way to their undoing and it is all one as if they said we will undo our selves and we will be damn'd seeing they go on in those ways wherein they cannot avoid and escape damnation whatever they pretend they do just as a man that should cast himself into the wide sea and say I will not be drown'd but swim out again or should stab himself at the heart and say I have no intent to kill my self let such intend what they will all rational and sober men know they cannot live but must die There 's an indissoluble tie between sin and death so as we cannot take the one without the other Cast away from you all your transgressions c. For why will you die Ezech. 18.31 as if he should have said If you do not the former you must have the latter and in the way you now go you seek your own death He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul Prov. 8. ult And how doth he wrong it the next words shew He loves death To hate and scorn the wayes of Christ is to love death it is so in the effect he that hates to be reformed and too many such there are hates to be saved he that loves to be wicked loves to be damn'd The wicked World is wilde and stark mad in this respect and doth as all mad men do a mad man casts off all care of himself and is pleas'd in nothing but his ravings and frantick pranks and will not be perswaded to any better such mad men are we in our sins pleas'd with nothing so much as that which most displeaseth God and hath a direct tendency towards our own destruction Bring a Physician or Chyrurgeon to a mad man and you set him the more a raving so as you must bind him and over-master him by force or he will admit of no applications to be made for curing him all hiâ— business is to do that which doth torment him and will undo him So do all wilfull sinners they devise and do nothing but what makes for working out their damnation they are troubled about nothing but that they cannot sin enough and serve their worldly and fleshly desires so much as they would and is not this enmity against themselves and their own souls For what can a man do to destroy his soul and pull upon himself the most intollerable condemnation more than to sin as much as possibly he can The wayes of sin are the wayes of destruction to poor souls and the only way to life is a turning from all the wayes of sin with loathing and indignation and this no sinner will deny if he please to sit down and consider it But such is the impetuousness of our lusts as they will not give us leave to entertain one serious thought about the sad consequence of what we are a doing Mad men have sometimes their lucid intervals but so soon as any occasion stiâ—â— their frantick humour they are as mad as ever in those intervals they are as mad as before but do not act their madness so much The worst of men are not alike wicked at all times in acting their wickedness though their hearts are alwayes set upon their wicked wayes For their fair promises sometimes of amendment they are no more than what a mad man will promise in a good mood And now all you poor sinfull Souls consider your wayes and be wise Be not as the horse and mule that have no understanding Psal. 32.9 You are so by nature and of your selves through the poison which the Devil hath infus'd to you only you have Reason which Beasts have not and you have a liberty to do otherwise than you do if you had a mind to it you are told and you know the dangerous consequence of your sinfull wayes and why will you die Is there profit in destruction Can there be pleasure in sinning for a moment when the pains of Hell will be endless and intollerable Or can you devise a way how you may enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and yet escape the torments of Hell for ever Have you so much power in your hands as to reverse the Acts and Decrees of Heaven established by a declared Law so as death shall not be the wages of sin Or do you think to put off the righteous Judge of all the earth in the last day as well as you can abuse and baffle your Consciences and faithfull Ministers now I believe you have some such thoughts or you would not take the courses that you do But O ye fools when will you be wise The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity Can you be such bruitish sots as not to know that the World to come will be quite another thing than this present evil World Here is a place to sin in there will be only suffering for impenitent sinners Here wicked men talk wildly as if their tongues were their own and there were no Lord over them There the righteous Lord will deal with them and they will not have a word to answer Consider how dead folk are dealt with here are they not bound and laid up where they cannot stir Oh! think of it as a presage of that estate wherein your souls as well as your bodies wilâ— be in another World There your hands and feet will be tyed and your mouthes will bâ— stopp'd so as you shall not be able to peep oâ— mutter one word or if you should rage and cry out in those everlasting burnings what wilâ— it avail you so long as your bonds are made strong and you cannot break them Oh! think of this you presumptuous daring sinners while there is time for repentance for this is the sad condition you are hastning to and nothing can be said or done to stop you in your career When you are most frolick you are but heaping up fewel to feed the everlasting burnings And when you are most froward in your wayes you shew only the enmity that is in you against your own souls You say in effect Let us alone and trouble us not we are in the way to Hell and destruction and we will not be turn'd out of it you are not willing to be damn'd you 'l say but hope to be sav'd as well as others So are Robbers and Murderers c. not willing to be hang'd more than honest men but honest men know that rogues and thieves take the ready way to the gallows They may some of them escape mens judgement and no question some of them sometimes do but how will you escape the judgement of God who knoweth all and can do every thing And will he not think you make good his Word and execute his own Lawes How else shall he quit himself and shew that he is above you Think when you see dead folk imprisoned and bound up in their graves how you will be hamper'd and pinion'd when you shall be brought forth to Judgement and
obstinacy in sin I shall leave them to try it out with God when he shall come to judge the World in assured confidence he will then plead his own cause as they shall have nothing to answer The second great Objection against my Conclusion may be thus formed Obj. 2. IF Christ died not for all and every man as many say then God hath not sufficiently provided for all mens Salvation But Christ died not for all c. Ergo c. The force and strength of this Argument lieth on this That our Salvation depends upon Christs Satisfaction for us Hence it follows That if Christ by his Death have not satisfied for a great many they are left to perish for want of that provision and so they are not to be blam'd though they die in their sins Sol. The Dispute that hath been and still is about the extent of Christs death I shall not meddle with so as to determine any thing one way or other because I hope to do my work without engaging my self so farr For Gods intent and counsel in delivering his Son to death and Christs intention in undergoing death they are to me and I suppose to others also hidden so as we cannot say For these Christ died and not for those It belongs to Gods will of purpose whatever it be and therefore we cannot resolve any thing about it For Gods will of precept we know what it is viz. He that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned Marc. 16.16 This is the Gospel which Christ before his Ascension charg'd his Apostles to preach and I know of no other God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life Joan. 3.16 This Gospel I believe with all my heart because I never find in Scripture that men are condemn'd because no price was paid for them but only for unbelief Heb. 3.19 So we see they could not enter in because of unbeleef An evil heart of unbelief is all they are warn'd to beware of v. 12. vid. also Heb. 10. fin with many places besides in the New Testament which I need not cite Hence I am bold to resolve That no man lieth under a necessity of perishing in his sin who lives and dies not in unbelief Or thus That Christ died and satisfied so farr as whosoever believeth shall he saved and that men shall be damn'd only upon the account of unbelief For this I say again is the Gospel we are bound to preach and this is the Gospel according to which God will judge the World In that day the question will not be Whether we were of the number for whom Christ died we shall be question'd only Why we did not believe in Christ offer'd to us in the Gospel Quest. But here it will be ask'd by some Whether they who never had the Gospel preached to them as we and many others have had it shall be condemn'd for not believing on Christ whom they never heard of Sol. 1. I dare not say as some That if they had improv'd their natural knowledge of God to the utmost they might have been sav'd by the kindness and mercy of God without the knowledge of Christ the Mediator because the Scripture saith There is no other Name given under Heaven c. Act. 4.12 2. Whatever the account be upon which they perish the Apostle hath resolv'd in terms Ro. 1.20 That they are inexcusable 3. I am not able to apprehend How Gods Works of Creation as Sun Moon and Stars c. did preach Christ to them 4. I shall only offer somewhat wherein I dare not be peremptory but shall leave it to the consideration of such as are judicious viz. That the Heathen of old who had not the Law of God as Israel had yet heard the report and fame of the God of Israel and thereupon ought to have enquir'd after him the only living and true God who alone is to be praised and served in such wayes as he himself hath appointed And the rather because by their natural light they might have discover'd that what they worshipp'd could not be God and that the true God cannot be worshipp'd by mens hands Act. 17.25 That which first enclined and encouraged me to this conceit as most may count it was what the Apostle hath said of Rahab Heb. 11.31 By Faith the Harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not c. Here are two things which I desire may be observed concerning her 1. Her Faith which was no less than a justifying saving Faith else her Name had not been enroll'd amongst those Worthies that are there recorded And Iac. 2.25 She is said to be justified in the same manner as Abraham was 2. That she came by heâ— Faith only by the report she heard of the God of Israel as she professeth Iosh. 2.11 Thâ— Lord your God he is God in Heaven above anâ— in Earth beneath And v. 9 10. She professeth She had heard what God had done for Israel such as no other God could do and for this cause she desired to joyn her self to the people of the God of Abraham and to have her lot with them And so doing She perished not with those that believed not Who were they Questionless her Neighbours the men of Iericho and all the Amâ—rites except the Gibeonites who notwithstanding they heard the same things reported resolved to fight it out against God and his people Israel And did not the Gibeonites the same Iosh. 9.24 For they so answered for themselves when Ioshua questioned them It was certainly told thy servants How that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the Land and to destroy all the Inhabitants of the Land from before you therefore we were afraid of our lives because of you and have done this thing What they did the rest of the Canaanites should have done and have been content to be hewers of wood c. that so they might serve and worship the living and true God Sure the rest of the Inhabitants of Canaâ—n heard and knew as much as the Gibeonites did but they hardned their hearts and so perished in â—heir unbelief We read also of the Kenites who were the children of Hobab the Father in Law of Moses who chose to joyn themselves to the Israelites and why might not others have done â—he like And may not the Queen of Sheba be â—n instance to the same purpose Read the Stoâ—y 1 Reg. 10. and Mat. 12.42 And why should not the Syrians all believe as well as Naaman 2 Reg. 5. seeing they knew as well as he the miracle which the God of Israel had wrought upon him Questionless that and other miracles were done to convince the Heathen Once this is clear and certain That the Iews were a people hated of all other Nations and that upon this account only because their Laws were different from
there be Faith to receive it As I take it we should not perswade men to believe on Christ by telling them If they believe then Christ died for them Rather as I suppose we may safely telâ— them That Christ died for them and thereupon perswade them to believe on him We are bound to believe that the thing is true before we can believe our share in it The Object is in order of Nature before the Action My belieâ— makes not a thing true but it is true in it self and therefore I believe it And this is the method of Scripture as farr as I know The Feasâ— was first prepared and then the Guests were invited All things are ready come unto the Marriage Mat. 22.4 The Iews who are the guests there invited refus'd to come But were they not cast utterly off and put into that condition wherein they abide unto this day upon this account That the Son of God came to his own and his own received him not How could they refuse if there were no provision made for them Or justly perish only for refusing I am very willing to believe That Christ was offer'd for me before he was offer'd to me and that if I dye in my sins it is only for my not receiving Christ offered to me Sure I am that Scripture never layeth the death of Sinners upon the want of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Price of Redemption but alwayes upon unbelief disobedience neglect of and setting light by Christ and the things of Christ. And this is enough to serâ—e my turn That Scripture never hints any impediment to mens Salvation more than an evil heart of unbelief For the intention of God and Christ what is that to me or any man else seeing it is secret The revealed things belong to us and we shall for certain be question'd one day only Why we did not accept of Christ when he was tendred to us It will not then excuse us to say We could not tell whether we were of those whom Christ intended to save Once we have the command of God to believe on the Son of God and we have a sure promise if we believe to be saved And this and nothing else will be the condemnation of the World viz. That they disobeyed Gods command and believed not his promise Thus all Gods Messengers have a Warrant to invite all men to believe But not to invite the Devil though they had an opportunity to speak with him as any man may speak to another Yea I am bold to think it would be any mans sin to promise Salvation to the Devil upon his believing in Christ. It were indeed a belying the Lord and saying He saith what he hath not said And it were a deceiving the Devil in telling him that which is not so For the consequence of this Hypothetical If thou believest on the Son of God thou shalt be saved is true as to any man without exception But as to the Devil it is for ought I know false in the connexion as well as in the parts of it because he is none of those to whom God hath promis'd Salvation upon condition of believing on Christ Ioan. 3.16 For the Command of God to believe and his Promise of Life upon believing is all the ground-work upon which our Faith is built and this foundation the Devil hath not for his warrant and encouragement to believe on the Son of God For the Son of God took not on him or took not hold on or helped not the Angels Heb. 2.16 but the Seed of Abraham Where Abrahams Seed notes not the Iews only as all will grant but the Gentiles also and that expression is us'd to shew that Christ was the same that was promis'd to the Fathers and sets out the benefit of Redemption as belonging to mankind but not if I may so speak to Devil-kind Beside It is not the Devils Sin not to believe on Christ or not to receive him He hath sins enough besides both for number and nature and questionless is a greater sinner than any man can be having sinn'd himself out of the greatest happiness and that in actual possession that a Creature is capable of and sinn'd against that Light which no man on earth can attain unto But Unbelief is not his sin because there is no command obliging nor any promise inviting him to believe on Christ. But Unbelief is the sin of men yea it is in a manner all sin as it seals upon a man his other sins and causeth the wrath of God to abide upon him Ioan. 3. fin Yea it is the great aggravation of all sins in this respect that they might have been all pardon'd on such easie terms as Believing in the Lord Iesus Christ. We may now bespeak sinners as Naamans servants bespake him If the Prophet had commanded thee some great matter wouldst thou not have done it c. So if God had requir'd some great matter of us for our Salvation should we not willingly have done it But 't is a very easie thing that he requireth us to do The Word is nigh us as the Apostle shews Ro. 10.8 We have nothing to do or suffer for â—he appeasing of Gods Wrath or for the satisfyâ—ng of his Justice or for purchasing the heavenly â—nheritance The Son of God in our flesh hath â—one and suffered all and we have nothing to â—o but to receive him as he is freely tendred â—nd offer'd to us The Feast is prepared without any cost or care of ours and we are call'd â—o partake of it with a sure promise of welcome All this while I forget not what a controâ—ersie there is among the Learned about the extent of Christs death but I dare not touch with it and the rather because it no way concerns me in the main design of this discourse â— have no controversie but with the frowardness and wilfullness of sinners who are willing to make God the Author both of their sin and condemnation and pretend That if all men would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as they are requir'd they should not however be saved These are the men I now deal with and these I desire to try whatever is controverted amongst the more Learned whether this be not a truth viz. That Christ hath satisfied so farr as they shall be saved if they believe And to these I say if they dye in their sins it is not upon the account of Christs not dying for them but only for their not-believing on him And for this I appeal to the whole tenour of Scripture and in particular to Ioan. 3.16 where the gift of Christ is common but the efficacy of it limited to believing And good cause why since Christ dyed for none to save them whether they believe or not 'T is neither my design nor desire to disputâ— with any but with unreasonable and wickeâ— men And therefore I shall take no notice 〈◊〉 what is commonly said viz. That Christ
promised Isa. 59.21 If any object That that promise is made only to the Church I may grant it and yet answer well enough thus That the Word and Spirit promised to the Church proclaim and offer Christ to the world and they that arâ— without are bound to receive what is offer'd and to joyn themselves to the Church For whaâ— is it that makes and constitutes the Church Iâ— it not hearkning to and obeying the voice oâ— God in his Word There is the sound of thâ— Gospels voice which the world is bound tâ— hearken to as I hope to shew hereafter Anâ— if the wicked world refuse and will not enâ—quire after it that is their own fault and Goâ— is not wanting as shall be more fully clear'd iâ— its due place For present it may suffice that there is aâ— abundance of the Spirit and of the Word eâ—nough to enlighten and enliven all the world if they would heed and attend them Whâ— dare say that Gods Word and Spirit are noâ— sufficient to instruct us in all things necessary and to lead us into all truth For Papists quarrelling the sufficiency of Scripture-revelation I have nothing to do with it now it serves my turn if it be acknowledged that God hath made a sufficient revelation of his will and the way of our Salvation 3. That God might not leave himself without many witnesses we have also the work of Creation that shews us the way of glorifying him else how could the Apostle upon this one ground prove the Gentiles to be inexcusable in their Idolatries Rom. 1.19 20. And is there not also a goodness of God in his providential dispensations that leads men to repentance Rom. 2.4 Yes the Psalmist shews it at large Psal. 107. And this amongst others seems to be one thing that 's very observable in that Psalm viz. That men otherwise void of all piety and such as care little for Gods company at other times when distresses and dangers assault them even by nature and natural conscience are led to call upon God This shews sufficiently that their neglect of God in times of prosperity is a stifling the natural principles of Religion implanted in all men for the improvement of divine providences 4. To say no more God hath made us reasonable creatures and given us a minde to understand so as to chuse the good and refuse the evil And have we not all of us a conscience to accuse and excuse to encourage us in that which is good and affright us from all that is evil In one word The way of Life is laid before us and we have eyes to see it if we had a minde to walk in it Men do not go to Hell as a beast goeth to the slaughter-house or as one led blindfolded not knowing whither he goeth but they refuse the way of Life and chuse the ways of Death as I hope to shew hereafter more at large Now let me summe up all that hath been said and thus argue If God hath prepared an all-sufficient salvation and provided all means necessary for the applying of it what have we to complain of more than what we finde in our selves May not the Lord say as he did Isa. 5.4 What could have been done more that I have not done or as Ier. 2.5 What iniquity have you found in me Have I been wanting to you Rather have not you wronged your selves and been sinners against your own Souls And will not the Lord say thus one day Questionless he will else how shall he clear himself in condemning the wicked world For suppose God to be wanting in any thing necessary on his part for our salvation may not a condemned sinner justly reply thus Lord thou hast now pass'd the sentence of death upon me and thou art now sending me to dwell with everlasting burnings which I should never have run my self into if thou hadst done that which lay upon thee to do May not such a soul say alas I knew nothing of what I should have known in order to my salvation but was left in the dark without any light to shew me the way of Life Had God done his part I might have done mine and so it had never been with me as now it is Shall any of the damned think you ever have cause or just occasion to quarrel God in this manner Or if any should I must confess I know not how to clear God in his condemning the world of the ungodly But God will certainly clear himself one day and convince all the ungodly that their damnation is just Else why is God so often clearing himself upon all occasions from having any hand in the destruction of those that perish For certain God would never clear himself as often he doth if he knew not himself to be clear and he must have most unworthy thoughts of God that thinks otherwise God is not as man to justifie himself in any thing but what is right and true Now how often doth God clear himself and cast all the blame of mens destruction upon themselves Ezech. 18.31 32. Cast away all your transgressions c. for why will you die I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth Hos. 13.8 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self To this purpose also read Esay 5. v. 1 4. Obj. But some will reply and say Who denies or questions this you labour to little purpose and might well have spared this pains Sol. To clear my self give me leave to say 1. That many are charg'd with making God the author of sin and the contriver in a sort of mans damnation I do not say they are justly charg'd but that some are so charg'd by others is most true 2. There are but too many in the world who charge God foolishly as faulty and guilty of mens destruction I say not they do it expresly and in terminis but interpretatively and by consequence they say that the fault is on Gods part and not on theirs if they die and are damn'd What else is their meaning when they pretend as they do so much love and good liking to God and the wayes of his Commandments Are there not many that say in their hearts and some upon occasion with their mouths also Far be it from us to hate God or any of his wayes God forbid that we should procure to our selves the damnation of our own souls Nay they will not be well pleas'd with any other that shall charge them for so doing If others will believe them they are as willing to be sav'd and as willing to walk in the way of Life and Salvation as any man can wish them to be But alas what would you have of them If they knew better they should do better and for their part they do the best they can and as far as God gives them grace Now is not this in effect all one as to say if we are cast away and die in our sins it is no fault of
dye in the stead and sustain'd the persons of all unâ—to whom the benefit of his Death was intendeâ— Only I say If a summ be paid sufficient to reâ—deem so many poor Captives provided theâ— shall all their dayes serve him that is their Râ—â—deemer are they not all redeem'd thougâ— some should refuse the condition and chuse 〈◊〉 be Slaves still However this I affirm Thâ—â— the extent of Christs Death is such and so greâ—â— as I never read or heard of any one that pâ—â—rished in his sin because Christ had paid 〈◊〉 price for his Redemption For the tenour of 〈◊〉 Gospel I gave it before and I have 〈◊〉 learnt any other than That he that believeâ—â— shall be saved and he that believeth not shall 〈◊〉 damned Let others dispute for whom Chrâ—â—â— dyed I cannot hinder them I am sure Chrâ—â—â— never suffered or satisfied for any so as thâ—â— shall have the saving benefits of his death wiâ—â—â—out laying hold on him by a lively Faith Anâ— I shall be as sure on the other side That whâ—â—â—ever shall believe on the Lord Jesus with all 〈◊〉 heart he shall be saved by him And this I takâ— to be sound Doctrine that may be safely preachâ—ed to all and every one without exception viz. Thou O man whoever thou art Chriâ—â— dyed for thee and if thou believe on him witâ— all thine heart as God hath commanded thee thou shalt be saved In this we preach the tenour of the Gospel as you have it before and he that thus preacheth Christ will give little encouragement to sinners except to repent and turn to God and so all sinners should by all means be encouraged But here is no encouragement to impenitency or unbelief because there 's no promise of any benefit by Christs death but only to true believers and penitents This then I resolve That if I or any other dye in our sins it is only because we believe not on the Son of God For of a truth I know not how to clear and justifie God as I desire to do if any thing done or not done on his part be it that shuts us out from having eternal Life I am I confess altogether for this That a wicked proud filthy evil heart of unbelief and nothing else stands in the way of mens Salvation and if that be once taken away there will be no other hinderance I have such thoughts of God as I cannot think but he hath done his part so as nothing will be wanting if we are but heartily willing to do ours I could indeed say what is sufficient in this case That no man knows or can know supposing Christs death to be so confin'd as some will have it Whether he be one of those for whom Christ dyed not And therefore if it were an adventure a man had better run the hazard than do worse by wilfull shipwracking himself through final impenitency and unbelief As a man one would think should not refuse to cast the Dice for his Life though he knew for certain that some or other must dye and he cannot be sure that he shall not be one of them Only I say still there 's no hazard in believiâ—â— on Christ But in tâ—is I desire to be resolv'd Whetheâ— he that beileves not on Christ offered in the Goâ—â—pel doth not refuse a fair offer of somewhaâ— that he might have had if he had believed Thâ—â— is no Position but only a Quaere If it be anâ—swered That Unbelievers are damn'd for not obeying Gods Command and for not-believinâ— his Promise I grant it is so and their conâ—demnation upon that account is most just Only give me leave to think still That such reâ—fuse what they might have receiv'd and so 〈◊〉 guilty as they were who made light of the iâ—â—vitation Mat. 22.5 and went their wayeâ— They might have shar'd in the wedding Feast 〈◊〉 well as others if they would have come Anâ— therefore I wish all whom it may concern tâ— be very wary that poor ignorant Souls whâ—â— are too much bent and set upon undoing themselves may have no occasion given them of so doing For what danger can there be in saying indifferently what Scripture saith often in terminis and so pressing all to believe on him Herein they will remove a stumbling-block which otherwise many will set up to cast themselves down But there is no occasion of stumbling unless they preach and teach what they never learn'd from Scripture viz. That Chrisâ— gave himself a ransome for all live as they list and do as they please their Redemption is purchas'd and they are sure to be saved however This indeed would be false Doctrine with a witness yea and a vengeance too upon many But no poor Souls will ever complain of their Ministers for telling them the good news of Christs dying for them so long as they tell them withall How the Death of Christ will be effectual to them and not otherwise viz. by a sound and a working Faith For the Question about absolute and conditional Redemption I am not wholly ignorant of it But I still resolve to wave all controversies of that nature and only reason the case with poor Souls that they may not cast themselves away in their perverse disputings about they know not what and in their wilfull neglecting of that Salvation which they are sure to obtain in a way of believing and obeying God and not otherwise To these I say again that which is the Word of God who cannot lye Let them repent of their unlawful deeds deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts lead sober and righteous and godly lives and therein give a sure evidence and proof of their reall closing with and accepting of Christ by Faith that they shall be as certainly saved as any that are now in Heaven For this is indeed Gospel and this is the Word of Grace as they may easily read if they will but open their Bibles But they may turn over their Bibles long enough or ever they find any Text to this purpose That Christ dyed to save them though they never believe Paul and Silas told the Jaylor Act. 16.31 Believe on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved They never scrupled Whether he were one of them for whom Christ dyed but preached to him the Gospel as they had received it of the Lord And he doing as he was commanded had forthwith as much as he desired or needed Before I close up this I shall add one thing more Is there any man alive of whom any other can or dare say This is one of them for whom Christ dyed not If there be not then make no difference where thou knowest none but be wise according to that which is written This we may all safely resolve upon We shall never suffer at Gods hand for our ignorance or neglect of any thing that God hath not revealed in his Word The things that are revealed belong unto us c. These we are to believe
Christ and his Word and all his Ordinances are a Light and wicked men lik◠Thieves cannot abide them because they would not be discovered by them This is th◠judgement that Scripture passeth upon ungodly men and if they would pass the same and s◠judge and condemn themselves they might fin◠peace in approaching to God But to argue an◠whartle about the wayes of Gods Providence an◠Grace as if they were not equal when God and their own hearts know they are passionately in love with yea and madd upon their Idols I mean their Lusts and loose practices th◠will turn to no good account one day whateve◠men count of now They that are so apt t◠quarrel God should rather call themselves to an account and if they would be exact in this work we should have more complaints of themselves that their own wayes are unequal and all the wayes of God most equal and just and good To shut up this I shall only mention one Text Pro. 8.36 All that hate me love death They are the words that were spoken by the infinite and eternal Wisdome of God who saith a◠much in effect Ioan. 3.19 20. before cited Wicked men love darkness and death They are not damn'd as they pretend to Sin and Hell against their wills but they love them and chuse them when they might forbear and avoid them They love their Sins and therefore hate their Souls They love Sin and in so doing love Death They are willing to be damn'd as willing for certain as a man that wittingly takes Poyson is willing to kill himself Obj. But some will say That few are so willfull till God hardens them and makes them to erre from his wayes Esay 63.17 Sol. For Gods making men to erre c. I think the Learned Annotator hath rightly observ'd That the Original notes only a permission and therefore might be rendred Why dost thou suffer us to wander out of thy wayes For God tempteth no man to sin Jac. 1.13 14. But a man is led away by his own lust And how did God harden Pharaoh No other way than by delivering him up and leaving him to the hardness of his own obstinate heart by Gods forbearance and mercy more and further obdurated as is to be seen in the Story God doth thus harden others and leave them to themselves and then it is sad with them as it is with a Child left to himself Pro. 29.15 But when is it Even when they give themselves up to serve their own desires and resolve to walk after their lusts hating to be reformed and casting Gods Word behind them as is to be seen Psa. 81.8 9 10 11 12. This is cleared from Psa. 95.8 Harden not your heart On which place Calvin Non ex alio fonte manare nostram adversus Deum rebellionem quam ex voluntaria improbitate dum illius gratiae aditum obstruimus Calv. i. e. Our rebellion against God flows from no other fountain than our own perversness whilst we shut up the passage to his grace that it cannot enter One thing more that may be objected must be answer'd and 't is this Obj. That the special Grace of God puts th◠last difference between man and man as some say and that Grace is not given to all How then can it be said That God hath sufficiently provided for all Or how can he be clear'd 〈◊〉 his condemning some seeing these also woul◠have repented and closed with Christ if th◠Lord had perswaded and over-power'd them by his effectual Grace as he did others Sol. And yet God will clear himself and for this purpose consider 1. That there is little more in this Objection than in somewhat before about the Fall of our first Parents And as God was righteous in letting them fall because they might have stood 〈◊〉 they would So God is righteous in his dealing◠with men notwithstanding he deny them tha◠special Grace he gives to others because they might be saved if they would When I say Men may be saved if they will my meaning is That they are not saved because they will not and that their wilfullness is their condemnation For if Christ and the Word of Grace revealing Christ and all the Methods of conveying him to poor Souls and Exhortations and entreaties to accept of him be enough then God is not wanting on his part For I may now ask all who complain What is lacking to them more Were there not an all-sufficient Saviour and sufficient means of knowing him to Salvation there might be perhaps some occasion of complaint But it is farr otherwise and if men will make use of these means as they are commanded and intreated to do I am sure they shall be saved because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Never did any man dye in his sins that was heartily willing to receive Christ offer'd to him and to improve the means of grace allowed him for that end And may I not then say Men may be saved if they will They have enough to live upon for ever and when they play the Unthrifts part have they any cause to blame God and say He might have done more for them What should he have done more for them And what can they answer to this question when their own hearts know they never lik'd or lov'd Christ or any of his wayes but wilfully scorn'd and rejected all They lik'd and lov'd a Saviour to deliver them from Death and Hell after they had taken their full swinge in their own wayes and sinn'd themselves out of breath and could no longer serve their lusts But they would not have Christ to reign over them so as for his sake and at his command to deny themselves and all ungodliness and worldly lusts They know that the Power of Godliness was the thing their Souls loathed and they scorn'd it as savouring of nothing but folly and fancy calling it a Precisian nicety And when Christ called them to suffer for his sake who suffered so much to save their Souls they would not part with a penny or lose an hair of their head for him I say then in one word Look what hindred Israel from seeing the good Land which God had promised them the same hinders these men from possessing the Heavenly Inheritance Heb. 3. ult They could not enter in because of unbelief And yet as Moses tells them Deut. 9.4 The Lord had not given them an heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear 2. How would men have God to save them Would they be saved in such a way as if a Block should be lifted from the Earth and carried up to Heaven This cannot be without perverting the whole course of Gods Providence in governing his reasonable Creatures For they being made after Gods Image and acting by an inward Principle of Reason must be governed in a way and manner suitable to their Nature God indeed draws men thitherward but I never read
thy self in nothing that will serve to please the flesh This to be sure is not Heavens-way whatever it be And therefore make no more question about the many Religions that are in the World till thou art better resolved for that Religion which is plain and easie enough to be learn'd by any that hath not a wicked heart against God and all that is good Resolve once to serve Sin no more and thou wilâ— presently see the way to Heaven as plain before thee as thou knowest the way to thine own house or home AND now I shall make some Application â—f all that hath been said after I have givâ—n one Proviso to prevent a mistake that may be I have hitherto shewed How willful the wickâ—â— World is and how apt to take offence even tâ— contend with God himself about the wayes and workings of his Grace and Providence Say and do what you can or will they will not be perswaded but perhaps the more hardned Buâ— though it be so with most of the World yet beware whatever you do you give them no occasion of falling or stumbling Say not in thine heart They are such as will perish and it matters not how we carry our selves towards them if they will be offended let them be offended we cannot help it Some yea too many will be offended yet take heed of giving them the least occasion of offence For so hath the Lord commanded Levit. 19.14 Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind but shalt fear thy God Yea Deut. 27.18 There is a curse upon him that maketh the blind to wander out of the way And our Saviour denounceth a woe to him by whom the offence cometh Mat. 18.7 They are blind and out of the way but in that they deserve the rather to be the object of thy pity and prayers and endeavours to turn them from the errour of their way What knowest thou that they may not recover themselves and come to repentance Secret things belong to the Lord Deut. 29.29 That we are to labour their repentance and by all possible means to endeavour it in our capacities and relations is revealed to us as our duty and if they will perish notwithstanding we have delivered our own Souls their blood will be upon their own heads Our Saviour indeed said of some Let them alone c. Mat. 15.14 i. e. Have no regard to them trouble not your selves about them if they be offended be not you offended however because of them But he allows not his Disciples to offend them in the least If men shew themselves contentious malicious and wilfully contumacious as the Scribes and Pharisees some of them were Let them alone pass them by but yet provoke them not to be more wicked than they are True we cannot do what is our duty but some will be offended as the Scribes and Pharisees were at Christ for doing the will of him that sent him But the offence was only taken by them there was none given by him He prov'd to be by accident a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence but never offended any If we cannot do what is our duty without offence to some the fault is theirs not ours because we may not to please them offend God by disobeying his commands Some will be offended if we will not pledge them in a drunken health Let them be offended it need not trouble us If we tamely do as they do we encourage them in their debaucheries and so we offend them indeed by helping them on towards the pit of destruction Wicked men make too much hast to the Devil we need not provoke or put them forward Indeed we have need be very careful and as the Apostle Iude v. 22. adviseth To put a difference Some perhaps will rage if we will not run to the same excess of riot with them But better they rage than we by doing what they would have us to provoke Gods wrath against our own Souls A patient forbearance to do as they do and a with-drawing from them may be an effectual reproof and work upon them afterwards If there be no hope to fasten an admonition Solomon hath resolv'd the case for us Pro. 9.8 Reprove not a Scorner However comply not with him to allow of his wickedness in the least But be sure not to give any occasion of falling to such as are weak Lest thy poor Brother perish for whom Christ dyed Ro. 14.15 The Apostle was a singular Precedent for this He would eat no flesh whiles he lived rather than offend his Brother 1 Cor. 8. fin How did he yield upon occasion to avoid offence to the weak But as farr as I can remember not otherwise He yielded in those things wherein he was fully satisfied in his own conscience and judgement But how and upon what terms Never as I remember but to prevent the offence that might be taken by weak Brethren lest they might take occasion by his not yielding in some things to cast off all and turn back again with the Dogg to his vomit We do not read of his so yielding to wicked willful Sinners that would have made no other use of it than to reproach him and which is worse the Gospel too by saying He was a man of no Principles that would comply with any thing to save his skin We have a notable Instance for this in Galat. 2.3 4 5 When false Brethren went about to infringe the liberty of Christians and bring them into bondage 〈◊〉 gave no place by subjection no not for an hour For therein he had built again the things that he had destroyed and encouraged the enemies of the truth in their opposition against it Yield iâ— any thing thou canst to save a Soul to draw men on to a good liking of Gods wayes and putting them forward in them But not one hairs breadth to encourage them in their ungodliness For that 's offending them contrary to the command of Christ. And now I must call loud upon many and even conjure them to consider their wayes whereby they have given so great occcasion of offence to such as are openly and avowedly wicked O! Do not say or think Such ungodly men shew themselves what they are when they declare their sin as Sodom they are past shame and past hope Let them dye and be damn'd who can help it It may prove so that they will dye and be damn'd and nor thou nor any man else can help it because they will not help themselves But thou hast need look to it that their death and condemnation add nothing to thine account They perish for their contempt or neglect of that which they should more carefully have look'd after But what if your careless and loose walking have been the occasion of making them to think they need not be so carefull yea perhaps of slighting and setting at nought all the wayes of Gods Commandments Surely if it be so the best that can be made