ere they believe me Num. 14. 11. So it may be extended more generally we are too ready and apt to doubt of or be unbelieving concerning what he speaks unto us and therefore because of our backwardness and unaptness to believe he confirms his Saying with his Oath Our Saviour saith to his Disciples Let your yea be yea and your nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil or is from or out of evil Not that he hereby condemns all swearing but instructs his Disciples that Oaths though in some Cases useful and needful are yet out of evil And so amongst other things mens unbelief or doubting of the truth of what is affirmed by a bare Word occasions an Oath for the Confirmation of it So warily understanding it we may say as with respect to Gods swearing it is at sometimes out of or from evil Matth. 5. 37. And so here particularly The House of Israel being convinced of their evil and Judgment being threatned against them therefore thus they spake saying If our transgressions and our sins be upon us and we pine away in them how then should we live Ezek. 33. 10. They were ready to despond and despair of Gods mercy towards them Now then God thus swears unto them because of their slowness of heart to believe him on his Word Thus also it is said An Oath of Confirmation is an end of all strife gain-saying or contradiction Heb. 6. 16. So here God because of their readiness to contradict and gain-say in their hearts at least swears by himself As also to the end they might not gain-say any more but firmly believe the truth of that so Affirmed and Confirmed he interposeth himself by an Oath Exod. 17. 15 16. And that he might lift up their hands which hang'd down and they might have strong Consolation in returning to him from their evil and wicked ways And as God interposed himself by an Oath to Abraham to the end that the Heirs of his Promise might by this Immutable thing also assuredly know and believe the truth of that so confirmed and might have strong consolation Heb. 6. 16-18 So here also God hath sworn by himself that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked That men might give glory to him in believing and have solid Consolation in this great Encouragement set before them to the truth whereof he hath as it were bound himself or his soul with the Bond of this most Indubitable Oath as Num. 30. 2-4 Acts 23. 12-14 3. We have in the next place to consider and speak unto the subject-matter thus Affirmed and Confirmed by this most excellent Person And by this undeniable Oath And that is laid down and propounded to us 1. Negatively I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked Now hereto we may speak in this Order to wit 1. By way of Explication or explaining the words 2. We shall give some further Evidences of the Truth hereof 3. We shall note some Instructions here-from 1. By way of Explication let us enquire into and consider these things 1. What Death is that here spoken of and intended 2. Who are the wicked in the Scripture account 3. What are we to understand by this Phrase no pleasure 4. What time is that in which he hath no Pleasure I have 1. What is the Death here spoken of and intended when he saith I have no Pleasure in the Death of the wicked c. Now in Answer thereto we may say The Scripture speaks onely of two Deaths in General As the Wages of Sin In one of which all lesser Deaths are contained and comprehended namely 1. There is that Death which is intimately called the first Death which was threatned unto the First Man Adam Male and Female in case they should eat of the forbidden Fruit As it is said Of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof in dying thou shalt die Gen. 2. 17. And under the Sentence whereof Adam and all his Posterity fell upon his eating of that Tree whereof God commanded him he should not eat As the Apostle saith By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that or in whom all have sinned Rom. 5. 12. By Man even by the first publick man came Death for in Adam all die 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. And this First Death had been an Eternal Death had not our Lord Jesus Christ by the Grace of God tasted it for every man and overcome and abolished it 2 Tim. 1. 9 10. And he will in due time destroy it 1 Cor. 15. 26. It is a strange unreasonable and dangerous mistake of some who say that Christ died not for this first Oflence or the necessary Branches thereof or that he tasted not this first Death for men For if so how then came he to be promised of God before he passed the Sentence upon our First Parents Gen. 3. 15-19 Or how shall men be Raised out of this First Death but by him who was delivered for our Offences and raised again for our Justification By Man came the Resurrection of the Dead for as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive To wit Quickned and Raised out of the First Death 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. God hath given Christ authority to execute judgment And by his Voice to Bring forth all Men out of their Graves Because he is the Son of Man John 5. 27 28 29. 2. There is another and worse Death which is several times called expresly The second Death To wit as with respect to Men into which such will be cast for their own personal transgressions after they are raised out of the first Death and judged by Christ who remained in their Impenitency Unbelief and Disobedience till the Day of Grace and Patience was ended and died therein Mark 16. 16. 2 Thes 1. 8 9. This Death was not prepared for Men for or by reason of their sinning in the first Publick Man simply but for the Devil and his Angels But they must go into it and be hurt by it who personally and voluntarily listned to and were led by Satan and followed after him and did his Lusts and died the first Death in such transgression Mat. 25. 31-41-46 Of which second Death they shall not be hurt who overcome their spiritual enemies On such the second Death shall have no power Rev. 2. 11. and Chap. 20. 6. But whosoever shall not be found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death Rev. 20. 14 15. The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Rev 21. 7 8. This second Death is called the wrath to come because it
words are He hath chosen us in him before the Dejection or foundation of the World c. Ephes 1. 4. After some such consideration as Levi paid Tithes in Abraham Heb. 7. 9. It would be most absurd and ridiculous to suppose that that Individual person Levi paid Tithes to Melchisedech before he was born but he did it in Abraham So here no person is elected in a personal consideration before he is born nor otherwise elected to Salvation but in Christ to wit as considered in him who is the Root of Election and the Prime Elect That is to say God in choosing Christ before the Dejection of the World did therein choose all those who should in their several Generations through Grace believe as Believers in him and no otherwise So that the same Person who to day doth not believe and so is not in Christ nor elected yet to morrow believing is then chosen in Christ and made of that Generation or Species chosen in Christ before the Dejection of the World He is now of the elect Generation who before he believed was not of it as Rom. 9. 24-26 1 Pet. 2. 4 5-9 10. But 2. I further say That Eph. 14. speaks not of mens being chosen to salvation but of sâ—me mens being chosen in Christ to an excellent ministration or service And to a more excellent One than any before Nor were they chosen thereto in a personal consideration but as considered in Christ and as Trusters in him and as first Trusters in him as Ephes 1. 12. as plainly appears by the change of the persons In the two first Verses of Ephes 1. The Apostle speaks to the believing Ephesians and saith unto them Grace unto you c. But then from verse 3. to verse 12. he speaks not of them but changes the persons never saith You but always We and Vs to assure us he speaks of some others and not of them And having so done then in ver 13. he again returns to and speaks of them and saith In whom ye also trusted or believed after ye heard the word of truth c. So that all contained from ver 3. to v. 12. respects those that trusted in Christ before the Ephesians were in Christ and so before they were chosen And ver 4. particularly speaks also of the Apostles as Believers in Chriâ—t and Apostles being chosen to the ministration not of the Letter but of the Spirit as 2 Cor. 3. 5-10 That is to say in short God before the Dejection or Foundation of the World chose Christ to be the Mediatour Saviour and great Apostle and purposed to send him in the end of the World actually to make peace for us and to preach it to us and reserved this honour for him That the mystery which was hid from former Ages and Generations should by him be opened He then also in Christ chose the first Trusters in him to be Instruments in this choice Service and Ministration to preach the Gospel according to the revelation of the mystery Eph. 1. 8-10 11. As the Apostle else-where saith We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world or ages unto our glory to wit for the Glory of the Apostles of the Lamb which place is very suitable to the other 1 Cor. 2. 7. with Ephes 1. 4. And this is the proper and direct meaning of Ephes 1. 3 4-12 Now this Election doth not suppose that all others besides the Apostles were reprobated to eternal Destruction God forbid But the very end of Gods choosing them in Christ to this excellent Ministration was That the world there-through might be saved Joh. 3. 17. with Chap. 17 18. As Paul saith Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the Commandment of the everlasting God made known to all Nations for the obedience of Faith Rom 1. 5. and Chap. 16. 25 26. So that this Election was intended for the good of the whole world And we still conclude That God is not willing that any should perish And because he hath no Pleasure in the Death of him that dieth it necessarily follows as hath been shewed That their Destruction who perish is wholly of themselves he hath no hand therein nor heart thereto while it is the day of his Grace and Patience 4. And lastly as to this seeing God swears That he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked in the death of him that dieth as is before explained Then hereby we may see and know who are like to God and Children of him and who they are that are not so 1. They are not therein born of God who privily bring in Heresies of Destruction or destructive Errors and Doctrines such as tend to the perdition of men as those certainly do who teach men to deny the Lord that bought them 2 Pet. 2. 1 2. And do not these evil Doctrines do so which teach That Christ died not for all nor tasted death by the Grace of God for every man but onely for the Elect as they speak That though God with his revealed Will would have all men to be saved yet not so with his secret Will That though he commands all men every where to Repent yet he doth not vouchsafe such sufficient or saving Grace whereby they may so do In short That there is a certain determinate number of Mankind elected in a personal consideration before the World was and these shall be brought in to believe in due season irresistibly and so preserved that they shall not possibly fail of the Grace of God however they demean themselves and all the rest are reprobated and must necessarily or shall infallibly perish in conclusion how much soever they indeavour to fly from the wrath to come c. These and such like Doctrines yea All such as consent not to wholsome Words the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine according to Godliness are not of God Nor are such of God therefore who plead for or preach them I mean therein they are not of God as the Apostle John signifies in that Rule he gives the Believers whereby they might know which Prophets are of God and which are not We are of God saith he namely the holy Apostles were so in their Word and Doctrine for Christ gave unto them the Words which the Father gave him John 17. 7 8. He that knoweth God heareth us He that is not of God heareth us not hereby know we the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of errour 1 John 4. 6. with John 8. 47. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ hath not God 2 John 9-11 And our Saviour when he denounceth Woes against the Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites the first
will fully seize on none until they be brought out of the first Death and judged by him who died for all and rose again and whom God hath ordained the Judge of quick and dead Mat. 3. 7. 1 Thes 1. 10. Rev. 11. 18. There are some indeed and too many that talk of a third Death but in so doing they speak not according to the Word contained in the Law and Testimony of God And therefore therein there is no light in them And that in speaking of a third Death as the wages of sin they consent not to wholsom words may easily appear to themselves who use this groundless Distinction for some of them to prove that there is such a third Death do weakly enough bring the Scriptures which speak of the second for the proof thereof But it is a very evil and dangerous thing to make such a Distinction where the Scripture makes none but plainly enough opposes and rejects it and may do more harm than they are aware of who make use of it rather I conceive out of ignorance and custom than judgment and consideration It is good for us to hear what the Scripture faith and to receive that But no more to this at present But now the Enquiry is Of which of the two Deaths fore-mentioned are we here to understand these words to mean And to that we say not of the first which is now abolished 1. Because it is Gods Will and Appointment that all men should die the first Death Though not that all should sleep or abide in it 1 Cor. 15. 51 52. It is appointed to men once to die Heb. 9. 27. I know saith Job Thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living To wit the Grave which is called Mans long home Job 30. 23. with Eccles 12. 5. What man is he that liveth and shall not see death Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave Selah Psal 89. 48. with Eccles 7. 2. and Chap. 8. 8. 2. Because the Death here spoken of is called the Death of the wicked as being their proper and onely Death Ezek 18. 23. And therefore it appears hereby is meant directly and fully the second Death or Hell-fire For the wicked so abiding shall be turned into Hell Psal 9. 17. whereas in the first Death there is no difference but all die that good and bad wise and unwise How dieth the wise man as the fool Eccles 2. 16. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not As is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Eccles 9. 1 2-10 The most holy and righteous men generally have died this first Death And some of them have said They were going the way of all the earth meaning thereby they were going to die the first Death Josh 23. 14. 1 Kin. 2. 2. But none of them shall be hurt of the second Death Rev. 2. 11. 3. It also plainly appears that by the Death here spoken of we are to understand the second Death directly and fully because this Death may while it is called to Day be escaped and avoided as it is here signified in saying I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Men may now in this day of his Grace and Patience flee from and be delivered from the wrath to come Matth. 3. 7. 1 Thes 10. But now no man can by any turning from evil or exercising himself unto and following after Godliness and Goodness escape or be delivered from the first Death As hath been said No man hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit neither hath he power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that war Eccles 8. 8. By all which it doth plainly and fully appear the Death here spoken of and intended is directly and most properly and fully the second Death as hath been said before Object If any one should object against what hath been said and say That though by the Death here spoken of the first Death as it was appointed to fallen Man after the Promise of Christ by God cannot be meant yet it may mean it of that Death as it is judicially executed upon some for their voluntary and personal Iniquities and Transgressions for so it was not appointed to all men to die it To this I say Ans 1. By way of Grant God did not at first appoint that Men in a Personal Consideration or as fallen in Adam or because of their sins of weakness and unadvisedness simply should die this first Death judicially But 2. When Men are become wicked and have sinned with an high hand against God he may notwithstanding their turning from their evils order the first Death to them judicially and they may not die the common Death of all men or not die it as commonly and ordinarily men die it But in testimony of wrath for their former personal evils it may be executed upon them Num. 14. 28 29. Isa 22. 12-14 And sometimes for the evils of others As upon the little Ones in the old World And of Sodom and Gomorrah c. So that still I say By the Death here spoken of is meant directly and fully the second Death And so we are to understand it That God hath no pleasure in the Death that is in the Eternal Destruction of the wicked Or that they should perish in that Everlasting Fire which was prepared for the Devil and his Angels who sinned without a Tempter But we shall add no more to that 2. Who are the wicked in the Scripture account in whose Death the Lord God hath no pleasure Answ To that we may say Those who are called Wicked in Scripture are not such simply as have sinned in the first Publick Man and come forth into the World polluted and defiled as all do who partake of the Nature of Man by an ordinary way of Generation For who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one Job 14. 4. and 25. 4. Psal 51. 5. Nor are they such as have sin in them simply as all while here have Rom. 7. 17. 20. 1 Joh. 1. 8. Or that sin through infirmity and weakness or through unadvisedness as all do For there is not a just man upon the earth that doth good and sinneth not 1 Kin. 8. 46. Eccles 8. 20. And yet all are not therefore wicked Good men who have acknowledged themselves to have sinned have yet truly acquitted themselves of being wicked As Job thus acknowledgeth I have sinned c. Job 7. 20. And yet he appealeth to God and saith Thou knowest or it is upon thy knowledge that I am not wicked Job 7. 20. And God himself saith of him That he was a perfect and an upright man one that feared God and
Christ and the Doctrine which is according to Godliness 1 Tim 6. 3 4 5. 5. This unworthy and unreasonable Distinction tends to over-throw the Faith and gives men ground to believe God in nothing he Asserts or Promises For if he hath a Secret Will and a Revealed Will in one thing Repugnant the one to the other then why not in every thing And whatever be propounded to us ftom the Scriptures to encourage us to believe and hope in God may presently be repelled and rejected with this Distinction As to say when with the Apostle we say God our Saviour will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2. 3 4. Yes say some He wills this with his Revealed Will but not with his Secret And why may not others make use of this Distinction else-where As when our Saviour saith He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned May not this Distinction of Gods two Wills be here brought in by some as rationally as where it is And may they not say This is his Revealed Will but his Secret Will agrees not therewith Mark 16. 16. Or where our Saviour saith This is the Will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day John 6. 40. Very true may some also here say This is his Revealed Will but this is not his Secret Will And by this latter such may perish and not have everlasting life were this Distinction good and right Whereas indeed it is most corrupt and pernicious and to be abominated by us for it makes the Pen of the Scribe in vain By this Tradition the Word of God is made of none effect as to all therein Asserted or Assured as Jer. 8. 8 9. Mark 7. 9-13 Object If any should say But God hath engaged himself by his Oath unto the Heirs of Promise to wit to all hearty Believers that they shall be happy and blessed for ever to the end they might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them as Heb. 6. 17 18. Answ To that I say Doth not God here also bind himself with an Oath of Confirmation as is before said that he hath no pleasure in the Death of the wicked And is not his Oath as valid and authentick here as there Yes doubtless and if by the force of the Distinction we are disproving and opposing his Oath may be frustrated in one place why may it not also be so in another and in a third and in all those places and cases wherein he hath interposed himself by his Oath Let this be duly minded and considered by us 6. And lastly as to this Our Lord Jesus who is in the Bosom of the Father and who knows the Father as the Father knows him who knows his Mind and Will and hath declared him and it to us in these last Ages more plainly than he was made known in former times He I say doth assure us That his Fathers Secret Will is a Gracious Will toward the worst of men while it is to day And that as he hath said and sworn That he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked which is as they speak his Revealed Will So also his Secret Will perfectly accords therewith and by this also he is not willing that any should perish To this purpose our Lord spake while he was on the Earth The Son of Man saith he is come to save that which was lost How think ye If a man have an hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray doth he not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray And if so be that he find it verily I say unto you he rejoyceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray Which Parable our Lord in another Evangelist speaks concerning the Publicans and Sinners who were and were lookt upon to be notorious sinners And then it is added as the Application of the former Even so it is not the will of your Father which is â—â—â—m Heaven that one of these little Ones called before lost should perish Or rather as the words should be read Even so there is not a will before your Father which is in the Heavens that one of these little Ones should perish Which is in substance the same as to have said Your Father hath no secret will or pleasure in the death of lost Ones of Publicans of notorious sinners Nay he hath no secret will in their death not onely as indefinitely and generally considered but also he hath no pleasure in their death individually considered I mean not in the death of any One of them There is not a Will before him that One of them should be lost Let this be seriously considered Matth. 18. 11-14 with Luke 15. 1-7-24 Now here our Saviour who perfectly knows what his Fathers Secret Will is and who onely doth so for none knows the Father save the Son Matt. 11. 27. Luke 10. 24. plainly assures us that Gods Secret Will or that Will which is before him in the Heavens is good-will towards every sinful lost Creature of Mankind as Luke 2. 10-14 And we are required to hear him in all things whatsoever he speaks unto us And saith the Apostle Peter It shall come to pass that every Soul which will not hear this Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people Matth. 17. 5. with 2 Pet. 1. 17. Acts 3. 22 23. Oh! let us then give this Honour to our Lord Jesus and unto his Father to hear his Word and believe on him that sent him According to that Revelation he hath given of his Father and so we shall have everlasting life and not come into condemnation c. John 5. 23 24. And in so doing we shall be led to reject and abominate this ungodly Distinction and be assured That Gods Secret Will is as Gracious towards sinful wicked Ones as is his Revealed Will Yea let me say his Secret Will is more Gracious than is contained in any Revelation of it For as his Power Wisdom Truth and Holiness are infinite and unsearchable so as they are not fully Revealed and manifested to us in any Revelation vouchsafed Rom. 11. 33. 1 Cor. 13. 9. So his Merciful-kindness is greater toward poor sinners than is exprest in any Revelation given to us Or then that it can be conceived much more exprest by finite Creatures The Love of Christ who is One with the Father passeth knowledge Eph. 3. 18 19. Hence we see how the Psalmist magnifies the Mercy of God and saith It is great unto the Heavens Psal 57. 10. In the Heavens Psal 36. 1-5 Nay It is above the Heavens great above the Heavens And therefore he resolved to sing Praises unto him among
the people and among the heathen Psalm 108. 3 4. And when he thus saith Thy Righteousness is like the great Mountains or Mountains of God thy Judgments are a great deep He presently adds thereto by way of Admiration How excellent is thy Loving-kindness O God! To wit toward the Children of Men As if he would intimate to us and to our shallow Capacities That though he could compare Gods Righteousness and Judgments to somewhat yet his Mercy or Merciful-kindness is admirably inconceivably incomparably Great so as he knew not what to compare that unto Psal 36. 6 7. and 144. 3 4. and 145. 8 9. And doth not our Blessed Saviour speak also after such a rate when he saith So God loved the World c. John 3. 16. 1 John 4. 11. So that from what hath been said we do and may safely conclude That the LORD GOD hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked none at all Not onely no Revealed pleasure therein But also no Secret or hidden Will or Pleasure therein as he swears unto us And what hath been said about this Third Enquiry meets with and gives Answer unto another evil Distinction and Opposition of some against the Current of the Gospel Namely say some It is true indeed God hath no delight or pleasure in the death of the wicked simply considered But he hath pleasure therein Respectively to wit in order to the manifestation of the Glory of his Justice Answer Now to this I say briefly If he hath pleasure in their Death or in the Death of some of them in order to the manifestation of the Glory of his Righteousness or Justice then he hath some pleasure in their Death for as is usually said He that wills the End wills the Means conducing thereto And so also it is in this particular if their evil Distinction were true as indeed it is not But in their so saying they contradict this Text and deny the truth of Gods Oath who swears by himself by his life That he hath no pleasure in the Death of the wicked And besides God needs not the Destruction of any of Mankind for the Glory of his Justice for the Glory of his Righteousness is manifested in giving to every One according to his works And so in Acts of Grace and Mercy toward men that they might Repent and towards such as do turn to him from their Iniquities Gracious is the Lord and righteous yea our God is merciful Ps 116. 5. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 Joh. 1. 9. 2 Thes 1. 5. And his Mercy is magnified in destroying implacable and impenitent sinners As it is said He over-threw or shaked off Pharaoh and his Host in the Red-Sea for his mercy endureth for ever Who smote great Kings for his mercy endureth for ever And slew famous Kings for his mercy endureth for ever Psal 136. 15-20 But we shall add no more unto the Third Enquiry but consider the next namely 4. When or during what time hath he no pleasure none at all neither Revealed nor Secret in the Death and everlasting Destruction of the wicked Indefinitely considered And to that we may say It is plainly intimated to us in the Words as they are rendred with us During what time he hath no Will Pleasure or Delight in their Death namely Now in this present Day of his Grace and Patience As it is here expressed I have no pleasure c. To wit while it is called to Day As the Holy Gost saith To Day if you will hear his Voice harden not your hearts as in the provocation c. Heb. 3. 7 8. and Ch. 4. 7. All the time Christ is interceding for Transgressors in Heaven and that is while he is vouchsafing Gracious Means to them on Earth Behold now is the accepted time Behold now is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 5. 20. with Chap 6. 1 2. According to what the Apostle Peter saith The Lord is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance 2 Pet. 3. 9. Indeed this time or season will not last always his Spirit will not always strive with men as Gen. 6. 3. When once the Day of Grace is fully ended he that now swears he hath no pleasure in their Death will swear in his wrath that they shall not enter into his rest as Heb. 3. 7-11 He will then have pleasure in their Destruction As it is said Because ye have set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord They would none of my counsel they depised all my reproof Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own devices Prov. 1. 24-26-31 Then He that made them will not have mercy upon them and he that formed them will shew them no favour as Isa 27. 11. And when he pleases he can put an end to that Day and to mens Lives for their times are in his Hand to continue or cut off as is good before him The Consideration whereof is proper and powerful to excite us all to seek the Lord while he may be found and to call upon him while he is near Isa 55. 6. To make haste and not delay to keep Gods Commandments For if he cut off or shut up or gather together then who can hinder him No man hath power over the Spirit his own or God's to retain the Spirit neither hath he power in the day of Death And there is no casting of Weapons in that War neither shall wickedness deliver them that are given to it Eccl. 8. 8. Now therefore in the opportune season turn we from our Iniquities that we may understand his truth For in the Grave whither we are a going there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom Eccles 9. 10. Then there will be a great Gulf fixed so as there will be no possibility of passing from one state to another What-ever our hand therefore finds to do let us do it with our might in the present opportunity To this purpose and upon this account our Lord thus instructs and counsels Strive saith he to wit in the present time to enter in at the strait gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter in namely when it is too late and shall not be able When once the Master of the house is risen up and shut to the door and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door saying Lord Lord open unto us
of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out Rom. 11. 30 31 32 33 34. The Consideration whereof might preserve us from being censorious or rashly judging any when God is inflicting his most severe Judgments upon them For who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor Verse 34 35. Yea he sometimes gives up wicked Ones in his Church unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that they might learn not to blaspheme And that their Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord 1 Cor. 5. 4 5-13 with 1 Tim. 1. 19 20. And this is not onely his End in those severe and dismal Judgments which he executes upon them that were in his Church and of his people professedly But also as with respect to such as were never joyned thereto or of the number thereof Hence the Psalmist thus Imprecates as with respect to such as were without the Pale of the Church O my God make them like a wheel as the stubble before the wind So persecute them with thy tempest and make them afraid with thy storm Fill their faces with shame that they may seek thy Name O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever to wit in their evil Designs and Enterprizes yea let them be put to shame and perish That they may know that thou whose Name alone is Jehovah art the most High over all the Earth Ps 83. 13-16-18 And hereby also it appears That God is not willing that any should perish in that he doth Afflict and Judge the Sons of Men though not willingly or delightfully so And doth in all the Afflictions and Chastisements which he is inflicting on them and chastening them withal even in the greatest and more severe also Design their purging from their Iniquity and Conformity to his Mind and Will And so their Eternal Good and Benefit And as is also said before the two Particulars under this last-mentioned Head do mutually evidence the truth of each other That is to say In that he Chastens and Corrects out of love this shews That his End in all his Rebukings is good towards men And in that his Design and End is good and gracious towards Men in his now Judgings of them therein we may see that his Love towards them moves and prevails with him to make use of the Rod of Correction that he might thereby purge out of the Hearts of the Children of Men that Folly that is bound up in them 2 Chron. 33. 10 11 12 13. Isa 9. 12 13. His judgments are as the light that goeth forth for he desireth mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings Hos 5. 14 15 and Chap. 6. 1-5 6. Amos 4. 6-9-12 Jer. 4. 13 14. Psal 9. 19 20. 3. But now having I conceive sufficiently evidenced and demonstrated the truth of what the Lord God here swears to namely That he hath no pleasure none at all neither Revealed nor Secret in the Death of the wicked in the Eternal Destruction of him that dieth according to the Explication fore-given I shall now with the Assistance of the good Spirit of God note and infer from what hath been said some Instructions that may be of usefulness unto us As to say 1. If the Lord God hath no pleasure in the Death and Eternal misery of the Wicked Then we may be confident that he had no Pleasure in the Death of the Righteous as all Men were as they were Created of God in the first Publick Man And before he did eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil whereof God commanded him he should not eat For All were then Innocent and Righteous God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him To wit In Knowledge Righteousness and Holiness of Truth Gen. 1. 26 27 with Eph. 4. 23 24. Col. 3. 10. God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good Gen. 1. 31. This onely have I found saith the Preacher that God made Man upright Eccl. 7. 29. Yet some there are that say The greatest part of Mankind was Reprobated of God before the World had a beginning and while all Men were Righteous and in the pure mass This is so directly contrary to what we have said and to the whole Current of the Holy Scriptures that nothing can lightly be invented or devised by the wit of man more blasphemously opposite thereto and is therefore to be abominated by us For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness and therefore also he loveth the righteous his Countenance doth behold the upright Psal 11. 7. and 146. 8. The righteous shall never be removed Prov. 10. 30. Behold saith Bildad God will not cast away Reject or Reprobate as the word signifies a perfect man Job 8. 20. He will not doom them to everlasting Destruction that is far from him Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right as Abraham saith Gen. 18. 25. God forbid that we should entertain or suffer to lodge within us such vain and wicked thoughts of him who hath now no pleasure in the death of the wicked that he should hate the righteous And yet after this rate they speak who say That he Reprobated the most of men before the Fall for the manifestation of the Glory of his Justice For Reprobation in Scripture always signifies an Act of Hatred in God towards the Persons Reprobated a Judicial Act of Hatred for some Iniquity committed and continued in by those who are so Reprobated Jer. 6. 16-30 Rom. 1. 23 24-28 But the naming this dreadful and ungodly Opinion is sufficient to discover its odiousness unto those that give Glory to God in believing the Truth of what he Affirms by his Word and Confirms by his most solemn and Indubitable Oath And therefore I shall add no more to that 2. If the Lord God hath no Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked Then we may assuredly know believe and conclude that he hath no Pleasure in the Everlasting Destruction of such as are onely necessarily polluted and defiled as all men since the Fall are in partaking of the Nature of Man Christ onely excepted who was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit and so knew no sin But as with respect unto all others in partaking of the Nature of Man they unavoidably partake of the filth of sin They are shapen in iniquity and in sin did their Mother warm them Psal 51. 5. How can Man be justified with God Or how can he be clean that is born of a Woman Job 14. 4. and 25. 4. Now I say If God hath no Pleasure in the Death of them who add rebellion to their sin as Job 34. 37. And in whose filthiness is lewdness as Ezek. 24. 13. We may be confident he hath none in their Ruine and Perdition who could no more prevent their being sinners in this respect than they could prevent their being Creatures or the
in which they were guilty of high Apostacy and revolt or there was in them an evil heart of unbelief in Apostatizing from the living God as Heb. 3. 12 13. And their Apostacy was first more inward and particular and then more open and general 1. More inward and particular and so it is thus exprest by the Apostle they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh Heb. 6. 6. That is by an evil heart of unbelief they inwardly look upon Christ as an Impostor and Deceiver as an Accursed one as 1 Cor. 12. 3. from whom they expect no salvation and on his Gospel as a cheat and imposture or as the Apostle in Heb. 10. 29. expresses it they tread under foot the Son of God and count the bloud of the Covenant wherewith they were sanctified a profane polluted thing Thus they account it in their evil and revolting hearts and so inwardly turn from him that speaketh Heb. 12. 25. 2. More outwardly and generally to others they put him to an open shame namely they disgrace and vilifie him publickly and unto others and make him a publick example as the same word is rendred in Matth. 1. 19. or they render him to others as an infamous and accursed person as one that was such a Malefactour and Deceiver as that he justly suffered that shameful painful and accursed Death for his own Demerit and hereby as we have noted before on Matth. 12. 30 31. they scatter others abroad from Christ who were gatheted unto him and so are highly injurious to their souls And this same expression here rendred they put him to an open shame is made use of by the Septuagint in Numb 25. 4. where we read hang them up before the Lord c. They read it make them a publick example or put them to an open shame c. And so answerably in Heb. 10. 29. it is said they offer despite unto or rail upon the Spirit of Grace even the Gospel of Christ as answering unto Moses Law ver 28. and so the holy Spirit for the Gospel was with the holy Spirit sent down from heaven 1 Pet. 1. 12. And so they railed upon and reviled Christ who is the sum and subject matter of the Gospel and of whom the Spirit of Grace bears witness And one Branch of or step unto this hainous iniquity and revolt is the forsaking of the publick Assemblies of Christians Heb. 10. 25 26-29 By the greatness and depth then of their Fall and Revolt many who wrongfully charge themselves with this transgression may assuredly know they are not guilty of it for then others might know it as well as they 3. When the Apostle saith It is impossible to renew them c. he speaks not as to God but as to themselves in their ministration of the Gospel whether by word or writing And so these words are the reason of what the Apostle had been fore-saying in ver 1. viz. Therefore leaving the principles of the Doctrine of Christ let us go on to perfection not laying again the foundation c. For it is impossible c. As if he should say It will be a needless business for us to be always declaring and insisting upon the first principles of the Oracles of God as with respect to these Apostates for that way they will not be renewed again to repentance and so not by their preaching or writing always these things And therefore they would proceed on in speaking of or propounding in Writing the more high and mysterious things of the Gospel for the sakes of those believers who still held fast to the Lord. But yet the things which were unpossible with men are possible with God Luk. 18. 27. And therefore while these Apostates were joyned to all the living the Believers might pray for them That God would fill their faces with shame that they might seek his name as Psal 83. 15 16. and 69. 22 23. with Rom. 11. 8-11 32 33. But to this we shall have apt occasion to speak further in the next Scripture which is now in order to be considered by us Namely 3. For as to 1 Joh. 5. 16. many conceive that the Apostle there forbids that such as sin the sin unto death should be prayed for Ans 1. Suppose God should have said in that Scripture to wit 1 Joh. 5. 16. Pray not for that person that sinneth the sin unto death might not such an one have been prayed for any more had there been such a prohibition We may see that God commands Jeremiah once and a second time thus Pray not thou for this people neither lift up cry nor prayer for them neither make intercession to me for I will not hear thee Jer. 7. 16. and Ch. 11. 14. And yet the Prophet knowing that God was gracious and merciful prays for them again Ch. 14. 7 8 9. Then the Lord a third time saith to the Prophet Pray not for this people for their good Ch. 14. 11 12. But notwithstanding all this the Prophet again lifts up his heart with his hands to God in the heavens for them Jer. 14. 19 20-22 And surely God is as gracious to sinners now and to the chief of sinners as he was then yea in these last days his grace hath been more largely exprest and more brightly manifested than in former times in that he hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live thorow him 1 Joh. 4. 8 9 10-14 But 2. That Scripture we are now considering 1 Joh. 5. 16. is by many much mistaken for the Apostle there doth not forbid us to pray for the person that sinneth unto death It is not there said There is a sin unto death I do not say that he shall pray for him but for or concerning it to wit the sin On which God may take vengeance as long as the person guilty thereof lived yea and after his death long and yet the soul of that sinning person may be saved in the day of the Lord. God said to Eli yea he sware unto the house of Eli that his and their iniquity should not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever 1 Sam. 3. 13 14. And it was punished long after Eli s death 1 King 2. 27. And the same may be said of the sins of Manasses 2 King 24. 3 4. and yet their souls were surely saved See also 2 Sam. 12. 10. Psal 99. 8. Isa 22. 12 14. Act. 8. 22 23. So that though the sin might not be prayed for yet the person so sinning might notwithstanding any thing there said while he was joyned to all the living for so long there is hope for men Eccl. 9. 4. Nay 3. The Apostle John doth not forbid the believers to pray for or concerning the sin unto death for the words are not I do say that he shall not pray for it but I do not say that he shall pray for it That is he doth not direct or enjoyn it upon them so to do
thee which he affords while he calls upon thee to turn unto him And therefore though he saith in one place Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the Leopard his spots Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Yet presently after he saith unto the same persons Wilt thou not be made clean When shall it once be Jer. 13. 23. with ver 27 To signifie to us that though with them it is impossible yet with God all things are possible as Matth. 19. 26. Mark 12. 27. 4. Let me yet add and say Turn ye turn ye for why will ye die Why will we die may other Excuse makers say It is not our will so to â—o but we are unwilling to perish for ever bereafter nor do we resolve or purpose to continue alwayes in a course of sin and iniquity but it is our intention and resolution to flee there-from hereafter but there is time enough for that yet we are young or we are strong and healthful and the evil day shall not yet overtake or prevent us We know not yet how to be serious Old Age is the most proper season for that and when that comes we are then fully minded to leave the ways we now walk in and to exercise our selves to godliness and to apply our hearts unto and earnestly pursue those things which belong to our eternal peace and welfare Now to these persons I may answer and say 1. How knowest thou that thou shalt live to Old age Thy times are not in thine own but in Gods and when he pleases he can and will set his heart upon thee and gather unto himself thy spirit and thy breath and then thou must perish and shalt turn again unto dust as Job 34. 14 15. for no man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit neither hath he power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that war neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it Eccl. 8. 8. It is appointed to men once to die and after that the Judgdment But when that once will be is hidden from the eyes of all living It is laid up with God Heb. 9. 27. and therefore it is most dangerous to delay the time for in the grave whither thou goest there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom Eccl. 9. 10. Thou hast certainly seen some others removed out of the Land of the Living in the prime and flower of their age that were as likely to have lived to Old Age as those that are lest behind for some die in their full strength being wholly at ease and quiet whose breasts are full of milk and their bones are moistened with marrow Job 21. 22-24 And why then mayest not thou also be cut off before thou arrivest at Old Age For all Flesh is as grass and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field Nay indeed when men put off their conversion and turning to the Lord upon this presumption That they shall be here long continued and that hereafter will be time enough God is many times thereby provoked to cut them off before their time If that servant saith our Saviour shall say in his heart my Lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to beat the Men Servants and Maidens and to eat and drink with the drunken The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers Luke 12. 45 46. When they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape 1 Thess 5. 1 2 3. Oh then Boast not thy self of to morrow-day for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth or what will be on the morrow for what is our life It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away Prov. 27. 1. with Jam. 4. 14-17 And if thou art cut off and diest in thy sins thy state and condition will be miserable for ever Awake then thou that sleepest arise from the dead and Christ will give thee light Childhood and youth are vanity yea every man at his best estate is altogether vanity Oh then seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near at hand Eccl. 11. 10. and Ch. 12. 1. Psal 39. 5 11. Do not so number thy days as to apply thine heart to folly and vanity but beg of God to teach thee rightly to number thy days that thou mayst cause thine heart to come to wisdom Psal 90. 11 12. 2. If thy days should be prolonged and thou should'st be here continued it will hereafter be more difficult and hard for thee to turn from thine evil ways and to apply thine heart to sound wisdom than now it is as hath been said before Indeed with God all things are possible but by thy continuing in evil thou wilt be more averse from turning unto God than now thou art thine heart will he hardened thorow the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3. 12. And when the evil days come and years draw nigh in which thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Thine afflictions and infirmities will be so many and frequent and thy natural powers will be so impaired and weakened that thou wilt be more and more indisposed thereby for what is of eternal concernment to thee Remember therefore thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them while the Sun or the Light or the Moon or the Stars be not darkened nor the Clouds return after the Rain c. Eccl. 12. 1 2 3 4-7 Exod. 6. 9. 3. But why wilt thou not now turn from thine iniquities unto God Is it because the ways of sin are so delightful that thou canst not leave them yet This hath been spoken to before and shewn to be a meer mistake Certainly it can be no real good or desirable thing to be in slavery and bondage and it is the most miserable and dreadful bondage of all to be the servant and vassal of Sin and Corruption and to be led captive by Satan the Murderer of Mankind at his pleasure Joh. 8. 32-34 2 Pet. 2. 19 20 21. 2 Tim. 2. 26. Is it because Sin and Satan have so greatly obliged thee that thou canst not therefore forsake them or be unkind to them If thou so thinkest thou art strangely deluded and bewitched A Debtor indeed thou art but not to the flesh or carnal mind to live after the flesh It hath laid no such engagements upon thee that thou shouldest yield up thy Mind or Members to the service thereof nor canst thou reasonably expect any such reward there-from or advantage thereby as might cause thee to undertake or continue in its