saved by his precious Undertakings Philad I never did nor I hope never shall desire you to lay the stress of your Salvation upon your well doing for that would be to build upon the Sands indeed a very infirm Foundation Seeing that without shedding of Blood there is no Remission of Sin and consequently no Heaven Yet give me leave to tell you that to expect Salvation through Christ without Righteousness of Heart and Life is a most infirm Foundation to build our hopes of Heaven upon and indeed 't is nothing but downright Presumption and at the best but the hope of the Hypocrite which will perish Job 8. 13 14. Deut. 29. 19. If you think to find Heaven because Christ died for your Sins and you not bound to the actual Performance of those Duties God hath injoined you to perform I cannot see but you must shew us another Gospel yea and blot out all the Ten Commandments But I tell you Christ himself will not save such 't is contrary to the Attributes of his Justice for he will render to every one as their Works shall be Rom. 8. 13. 1 Cor. 6. 9. Let but any of you shew me a Word from God or Christ that he will save Persons in the profane Contempt of his Service and I will open my Mouth no more against it Philet Did not I tell you he would lead us back again to the Law which is wholly abolished by Christ we are not now under the Law but under Grace Mar. The Law is a cursed Creature Philad A Creature what do you mean by that Where doth the Scripture call the Law a Creature I doubt your design is to invalidate the Law of God which is a divine Direction for all Men in all holy just and spiritual Duties Mar. I could show you it under the hands of fifty Divines that the Law is a Creature besides the many Arguments I could give to prove it a Truth if you please to hear them Philad If you can prove it from the Scripture I 'll hear you but I see you do not that and as for those Divines you speak of tho they may be Men of Piety and Learning yet we ought to follow no Man but as he follows Christ nor take notice of the Quality of Persons and what they believe but the Solidity of their Proof and how they agree with the Standard of God's Word for want ofthis Persons are ready to suck in corrupt Notions without any serious Examination merely because others said it for whose Piety and Learning they have a great and venerable Esteem and indeed when Mens Persons are admired presently their Notions tho never so unsound are received as the Oracles of God which thing has been of fatal Consequence in all Ages and has given footing to most or all the pestilent Doctrines and Errorst hat have incumbred the Church of God Pray ask those Divines you spake of whether they will stand to this That the Law as it is the Mind and Will of God is a Creature whether there is any thing in God perishable or changeable As Learned as they hold these three things as a Truth 1st That God wills nothing in time 2dly That God cannot but have that Will which he hath 3dly That God cannot have any Will which for the present he hath not Now as the Law contains the Mind and Will of God it is as ancient as himself yea there is in it a supernatural divine and unperishing Virtue resembling God himself which shall as easily be destroyed as his Law and was and is and shall remain a word of Eternal Verity Equity and Purity planted in the Heart of Man and is an immutable and eternal Rule of Duty and the breach of it calls for an eternal Punishment upon all Contemners and Abusers of it notwithstanding their boast of Gospel Grace if not repented of Philet I tell you the Law is wholly abolished by Christ we are not now under the Law but under Grace Philad 'T is true Believers are not now under the Law namely in respect of Justification by it or of personal and perfect Obedience to it which Christ in our stead hath performed Gal. 4. 4. nor under the Curse of the Law that is the damning Power of it they are now under Grace that is the Dispensation of Gods Grace the Gospel yet we are not to think that Believers are so freed from the Curse of the Law as to be freed from exercising the Duty and Precepts of Righteousness and Holiness Nay tell me you that say the Law is wholly abolished what there is in all the Ten Commandments that is not a Christian Duty If the Law be wholly abolished what should hinder Persons from worshipping false Gods breaking the Sabbath Swearing Killing Whoring Stealing doing any thing at all no Sin if there be no Law for where there is no Law there is no Transgression Philet The Apostle tells us That Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believes Rom. 10. 4. Philad But what end the fulfilling end but not the destroying end of the Law tho' 't is true with respect to the Ceremonial part of the Law which was only a shadow of good things to come Heb. 10. 12. and center'd in Christ and end in him he being the true Spiritual Substance unto whom that part of the Law was directed it may be said that Christ was not only the fulfilling end but the abolishing end of the Law He is also the end of the Moral Law First because he fully and perfecty obeyed the Law and so the Law in him obtained its end which it had not done amongst all the Sons of Men. 2dly He was the end of the Law on whom all the Maledictions of the Law had full accomplishment 3dly He was the end of the Law in whom all the Blessings and Promises of the Law obtain their end for they are all in Christ Jesus Yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1. 20. 4thly He 's the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believes because God doth impute unto Believers that Righteousness which the Law requires Thus Christ is the end of the Law Yet 't is folly to believe that Christ is so the end of the Law that we are now wholly exempted from our Obedience to those Precepts which the Law requires or that Gospel Grace which hath appeared to all Men Tit. 2. 11 12. should absolve the Creature from that Love and Obedience which is due to his Creator Disobedience cannot be the spot of God's Children 'T is true the Jews thought that they must needs reject the law if they admitted the Doctrine of Paul concerning Justification by Faith whereas the Apostle proves that his Doctrine was so far from prejudicing the Law that it indeed established it Rom. 3. 31. Chap. 4. So that neither Christ put an end to the Moral Law Mat. 5. 17. nor his Apostles therefore the Law is not abolished Philet The
Apostle saith that the Elect that believe are dead to the Law the Law can no more command a Man than a dead Husband can command his Wife Philad 'T is true Believers are dead to the Law with respect to the Curse and Rigor of it but yet this Death to the Law brings Believers to a New Subjection you are dead to the Law that you might be married to another that you should bring forth Fruit to God so that you may see the blessing of the Marriage-Union between Christ and faithful Souls is fruitful before God in living in Subjection to his blessed Maker and Redeemer Mar. But doth not the Apostle bid Believers stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free and be not intangled in the Yoke of Bondage which is the Law Philad This word Liberty not rightly understood may be a Snare to destroy precious Souls we are bid to stand fast in the Liberty in which Christ hath made us free but not in the Liberty in which Satan the Lust of Men the Spirit of Error Carnal Interest c. make us free Christian Liberty is a freedom from Sin not in Sin Rom. 6. 18. it is a free serving of God to do his Will not the will of the Flesh we are called to Liberty but we are not to use it as occasion of the Flesh Gal. 5. 13. Gospel Grace brings glorious freedom 't is true from the Curse of the Law the guilt of Sin and wrath of God and from the burden of legal Ceremonies Sacrifices Circumcision with other heavy Yoaks yet is this Liberty to be confined to Scripture Rules Believers freedom should be like the Heavenly Liberty Angels are free but 't is to Duty not Rebellion and here will come in the surest Mark and the best Evidence of our Election 1 Joh. 3. 7 10. Little Children let no Man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous c. in this is manifest the children of God and the children of the Devil 1 Joh. 1. 6. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we do but lye 2 Pet. 2. 19. Mod. I believe that in many things Philadelphus is in the right Duties are means which God hath appointed for us to walk to Heaven in and those that belong to him he will give them Faith and Repentance and will by his Grace overpower their Hearts that they shall obey him in all his Holy Precepts I also believe that the New Covenant includes Conditions something to be done by us that believe for though the Love of God the Suffering of Christ was wholly free yet the Saving Fruits and Benefits by the Suffering of Christ doth not actually become ours upon the bare shedding of his Blood till it be receiv'd by Faith for his Death doth not necessarily save any but only as God the Father Son and Spirit shall think fit to communicate and dispense with the Issues of them as he that pardons an Offender may bring him to Terms before he pardons him and he that dispenseth Crowns and Scepters to unworthy Persons may require Homage and Observance from them without rendering it no Act of Grace As to the Law I say we are not justified by that but by Christ alone receiv'd by Faith and that it is necessary that Godly Preachers should teach the Moral Law or the Doctrine of Good Works as the Doctrine of Faith for Satan is a deadly Enemy to both Philad Well said Moderatus indeed to what end should the Great God of Heaven give forth his Divine Laws if they do not require our due observance for the Life of Christianity is not barely a Speculative but an active Life and does as seriously tell us what we are to do for Christ as well as what we are to receive from him Mar. There are many that lead sober Lives yet may nay shall go to Hell for all their Morality 't is not that will save them Philad I believe so too but why should you condemn honest Men fearing God as only Moral Men and as such who must certainly go to Hell yet others must escape it that are guilty of far worse Vices and who have been out-done by meer Heathens in their Practices Some must question their Condition for every Sin though never so small but such as you that reckon your selves true Believers must by no means question your Condition though your Sins be never so great No wonder to hear such expressions as these viz. that if a Believer be overtaken with gross Sins yet he blasphemes Christ that dare serve a Writ of Damnation upon him and that if they be but Believers and have once set their foot upon Christ they need not stagger for the greatness of their Sins nor their continuance in them it seems tho you be not good Moral Men yet you have a right to Heaven for all that Mod. Well but there are many very ignorant in the Mystery of Faith Faith hath the honour to be the Grace that apprehends the Mercy of God in Christ and lays hold upon his perfect Righteousness by which Persons come to be justified and to have peace with God Rom. 5. 1. yea by which Persons become the Children of God and by which they receive Christ as tendered to them in the Gospel and see him to be the end of the Law God hath now in respect to us cancel'd the Law which stood as a hand-writing against us and hath by the Gospel shewed us a way whereby to be made Righteous without the Law nay justified from those things by which we could not be justified by the Law for saith the Apostle by the Works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified but by Faith or by Christ made ours by Faith this was the great overthrow of the Jewish Nation Rom. 10. they being ignorant of Christ's Righteousness went to establish a Righteousness of their own c. this is a Righteousness without the Law and yet witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets and the whole Law is fulfilled in the Children of God because Christ's Righteousness is made theirs through believing and I must tell you that in many things Faith stands at defiance with Working and Doing Philad I believe Moderatus these things to be true and that it is the work of Faith to do what you say yet by the Scripture 't is plainly evident that 't is not a bare naked Faith a Faith that swims and floats in the Brain or a lazy Reliance upon Christ destroying of good Works that can or will save any let not any Persons flatter themselves into Misery for that Faith that is barren of the Fruits of good Works bears its own Curse that Faith that is not accompanied with good Works is stiled a dead Faith a Faith that can never bring us to Life and no better than the Faith of Devils James 2. 19 20. And tho it is true as you have said Faith hath the Honour to be the Grace that
the manner of Men yet it is not necessary that all those things which are attributed to God should have something in his Nature correspondent to them according to that ancient Saying Similitudes are not wont to run on all-fours Metaphors are not to be strain'd to express things in themselves quite opposite nor make the parallel run till it grows lame but great care must be taken that no mean base or unworthy thing be attributed to the most high And therefore from the Potter's Power over his Clay to make thereof a Vessel of Honour or Dishonour as he pleaseth to infer positively from thence that God hath purposely made some to be Vessels of Wrath is an unjustifiable Inference from that Similitude Surely the Holy Ghost compares not our most wise Creator to a foolish Potter who because he might make what he would of his Clay did therefore make the greatest number of his Pots to be broken again to shew that he had as well a Power to break them as to make them which none but a mad Man would do but rather to a wise Potter that designs his Work for some good end and use Doubtless God so made all things that not one of his Creatures hath so much cause of dislike as to say why hast thou made me thus No Vessel of Wrath came so made out of his Hands So that if any be Vessels of Wrath the fault is not in him but in themselves by reason of their Infidelity and Contempt of the Lord and his long Sufferance I know this place is usually made use of as a Fortress for such as you are to flee to and is misunderstood to imply what you say but if you will but mind what the Apostle was upon and let this place be expounded by the Context and other places of holy Scripture so that the whole and every part of God's Word may agree in one Truth then we shall never take it in this sense of yours for then this dark and obscure part of Paul's Epistle which the Apostle Peter saith many wrest to their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3. 16. must be taken openly to oppose and contradict the whole Course and Tenour of God's Word Is there no way to understand the 9th of the Romans than by making those places which sound severely to clash against those that sound compassionately Is it not far the best way to interpret hard and doubtful Texts by those many Texts that are clear and easy than to interpret the many clear Texts by one that is dark and difficult or if one Scripture may have a double sense must we needs take it in the worst must I needs say that the Father of Mercy and God of Consolation which doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men did absolutely damn him before he had done either good or evil is it not the best so to understand it that his Mercy and Justice his Love and Power may imbrace and kiss each other Now the Scripture speaks in some places darkly and dubiously in other places it expresses the same thing more clearly and certainly the doubtful are to be expounded by the certain and dark places by those that are clear and all Exposition answerably to the Current of Scripture not contrary to it Now it doth seem as if the Apostle in these Words had an Eye to Jeremiah 18. 3 4 c. where he speaks of the Clay in the Potter's Hands not as it was in Creation but in Vocation being marr'd in the Hands of the Potter and so finding it would not be for that use he designed it for made thereof a Vessel as pleaseth him So God sometimes whilst he is at work to fashion a Soul for his own Work by the preaching of the Gospel by the sweet motion of his Spirit by Mercy and long Sufferance yet the Vessel is marr'd the Clav yields not nor is pliable to the Will of God and so finding it will not be a fit Vessel for Honour he makes a Vessel of Dishonour Read the 7 8 9 Verses and compare them with 2 Tim. 2. 20 21. so that it is plain God made of one Lump all Innocent and Upright Gen. 5. ult Eccles 7. ult at the first See what Mr. Loveday saith upon this in his Personal Reprobation Reprobated Page 243 God saith he like a Potter makes of low vile Man honourable Vessels Hath not the Potter any ordinary Potter power over the Clay to make it what Vessel he pleaseth and when a piece thereof runs coarse and is marr'd upon the Wheel hath he not power to make it a less honourable Vessel and hath not God the same and much more power over you that have imbas'd your selves by slighting and abusing all those Mercies he hath designed to bestow upon you and thereby make you honourable To be plain saith the Apostle why may not God for your Disobedience and Rebellion to his Son as zealous as you are for the Law of Moses of a glorious People and invested with all those extraordinary Privileges make you a base and contemptible People and besides your continuing still in Unbelief make your Condition far worse in the World to come Such a Paraphrase as this seems to bear a sweet Harmony with Jeremiah 18. also with the Scope of the whole Context and with the Apostle's conclusive Result Verse 32. that they did not attain to it because they sought it not by Faith but as it were by the Works of the Law So that when Persons do Evil against God and will not obey his Voice but obey Unrighteousness and harden their Hearts against him then he will make them Vessels of Dishonour prepared for Destruction These are they that Jude speaks of Verse 4. that were of old ordained to this Condemnation not simply as they were Men but ungodly Men turning the Grace of God into Wantonness c. By what is or might farther be said we may see that those absolute Decrees of Mers inevitable Damnation is no part of God's revealed Will for if this 9th of the Romans faileth to prove what you bring it for as it is evident it doth then there is not the least shew in the Scripture for it Nay this Opinion of yours seems rather to be taken out of the Turkish Alcoran or Heathen Authors than the Bible for the Holy Scriptures are so far from containing or asserting any such Exercise in God over his Creatures which consists in a most severe and dreadful dooming them from Eternity to endless Misery that on the other hand they frequently exalt him as very gracious loving merciful and bountiful towards all and that there must be a great Breach on the Creatures part in point of Degeneration before the Lord gives him up to ruin Isa 27. 11. yea the Love and Pity of God to his Creature Man exceeds the Affections of a Father to his Son or of the tenderest Mother to her sucking Child Mat. 7. 11. Isa 49. 15. Martha I cannot
apprehends the Mercy of God in Christ c. yet this is not all that Faith doth for it sanctifies Act. 26. 18. and purifies the Heart Act. 15. 9. 't is a Flesh-mortifying and a World-conquering Faith 1 John 5. 4 5. and leads forth the Soul to cleave to the Lord in obedience to his Will Hence is it said that Enoch by Faith walked with God and Abraham by Faith obeyed and went and by Faith offer'd his Son Isaac All Faith that is not such a Faith is but a fancy or a fantastical Faith a Faith of the most wicked and profane that believe they shall be saved tho they never are sanctified and so over-look the Precept of our Lord and Injunction of our Saviour I may say in this case as Peter in another many while they promise to themselves Liberty become the Servants of Sin so many while they advance the Grace of Faith destroy the Power of Godliness not considering that they are two inseparable Companions Persons may as well separate Light from the Sun or Heat from the Fire as true Faith and Holiness but for the present let this pass Have you any thing to say farther to prove that God hath chosen some to Life and rejected others without any respect to Faith or Holiness Philet I might prove it from Cain and Abel Gen. 4. 4 5. where you may see that the Lord had respect to Abel and to his Offering and not to Cain and his Offering and so Heb. 11. 4. Abel offered a more acceptable Sacrifice than Cain Now it is not said that the Lord had respect to Abel's Offering but to Abel and his Offering so that if you ask me why the Lord had respect to Abel's Offering I must answer because he had respect to Abel's Person And why did he respect Abel's Person but because it was his pleasure to chuse him in Christ For had not Abel's Person pleased God his Offering could not and so the contrary of Cain to Cain and his Offering he had no regard Cain being reprobated in his Person his very Sacrifice was abominable in the sight of God and no less than Sin Philad Abel did offer a more acceptable Sacrifice and God had a respect unto it for this Reason because Abel offered with a chearful Heart and willing Mind in Faith to which purpose 't is said that he brought not only of his Sheep but of the fattest and best of them he did not think the best of his Flock too good to serve the Lord with what he did was from an upright Heart and for holy and divine Ends and offer'd in Faith spiritually But Cain's Oblation was of the Fruits of the Ground and as it seemeth without choice or difference and from an impure Heart and wicked Mind or at the best done in Formality so that the Lord accepting Abel was not the Effect of absolute Election but sheweth the sincerity of Abel's heart and the demonstration of his great Faith neither was Cain's Rejection the real effect of an irrespective Reprobation but rather of his outward formality and inward corruption for afterwards the Lord said to Cain If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and Cain amongst the rest Mar. I suppose Philetus if you could but own that rotten Notion of Universal Redemption you might soon agree otherwise there 's no hopes of doing any good with him or drawing to any conclusion in this point Philad Martha Universal Redemption is no rotten or unsound Doctrine for if it be then Christ did not die for all which is to give the Lie to the Holy Ghost seeing the Scriptures in great plainness and expresness of Words assert the Redemption of all by Christ without excepting so much as one For to my knowledg I never yet read in the Scripture that Christ laid down his Life for some few elect Persons only neither do I believe any Scripture can be produced that affirms that Christ died only for the Elect only for Believers or any Text that denieth that he died for all Men without exception if it doth shew me the place Philet Doth not Christ say John 10. 11. I am the good Shepherd the good Shepherd giveth his Life for the Sheep Verse 15. I lay down my Life for the Sheep and so Eph. 5. 25. where Christ is said to love his Church and to give himself for it Doth it not therefore follow that he gave his Life for his Church his Elect only Philad No not at all tho Christ did lay down his Life for his Sheep for such as hear his Voice and follow him and loved his Church so as to give himself for it yet it doth not say that he loved no other nor laid down his Life for none but his Sheep seeing the Scripture saith he bought those that deny him neither did Christ die for any as they were his Sheep as Saints or as his Friends but as his Enemies and Sinners such as were polluted in their Blood and without his gracious Undertaking for them were like to perish Philet But saith the Scripture Christ came not to be ministred unto but to minister c. and to give his Life a Ransom for many Matt. 20. 28. Rom. 5. 15. Heb. 9. 28. Surely he that gave his Life a Ransom for many shed his Blood for many did not die for all Philad What you would have these Scriptures prove I grant you Christ died for many for his Church for his Elect for his Saints and Sheep yet it doth not prove that he died for none else this is contrary to Scripture Reason and Sense for no Scripture saith that he died for none but such and I may as well prove from Gal. 2. 20. that Christ died only for Paul because he saith that Christ loved him and gave his Life for him as you can prove from these Texts that Christ died only for Saints Philet Had Christ died for all he would have prayed for all John 17. 9. You have these Words I pray for them I pray not for the World that is the wicked Reprobates of the World Surely those that Christ never prayed for he never died for but the Non-Elect he never prayed for therefore he never died for them Who can imagine that if Christ had loved the World so as to shed his Blood for them that he would refuse to pray for them yet in ver 19. he saith that he prayed for them that were given him of the Father that had or should receive his word believingly and he said he prayed not for the World which World must be understood of those that were not given him by the Father the Non-Elect he had no desire they should be saved Now those whose Salvation he prayed not for on Earth he interceeds not for in Heaven and those that he interceeds not for he purchased not with his Blood Mar. Our Saviour being now near his
God But he is there speaking of the Tenor of the Gospel the word of Reconciliation which was committed unto him and whereof he was a Minister and tells them That God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself The Quarrel began in Adam Sin was that which set God and Man at variance Isa 49. 1. But now the Lord being minded to take whole Adam into Grace and Favour and to found a Universal Covenant of Peace was pleased to appear in Christ that those that were Strangers and afar off might be made near yea the Sons of God But I 'll give you a Scripture that is far from such Objections 't is 1 John 2. 2. He is a Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World Here you plainly see that Christ is a Propitiation for the whole World as opposed to Believers therefore he must needs die for all Now these words were spoken to strengthen the Faith of those that through the subtilty of Satan and prevailing Temptation were fallen or should fall into Sin and thereby raise doubts in their Spirits whether Christ died for them or was a Propitiation for their Sins or not Now the Apostle to remove all doubts and fears out of their Minds tells them That he did not die for some few particular Men only which might have augmented their fears but was a Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World Now this will greatly add to the Comfort and put new Life into a sorrowful tempted Soul one cast down under the sense of Sin to think that Jesus Christ is a Propitiation for his Sins being the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World But pray tell me what could it add to the comfort of those to whom John wrote his Epistle who were weak in Faith to tell them that Christ was a Propitiation for the Sins of all his Elect ones for some few particular Men but a great many yea the far greatest number shall have no part with Christ but shall be damned Would not such a Doctrine rather augment their Fears than their Comforts Would they not be ready to say Ah then I fear I am none of those that Christ is a Propitiation for Therefore the Apostle puts the matter out of all doubt by telling them that Christ by his Death became a Propitiation or made a full Atonement for the Sins of all Men without excepting so much as one Person in the whole World But that Christ died for all I prove from 1 Tim. 2. 6. Who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time If you look back to the Context of this Verse you will find Paul exhorting his Son Timothy That Prayer and Supplication c. should be made for all Men and telling him That so to do was good and acceptable in the sight of God And to prove that it is good and acceptable in the sight of God to pray for all he lays down this for his ground That God would have all Men to be saved And for a further confirmation that it is the Will of God that all Men without exception should be saved he gives this reason for it that Christ Jesus gave himself a Ransom for all so that Christ's dying for all gives us a ground for Faith to pray for all Men which we could not do if Christ did not die for all 2 Cor. 5. 14. I would have you Philetus to consider 2 Cor. 5. 14. a Text that you cannot well cavil with the Apostle thus argues If one died for all then were all dead but one died for all therefore all were dead The thing that the Apostle is about to prove is that all were dead and the medium to prove it is that one died for all so that if it be clear that all Men were dead by the fall of the first Adam it must be clear that Life was offered to all by the death of the second Adam for if Christ died for none but the Elect then the Elect only were dead for the word all must signify as many in the minor as it doth in the major or else the Apostle's reasoning would be fallacious And so Rom. 11. 32. God hath concluded all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all Now if this last all belongs to none but the Elect then none but the Elect were concluded in unbelief but it is plain that all without exception were first or last concluded in unbelief therefore the Mercy was meant to all without exception Philet But you know very well that this word all men is not of necessity to be taken simply and universally for all without exception of any but is very often taken in a restrained signification when a part is put for the whole as in Exod. 9. 6. and all the Cattel of Egypt died that is all that were in the Field and so 2 Sam. 16. 22. and Isa 2. 2. and Mat. 3. 5. Jerusalem and all Judea and all the Regions c. that is very many Men of those places and so John 10. 8. Act. 2. 5 17. Act. 10. 12. Mat. 4. 23. Luke 11. 42. with many others Philad Tho it be true that the word all Men is not at all times to be taken for all Men simply or universally yet it never signifies the smallest number in comparison with a greater however it cannot be taken here for some of all sorts of Men or for the Elect only or the like but of necessity for all Men universally If we take it in any other sense we make the Apostle to argue very weakly for mind here is first a Duty enjoyn'd I will that prayers c. and to stir us up to so good a work he tells us that 't is good and acceptable in the sight of God because his Will is that all should be saved God is so kind so tender-hearted that out of his love and pity he would have all Men injoy a happy and blessed end and therefore in Charity we must pray for all no Men tho never so wicked and profane are to be excluded from our Prayers unless we know them to be such as have committed that unpardonable Sin against the Holy Ghost 1 John 5. 16. Now if by all Men we must needs understand some of all sorts of Men or the Elect only then the all we are to pray for reacheth and extendeth not so far as God extendeth his Love Again if we must take it in your sense then we may read the Apostle thus 'T is good and acceptable in the sight of God that we should pray for all Men without exception of any because God would have all his Elect to be saved surely the word all in both places is of the same extent Much of the same nature is 2 Pet. 3. 9. wherein the gracious and good Will of God toward all Men appeareth there it is said the Lord is not willing that any should perish here the
are sanctified an unholy thing and make all the Precepts of the Gospel uncertain whether they be the Will of God or not or whether Christ when he prayed to his Father for his People or for Sinners prayed as a Mediator or as Man only yea give footing to that Opinion which begins to evidence it self too much in many even denying the personal Union of God and Man in Jesus Christ in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily Col. 2. 9. which did influence and give a value and worth to all things done for us by the Manhood and therefore his Righteousness and his Blood was called the Righteousness and Blood of God Acts 20. 28. 1 John 3. 16. Rom. 10. 3. Christ as he was God-Man and our Mediator what he did upon this account in the Flesh he did in the Spirit also Now in this place where Christ bewailed Jerusalem's state with tears either they flowed from true inward compassion or they did not if the first then Christ in the Flesh and in the Spirit willed one and the same thing and had no distinct Will for Jerusalem's Salvation as Man different from his Will as God but if the second then his tears were only feigned and his bewailing nothing but dissimulation which is a capital Sin to affirm And tho the Lord was resolved to bring Jerusalem to desolation by delivering them into the hands of their Enemies yet as you say and say truly it was an effect of their Sins the neglect of the Day of their Visitation mocking his Messengers and stoning them that were sent to her to have drawn her from the evil of her ways and for crucifying the Lord of Life thereby filling up the measure of her Iniquity So tho the Lord brought her to desolation yet Punishment is rather his refuge than his choice and his defence against Sin than the hurt of his Creatures and the Sinner with his own hands most cruelly pulleth down punishment upon his own head for the evil of Sin and the evil of Suffering are Twins or rather Sin gives birth and being to the other God never inflicted the least punishment on any merely as Men but as workers of Evil as continuing sinful and disobedient So that it was Jerusalem's actual Sins and her refusing to be healed that brought her to ruin and not any irresistible Decree of the Almighty for you may as well deny the Being of a God as entertain a belief that he takes pleasure in the death and destruction of his Creatures His Nature is perfect Goodness and he is a stranger to Cruelty and all the expressions of Love and Good-will in Christ to poor Sinners are such that they neither admit nor are consistent with fraud or falshood so that yet you have not told me where the Attribute of God merely takes place upon those that God is resolved against all means possible to be used to punish by his Decree as you use to say But before I leave this let me ask you one Question more which is this Ought not or do not all Men stand ingaged to love God Philet To love God yea who should they love if they do not love God Philad Ay but I ask you for what Reason Mar. There may be many Reasons given the receiving the good things of this Life may engage all Men to love God Philad Yea but you will not own that God gives the good things of this Life with any good intention to the greatest number but rather gives them to them to heighten their misery doth God intend any good to the Souls of such by what he gives Mar. No yet are they to be accountable for the abuse of them Philad But you hold that God did decree they should abuse them accordingly and for that end were they given to them that so the abuse of them might heighten their misery this is but like the Proverb Give a Man Roastmeat and beat him with the Spit Can any Man become grateful or be tied in the Bonds of Love and Gratitude to such a Man that should feast him for a while yet after condemn him to Death and Destruction Philet The Apostle saith 1 John 4. 19. We love him because he first loved us but this is meant of the Elect only Philad Why should you go about to confine the Lor'd Mercy which is altogether Infinite and as incomprehensible as his Divine Essence why should you thus contract the Divine Goodness whose Mercies are not only exalted above our Conceptions but also above and over all his Works Therefore do not presume to measure the Lord 's Mercys by your narrow conceit nor labour to make it run into a lesser Channel than the Lord intended But God's great Love to all Men in giving his Son to die for them is the ground and cause of their Love to God again True love must first spring from the knowledg of God's Love to them neither can I think that any Men in the World will ever heartily and cordially love God unless they believe that God Almighty had designs of Love to them yea so far loved them as to send his Son to die for them otherwise instead of loving and living to God it would tend to a most horrid and desperate alienation of the Hearts of poor Creatures from their dear and ever-blessed Creator For how is it possible that the poor Creature should devest himself of those Delights and Pleasures of this Life and intirely love and delight himself in God and his blessed Will if he knew or had strong grounds of fear that before he made him or without respect to his Sins or unworthy carriage in the least he so far hated him as to resolve against all Mediation whatsoever to cast him out of his sight and to doom him to suffer the Vengeance of Eternal Fire You may preach up God's Sovereignty pronounce Justice and Judgment as some have done till they have brought Despair and Hell into the Souls of many and beget more Fear than Love make God feared as a Tyrant but 't is the making known Christ's meek Condescension Long-suffering and the superexcellent Amiableness of free Love and tender Mercy that soonest and most effectually works in us Repentance of our Sins and inclines us to love him that first loved us Wither's Paraphrase upon the Lord's Prayer Who is able to perswade Men by Arguments or move them by Threatnings to love God whose love to them in particular is doubtful Do you think it can or ever will be a motive for Persons to love God to tell them That before all Worlds or before they were born or there were any possibility of offending him in any manner it was decreed that the greatest number of Adam's Off-spring should be eternally reprobated and damned And tho he had provided means whereby Man might have been saved and that the worth and value was so great that it was sufficient for the Redemption of thousands of Worlds yet then it was
Men may be saved if they will which is so gross an Error that they must be very blind that cannot see it for if it was so Men might have Heaven for willing and none would go to Hell but it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth Mercy Rom. 9. 16. Philad That 's true if Men might have Heaven for wishing or willing few would be so fool-hardy as to go to Hell Who would but with Balaam die the Death of the Righteous Who would but have all Tears wiped away from their Eyes and live in Bliss and Glory if God would save Persons for their good Wishes and Desires and give them Heaven tho they never minded it all their days so as to please God they deserve to go to Hell that would not have Heaven upon this account that think Heaven not worth a Wish And as to your Scriptures the Apostle sheweth that the Jews had a Will to be saved and the reason why they fell short of Justification was not for want of willing or running but for not willing and running in a right way they sought it not by Faith but by the Works of the Law They being ignorant of God's Righteousness and going about to establish their own Rom. 10. 3. so mist of Justification But surely this is not that Free-will you so much cry out of for where can you find such Free-willers that hold Heaven may be had for wishing for Philet But however you hold that you have naturally such a power and freedom of Will that when you would do good you can Philad 'T is a mistake we do not say we have it from Nature but from Grace for as we are in our depraved Nature we can neither do nor will ought that is acceptable and good but as in Grace we may for then to will is present with us yea and ever since the Promise was made that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head the Lord doth first or last enlighten every Man that cometh into the World vouchsasing such renewing of his Will and such a perpetual co-assistance to perform what shall be accepted if persons do not wilfully maliciously and finally resist his Grace so that none of our Sins can justly be charged upon any deficiency in him Our blessed Saviour tells them the Word was near them and in them and that he was the Light that enlightens every Man Yet if by Free-will you mean a single Power in the Creature to convert it self I know none this day in England that hold such an Opinion however I utterly renounce such an Opinion as vile it being to ascribe too much to humane Nature It must needs be a pernicious Principle for any to believe that a Man by the sole power of regulating of his own Will and Reason can obtain Eternal Salvation this would make the suffering of Christ altogether fruitless and I believe also that none hath any will or power of himself without God to do any thing that 's good or to attain to a supernatural End but by the Assistance of Divine Grace and therefore there is an absolute necessity of seeking and imploring the saving supernatural aid and help of the Spirit of that God from whom all our Abilities are derived to us And as to what you say we hold that when we would do good we can I say that through the Grace of God we may avoid many more Sins than we daily do avoid and do more good than we do tell me are any of us laid under a necessity of sinning cannot we forbear many Sins which we daily run into and do we really do what God by his Grace hath impowred us to do in our Duty to God and Man and in avoiding Sin If you say we can do no otherwise then is all your preaching vain yea ridiculous for if an irresistible Cause overpower us that we can do no otherwise no Man that is truly master of his own Reason will ever spend his time and strength to exhort any to repent of doing that which they could not but do or omitting of that which was never in their power to effect If you say that by the Grace of God we may do the one or the other you own Free-will as much as I. For this is the Free-will if we may call it so that I hold viz. That God Almighty hath of his Free Love and Grace imparted a measure of himself or endowed Mankind with those Abilities to perform whatsoever he requires of them and injoins them to God never gives a Command but he gives a Power or else their Disobedience shall not be their Condemnation if this be a vile Opinion then I confess I am vile for if God requires us to believe and yet administers not sufficient Grace and Strength to believe all our endeavours are vain and fruitless Men cannot make Brick till Srraw be given them for the Lord to prescribe Dutys to us and annex Penaltys upon the non-performance of them as to punish with Eternal Death all those that are disobedient to his Will and yet to deny his Grace and Assistance without which it is impossible to keep them this is to represent the Lord as I once said before too much like cruel Pharaoh that made the Lives of his People bitter to them by laying heavy Burdens in requiring the tale of Brick and yet denying Straw the fit Materials or as the evil Servant in the Parable stiled him a hard Master reaping where he hath not sowed Philet I tell you we are altogether passive in the Work of Conversion we are like Saws or Axes that cannot move any otherwise than the Hand guides or forces them Philad Your comparing Persons to Saws and Axes being altogether passive in comparison is a thing I do not understand for we are not Saws or Axes without Sense or Reason but by God's free Gift and his free Grace we have received Liberty and Ability to accept of his Love and to accept of his Mercy when tendred to us and to perform those things which God requires of us in order to our Salvation yea through the Lord 's assisting Grace which is never wanting to any but those that are wanting to themselves we have received such a Power as to inable us to perform the Will of God when the choice of Good and Evil is set before us Deut. 30. 19. Mar. No more than the Stones in the street Philad Why then Man can have no more Sin nor Righteousness in him than a Stone if Man in the Work of Conversion be like a Stock or Stone merely passive doing nothing then in Conversion Persons neither hear nor repent nor turn from Sin to the Lord nor believe in Christ and how any are truly regenerated without those I know not and if these are to be done in Conversion pray who is active in this Work if the Party regenerated be not And if by God's Free Grace Man