that speciall manner before declared it never was preached to any but the contrite hearted repentant sinners they have a speciall particular word of promise made unto them in particular whereon to ground their Faith which no sinner else hath and they fall not away they are built upon the sure Rock And their faith therefore is of another kinde differing from that which is common to all grounded on the generall publication or History of the Word called therefore by some and that rightly Historicall Faith or the Faith of knowledge and is distinguished from it and from that also called Miraculous by severall distinct names given it in Scripture as The Faith of Abraham The Faith which worketh by love The Faith of Christ The Faith of Jesus Christ The Faith of the Son of God The Faith of Gods elect their pretious Faith their most holy Faith and such like Which Faith being defined what it is in the true nature of it It is a full perswasion or assurance wrought in the heart of a Repentant sinner by the speciall grace and Spirit of God of forgivenesse of sinnes of peace of love of reconciliation with God in Jesus Christ according to that which Paul speaketh Rom. 8.35 36 37 38 39. and Heb. 10.22 23. And as this Faith of Gods elect is distinguished in Scripture from Faith of other kindes So is that gift of the Spirit whereby it is wrought and the love of God sealed in their contrite heart distinguished from other common gifts of the Spirit by severall excellent distinct names as the Spirit of Christ The Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus The Spirit of his Sonne crying Abba Father The Spirit of Adoption The Spirit of Truth c. And this is that seed which remaineth in the heart of every one that receiveth it that holy Spirit whereby they are sealed unto the day of redemption And they are those branches in the vine and that good ground which bring forth good fruit thirty sixty an hundred fold And of such as these doth the Church of Christ consist against which the gates of hell shall not prevaile These are those lively stoues built on the chiefe comer stone Jesus Christ that spirituall house and holy Priesthood which offer up spirituall Sacrifices acceptable unto God by him and which God hath decreed and concluded in Scripture to be his Tabernacle and Sanctuary wherein he will dwell for evermore Now though a man should know all these things to bee true and all that the Scriptures have spoken yet if he have not his part in them if he be not baptized with the Baptisme of Repentance and the Baptisme of the holy Ghost before spoken of and so born 〈◊〉 above of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdome of GOD For so hath the eternall Word Jesus Christ the Sonne of God unrevocably concluded saying to Nicodemus and so to every man Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God John 3.11 And therefore it was that hee gave that great power and charge unto the Apostles when he was to depart from them saying Goe yee and teach all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost c. Matth. 28.18 19 20. and Mark 16. Go yee into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature vers 15. according to that in Luke 24.46 47 48 49. and saying Hee that beleeveth and is baptized shall be saved but hee that beleeveth â—ot shall be condemned Mark 16.16 What this baptisme is and what the beliefe is that goeth before it and what the not beleeving is in the last place are the things chiefly to be considered here The Baptisme can bee no other than the same before spoken of consisting of Repentance toward God and Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with the speciall gift of the Spirit being the parts of the new birth from above described by the names of Water and of the Spirit such a Baptisme as whosoever is baptized therewith shall bee saved Not the doing away the filth of the flesh the washing with the element of Water as they of Rome would have it and doe so take it in both places using the form of words in Matth. 28. concluding that by the same action they are regenerate and that except the act be performed they cannot be saved But it is and must needs be that which the Apostles to whom the charge was first given performed As first when Peter preached saying Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the holy Ghost Acts 2. and Paul Acts 19.4 5 6. In both which places the baptisme of Repentance toward God and of Faith in the Lord JESUS CHRIST and of the holy Ghost are expresly named according to the order and meaning of the words Matth. 28. And to the same purpose also Paul spâ—â—â—… Acts 20. where he saith That hee kept nothing back that was profitable but testified both to the Jewes and also to the Greekes Repentance toward GOD and Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ verse 21. which to the Hâ—brewes he calleth the Doctrine of baptisme Heb. 6. This is the Baptisme of which he faith to the Christians at Rome Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into JESUS CHRIST were baptized into his death Therefore we are buried with him by Baptisme into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father so we should walk in newnesse of life Rom. 6.34 And to them of Galatia For ye are all the children of God by faith for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ Gal. 3.26 27. And to them of Colossâ—â— Ye are compleat in him who is the head of all Principalities and powers in whom also yee are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sinnes of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ buried with him in Baptisme wherein also ye are risen with him through the Faith of the operation of God who hath raised him up from the dead Col. 2.10 11 12. These excellent effects and fruies of being dead to sinne and to the body thereof and to the world of walking in holinesse and newnesse of life so rising as Christ is risen and putting on Christ and being cloathed with him of being dead and buried and risen with him as it is declared in these severall places cannot be understood as caused by any outward baptizing with water of springs or rivers but onely by a power and operation of God from above For as circumcision in the flesh is not circumcision but that of the heart as Paul saith Rom. 2. So it is concerning baptisme and therefore he counteth circumcision made without
after this out of Paradise from taking of the Tree of life and in cursing the ground for his sake and laying such a burthen of labour and toyle upon him and pain of travaile upon the woman that in sorrow shee should bring forth her children Especially considering that the promise was made in Paradise while they were in it and before the curse was pronounced except only against the Serpent as by Genesis 3. appeareth And then if it were that Adam was so restored and all children ever since so conceived and born I ask the reason Why they did not from that day wherein the promise was made keep themselves in that estate of blessednesse by depending on the promise with their good and holy wills rather then fall so soon to commit actuall sin and lose all again which they might more possibly have done then they can now recover and be restored a second time seeing there is but one sacrifice for sin as it is written Heb. 10. And if their case bee not much worse now then it was before the promise was made And every child that dieth before it commit actuall sinne farre more happy than any of them If they answer and say as they use to teach and publish that the same sacrifice of Christ being included in the promise extended and doth still since Christ actually suffered to all sinne and sinners in the world of what kinde soever Which they would seem to prove by the words and example of Paul 1 Tim. 2.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chiefe And so argue and say If Paul were the chief sinner in the world and was received to mercy then so may any other how great a sinner soever But Paul was chiefe of sinners as he saith and was received to mercy Therefore so may any other Ans Here this free-will teacher propounds a very false position at the first in saying That the Sacrifice of Christ extendeth to all sin and sinners in the world of what kind soever And in the next place hee wrongs the Apostle exceedingly in charging him upon his owne words to be the greatest or chiefe of all sinners For although it be true that Christ came into the world to save sinners and that hee died for the ungodly and justifieth the ungodly and the sinner as it is written Rom. 4.5 and 5.6 8. And as Christ saith Ali sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men Matth. 12.31 And that the Sacrifice of Christs death did and doth extend so farre and that Paul was such a chiefe sinner and blasphemer injurious c. and caused others to blaspheme as he saith yet was hee not the greatest or chiefe sinner in the world neither was his sinne and blasphemy the greatest neither doth hee so speake or mean But there was and is a greater sin and blasphemy then his which Christ nameth The blasphemy against the Spirit and saith that it shall not be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come Matth. 12.31 32. And the Apostle Iohn saith that it is not to be prayed for 1 Joh. 5.16 And Christ came not into the world for to save any of these kind of sinners neither dyed he for these nor doth his Sacrifice extend to any of them neither was Paul such a one But as he saith I was received to mercy for I did it ignorantly in unbeliefe Implying plainly that if he had knowne so much as they who set him aworke to persecute knew he could not have been received to mercy They knew what they did as Cain that slew his brother because his own workes were evill and his brothers good and as Judas that knew he betrayed innocent blood And therefore Christ when they crucified him prayed onely for those that knew not what they did Luk. 23.34 And so it is true that Paul was chief of those sinners whom Christ came into the world to save and that he prayed and died for but not of the other If the free will teacher shall say that Peter had knowledge of Christ when he denied him and cursed and sware that he knew him not and yet was forgiven though Christ had said Whosoever shall deny me before men him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven This is true But there are two things to be considered in the unpardonable sinne which wee all ought to understand that is willingnesse of the heart as well as knowledge which was not in Peter he did it of weaknes through feare very unwillingly in his heart and was forgiven And Paul he sinned wllingly and with his heart but very ignorantly and was received to mercy And therefore in describing that great sin unto death he saith by way of exhortation For if we sinne willingly after wee have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes but a certain fearfull looking for of judgement and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries Heb. 10.26 27. So that where willingnesse of the heart and knowledge of the truth are both together in persecuting or denying of Christ or his truth that mans sin cannot bee forgiven and Christ will deny him before his Father which is in heaven Such a one was Cain and Esau also that despised his birth-right wherein the promise lay who afterward could find no place for repentance and Iudas who therefore hanged himselfe And such were those Scribes and Pharisees unto whom Christ spake and said Fill ye up the measure of your Fathers yee Serpents ye generation of vipers how can ye escape the damnation of hell Matth. 23. And those who though they knew of the great works which he did and how he had raised Lazarus from the dead yet sought to kill him and Lazarus also and did soon after crucifie him and many more such have been and are So that then there is no such generally Redemption as the free-willer teacheth nor is originall sinne cut off by the promise nor by Christs actuall sufferings nor by the new birth from above But Adam remained wholly polluted by his sinne in respect of nature soule and body and all his posterity are deeply stained therewith unto this day And although children do not presently so soon as they are born act the evill yet the seed is in them which soon sprouts up and brings forth fruit even in the holiest regenerate mens children as experience hath long proved and are under the law of sinne and death else why should God destroy so many thousand thousands of them by the flood and all the children in Sodom of which place he saith If ten righteous be found there I will not destroy it forâ—tenâ— sake Every child therefore must be regenerate from above or it cannot be saved It is true Adam having eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evill which hee was forbidden upon pain of death to eat of or touch
all this that may give occasion for any man justly to say or think that God the Father or the Lord Jesus Christ should bind any mans legges and then command them to goe and to doe this or that as the Free-will teacher would inferre But I wish that he would tell us plainly the cause why some men doe repent and beleeve and are saved and not all If he shall say as some doe that it is because some men will and some will not Then I ask him the reason or cause of this great difference of will in man that one should have a will to will unto life eternall and another to will unto death eternall If he say it is by Gods worke of creation in the womb or in Adam then he makes God to bee the author of the evill as well as of the good which he would seem by his Doctrine to avoid If he say it is by the operation of the Heavens Sunne Moon or Starres which Mathematickes say cause severall dispositions in men some to evill and some to good Then hee makes those creatures the cause which were very heathenish Neither can they cause such a difference in mens wills as to life and death eternall nay then may those people be excused who adore them as Gods Therefore we say there is no such difference of will but all mens hearts are by Nature since the first fall of Adam and because thereof hard and their wills stubborn and bent to ill whose fruit is death And it is by the speciall operation of God from heaven that any mans heart and will is brought to repent and beleeve unto life eternall to be so born of water and of the Spirit without which no man can be saved no nor child how young soever And it is true God doth not effect or bring this to passe in every man neither did hee so determine any more then hee did to keep those Angls that fell or Adam from falling for then must all have been saved And where had been then the glory of the power of God in respect of his justice and the riches of his mercies whereof Paul speaketh Rom. 9.22 23. and which sundry other Scriptures doe so often make mention of and declare to the glory of God and comfort of his chosen And it is also true that as God did not decree or will to save all men so neither did he decree or will the destruction of all nor of any man but upon those just grounds and causes in themselves before declared which he foresaw And so men are said to be ordained of old to condemnation and Esau to he hated before hee had done good or evill yet did he not ordain sinne nor make death nor did he ever break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flax nor will or desire the death of a sinner but rather that hee should return and live as it is written And so it is true and cleare that the salvation of man is meerly and freely of GOD through Jesus Christ and his destruction is of himselfe And this shill all men and Angels know assuredly in that day when God shall judge the secrets of all men by him even Jesus Christ and shall justifie God in all things both in respect of his justice on them that perish and in respect of his mercies on them that are saved And every thing in the estate of that world it being the end for which all things were created shal be so much to the praise and glory of God and to the joy and rejoycing of his chosen as nothing that can bee thought of or wished could be more And as comcerning the Free-willers doctrine of falling away from all graces and gifts of the Spirit regeneration and whatsoever which they would seem to ground on those Scriptures which speake of some excellent gifts that men may be made partakers of and fall away from them and perish as Mat. 12.43 44 45. Heb. 3.12 14. Heb. 6.5 6. Heb. 10.26 27 28. 2 Pet. 2.20 21 22. Ezek. 8. and other places Herein also they are much deceived and erre exceedingly not discerning things that differ nor knowing to distinguish between those gifts of the Spirit which are common to all men and those that are more speciall and peculiar onely to a few Which is one main cause of their erring so much in every thing And doubtlesse the cause of the same cause is hardnesse of heart and unbeliefe the contraries to the baptisme or birth of water and of the Spirit without which no man can have the faith of Abraham nor know the mysteries of the kingdome of heaven And was the case of him unto whom Christ spake and said Joh. 3. Art thou a Master of Israel and knowest not these things For although it bee true that men may be made partakers of those common gifts in the places mentioned and fall away from all as there it saith yet it followeth not neither is it true that any of those that are born of water and of the Spirit who have that faith in Christ whereby they eat his flesh and drink his blood that have their sins washt away therewith and their heart sanctified ever did or can fall away and perish And the reason is because they are kept not by their own wills but by the will and power of God and of Christ as Christ himself saith Joh. 6. And this is the Fathers wil which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lese nothing but should raise it upagain at the last day v. 39.40 And again My sheep heare my voyce and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternall life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand My Father which gave them me is greater then all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand Joh. 10. They are kept by the will and power of God as Peter also saith of such faithfull ones Blessed be the God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead or an inheritance incorrupible and undefiled that fadeth not not away reserved in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation c. 1 Pet. 1.2 3 4 5. And John saith whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God 1 Joh 3.9 Meaning not willingly in his minde for hee had said before If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us 1 Joh. 1.8 He may through temptation be led captive to sin as Peter was but he never in his mind becomes a servant to sinne more hee therein serveth the Law of God and so it is no more he that sinneth but sin that dwelleth