it lies so in opposition to my way I cannot let it altogether pass First It is highly injurious to GOD because it makes Him the Author of Sin which of all things is most contrary to His Nature I confess the Asserters of this Principle deny this Consequence but that is but Mockery seeing it so naturally follows from their Doctrine and is equally Ridiculous as if a Man should obstinately deny that One and Two makes Three For if GOD has decreed the Reprobated shall Perish without all respect to their Evil Deeds but only as his own Pleasure and if he hath also decreed long before they were in being or in any Capacity to do Good or Evil that they should walk in these Wicked Ways by which as a Secondary Means they are led to that End Who I pray is the Author and Cause thereof but GOD who so Willed and Decreed it Is not this as Natural a Consequence as can be Secondly This Doctrine is injurious to GOD because it makes Him appear to delight in the Death of Sinners yea and will have many to die in their Sins Contrary to these Scriptures Ezek. 33.11 1 Tim. 2.3 2 Pet. 3.9 For if He hath created Men only for that End that He might shew forth His Justice and Power in them as some Affirm and for effecting thereof hath not only with-held from them the Means of doing Good but also fore-ordained the Evil that they should fall into must He not therefore delight in their Death seeing against His own Will He neither doth nor can do any thing Thirdly Is it not highly injurious to CHRIST our Mediator and to the Efficacy and Excellency of his Gospel Does it not render his Mediation ineffectual as if he had not by his Sufferings throughly broken down the Middle Wall nor yet remov'd the Wrath of GOD or purchas'd the Love of GOD to all Mankind if it was before decreed that it should be of no Service to the far greater part of Mankind It is to no purpose to alledge that the Death of CHRIST was Effectual enough to have saved all Mankind if in effect its Vertue be not so far Extended as to put all Mankind in a capacity of Salvation Fourthly Makes it not the Preaching of the Gospel as a meer Mock and Deceit if many of those to whom it is Preached be by an Irrevocable Decree Excluded from being benefited by it It wholly makes Useless the Preaching of Faith and Repentance and the whole Tenor of the Gospel-Promises and Threatnings as being all Relative to a former Decree and Means before-appointed to such which because they cannot fail Man needs do nothing but wait for that Irresistable Snatch which will come though it be but at the last hour of his Life if he be in the Decree of Election And be his Diligence and Waiting what it can shall never Attain it if he belong to the Decree of Reprobation Lastly This Doctrine is highly injurious to Mankind and renders them in a far worse Condition than the Devils in Hell for they were sometime in a capacity to have stood and do suffer for their own Guilt Whereas many Millions of Men according to this Doctrine must suffer for Adam's Sin which they neither knew of nor ever were accessary to It renders them worse than the Beasts of the Field of whom the Master requires no more than they are able to perform and if they be kill'd Death is to them an end of Sorrow Whereas Man is for ever Tormented for not doing that which he was never able to do It puts him in a far worse condition than Pharoah put the Israelites for tho' he with-held Straw from them yet by much Labour and Pains they could have gotten it But from Men they make GOD to with-hold all means of Salvation so that by no means can they attain to it Having thus briefly removed this false Doctrine out of my way which hath been a great Concern to me because they that are desirous may see it Learnedly and Piously refuted by many others I come to the Doctrine of Universal Redemption or Christ's Dying for all Men which is that Subject I find with me to Treat of and is of it self so Evident from the Scripture-Testimony that there is scarce found any other Article of the Christian Faith so frequently so plainly and so positively Asserted It is that which makes the Preaching of CHRIST to be truely termed the Gospel or the Message of Glad Tydings to all Thus the Angel declared the Birth and Coming of CHRIST to the Shepherds Luke 2.10 Behold I bring you good Tydings of great Joy which shall be to All People he saith not to a Few People Now if this Coming of CHRIST had not brought a possibility of Salvation to All it should rather have been Accounted Bad Tydings of great Sorrow to most People Neither should the Angel have had Reason to have sung Peace on Earth and Good Will towards Men if the greatest part of Mankind had been necessarily shut out from Receiving any Benefit by it How should CHRIST have sent out Disciples to Preach the Gospel to every Creature Mark 16.15 A very comprehensive Commission That is To every Son and Daughter of Mankind without all Exception He commands them to Preach Salvation to all Remission of Sins to all Warning every one and Exhorting every one as Paul did Col. â— 28 Now how could they have Preached the Gospel to every Man as became the Ministers of JESUS CHRIST in much Assurance of Salvation by that Gospel had it not been possible for all What if some of us had asked or should now ask any of these who deny that CHRIST died for all Hath CHRIST died for me How can they with Confidence give a certain Answer to this Question If they give a Conditional Answer as their Principle obligeth them to do and say If thou Repent CHRIST died for thee Doth not the same Question still recur Hath CHRIST died for me so as to make Repentance possible for me To this they can Answer nothing unless they run in a Circle Whereas the Feet of those that bring glad Tydings of the Gospel of Peace are said to be Beautiful for that they Preach the Common Solvation and Repentance unto All offering a Door of Mercy and Hope unto All through JESUS CHRIST who gave Himself a Ransom for All. The Gospel invites All and certainly by the Gospel CHRIST intended not to deceive or delude the greater part of Mankind If all then ought to look for Salvation by Him He must needs have made Salvation possible to All For who is bound to seek after that which is Impossible Certainly it were a meer mocking of Men to bid them do so And such as deny that by the Death of Christ Salvation is made possible unto all Men do most Blasphemously make GOD mock the World in giving his Servants a Commission to Preach the Gospel of Salvation unto All while He hath before Decreed
that it should not be possible for them to Receive it would not this make the LORD to send forth His Servants with a Lye in their Mouths which were Blasphemous to think commanding them to bid all and every one believe that CHRIST died for them and had purchased Life and Salvation whereas it is no such thing according to their afore mentioned Doctrine But seeing CHRIST gave a Commission to Preach Repentance and Remission of Sins and Salvation to All it is manifest he died for All For he that hath Commissionated his Servants thus to Preach is a GOD of Truth and no Mocker of poor Mankind neither doth he require of any Man that which is Impossible but is a Principle of Truth Engraven in every Just Man's Mind And seeing He is both a most Righteous and Merciful GOD it cannot at all stand either with His Justice or Mercy to bid such Men Repent or Believe to whom He has made it Impossible Moreover If we regard the Testimony of Scripture in this matter where there is not one Scripture that I know of that affirmeth CHRIST not to have died for All there are divers that positively Assert He did 1 Tim. 2.1 2 3 4 5 6. I exhort that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of Thanks be made for all Men c. for this is good and Acceptable in the sight of GOD our Saviour who will have ALL MEN TO BE SAVED and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth who gave Himself a Ransom FOR ALL to be testified in due time Except we will have the Apostle here to intend quite another thing than he asserted there can be nothing more plain to confirm what we have here asserted and this Scripture doth well Answer to that manner of Arguing which we have hitherto used For first The Apostle here exhorts him to Pray for All Men and to withstand such an Objection as if they had said with our Adversaries CHRIST prayed not for the World neither willeth He us to pray for All because He will not that All should be Saved but hath ordained many to be Damned that He might shew forth His Justice in them He withstands I say such an Objection telling them That it is good and acceptable in the sight of GOD who will have ALL MEN TO BE SAVED I desire to know what can be more expresly affirmed Or can any two Propositions be stated in Terms more Contradictory than these Two GOD willeth that Some Men shall Not be Saved GOD willeth All Men to be Saved or GOD will have No Man Perish If we believe the last as the Apostle hath affirmed the first must be destroyed seeing of Contradictory Propositions the one being Placed the other is Destroyed Whence to conclude he gives us a Reason of His willingness that All Men should be Saved in these words Who gave Himself A RANSOM FOR ALL As if he would have said Since CHRIST died for All Men since he gave Himself a Ransom for All therefore he would have All Men to be Saved This CHRIST Himself gives as the Reason of GOD's Love to the World in these Words John 3.16 GOD so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son that WHOSOEVER Believeth in Him should not Perish but have Everlasting Life compared with John 4.9 This is very positively affirmed Heb. 2.9 in in these words But we see JESUS who was made a little lower than the Angels for the Suffering of Death Crowned with Glory and Honour that He by the Grace of GOD SHOULD TASTE DEATH FOR EVERY MAN He that will but open his Eyes may see this Truth here asserted If he tasted Death for EVERY Man then certainly there is NO Man for whom He did not taste Death then there is no Man who may not be made a Sharer of the Benefit of it For He came not to Condemn the World but that the World through Him might be Saved John 3.17 He came not to Judge the World but to Save the World Joh. 12.47 If He never came to bring Salvation to great part of Mankind but that his coming though it could never do them good yet shall augment their Condemnation from thence it necessarily follows that He came not of Intention to Save but to Judge and Condemn the greater part of the World contrary to His own Express Testimony And as the Apostle Paul in these words above-cited doth assert Affirmatively that GOD willeth the Salvation of ALL so doth the Apostle Peter assert Negatively that he Willeth Not the Perishing of any 2 Pet. 3.9 The LORD is not slack concerning his Promise as some Men count slackness but is long suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that All should come to Repentance And this is correspondent to that of the Prophet Ezekiel Chap. 33.11 As I live saith the LORD I have no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his Ways and live If it be safe to believe GOD and to trust in him we must not think he intends to cheat us by all these Expressions through his Servants but that he was in good Earnest And that this Will and Desire of His hath not taken effect the blame is on our parts which could not be if so be we were never put in any capacity of Salvation and that CHRIST had never died for us but left us under an Impossibility of Salvation What means all those Earnest Invitations all these Serious Expostulations wherewith the holy Scriptures are full As Why will you die O House of Israel Why will you not come unto me that you might have Life I have waited to be gracious unto you I have sought to gather you I have knocked at the Door of your Hearts Is not your Destruction of your selves I have called all the Day long If Men who are so Invited be under no capacity of being saved if Salvation be impossible unto them why doth the Psalmist express himself thus The LORD is gracious and full of Compassion slow to anger and of great Kindness or Mercy The LORD is good to all and his Tender Mercies are over all His Works of which Man is the Noblest Part. This Doctrine is abundantly confirm'd by the Apostle 1 John 2.1 2. And if any Man sin we have an Advocate with the FATHER JESUS CHRIST the Righteous and He is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the WHOLE WORLD Here the Apostle John tells us plainly That CHRIST not only died for him and for the Saints and Members of the Church of GOD to whom he wrote but for the WHOLE WORLD Let us then hold it for a Certain and Undoubted Truth notwithstanding such as oppose If we Regard the Testimony of the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans we must conclude that the Death of CHRIST was as large to Save as Adam's Sin was to Condemn Rom. 5.15 18. where he says
vers 7. where it is said Let the Wicked forsake his way and the Unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the LORD and he will have Mercy upon him and to our GOD and He will abundantly pardon Whereby it may be plainly understood although the Covenant be sure on GOD's Part yet the Failure is on Mans Part in not Abiding in this holy Covenant and in dis-regarding and slighting that Law or Light GOD hath appointed for a Teacher for a Guide and for a Leader which would lead into all Truth Holiness and Purity without which No Acceptance with GOD. And furthermore The Apostle speaking of the Excellency of this Law saith The Law of the Spirit of Life in CHRIST JESUS hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh GOD sending His own SON in the likeness of sinful Flesh and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit And as he delighted in the Law of GOD after the Inward Man and could speak of the Efficacy of it and the Sufficiency thereof so it may be observed the great Benefit he received through minding this Law and believing in it was that it set him free from the Law of Sin and Death it was that whereby he was translated out of the Power and Kingdom of Satan into the Power and Kingdom of the Dear SON of GOD who is sufficient for all that believe on him For GOD sent not his SON into the World to condemn the World but that the World through Him might be saved John 3.17 as they believe on Him Otherways according to his own Saying If ye believe not that I am He ye shall die in your Sins and whither I go thither ye cannot come John 12.46 47. Who saith again And if any Man hear my Words and believe not I Judge him not for I came not to Judge the World but to Save the World So it appears that the Love of GOD is held out to All that All might have been or may be saved by CHRIST But alas it proved the misery of the Jews who were of that Stock of whom CHRIST came according to the Flesh GOD's Peculiar People whom he had chosen above all the Families of the Earth to fall short through Unbelief and because they Believed Him not they did not Receive Him but they that Believed Him Received Him And as many as Received Him to them He gave Power to become the Sons of GOD John 1.12 13. So here may be plainly seen Unbelief was the Cause wherefore the Jews came short of the Benefit that GOD is bestowing upon such who do not only believe that CHRIST our LORD came in that prepared Body to do the Will of His FATHER to be offered up once for all but also believing on Him as He is come the second time without Sin unto Salvation waiting for His Inward Appearance by His Light and Grace in their Hearts and Souls that thereby they may know the Great Work of Regeneration with out which they cannot see the Kingdom of GOD nor doubtless enter into it So it may be observed the Fault is on Mans Part and not by an Eternal and Absolute Decree as some assert Again It is said in Rev. 3. 20. Behold I stand at the Door and Knock IF ANT MAN hear my Voice and open the Door I will come in and sup with him and he with Me. And blessed are they that hearken to the Inspeaking Voice of the Son of GOD who is Undoubtedly knocking at the Door of every Mans heart during the day of his Visitation in order to reclaim him from the Evil of his ways and to cleanse his Heart from all Iniquity that so he may be United or Married to the Lamb. But and if Man will not hear His Voice nor hearken the LORD will certainly be clear of his Blood and his Destruction will be upon his own Head And again It may be read in Rev. 22. 17. And the Spirit and the Bride faith Come and let him that heareth say Come and let him that is athirst Come and WHOSOEVER will let him take of the Water of Life freely Mark WHOSOEVER so there is None Excluded And according to the saying of our LORD John 4. 14. But WHOSOEVER drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never Thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of Water springing up unto Everlasting Life O the Benefit of it and the Joy of it unto such who know the springing up thereof is that which cannot be Demonstrated as it is Felt and Witnessed There is much Assurance of Peace It springs up to Everlasting Life There 's no Thirsting after any other Refreshment to the Soul but that which proceeds from the Spirit For this spake He of the Spirit that such should receive who believed on Him O what pity it is that poor Mankind should deprive themselves of such Great Blessings such Unutterable Kindness such Great Favour such Joy as to draw Water out of the Well of Salvation in themselves by falling short through Unbelief as did the Jews For because of Unbelief they were broken off Behold therefore the Goodness and Severity of GOD On them which fell Severity but towards thee Goodness if thou continue in his Goodness otherwise thou shalt also be cut off Rom. 11.22 And again I am not ashamed of the Gospel it is the Power of GOD unto Salvation unto every one that believeth But he that believeth not excludes himself from the Benefit of this Gospel-Power Moreover it is said Prov. 1. 20. Wisdom crieth without she uttereth her Voice in the Streets she crieth in the chief Places of Concourse in the openings of the Gates in the City she uttereth her Words saying How long ye Simple ones will ye love Simplicity and the Scorners delight in their scorning and Fools hate Knowledge Turn you at my Reproof Behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you I will make known my words unto you Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my Hand and no Man regarded but ye have set at nought all my Counsel and would have none of my Reproof I also will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh Here may be seen the Love of GOD without respect of Persons when He is calling to the Scorners to the Simple and to Fools As likewise in Acts 10.34 where the Apostle Peter saith Of a Truth I perceive that GOD is no Respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth Him and worketh Righteousness is Accepted with Him So he makes the Fear of GOD and the working of Righteousness the Qualifications Such then that have this are Accepted where-ever they be But Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that
For if through the Offence of One many be Dead much more the Grace of GOD and the Gift by Grace which is by one Man JESUS CHRIST Therefore as by the Offence of One Judgment came upon ALL MEN to Condemnation EVEN SO by the Righteousness of One the Free Gift came upon ALL MEN to Justification of Life And we all agree that Adam's Sin brought the Curse upon all his Posterity And shall we not likewise believe that as in Adam ALL Die so in CHRIST shall ALL be made Alive 1 Cor. 15.22 This also might be proved from many other Scripture-Testimonies if it were at this Season needful but the afore-mentioned Scriptures being so clear except a Man will close his Eyes he cannot but see the Truth of this Doctrine But some may say What is then the Cause of Condemnation Answ According to John 3. 18. He that believeth in Him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because hath not believed on the Name of the only begotten Son of GOD And this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are evil For every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved But he that doth Truth cometh to the Light that his Deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in GOD John 3. 19 20 21. And CHRIST exhorted those who followed him while they had the Light to believe in the Light that they might be the Children of the Light John 12.36 Whereby it may be concluded that the Light Grace or Measure of GOD's Spirit may be Removed from them which strives with a Man in order to save him during the time of his Visitation which GOD gives unto All in which Time or Day they may be saved We do not understand the whole Time of every Mans Life though to some it may be extended even to the very hour of their Death as we see in the Example of the Thief upon the Cross But such a Season at least as sufficiently cleareth GOD of every Man's Condemnation which may be to some sooner and to some later according as the LORD in His Wisdom sees meet so that many Men may out-live this Day after which there may be no possibility of Salvation to them and GOD justly suffers them to be hardened as a just Punishment of their Unbelief and even raises them up as Instruments of Wrath and makes them a Scourge one against another Whence to Men this Condition may be fitly applied those Scriptures expressed by the Apostle Rom. 1. from Vers 17. to the end but especially Vers 28. Even as they did not like to retain GOD in their Knowledge GOD gave them up to a Reprobate Mind to do those things that are not convenient That many may out-live this day of GOD's gracious Visitation to them is shewn by Example of Esau Heb. 12.16 17. who sold his Birth-right so he had it once and was capable to have kept it but afterwards when he would have Inherited the Blessing he was rejected This appears also by CHRIST's weeping over Jerusalem Luk. 19.42 saying If thou hadst known IN THIS THY DAY the things that belong unto thy Peace BUT NOW they are hid from thine Eyes which plainly imports a Time when they might have known them which was now removed from them though they were yet alive Therefore we having the Experience of the Inward and Powerful Work of this Light in our Hearts even CHRIST revealed in us cannot cease to proclaim the Day of the LORD that is Arisen in it crying out with the Woman of Samaria Come and see one that hath told me all that ever I have done Is not this the CHRIST That others may come and feel the same in themselves and may know that little small thing that reproves them in their Hearts however they have neglected it is no less than the Gospel preached in them CHRIST the Wisdom and Power of GOD being thereby seeking to save their Souls This is that Universal Evangelical Principle in and by which this Salvation of CHRIST is shewn or presented to all Men both Jew and Gentile Barbarian and Scythian of whatsoever Countrey he be And therefore GOD hath raised up unto Himself in this our Age Faithful Witnesses and Evangelists to preach again His Everlasting Gospel and to direct as well the high Professors who boast of the Scriptures and the outward knowledge of CHRIST as the Infidels and Heathens that know Him not that way that they may all come to mind the Light in them and know CHRIST in them the Just One whom they had so long killed and made merry over and He hath not resisted Jam. 5.6 And give up their Sins Iniquities False Faiths Professions and Out-side Righteousness to be Crucify'd by the Power of his Cross or Spirit in them so as they may know CHRIST Within to be the Hope of Glory and may come to walk in his Light and to be saved Who is that True Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World Having briefly hinted concerning the Universal Redemption by CHRIST which for some Time hath been a Concern upon my Mind I shall proceed to speak something in short concerning the New Covenant Behold The Days come saith the LORD that I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah not according to the Covenant which I made with their Fathers c. But this shall be the Covenant that I will make c. saith the LORD I will put my Law in their Inward Parts and write it in their Hearts and will be their GOD and they shall be my People And they shall teach no more every Man his Neighbour and every Man his Rrother saying Know the LORD for they shall all know Me from the least of them to the greatest For I will forgive their Iniquity and I will remember their Sins no more Jer. 31.31 32 33 34. Now those that would have this great Benefit to be GOD's People and to have this great Blessing of the Gospel to have their Iniquities Forgiven and would know the Teachings of his holy Spirit must take heed to this Law written in the Heart So shall such witness with the Apostle That GOD having raised up his Son JESUS whom he hath given for a Light to the Gentiles and for a Covenant to the People and sent him to bless them in turning away every one of them from their Iniquities otherways such Deprive Themselves of that Good the LORD intended for them as may be seen in Jerem. 18. 9. where it is said At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation or concerning a Kingdom to Build and to Plant it if it do Evil in my Sight that it obey not my Voice then I will repent of the Good wherewith I said I would Benefit them As also in Isaiah Chap. 55.