those that are Dead and consequently nothing but what may stand with a totall defection of his Church on Earth But this seems to be contrary to his intention in the place Ergo. I answer 1. It is no inconvenience to suppose or grant that Christ in this place and in the Promise here mentioned doth not insure the perpetuall continuance or Residence of a Church on Earth no more then he doth in many other Promises which yet are of very high and blessed importance in their Respective kinds In that great Evangelicall Promise whosoever believes shall be saved there is nothing but what may possibly stand with an universall defection of a Church on earth yet is the Promise great and Precious It were easie to instance many others of like nature But 2. As in the Promise last mentioned though there be nothing which necessarily includes an un-interrupted succession of Believers in the World yet is there that which exceeding much conduceth towards the propagation and raising of such a succession as viz. a promissory proposall of the greatest reward that is unto whosoever shall believe even no lesse then that of eternall life so may it be said concerning this Promise of Christ And the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it Here is enough said if Men would but consider and quit themselves like Men to replenish the Earth with a Generation of Believers like unto the Waters of a River which fayle not Therefore 3. And lastly It is not truly said that this Promise And the Gates of Hell shall not c. in the sence asserted relates only to those that are dead The truth is that if we speak properly neither this nor any other promise whatsoever relates only if at all unto the dead or is made only on the behalf of the Dead the Dead in propriety of Speech are utterly uncapable of Promises though not of performances of Promises But cleerly this and all other Promises are made to the living and for their accommodation and comfort though for the letter and reality of the performance of them they are not to be partakers hereof untill they have undergone the state and condition of Death It is just matter of joy unspeakeable and glorious to him that is yet living to know and consider that though he dieth yet death shall not have any such dominion over him but what he shall shake off and that with a blessed advantage and conquest in due time But this exception against the exposition asserted is but like a moat in the Sun which darkeneth not at all the Rayes or light thereof but only gaines by being here a discovery of it felf to be a thing inconsiderable and next to nothing Another passage of Scripture compell'd to bear the Crosse of the same service §. 9. with the former is that Mat. 24. 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible they shall or should deceive the very elect From hence it is inferr'd that the deceiving or seducement of those who truly believe is a thing impossible But whether the drawing of such conclusions as this from such Scriptures as that be not a drawing of darkness out of light the considerations ensuing will be competent enough to determine 1. In their Notion who trie to fetch the Water of Perseverance out of the Flint of the Scripture mentioned the word Elect doth not signifie Saints or true Believers but such as they suppose to have been in a personall consideration chosen by God from eternity out of the great body of mankinde with an intent to save them against all possible interveniencies or oppositions whatsoever Now that such as these at least before their calling are as liable to be deceived or seduced as other Men is their own confession without feare And the Apostle Paul to whom questionlesse they will not deny the grace of their Election acknowledgeth himself with Titus to have sometimes been foolish disobedient and DECEIVED a T it 3. 3. Yea 2. It is frequently confessed by the same party that such Elect as they meane and we lately described may even after they are called and have believed by the Just and Wise sufferance of God fall into Heresie and this in fundamentall Points yea and into that fearfull sin of an abnegation and abjuration of Christ and Christian Religion If so then certainly there is no impossibility of their seduction Yea the great Patrons of the Doctrine of Perseverance which managed the Conference at the Hague about these Questions Anno. 1611. acknowledged that even true Believers may fall so far as that the Church according to the command of Christ shall be compelled to testifie against them that they cannot beare or tolerate them in their outward communion and that they shall have no part in the Kingdome of Christ except they repent or be converted b Dâ—inde respondemus ad minorem fieri posse ut vere fideles eo prolabantur ut Ecclesia ex mandato Christi cogatur pronunciare se in externa sua communione tolerare non posse neque cos partem in regno Christi habituros nist resipiscant Collat. Hag. p. 399. Doubtlesse they who having once truly believed become
deliberate or elective Act of the will of man cannot be said to be positively peremptorily or absolutely Decreed by God nor is it any other in the Nature and Condition of it then what may very possibly not be Now certaine it is that the use of means to prevent seduction in the Elect is such an Act or series of Actions which depends upon the deliberate Act of their will at least so far that it can never take place or be without a deliberate concurrency hereof If it be yet further said Though the use of means to prevent seduction in §. 17. the Elect depends upon the deliberate motions and actings of their wills thus far that it cannot take place or be performed without them yet may it have such a relation unto or dependance upon the absolute will or decree of God which shall give certainty and infallibility of being unto it notwithstanding For God is able so to interpose by His excellency of Power in all the deliberations of Men as to carry and fix the issues and determinations of them which way and upon what He pleaseth To this I answer that the Question is not what God is able by the excellency of His Power to doe in this kinde but what He is pleased to doe or what He hath decreed to doe out of the Counsell and Liberty of His Will And that which we affirme and plead in the cause depending is not that God is not able to determine the wills of the Elect to the use of means proper and sufficient to prevent their being deceived but that He hath no where declared Himself willing oâ— resolved to doe it and consequently that it is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a conceit above what is written to think that He doth it Therefore untill it be proved either from the Scriptures or by the light of some solid demonstration otherwise that God hath absolutely Decreed the non-seduction of the Elect we still speak of a seduction to destruction or which is the same upon our Adversaries Grant and Plea lately mentioned the determination of their wills to the use of means necessary to secure them against seduction we judge our selves free in Conscience to deny the pretended impossibility of the Saints deception or seduction Another Scripture much discoursed in the behalf of the common Doctrine §. 18. of Perseverance is 1 Pet. 1. 5. who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation From hence it is frequently concluded that they who once truly believe and are regenerate Verse 3. are kept by the ingagement of the Mighty Power of God from falling away to destruction I Answer 1. That it is not here said that regenerate Men are kept simply and absolutely by the Power of God unto Salvation but that they are kept by the Power of God THROVGH FAITH unto Salvation Which plainly implieth that the Power of God here spoken of ingageth for no Mans preservation or safeguarding unto Salvation but by the mediation of Faith or any whit longer then their Faith shall continue Now here being nothing said or implied touching the certainty of the continuance of the Faith of the Saints unto the end nor concerning any ingagement of the Power of God for the Perpetuation thereof evident it is that nothing can be concluded from hence for the establishment of the said Doctrine of Perseverance But 2. For the cleer sence and importance of the place it is this that Men once begotten by God to a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead Have or may Have the greatest security which the infinite Power of God can afford that persevering in that Faith from whence this hope issueth unto the end they shall be saved The place according to this interpretation runs parallel in sence and import with these and their fellowes But he that shall endure to the end shall be saved a Mat. 24. 13 viz. against all opposition nnd contradiction of impediments whatsoever Be thou faithfull unto death and I will give thee a Crown of life b Revel 2. 10 So with that lately opened upon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it c Mat. 16. 18 to which you may add Joh. 10. 18 19. Eph. 1. 19. with many others This exposition perfectly accords with Bullingers Commentary upon the place In the meane time saith He let this suffice us that eternall happinesse is in safety for us or to us which no either Man or Devill can intercept or deprive us of unlesse Faith failes us wherewith neglecting the things which mortall Men so much seek after let us wholly depend upon Heaven d Nobis interim sit satis quôd aeterna faeâ—icitas nobis est in tuto quam nullus hominum aut daemonum possit intercipere modò ne eos nos deficiat fides quâ neglectis rebus mortalium totipendeamus à coelo In the clause modo ne nos deficiat fides so that Faith faile â—â— not He clearly supposeth 1. A possibility that our present Faith may faile us 2. That in case it shall faile us we may perish notwithstanding any thing here delivered by the Apostle concerning our being kept by the Power of God unto Salvation If against this Interpretation it shall be objected that it greatly depresseth §. 19. and in a manner quencheth the spirit of the consolation clearly intended by the Holy Ghost to be administred unto the Saints in the words and that it makes very little for their comfort to hear of their being kept unto Salvation by God or by His Power in case this keeping depends upon their continuance in Faith especially if this also be uncertain and depending upon themselves their diligence and care to procure it I answer 1. That the Heart of this Objection was broken in the former Chapter a Sect. 21. 22. where we shewed that in matters of greatest consequence and most desireable in things appertaining to this life yea as to life it self the most timorous and cautious Men neither wish nor desire any greater security then to have what they desire assured unto them upon their own willingnesse and care either for the procurement or the continued injoyment of it The most impotent lover of life under Heaven and He that lives in the greatest bondage in the World through feare of Death would both of them be highly satisfied if God would but vouchsafe such a promise as this unto them that so long as they should desire the continuance of their lives and take heed of destroying them themselves by unnaturall or desperate courses as by casting themselves into the Fire into the Water down from high Towers c. He would secure them against all other interveniences or means of dissolution whatsoever In like manner it is and ought to be so esteemed by the Saints a consolation rich and glorious that God hath undertaken and ingaged Himself by the