new like as a man regenerate is called a new man though as he hath the same members of his body nor more nor lesse so he hath still the same faculties and passions of the soule no more nor no lesse but these faculties are better seasoned these passions are better ordered and in like sort these members of the body are better employed then they were before before they were made weapons of unrighteousnesse unto sinne now they are made weapons of righteousnesse unto God Rom. 6. 13. Thirdly let us enquire whether by this pretended enlivening of the will common to all men there are any new habits engendred For that is the most probable And so we commonly say that in regeneration besides the receiving of the spirit of God to dwell in our hearts which is a great mistery there are certaine habits whereby our naturall powers are elevated unto supernaturall objects and thereby fitted to performe supernaturall acts and these are but three and accordingly but three sorts of supernatuall acts and commonly accounted the three Theologicall vertues Faith Hope and Charity And all morall vertues which for the substance of them in reference to their acts whereby they are acquired and which they doe bring forth are found in naturall men doe become Christian graces as they are sanctified by these three and as their actions doe proceed from these By faith we apprehend things beyond the compasse of reason by hope we wait for the enjoying of such things which neither eye hath seen c. And by charity we love God whom yet we have not seene even to the contempt of our selves Now I presume they will not say that these habits of Faith Hope and Charity are bestowed upon all and every one by that fained universall grace of theirs And what other habits they doe or can devise I have had as yet no experience neither am I able to comprehend And indeed faith doth not leave a man in indifferency to believe or no nor hope to wait or no nor charity to love God or no but they doe all dispose the heart of man to believe only to wait upon God only to love God only they being the curing of infidelity and despaire hatred of God or rather the removing of them yet but in part as regeneration in this life is but in part there being still a flesh in us lusting against the spirit Gal. 5. 17. Thus we may maintaine that albeit every man hath power to believe if he will and repent if he will a will to believe and a will to repent being the greatest worke in the work of grace I meane the renovation of the will and making it willing to that which is good though it requires strength also to master the lusting of the flesh whereby it growes simply and absolutely potent to doe every good thing without any effectuall impediment from within yet neverthelesse till this renovation be wrought by the hand of God we may well say there is an utter impotency morall to doe any thing that is good and pleasing in the sight of God whereby they cannot believe they cannot repent they cannot be subject to the law of God And if to Preach this doctrine be to breed sloth to drowne men in carnall security and to countenance carnall liberty then our Saviour did breed sloth c. when he told his hearers plainly He that is of God heareth Gods words ye therefore heare them not because ye are not of God Ioh. 8. 47. As likewise when he Preached unto them in this maner No man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him Ioh. 6. 44. And the Evangelist also in saying He hath blinded their eyes and hardned their hearts that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts and should be converted and I should heale them Ioh. 12. 40. And none more then Moses when he tells the people of Israel in the Wildernesse saying Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants and to all his land The great temptations which thine eyes have seen those great miracles and wonders yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive and eyes to see and eares to heare unto this day Yet this Author confesseth that our Saviours hearers and Moses his hearers many of them might be Godly men but no thankes to this doctrine of theirs that they were so the true and naturall genius whereof to wit of Christs doctrine and Moses his doctrine for it is apparent that it is the same with ours in this particular we now speake of is to breed sloth to drowne men in carnall security and to countenance carnall liberty but to some thing else either to Gods providence who will not suffer this Doctrine for his own glory and the good of men to have any great stroake in their lives or to mens incogitancy who think not of reducing it ad praxim or drawing conclusions out of it but rest in the naked speculation of it as they doe of many others or lastly to some good practicall conclusions which they meet with in Gods word and apply to their lives as they doe not the former deductions such as these are Be ye holy as I am holy without holinesse no man shall see God Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici Yet I pray restraine that and give your sorrow course rather in beholding such prophane aspersions cast upon the holy Doctrine of Christ his Prophets and Apostles as if thereby sloth were bred and men drowned in carnall security and carnall liberty countenanced We are of another mind for Wisedome is justified of her Children we observe the wisedome of God herein to prevent the greatest illusions of Satan and such Doctrines as stand in most opposition unto grace The morality of Heathen men was admirable yet were it farre greater we conceive no greater opposition unto grace then to look for justification by it In the next place we conceive there is no greater opposition unto grace then for a man to arrogate unto himselfe ability to doe that which is pleasing in the sight of God Our Saviour hath said Iohn 15. 4. that As the branch cannot beare fruit of it selfe except it abide in the Vine so neither can wee except we abide in him So that either all the World must be engrafted into Christ or else it is not possible they should bring forth sweet grapes Yet these men will have all and every one to have their wills enlivened and enabled to will any spirituall good whereby they shall be excited Is this doctrine of theirs fit to humble them and not rather to puffe them up with a conceit of their own sufficiency Is not our doctrine farre more fit to humble us and to what other end tendeth that of Moses The Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive eyes to see and eares to heare unto this
ministery is a mere imposture because all the inforcements wherewith the tender of salvation unto Reprobates is accompanied is in shew most hearty serious but indued nothing so For what have the elect of God no part in the ministery Or dates he say that by our doctrin these insorcements are nothing hearty serious to them Thou wilt say the Authour's meaning is that the whole ministery is a mere imposture towards reprobates but he saith not so but thus The whole ministery is a mere imposture and afterwards in giving his reason for it he pleads that inforcements in shew hearty serious made to reprobates are nothing so hence he concludes that the whole ministery is a mere imposture without any distinctiō of persons to whom it is a mere imposture 4. Yet I willingly confesse that it is foul enough that God's courses should be courses of imposture towards any even towards reprobates But how doth he prove that God takes any such course with reprobates To whom hath God sent his word vouchsafed the ministery hereof according to all the enforcements mētioned accompanying his tender of salvation unto them is it not unto his Church What is the preserment of the Jew above the Gentile much every way saith Paul chiefly because unto thē were committed the Oracles of God And was the Church of Jewes a Church of reprobates Were they not the City of God but the city of the Devill If these enforcements had been used to the Nativites there had been some colour for such an imputation but seing 〈…〉 of God's word in all these enforcements is used to the people of God his pretious people chosen out of the world to put his name among'st them shall this ministery be so carryed as concerning reprobates All that he hath to say for this is no other but that a great part or the most part of the people to whom he sends his prophets are reprobates Be it so but how doth he prove that God intends this ministery for the salvation of reprobates or that he intends it at all for them If God commands them as he commanded Ieremiah saying Goe cry in the eares of Jerusalem Thus saith the Lord they must doe so without difference For they are not able to put a difference between the Elect and Reprobate to know who are the one and who are the other Austin was willing to pray for all but yet he professeth that if they knew who they were whō God had ordained unto damnation they would pray no more for them then for the Devill himself so that either the Prophets were not of Austin's mind or else that they thought that their ministery in God's purpose and appointment tended to the salvatiō only of Gods elect But because they knew not who they are therefore they prayed for all and used their ministeriall enforcements indifferently towards all But like enough this Authour will deny that the Prophets were of Austin's mind Therefore I will prove they were in this The Prophets were undoubtedly of St. Paul's mind but St. Paul was of St. Austin's mind in this therefore the Prophets also were of St. Austin's mind Now that St. Paul was of St. Austin's mind and that his ministery though performed towards all yet was intended for the salvation only of God's elect I prove thus Though I be free from all men yet have I made my selfe a servant unto all men that I might winne the more Observe he doth not say that he might winne all Againe I became all things to all men that I might save some Who are these some at whose salvation he aimes I answer they are God's elect and none but they and this I prove out of those words of his where he saith Therefore I suffer all things for the elects sake that they might also obtaine salvation which is in Christ Iesus with eternall glory Now if his sufferings were for their sakes undoubtedly his whole ministery was for their sakes for this alone brought his sufferings upon him The holy Ghost witnesseth in every City saying that bonds and afflictions abide me But I passe not at all neither is my life deare unto my selfe so that I may fulfill my course with joy and the ministration that I have received to testifie the Gospell of the grace of God 5. But be it that God intends it for Reprobates also yet not for their salvation But first to take away excuse from them as to this purpose he sent Ezechiel Son of man I send thee to a rebellious nation For they are impudent children I doe send thee unto them and thou shalt say unto them Thus saith the Lord God but surely they will not heare neither indeed will they cease for they are a rebellious house yet shall they know that there hath been a Prophet among them Or otherwise as Austin hath observed ut proficiant ad exteriorem vitae emendationem quo mitius puniantur that they may profit to an outward amendment of their lives that their punishment may be the lesse And consider whether in all this he doth not openly invade not so muchour doctrine as the manifest evidence of God's word For it is apparent that God gives commands to those whose hearts he means to harden that they shall not obey those commands though those commands were not made in a cold manner but with strongest enforcements Thou shalt say to Praraoh thus saith the Lord Israel is my son even my first borne wherefore I say to thee let my son goe that he may serve me If thou refuse to let him goe behold I will slay thy son even thy first borne Yet before this he told Moses saying I will harden his heart and he shall not let the people goe And after this The Lord hardned the heart of Pharaoh and he hearkned not unto them as the Lord had said to Moses And hereupon the Lord deales with him in the way of greater enforcement then before For the Lord said unto Moses Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and tell him Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews let my people goe that they may serve me For I will at this time send all mine plagues upon thine heart and upon thy servants and upon thy people that thou maiest know that there is none like me in all the earth For now will I stretch out mine hand that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence and thou shalt perish from the earth And indeed for this cause have I appointed thee to shew my power in thee to declare my name thoroughout all the world Yet thou exaltest thy selfe against my people and lettest thē not goe Behold tomorrow this time I will cause to raine a mighty great hayle such as was not in Egypt since the foundation of it was laid And The lord said unto Moses Goe to Pharach for I have hardned his heart and
to Preach unto all without difference yet so as aiming at the salvation of the elect I doe all things for all men saith Saint Paul 1 Cor. 6. 22. That I may save some and who are they Let himselfe answere where he saith I suffer all things for the elects sake and by the way where he distinguisheth of Gods willing outwardly and inwardly I willingly professe I never read nor heard of it before Gods words and commandements are outward and uttered by him but his will is alwaies inward though it may be and is signified by his words and so is his will signified alwaies by his commandements But what will Not that such a thing as God commands shall be done as this Author ignorantly conceives but that it shall be their duty to whom the commandement is given to doe that which is commanded for if Gods will were that such a thing should be done de facto undoubtedly it should be done and come to passe de facto for who hath resisted his will So that here we have a true interpretation of the mind of God by his commandement to wit quid ab homine fieri debeat but no interpretation of any such mind in God as if fieri vellet whatsoever he commands For the case is cleare and undeniable that Gods will was that Isaack should not be sacrificed as well as by his command to make it Abrahams duty to sacrifice him The like was the case of Pharaoh to whom the Lord sent a message by Moses to let Israell goe hereupon it was Pharaohs duty to let Israell goe and that upon Gods command God thereby signifying his will to make this act Pharaohs duty But was it Gods will also that Pharaoh should de facto obey and let Israell goe upon this command If so why doth God tell Moses that he will harden Pharaohs heart and that he shall not let Israell goe Where we have a manifest example of the great difference of the objects of Gods will the one what Gods will was that Pharaoh ought to doe and the other what his will was should be done by him the letting of Israell goe was that which Pharaoh ought to doe by the will of God but the not letting of Israell goe by Pharaoh was that which God willed should come to passe And why doth not this Author take boldnesse to censure these proceedings of the Lord with Pharaoh as hypocriticall proceedings The same spirit will serve the turne for both though not without betraying as much judgement as honesty In the like sort it might be urged of the very elect as of the reprobate for the very elect are not alwaies converted at the first hearing of the Gospell nor till the time God hath appoynted for their effectuall vocation yet from their first hearing of the Gospell this command is made unto them and thereby is signified Gods will that they ought to believe it yet is it not Gods will that they shall believe and be converted untill the time that God hath appoynted That which in my judgement is more to the purpose is this that by commanding to believe he supposeth them at least in pretence to be indued with a power to believe but then say I in like manner he supposeth them to be indifferent to believe or not to believe as they will that is either to yeeld or else to resist now this is indifferent to be objected as well against election as against reprobation For like as wee say it cannot be that the reprobate should believe de facto so wee say it cannot be that the elect should not beliefe at that time de facto which God hath appoynted for their effectuall conversion And what advantage this Author can hence worke to himselfe I will be ready to take into consideration as soone as it is offered So that hitherto I hope I have freed the divine course maintained by us from all just imputation of imposture and dissimulation let him looke to it how he can cleare his conscience from the impiety of his crimination I come to the Second 2. Here those offers of grace and glory which wee ascribe to God he chargeth with imposture and simulation But he contents himselfe with the generality of grace that is for his best advantage I will answere to each part As for glory or salvation wee offer it unto none neither doe we teach that God makes offer of it unto any but to such as finally persevere in faith and repentance according to that Revelations 3. To him that overcometh I will give to sit with mee in my throne even as I also overcame and am set downe with my Father in his Throne And be thou faithfull unto the death and I will give thee a Crowne of life And Gal. 6. Be not weary of well doing for in good time ye shall reape if ye faint not And accordingly we teach that it is the will of God that as many as believe repent and persevere therein shall be saved no other will of God is signified herein And if this be true that God doth will this and no other thing then this is signified in his offers of glory and salvation What colour of imposture and dissimulation doth appeare in all this For glory and salvation God doth not will that it shall be the portion of any one of ripe yeares absolutely but conditionally to wit if he repent and believe And in case all and every one of the World should believe and repent all and every one how notorious sinners soever they be found shall be saved such is the sufficiency of Christs merits I say this is true not of them only who are invited to the Wedding Math. 22. Nor of them only to whom Saint Peter speaketh Acts 3. 26. Or to them only of whom our Saviour speaketh Math. 23. 37. But of all and every one throughout the World and it is as true that none of them shall be saved if they dye in infidelity and impenitency this God himselfe signifyeth to be his will by his promise Acts 2. 28 29. on the one part and on both parts Mark 16. 16. And as God signifieth this to be his will so indeed is his will according to our doctrine and there is no colour of imposture or simulation in all this In like sort as touching the grace of pardon of sinne this also God offers unto all that heare the Gospell but how Not absolutely but conditionally in case they believe and repent and it is Gods will that every one who believeth shall have his sinne pardoned none that I know either thinketh or teacheth otherwise whether he falleth out either to be elect or reprobate though how to distinguish men according unto this difference I know not I leave that unto God And accordingly as touching the desire and hopes that hereupon arise in the thoughts of Reprobates I am nothing acquainted with them any more than I am with their persons as likewise neither
which he will and proper in the thing whereto he sends it And remove all vaine grounds of apprehensions of terrible things against themselves What if a great many be reprobated from grace and shall never have any part in Christ it doth not follow that this afflicted soule is any of them what one is there of the children of God which was not sometimes dead in sinne and if pangs of childbirth goe before the delivering of a child into the world of nature why should it seeme strange that pangs of childbirth are suffered before a man be brought forth in to the world of grace And these feares and terrours wherwith this poore soule is perplexed may be unto her as pangs of childbirth to bring her forth into a new world We say that by Gods Word we are to conceive that ye are elected upon our faith and repentance Thus Paul concluded the election of the Thessalonians 1 Thess 1. 3 4. And 2 Thess 2. 13. Thus Melancthon would have us seeke it but by the Arminian doctrine it is in vaine to seeke after it for as much as none can find it We acknowledge that as our Saviour saith Few are chosen therefore we admonish every one to strive to enter in at the straight gate This was our Saviours exhortation delivered by way of answer to a question made unto him by his Apostles Whether there were but few that should be saved We teach that Christ hath died for the people of God for the elect of God for his Church for his body not only to make satisfaction for sinne and to procure salvation for them in case they believe but to procure also the Holy Spirit for them to make them believe and repent c. And this is wrought by the word which is the sword of the spirit We take not the course he obtrudes upon us We make no such distinctions for the consolation of the afflicted as he faignes We deale plainly and spare not to professe that albeit salvation is open to all that believe and that by the ordinance of God yet that no man is able of himselfe to believe or repent for as much as the Scripture testifies that all are dead in sinne in the state of nature and led captive by the Divell to doe his will and that the very Law of God doth strengthen sinne such being the course of mans corruption that the more he is forbidden this or that the more it provokes him to transgresse taking occasion by the law to work in mans heart all manner of concupiscence this is our course to beat downe the pride of man and beat out of him all conceit of ability to doe any good as of himselfe and so to cast him downe at the feet of Gods mercy Yet God is able by his grace to quicken him and being brought up in the Church of God wherein is the balme of Gilead able to heale our waies be they never so sinfull and that that is administred not according to the vile workes of men as if they had any power to prepare them for the participation of Gods grace but of the meere favour and good pleasure of God Who calleth as the Apostle speakes 2 Tim. 1. 9. with an holy calling not according to our own workes but according to his own purpose and grace And that for the merits of Christ who hath merited not only pardon of sinne and salvation for all that believe but faith also and regeneration for all his elect and being as we are members of Gods Church we have no cause to despaire but sooner or later God may call us as continually he doth some or other and we know not how soone our turne may come And as for Gods purpose touching the performance of the condition of faith we plainly professe That God purposed to give faith and repentance only to his elect according to that Act. 13. 48. As many believed as were ordained to everlasting life And Acts 2. last God added daily to his Church such as should be saved Now heare I pray their doctrine on the other side which set out our manner of consolation devised most ridiculously at their own pleasure so to expose our doctrine to scorne Doth God purpose to bestow faith and repentance upon any other besides his elect This they must avouch if they contradict us and that he purposeth to bestow it on all and every one but how Not absolutely on any that is not according to the meere pleasure of his will how then Surely conditionally to wit according to mens workes that so not Semi-Pelagianisme only but plain Pelagianisme may be commended unto Gods Church for true Christianisme And what is that worke in man whereupon God workes faith or repentance in them Surely the will to believe the will to repent So that if all men will believe will repent then in good time through Gods grace they shall believe they shall repent and if this be not to crowne Gods grace with a crowne of scornes as Christ himselfe was crowned with a Crowne of Thornes I willingly professe I know not what it is We utterly deny that God hath two wills one contrary to the other We acknowledge that in Scripture phrase Gods commandement is called his will as This is the will of God even your sanctification 1 Thess 4. 3. But this is not that will of God which the Apostle speakes of when he saith Who hath resisted his will Rom. 9. 19 For his will of commandement is resisted too oft But the will he speaketh off there is the will of Gods purpose and decree whereof the Psalmist speakes saying Whatsoever the Lord will that hath he done both in Heaven and earth Now suppose God command Abraham to sacrifice his sonne Isaack and yet decrees that Isaack shall not be sacrificed both which are as true as the word of God is true yet there is no contradiction For as much as his commandement signifies only Gods will what shall be Abrahams duty to doe not what shall be done by Abraham On the other side Gods decree signifies what shall not be done by Abraham Now what contradiction I pray is there betweene these It is Gods will that it shall be Abrahams duty to sacrifice Isaack but it is not Gods will that Isaack shall be sacrificed by Abraham for as much as when Abraham comes to the poynt of sacrificing Isaack the Lord purposeth to hold his hand In like manner God commanded Pharaoh to let Israell goe It was his will then that it should be Pharaohs duty to let Israel goe but withall he toâ—d Moses that he would harden Pharaohs heart that he should not let Israel goe whereby it is man iâ— est that God decreed that Israel should not be dismissed by Pharaoh for a while and that as is signified in the Text to make way for his judgements to be brought upon the land of Egypt whereby God meant to glorify himselfe as in the sight of Pharaoh and of his
for the preservation of the integrity of her mind in the opinion of the world and that they might know that she consented not unto Tarquinius but was forced by him So then the act is it they doe or choose to doe for some motive or other which whether it be pleasure or profit or credit they get thereby that makes not the act sinfull but only that it is against some law or other forbidding it And this act all sides confesse is the worke of God as well as the worke of man as in whom we move like as in him we live and have our being And Bradwardine maintaines that of every act of the creature God is a more immediate cause then the creature it selfe whoâ—e act it is This he proves of the creatures conservation of the creatures action of the creatures motioÌ„ to this he proceeds by certaine degrees And in all this God doth not transgresse any law as man doth too often in the performing of many a naturall act and only in performing acts naturall is sinne committed never in performing any act supernaturall all such acts are in a peculiar manner the work of grace 2. God overruleth no man's good projects or purposes otherwise then as when accepting their intentions he will not have them put such in execution because perhaps he hath reserved that for another time person As when David was purposed to build God an house was encouraged therein by Nathan yet the Lord sent Nathan shortly unto David to give him to understand that he reserved that work for Solomon his Son yet so well accepting David's purpose that he promised to build his house But if God at any time overruleth the wicked projects and purposes of men whether good or evill let us blesse him rather for this then curse him by cursing them that maintaine this good providence Yet in overruling them whether he doth it immediately or by the ministry of his good Angells not by working immediately upon the will as this Authour dreameth For that is not the way to worke agreably to the reasonable nature of man though so he worke also by generall influence affoarded coÌ„mon to all agents but by representing to the understanding congruous motives to divert them from that they doe intend whether in a gracious manner as he diverted David from his purpose to massacre the whole house of Nabal or only in a naturall way whereby he diverts wicked men from their ungodly designes by representing the danger thereof to make them feare so to restraine them Will the Devill himselfe be over prone to blaspheme God for this yet in this alone he doth more then either the Devill or man can doe though this be not all that he doth For he doth cooperate to every designe and execution of the creature be it never so abominable which neither man nor Angells can doe And he hath power to give over unto Satan and to harden any man and that more effectully then any Devill can doe The Devill could not say with truth that He would harden Pharaoh's heart that he should not let Israel goe Nor when he had let them goe I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he shall follow after them to bring them back The Devill could not say in truth as the Lord did to David I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them to thy neighbour and he shall lye with thy wives in the sight of the sunne Nor as he said to Ieroboam Behold I will rent the kingdome out of the hands of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee Nay the very permissioÌ„ of sin so as whereby it shall infallibly come to passe is not in the power of any creature but in God alone And shall it follow that because God doth more both as touching the act it selfe and touching the sinfull condition of it then any creature can doe therefore God is the Authour of sinne whereas when God moves a man or carrieth him on to any good morall workes whether in doing that which is vertuous or abstaining from that which is vitious this man shall certainely sinne though not in so great a degree unlesse God be pleased over and above to regenerate him and to bestow faith and love on him for as much as in this case though he doe an act vertuous yet shall he not doe it in a gracious maÌ„ner though he doe abstaine froÌ„ an act vitious yet he shall not abstaine froÌ„ it in a gracious manner Let this man therefore proceed maintaine if he thinks good that except God doth bestow the spirit of regeneration upon all and every one throughout the world he is the Authour of sinne not only when he moves them to such acts which are evill but also when he moves them to the doing of such as are vertuous or to the abstaining from those that are vitious As for his phrases noe wise man will regard them but only such as are content to feed on huskes for want of better food As when he talkes of motion uncontroulable which makes a noise as if men's wills would controule his motion but cannot whereas God as the first mover moves the creature most congruously unto his nature without which motion of his the creature could not move at all The like noyses makes the phrase immutable decree as empty things many times give the greatest sound whereas by vertue of God's immutable decree it is that it cannot otherwise be then that as necessary things cannot but come to passe necessarily so contingent things cannot but come to passe contingently and the free actions of men freely But by the way he manifest's how he licks his lips at a Mutable decree of God even of that God with whom as St. Iames speaketh there is no variablenesse nor shadow of change He doth acknowledge we maintaine potentiam in se liberam but then he saith we doe not maintaine liberum usum a most absurd distinction For noe power deserves to be stiled free save that it is of free use and exercise And what a prodigious thing is it to affirme that it is not within the almighty power of God to cause that this or that shall be done by a reasonable creature freely this is it that Bradwardine proposeth to the judgment of all to consider whether it be not an unreasonable thing to deny this unto God God doth determine their will before it hath determined it selfe and maketh them doe those only actions which his omnipotent will hath determined and not which their wills out of any absolute dominion over their own actions have prescribed Thus he relates the opinion of our Divines whereas neither determining nor necessitating as I said before are the expressions of our Divines but of Papists yet he laies not this to the charge of Papist's Noe nor to the charge of Bellarmine for saying that God doth not only rule and governe but wrest and bend them and that to one evill
God willing it he denies not any more then Beza doth that it comes to passe by God's permission of it But Calvin rests not in a bare permissions and no marvaile For the Scripture saith not that God permitted Pharaoh to refuse to let Israel goe but plainly and energetically thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he shall not let Israel goe I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he shall follow after them I will rent the Kingdome from Solomon not I will permit it to be rented and so throughout Bellarmine himselfe contents not himselfe with a bare permission but farther saith God doth rule and governe the wills of wicked men yea torquet flectit he wrests and bends them And Austin often saith he enclines them unto evill And whereas it is farther added out of Calvin that a man is blind volente jubente Deo God willing and commanding it Is it not expresse Scripture Es 6. 10. Make the heart of this people fat make their eares heavy and shut their eyes So that Calvin doth but accomodate himselfe to Scripture phrase But when we come to the explication of this either in Christian reason or by comparing one place of Scripture with an other we say that to Make their hearts fat their eares heavy and to shut their eys And to give them the Spirit of slumber eyes that they should not see and eares that they should not heare Is no more then not to give them hearts to perceive nor eyes to see nor eares to heare Yet where Calvin saith this I cannot find the quotation here is so disturbed but I guesse the Authour would referre us to lib. 1. Institut cap. 18. prima secunda Sect But I find no such thing there but speaking of God's providence in blinding Ahab thus he writes Vult Deus perfidum Ahab decipi God will have perfidious Ahab to be deceived This is plaine out of the 1 Kings 22. 20. Who shall entise Ahab that he may goe and fall at Ramoth Gilead operam suam offert Diabolus ad eam rem The Divell offers his service for this saith Calvin And doth not the Scripture expresly testifie as much There came forth a Spirit and stood before the Lord and said I will entise him And the Lord said unto him wherewith And he said I will goe out and be a false Spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets Calvin goes on Mittitur cum certo mandato ut sit Spiritus mendax in ore omnium Prophetarum God sends him with a certaine command to become a lying Spirit in the mouth of all Ahab's Prophets This also the Scripture testifies as expresly as the former Then the Lord said thou shalt entise him and prevaile also Goe forth and doe so Now let the indifferent judge whether this Authour might not as well calumniate the Holy Ghost the Inditer of this Scripture as Calvin who proceeds but according unto Scripture in that which he delivers Now let every sober man judge whether hereby it doth not manifestly appeare Excoecari Achabum that Ahab was blinded by the Devill Deo volente ac jubente the Lord willing and commanding it but this taken apart from the instance in reference whereunto it is delivered a man might suspect his meaning were that God commands a man to shut his own eyes blind himselfe And judge I pray whether to say that this whole providence of God concerning Ahab was no more then permission deserves not to be called figmentum a fiction as indeed Calvin calleth it To this he addes the joynt profession of the Apostles touching God's providence in crucifying of Christ in Absalom's incest the Chaldees bloudy execution in the land of Iuda and the Assyrians before them which in Scripture is called the worke of God c. And concludes it to be manifest Nugari eos ineptire qui in locum providentiae Dei nudam permissionem substituunt that they doe but toy and trifle who in place of God's providence substitute a naked permission And this Authour doth but calumniate Calvin's expression in rendring the word ineptire by playing the foole Ineptire in the proprietie thereof is in this case to faile of fit and congruous interpretation and accommodation And may he not justly taxe those who understand such Scriptures as speake of God's smiting men with the Spirit of slumber and giddinesse of blinding their mindes infatuating and hardning their hearts of a permission and suffering of men to be blinded and hardned I had thought common sense might have justified him in this taking Calvin aright who denies not permission in all this but nudam permissionem naked permission as much as to say these Scripture passages doe signifie more then permission And as I have said before Bellarmin himselfe doth not satisfie himselfe with a naked permission in such like providence divine as here is mentioned I thinke he may justly say that to explicate excecation and obduration by permission is such an explication as will satisfie no sober man and that such a solution is too frivolous And as for God's prescience it is apparent that the horrible outrages committed upon the holy Son of God the Scripture testifies not to have been foreknowen only by God but by the hand and counsell of God predetermined also more then this cleare reason doth justifie that the ground of God's foreknowing ought is his foredetermining of it as I have often proved by invincible demonstration 2. Who mistakes the nature of permission most we or this censurer let the indifferent judge It is apparent that he puts no difference between permission humane and permission Divine Sure I am Suarez requires to permission divine a concurrence to the act the obliquity whereof is permitted And more then that both Scotus of old without question and the Dominicans of late and Bradwardine before them maintaine this concurrence to be by way of determining the will to every act thereof But all these mistake the nature of permission if we believe this Authour upon his word wherein he carrieth himselfe very authoritatively no Pope like him Yet he is ready to give his reason for it though with manifest contradiction to himselfe but let us consider it 1. Permission is an act of God's consequent and judiciary will by which he punisheth men for abusing their freedom c. Most untrue and manifestly convictable of untruth by that which himselfe delivered but a little before in this very Section where he said It is true that God hath decreed to suffer sinne for otherwise there would be none By this it is manifest that whensoever sinne is committed there had place God's permission of sinne otherwise there would have been no sinne therefore permission had place in the very first sinne that was committed by man and Angells Judge Reader with what felicity he comes to censure and correct the mistakes of others about permission As Austin sometimes said of one opposing him noverit se esse
declaring God's justice in mens punishments God doth not predestiminate men to sinne as it is sinne but as a meanes of their punishment He is not therefore say they the Authour of sinne 1. A good end cannot moralize a bad action it remaineth evill though the end be never so good Bonum oritur ex integris â—end manner yea matter too must be good or else the action is naught He that shall steale that he may give an almes or commit adultery that he may beget Children for the Church Or oppresse the poore to teach them patience Or kill a wicked man that he may doe no more hurt with his example or doe any forbidden thing though his end be never so good he sinneth notwithstanding And the reason is because the evill of sinne is greater then any good that can come by sinne forasmuch as it is laesio divinae majestatis a wronging of God's majesty and to Divino bono opposita directly prejudiciall to the good of Almighty God as much as any thing can be This Saint Paul knew very well and therefore he tells us plainely that we must not doe evill that good may come thereof Whosoever therefore willeth sin though for never so good an end he willeth that which is truly and formally a sinne and consequently God though he will sinne for never so good ends yet willing it with such a powerfull and effectuall will as giveth a necessary being to it he becommeth Authour of that which is formally sinne 2. The members of this distinction are not opposite for sinne as sinne and in no other consideration is meanes of punishment If God therefore willeth it as a meanes of punishment he willeth it as a sinne his decree it determinated at the the very formality of it 3 This distinction fastneth upon God a further aspersion and loadeth him with three speciall indignities more 1. Want of wisedome and providence His counsells must needs be weak if he can find out no meanes to glorifie justice but by the bringing in of sinne which his soule hateth into the world and appointing men to commit it that so he may maaifest justice in the punishment of it 2. Want of sincerity and plaine dealing with men Tiberius as Suetonius reports having a purpose to put the two sonnes of Germanicus Drusius and Nero to death used sundry cunning contrivances to draw them to revile him that reviling him they might be put to death and herein is justly censured for great hypocrisie And so if God having appointed men by his absolute will to inevitable perdition doe decree that they shall sinne that so they may be damned for those sins which he decreeth and draweth them into he dissembleth because he slaughtereth them under pretext of justice for sinne but yet for such sins only as he hath by his eternall counsell appointed as the meanes of their ruine 3. Want of mercy in an high degree as if he did so delight in bloud that rather then he will not destroy mens soules he will have them live and dye in sinne that he may destroy them like to those Pagan Princes of whom Justin Martyr Apol 2 two or three leaves from the beginning saith They are afraid that all should be just least they should have none to punish But this is the disposition of Hang-men rather then of Good Princes And therefore farre be those foule enormities and in particular this latter from the God of truth and Father of mercies And thus notwithstanding these distinctions it is in my conceit most evident that the rigid and upper way makes God the Authour of mens sins as well as punishment And so much for the first generall inconvenience which ariseth from this opinion namely the dishonour of God I willingly professe I am to seeke what that Divine of ours is that saith God doth predestinate men to sinne as a meanes of their punishment Here this Authour is silent names no man quotes no place Like as in the former he carried himselfe in this manner The Ancients generally take predestination in no other notion then to be of such things which God himselfe did purpose to bring to passe by his own operation not of such things as come to passe by God's permission Neither can I call to remembrance any Divine of ours that talkes of God's predestinating men unto sinne But the Scripture affords plentifull testimony of God's will ordination and determination that the sins of men come to passe by God's permission Was it not God's will that Pharaoh's heart should be hardened so as not to let Israel goe for a while when he told Moses that he would harden Pharaoh's heart that he should not let Israel goe Was it not God's appointment that Absolom should lye with his fathers Concubines when he denounced this judgment against him that he would give his wives unto his neighbour who should lye with them before the sun Was it not his will that the ten tribes should revolt from Rehoboam when he protested of that businesse that it was from him Was it not God's will that the Jews and Gentiles should concurre in crucifying Christ when the Apostles professe that both Herod Pontius-Pilate with the Gentiles and people of Israel were gathered together to doe what God's hand and counsell had before determined to be done Doth not Saint Peter professe of some that stuÌ„bled at the word being disobedient that hereunto they were ordained And that the ten Kings in giving their Kingdomes to the beast did fullfill the will of God as touching this particular But that God should will or ordaine it as a meanes of punishment as if the end which God aimed at were the punishment is so absurd and contradictious unto Scripture that in my opinion it cannot well enter into any judicious Divines heart so to conceive And marke how this Authour shuffles herein for first he saith that sin may be considered either as sinne or as a meanes of declaring God's justice in punishing it And why doth he not keep himselfe unto this especially considering that not permission of sin only but the punishment of sin also are jointly the meanes of declaring God's justice And where King Solomon professeth that God made the very wicked against the day of evill in the same place he manifesteth what is the end of this namely in saying that he made all things for himselfe that is for the manifestation of his own glory And this glory is not only in the way of justice but in the way of mercy also which this Authour as his manner is very judiciously conceales this attribute of mercy lying not so open to this Authours evasion as that of justice And is it possible God's mercy and the demonstration thereof should have place where there is no sin considering that no other evill or misery had entred into the world had it not been for sin according to that of the Apostle By one man sin entred into the world death by
professe as formerly mentioned and charge us to our face that we have learned this doctrine of ours out of the Writings of Papists And Grevincovius against Amesius spares not to pronounce that They may with better credit follow the Jesuits then Wee the Dominicans considering that the Dominicans are the great Administrators of the Inquisition in Spaine This is delivered as touching the poynt of grace and Free-will but as touching the poynt of election and reprobation absolute I can shew under the hand of an Arminian that herein there is no materiall difference between the Dominicans and most part of the Jesuits so little difference there is between the Gratia Praedeterminans of the one and the Gratia Congrua of the other So that if this be true it is not probable that hereby we scandalize the judicious and learned Papists and what those other Churches are which we scandalize excepting Churches Lutheran either this Author knows not or is well content to dissemble it to wit the Churches of Socinians and Anabaptists And how doe we more scandalize the Churches Lutheran herein then they scandalize us Was it ever known that by meer differing in Opinion from other Churches Christian men were said to scandalize them Or if it were so must not the scandall in this case be equall on both sides As for the leaving many of our own very ill satisfied why should that seem strange What doth Carryer write of many well known to him in this our Church of England of the same mind with himselfe some Papists some Lutherans And may there not be as many amongst the Lutherans as ill satisfied with the doctrine commonly received amongst them save that they are farre more forward to excommunicate all such as soon as they appeare then Wee Besides all this The poynt of scandall is brought in very unseasonably For if it be a truth that we maintain and professe if any are scandalized by it it is a scandall taken not given God forbid we should grow so profane as to account it a scandalous thing to make profession of Gods truth especially this truth we maintain being so neere to a cleare opposition to Pelagianisme a Heresy condemned by the Church above 1200 years agoe When Frederick Duke of Woortenberg exhorted his Divines to acknowledge Beza and his Company for Brethren and to declare it by giving them their hands The answer of refusall was made by Jacobus Andreas a most bitter enimy and one whom Beza describes tanquam virum sanguinarium and his carriage throughout was most imperious And it becomes an Arminian spirit well to make the rancour of his malicious heart a rule wherebyto cry down the doctrine which he abhorred With a farre better grace might a Papist cry down our faith opposite to the doctrine of the Church of Rome by the Popes abhorring it and damning of it to the pit of hell For surely it is fit he should be of farre more authority then Jacobus Andreas not to speak of the Anathematization of it in the Councell of Trent nor of the common argument of Papists in that they deny that we can be saved many amongst us are of opinion that a Papist can be saved therefore better to be a Papist then a Protestant yet surely it is in the power of our corruption to requite malice with malice and as much to scorne with our heeles their Brotherhood as they ours But if through the grace of God we doe not give our selves leave to requite their malice if that be no scandall to themselves there is no cause why it should be any scandall unto us In Sir Edwin Sands about Fol. 59. there is such a relation as this Though the Princes and Heads of the weaker sides in those parts both of Palsgrave and Landsgrave have with great wisdome and judgement to aslack those flames imposed silence on that poynt to the Ministers of the one Party hoping that the charity and discretion of the other sort would have done the like yet it falleth out otherwise that Lutheran Preachers rage hitherto in their Pulpits Now let Arminians if they think good conclude herehence that seeing there was so little charity and discretion in the Lutheran Preachers it becomes them in their writings and Conclusions to shew as little charity and discretion as they for their hearts and that grace of God which they fashion to themselves will bear them out in this it beeing meerely the power of their own free-wills But this is not all I have to say in answer hereunto The phrase in Osiander is not errorum teterrimorum but haerescωn teterrimarum of which this Author saith they reckoned this for one And let him speak out and tell us what were the others Was not the denyall of Consubstantiation another As also the denyall of the lawfulnesse of that Baptisme which was administred by Woemen the practice whereof King James reformed in our Book of Common-Prayer As also their not concurrence with them in opinion about the Person of Christ which by their Ubiquitary Chimaera as Sir Edwin Sands call it they doe miserably deforme These and other such like were the errours whereof this Author saith Beza and his Fellowes were proved to be guilty of in this Conference for so I take his meaning pronouncing thereby sentence tanquam ex Cathedra Judicis or the Lutheran Party throughout in that Conference which Conference was not of Predestination alone but de Caenâ Domini de Personâ Christi de Imaginibus de Baptismo and last of all de Praedestinatione Yet I have not done with this For I beseech you consider whether this Author or his Oracle be not miserably deceived in all this and that these teterrimae Haereses are not such as Iacobus Andreas with his Lutheran party laid to the charge of Beza and his Brethren but rather such as Beza and his Brethren laid to the charge of the Lutherans and that not in this Conference but in their Writings in Scriptis so goeth the relation Whereas this Conference was not by writing but only by word of mouth Iacobus Andreas not enduring to give way to Beza's motion as touching the consigning of that which they delivered in writing under their hands For the relation in Osiander runs thus Ad haec D. Iacobus respondit Woortenbergicos Theologos Deum oraturos ut Bezae ipsius Collegis oculos mentis aperiat Ut autem illis dextram fraternitatis praebeant non ignor are illos quà m horribilium errorum teterrimarum haereseω◠in suis Scriptis coram Fcclesiâ ipsos reos egerint Ideoque se mirari quomodo eos pro fratribus agnoscere possint aut velint aut corum fraternitatem expetant si pro talibus agnoscant qui damnatas Haereses ab Orco revocent ut Ecclesiae Dei obtendant Now these words though at first sight they may seem to be referred either to the Woortenbergers as accusing Beza and his Brethren of such errours and heresies yet the words following
must needs be because he cannot save them this was Austins argument 1200 years agoe Enchirid. cap. 96. and 97. handling this very place of the Apostle 3. If God did from everlasting will the salvation of all and every one then either at this day he doth continue to will the salvation of all and every one and shall continue for ever to will it or no if he doth continue to will it and ever shall then say that God doth will the salvation of the damned both Men and Divells albeit it is well known he damnes them If he doth not continue to will it then is God of a changeable nature directly contrary to the word of God as well as to manifest reason With him saith Iames is no variablenesse nor shadow of change I the Lord am not changed Mal. 3. 6. As for that which he thrusts in to help make weight saying that there is no let in God but that all men may believe and be saved this is a most improper speech for no man is said in proper speech to be let from doing ought but upon presupposition that he would doe it now we utterly deny that God hindreth any man from believing and repenting whose will is disposed to believe and repent But seeing all men have infidelity and hardnesse of heart naturall unto them as a fruit of that corruption wherein all are borne we deny that God câ—â—es it in all but only in whom he will according to that of Saint Paul He hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardneth And our Saviour upon the same ground is bold to tell the Jewes saying Ye therefore heare not my words that is believe them not because ye are not of God 2. The first exposition here mentioned was given by Austin many hundred years agoe Enchirid. cap. 103. and he proves this his interpretation of the word all by the congruity of it to Scripture phrase in other places as where it is said of the Pharises that they tythe every herbe his words are these Iâ—to locutiâ—nis modo Dominus usus est in Evangelio ubi ait Phariseis Decimatis mentham rutam omne olus neque enim Pharisei quaecunque aliena omnium per omnes terras alienigenarum omnium olera decimabant Sicut ergo hic omne olus omne olerum genus it a illic omnes homines omne hominum genus intelligere possumus yet see the ingenuity of this great light of the Church of God for forthwith he gives leave to devise any other convenient interpretation provided that we doe not violate Gods omnipotency by saying that any thing that God would have brought to passe is not brought to passe his words are these Et quocunque alio modo intelligi potest dum tamen credere no cogamur aliquid omnipotentem Deum noluisse fieri factumque non esse qui sine ullis ambagibus si in caelo terra sicut veritas cantat omnia quaecunque voluit fecit profecto facere noluit quaecunque non fecit This interpretation is generally received by our Divines because of the congruity thereof to the Text it selfe for as much as the Apostle having first admonished them in the generall to pray for all forthwith he descends to specialls as Vossius acknowledgeth Generi speciem subjicit now look in what sort the Species is to be understood after the same manner is the Generall to be understood Now the Specialls mentioned are certain sorts or conditions of men as Kings and such as are in authority therefore the generall all must in like manner be understood of all sorts and all conditions of men upon this consideration also it was that Austin did insist in the place before alleadged Praeceperat saith he Apostolus ut or aretur pro singulis hominibus specialiter addiderat pro Regibus iis qui in sublimitate sunt qui putari poterant fastu superbia seculari a fidei Christianae humilitate abhorrere Proinde dicens hoc enim bonum est coram salvatore nostro Deo id est ut etiam pro talibus oretur statim ut desperationem tolleret addit qui omnes homines vult salves fieri in agnitionem veritatis venire Hoc quippe Deus bonum judicavit ut orationibus humilium dignaretur praestare salutem sublimium Now I come to consider what this Author hath to say against this exposition for he gives us very gravely to understand that it gives him little satisfaction we are therefore to expect some better satisfaction from him It is true that all is so used in Scripture not only some times but very frequently let him come to instance in his sense we are ready to instance with him for ours But the Text saith he shewes we are to understand the individualls and not the kindes Where first I doubt his ignorance in understanding the distinction aright is his best ground of opposition When Austin urgeth for his interpretation that of the Pharises tything omne olus every hearb who doubts but they tythe Individuall hearbs In like sort when Peter saw in a vessell let down unto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every foure footed beast no question but Individuall beasts were let down unto him not every one of every kind but of every kind or of most kinds or of many kinds some so that the meaning of the distinction is not to exclude all individualls as this Author seems to carry the matter but only to exclude a necessity of understanding all individualls of all sorts It is enough if God will save some of all sorts that is of all conditions some individualls Then seeing he undertakes out of the very Text to give us better satisfaction then either Austin or our Divines have hitherto received it must needs be a shame for him to leave the present Text and fetch grounds elsewhere for the clearing of Pauls meaning here Now let us observe how congruously or incongruously to his own undertakings he carryeth himselfe in this businesse of the duty enjoyned and of the motive annexed there is no question but whereas he shapes the coherence thus and makes Paul in effect to speak after this manner our charity must reach to all to whom God extends his love to God will have all to be saved and therefore we must pray for all Though all this were granted him it makes nothing for him but over and above here are causelesse errours more then enough For first our charity must extend farther then Gods love was not Jacob bound to carry himselfe charitably towards his brother Esau though Gods hatred of Esau we know was as ancient as his love to Iacob 2. We are not bound to extend our charity so far as God extends his love for many thousands there be in the World not to speak of the Elect departed this life towards whom it may be God extends his love which yet are unknown to us are we bound to
pray for we know not whom Again Gods love with this Author is extended as farre as his will to save and that is extended to all and every one and unlesse God be now changed it must extend to them now after they are damned and must our charity be extended towards them also But he proceeds let us proceed with him Now saith he all in the duty signifies every man but that we deny he gives his reason for no man though wicked and prophane is to be excluded from our Prayers Against this I have two exceptions and yet if the whole be granted him it maketh nothing for him my first exception is this he promised to give us satisfaction out of the Text it selfe but who seeth not but that this rule of his is brought in quite besides the Text I from the Text have proved and from the coherence between the generall and the speciall that the speciall being certain particular conditions of men the generall all must conformably be understood of all conditions My second exception is this he obtrudes upon us that no man though wicked and prophane is to be excluded from our Prayers I confesse I doe not find my selfe apt to exclude any from my prayers but I cannot endure that a bold fellow should obtrude his rules upon us as Oracles The Apostle Saint Iohn forbids us to pray for them that sinne a sinne unto death But let all this be granted what then If it extends to every one in the duty it must have the same extent in the motive too but this I deny he saith else the motive will not reach home nor have strength enough to enforce the duty but this likewise I deny and shew withall how the motive shall reach home and have strength enough even to enforce this duty according to this Authors accommodation of it albeit God hath a will not to save all and every one but of all sorts and all conditions some of Kings some of them that are in Authority some For seeing God saves of all sorts some why should not every Christian Subject pray for his Prince and Rulers seeing it may be they are those some whom God means to save even of the ranke of Princes of the ranke of Governors and of men in Authority For God hath not revealed to us who they are whom he hath elected and who they are whom he hath reprobated If he had Austin tells us what we should doe in that case De Civit Dei lib. 21. cap. 24. Si de aliquibus it a Ecclesia certa esset ut qui sunt illi etiam nosset qui licet adhuc in hac vitâ sint constituti tamen praedestinati sunt in aeternum ignem ire cum Diabolo tam pro i is non or aret quam pro ipso If it shall be farther urged that we are to pray for all Kings and all that are in Authority not only for our own I answer that this is nothing agreeable to the end of such prayers here expressed by the Apostle namely That under them we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all Godlinesse and honesty And what have we here in England to doe with the King of Bungo that we should pray for him or for the Kings in terrâ australi incognitâ discovered by Ferdinando de Quir or for the great Duke of Crapulia 3. As for the second interpretation I doe not find it so usuall with our Divines Cajetan distinguisheth here between voluntas signi and beneplaciti so doth Aquinas and this distinction of voluntas occulta and revelata is usually reduced to that of voluntas signi and beneplaciti But voluntas signi and voluntas revelata is more congruously applied to the things which God commands then to the things which God himselfe worketh as for example he commands faith and repentance and the commandements of God are usually called the will of God in Scripture though improperly and thus the distinction is plain God commands one thing but it is not necessary that he should will that that which he commands shall come to passe As for example God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaack yet he determined that Isaack should not be sacrificed as appeared by the event In like manner he commanded Pharaoh to let Israel goe yet withall told Moses he would harden his heart that he should not let Israel goe But this will of God called voluntas signi and Revelata cannot so congruously be said to passe upon mans salvation Yet because God may be said to command salvation in as much as he commands faith and repentance that we may be saved and in this sense men are exhorted sometimes to save themselves As Save your selves from this froward generation and Save some out of the fire with feare and That thou maist both save thy selfe and them that heare thee therefore we are content also to admit of this distinction and consider with what judgement and sufficiency this Author doth impugne it 1. By his first opposition it appears that meer ignorance bears him out against this distinction For we doe acknowledge that Gods revealed will and his words revealing it are true interpretations of his own mind and meaning though not of such a meaning as he expects should be fashioned For he conceives that Gods will in this case is only of what shall be done which is most untrue Hereby is only signified what is mans duty to doe although it may be God will not give him effectuall grace to doe it As for examples sake when God commanded Pharaoh to let Israel goe hereby was signified that God would have it to be Pharaohs duty to let Israel goe though withall he professes to Moses that he would harden Pharaohs heart whereupon he should refuse to let them goe So when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaack hereby it was signified that it was Gods will to make it Abrahams duty to sacrifice his Sonne albeit God had determined that when Abraham came to poynt of execution of that which was enjoyned him he would hold Abrahams hand and content himselfe with Abrahams readinesse and good heart to obey God in this 2. As to the second it is untrue that any such thing followeth as this Author pretendeth namely that two contrary wills shall be found in God For first there is no contrariety in the wills here shaped by the Author himselfe thus many shall be damned and those many may be saved As for the word irrevocable wherewith this Author stuffes his proposition that is no attribute of damnation or the manner thereof but rather of Gods decrees wherein still he proceeds and spares not to foame out his own shame desiring to make Gods decrees of a revocable nature Secondly he understands not the accommodation of the distinction aright which is not directly to salvation and immediatly but rather to praecepta consilia remedia as Aquinas expresseth it of voluntas signi which is all one in this case with voluntas
revelata 1. Applyed to Gods commandement joyned with a will not to give grace to obay his commandement thus it 's Pharaohs duty to let Israel goe T is not Gods will that Pharaoh shall let Israel goe for he meaneth to harden his heart to the contrary 2. Applyed to salvation consequent or not consequent according as men shall be found to obey or disobey Gods commandement thus it 's my will that as many as believe and repent shall be saved and consequently it 's true If thou believest whoever thou art and repentest thou shalt be saved I will give grace to believe and repent to some only whereby they may be saved between those in like manner there is no contrariety at all 3. And if there be no contrariety at all then surely it followes not by this Authors Logick that if one of them be good the other must be bad I say by this Authors Logick for now adaies men are given so much to Rhetorick that they forget all good Logick if ever they learnt any who I pray gives any such rule that if one contrary be good the other must be bad If heat be good is cold bad Or if white be good is black bad But as for the case we treat of if these wills were found to be contrary one of them should destroy the other and the other should have no being at all and in case it hath no being shall it be said to be bad Yes like enough by the learning of the Arminians I come to the Fifth DISCOURSE SECT V. 2. PEter 3. 9. Not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance This Scripture is not so liable to those exceptions which are made against the former testimonies for it is a negative proposition and must be taken distributively and therefore speaks that in plain termes which is contrary to absolute reprobation That which is usually replied is this that the persons here spoken of are the Elect only God is not willing that any of the Elect should perish But the contrary appears plainly in the Text for the persons here spoken of are those towards whom God exerciseth much long suffering and patience and who are they Are they the Elect only or chiefly No but the Reprobates rather that dye for their contempt of grace Reprobates are the proper objects of Gods long suffering and patience as we may see Rom. 2. 4. where the Apostle speaking of such as goe on in sinne and treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath saith that God useth patience towards them that so he might lead them to repentance and Rom. 9. 22. He endureth saith the Text with much long suffering the vessells of wrath fitted to destruction Reprobates therefore as well as others doth Peter here speak of and saith that God would have none of them to perish if they doe perish it is their own fault and folly and not Gods absolute pleasure who would have none to perish TWISSE Consideration HEre be odde gambolls as when he saith the proposition here is negative whereas the propositions are two and the latter affirmative as well as the former is negative As for the taking of it distributively as he speaks the Text expresseth the negative distributively implying belike that when we interpreted the former place de generibus singulorum it was not to be taken distributively which is a very shallow conceit for it is apparent we distribute it de generibus singulorum and more then that of the particulars of each kind only we doe not distribute it of all the particulars In like manner though the Text in this place expresseth a distribution saying not willing any to perish this distribution is not extended to all Nay it admits of a greater limitation then the former place did by our interpretation for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here must be referred to that which goes before in these words God is patient to us ward not willing any to perish that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any of us to perish but all to come to repentance that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all of us which can admit of no other sense then all such as the Apostle was he saith it is contrary to absolute reprobation that is wind when he proveth it then we will believe it his word is no oracle 2. Let us see how he disproves their interpretation who accommodate it to Gods Elect. The persons here mentioned he saith are those towards whom God exerciseth long suffering and patience and demandeth whether these are the Elect only or chiefly and answereth himselfe negatively saying that the reprobates are the proper objects of Gods long suffering and patience which he proveth out of Rom. 2. 4. and Rom. 9. 22. and so concludes the argument very learnedly and judiciously Arminian like ex omnibus affirmativis in secundâ Figurâ which of what force it is every weak Logician knoweth for thus in effect is his argument They of whom God will have none to perish are such towards whom God expresseth much long suffering and patience But the Reprobates are they towards whom God expresseth much long suffering and patience Therefore the Reprobates are they of whom God will have none to perish 2. And whereas the Apostle saith God is patient towards us the meaning according to this Authors judicious enlargement is towards us who are partly elect and partly reprobates and so likewise when he saith 2 Pet. 1. 2. To you who have obtained like precious faith with us that is with us of whom some are elect and some reprobates And 1 Pet. 1. 3. God hath begotten us to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ that is begotten us some of whom are elect and some reprobates 3. Now because the Apostle saith plainly and simply who is patient towards us this Author desiring to frame it in a suitable manner to that of the Apostle Rom. 2. 4. whereunto he hath a hungry desire to reduce it therefore he makes bold to say that the persons here mentioned by Saint Peter are such towards whom God exerciseth long suffering and patience Thus again he is willing very obsequiously to follow Lysanders counsell who advised when a Lyons skinne would not serve the turne to piece it up with a Foxe skinne We on the other side though it cannot be denied but that God doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 towards such as Saint Peter was and those to whom he wrote who had obtained like precious faith with himselfe and his fellow Apostles and other believers which cannot be denied to have been the elect of God so he calls them to whom he wrote 1 Pet. 1. 2. yet we spare to draw any argument therehence because we know ful well that God doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and useth long suffering towards the Reprobates also So that we could not conclude that we would herehence but either by a Syllogisme vitious in the forme as this Author doth or
make them confident and insolent and in a word Magnas Tragoedias excitare But take a way the confusion of things that differ their combes are cut their locks are shorne and they are but as another man Now having shewed in what sense every hearer is bound to believe that Christ died for him and in what sense not let us consider of what worth this Authors arguments are breathing nothing but smoak and fire I will not say like the great Potan but like fell Dragon but I nothing doubt we shall pare his nailes and make him calme enough ere we have done with him so that a little child shall be able enough to lead him Now that they cannot be justly bound to believe if they be absolute reprobates he takes upon him to prove by three reasons 1. The first is because it is Gods will that they shall not believe because it is his peremptory will that they shall have no power to believe I answere it is indeed the will of Gods decree that is he hath decreed not to give any Reprobate a justifying faith but hence it followeth not that therefore they cannot believe thus farre the contents of the Gospell namely that both Christ hath merited and God hath ordained that as many as doe believe shall be saved For this as I take it is not usually accounted by our Divines a justifying faith but rather it comes within the compasse of such a faith as is commonly counted faith historicall Secondly I answer it followeth not that because God hath decreed to deny them the grace of faith therefore they are not bound to believe which I prove by Scripture For was not Pharaoh bound to let Israel goe when Moses was sent to him from the Lord to command him in the name of the Lord to let Israel goe Yet the Scripture plainly teacheth us that the Lord told Moses that he would harden Pharaohs heart and that he should not let Israel goe What I pray is now become of his reason compared with the light of Scripture And what have we to doe to enquire into Gods counsells as whether he hath decreed to give us grace or no Is it not enough to bind us to obedience for God to command this or that unto us Did Abraham enquire in his thoughts whether it were his purpose yea or no that Isaack should be sacrificed Nothing lesse but upon the Lords command he forthwith addresseth himselfe to the worke rising early in the morning and going forward in the Lords businesse Then again we find by common experience that naturall men are too to confident rather and presumptuous of their power then diffident and distrustfull dicere solet humana superbia saith Austin si scissem fecissem it were better for them if they did acknowledge their impotency and by what means this corruption of theirs is brought upon them that would bring them nearer to the Kingdome of God But if I have a debtor whom I know to be a Bankerupt but he knowes it not but having many bagges of Brasse or Copper pieces which he takes to be Gold conceits himselfe able enough to pay all his debts and more too shall I be said to commit any indecent thing by urging him to pay that he oweth This argument is as old as Pelagius but what was Austin his answer In mandato cognosce quid debeas habere in corruptione cognosce t uo te vitio non habere in oratione cognosce unde possis habere 3. Lastly if God cannot justly command and by command bind man to obey in case he hath no power to obey in like sort God cannot justly complaine of their disobedience who being hardned by God cannot obey him And indeed as this Author argueth against the justice of Gods commands in this case so the Apostle brings in one arguing the injustice of Gods complaints in the like case For having delivered this Doctrine that God hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardneth forthwith he brings in one tumultuating against it in this manner Thou wilt say then why doth he yet complaine for who hath resisted his will And if any man be not ashamed to argue as he did saith Austin let us not be ashamed to answer as the Apostle did and how was that Surely only thus O man who art thou that disputest with God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it Why hast thou made me thus Hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessell unto honour and another unto dishonour And albeit this I trow should be sufficient to satisfy a Christian yet we observe farther how this Author confounds impotency Morall which consisteth in the corruption of mans powers naturall and impotency naturall which consisteth in bereaving him of power naturall The Lord tells us by his Prophet Jeremy that Like as a Blackamore cannot change his skinne nor a Leopard his spotts no more can they doe good that are accustomed unto evill Now if a man taken in stealth shall plead thus before a Judge My Lord I beseech you have compassion upon me for I have so long time inured my hands to pilfering that now I cannot forbeare it will this be accepted as a good plea to save him from the Gallowes Again it is observed that men are naturally prone to runne upon the committing of things forbidden them Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas nitimur in vetitum yet this is no just excuse Lastly as for faith it is well known that Divines distinguish between fides acquisita and fides infusa that we may call a faith naturally acquired which is found in carnall persons whether prophane or Hypocriticall and this is a faith inspired by Gods spirit The object of each is all one and a Man may suffer Martyrdome for the one as well as for the other which manifesteth the pertinacious adherence thereunto And it appears that all professions have had their Martyrs Ucali Fartax a Calabrian borne endured the Gallies fourteen years rather then he would turne Turke yet at length he became a Turke and only in spleen to be revenged on a Turke who had given him a boxe on the eare and became a great man amongst them And at the famous battell of Lepanto he alone maintained his Squadron entire and beat the Christians But to returne albeit it be not in the power of nature to believe fide infusâ yet is it in the power of nature to believe the Gospell fide acquisitâ which depends partly upon a mans education and partly upon reason considering the credibility of the Christian way by light of naturall observations above all other waies in the World And when men refuse to embrace the Gospell not so much because of the credibility of it but because it is not congruous to their naturall affections as our Saviour tells the Jewes Light came into the World and men loved darknesse rather then light
us that without holinesse no man shall see God That a man in good time shall reape provided that he faint not nor be weary of well doing Who seeth not that a necessity of Godly life is laid upon all that will be saved Now God hath revealed this latter expressely unto us in his word but as for the salvation of particular persons we have no such revelation at all set downe unto us in Gods word but in generall thus Whosoever believeth shall be saved whosoever believeth not shall be damned Be thou faithfull unto the death and thou shalt receive a Crowne of life Whosoever continueth unto the end shall be saved And good workes as Bernard saith are via Regni though not causa regnandi Therefore if any man desire to come to the Kingdome of Heaven he must be carefull to walke in the way that leadeth thither The Word saith not to any man in particular Thou shalt be saved but If thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Such was not the promise made to Paul concerning the saving of them who were in the ship with him but it proceeded in an ansolute forme Acts 27. 23 24. There stood by me this night the Angell of God whose I am and whom I serve saying Feare not Paul for thou must be brought before Caesar and loe God hath given unto thee freely all that saile with thee Here is a manifest signification of Gods decree and determination to save all that were in the ship yet did this make Paul or the rest negligent in using such meanes whereby they might save themselves It is apparent that it did not For the Mariners they thought to fly out of the ship and to that purpose had let downe the boat into the Sea under colour as though they would cast anchor out of the foreship meaning to provide for themselves and leaving others to shift for themselves But Paul perceiving this and the dangerous condition of it unto the rest as that which would bereave them of the ordinary meanes of preservation he said to the Centurion and the Souldiers except these abide in the ship ye cannot be safe Did not Paul feare the failing af his own credit and reputation Who having before assured them and that by the message of an Angell of their safe coming to land now on the other side tells them that unlesse the Marriners abide in the ship they could not be safe Nothing lesse neither did the Captaine and Souldiers fly in his face as an impostor and one that had abused them as by this Authors dictates they might especially if he had had the Catechising of them but rather of themselves conceiving it an unreasonable thing so to depend upon the promise of man or Angell as not to use the best meanes that lay in their power Forth with the Souldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let it fall away choosing rather to loose their boat which yet was of good use too then their Marriners This was not all but Paul useth spirituall meanes and by exhortation comforteth them that so they might take heart and the better set themselves to the use of the best meanes not weakely but couragiously for their preservation This is the Fourteenth day that y e have tarried and continued fasting receiving nothing Wherefore I exhort you to take meat for this is for your safeguard for there shall not an hayre fall from the head of any of you And when he had thus spoken he tooke bread and gave thankes to God in presence of them all and brake it and began to eate Then were they all of good courage and they also tooke meat Well at length the ship brake and the Centurion commanded that they that could swim should cast themselves first into the Sea and goe out to Land and the others some on boards and some on certaine pieces of the Ship Here to the end we see no meanes neglected And so it came to passe to wit by use of such meanes that they all escaped to Land Yet was the promise of their Salvation made to Paul in an absolute forme so is not the promise of Salvation made to us Now I leave it to the indifferent to judge of the wisdome of this Authors discourse Yet non deliberation is no suffitient evidence of the needlesse condition of meanes For Aristotle sayth that Ars non deliberat not because he useth no meanes to bring about his ends but because the Artificer which is his crafts-master is not to seeke of the meanes For the same reason deliberation is not incident unto God his wisdome is nothing the lesse in discerning congruous meanes to bring about his intended ends As for that of our Saviour Cur estis solliciti de vestitu Surely t is not of any thing above our power in respect of use of meanes Indeed to ad one Cubit to our stature is not in our power neither doe I know any that take thought thereof But it is no more in mans power to blesse his owne cares and labours for the procuring of himselfe meat drinke rayment then it is in his power to adde a cubit or two unto his stature Therefore it becomes us not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to distract our selves with carking cares as touching the end of our affaires but he forbids us not to be carefull in the use of means For to this purpose God would not have Adam to be idle in Paradise he must dresse the Garden though the thriving of ought thereby was not so much by his care as by Gods providence And therefore he hath given us six dayes to worke and commands us to doe all our works therein but as for the issue of our labours leave that to God his blessing And whether our labours are successefull or not successefull not to trouble our selves there abouts It was spoken to the singular cōmendation of D r Raynolds by him that Preached his funerall Sermon that he was most carfull of the means most carelesse of the end Thus I have endevored to distinguish those things which this Authours very judiciously confounds And as it was no folly for Paul to doe as he did that all good meanes might be used for their preservation so much lesse was misery nay they had bene in amiserable case had they neglected any due meanes to preserve themselves for S t Paul notwithhanding the message delivered unto him by an Angell and his promise therupon made unto the Centution spared not to professe that unlesse the Mariners staid in the ship they could not be Saved so that this Authours fable of Sysiphus is no better accommodated then the rest save that herein he may refresh his reader thank him for his curtesie for representing unto him as in a glasse the nature of his proceedings For in this his discourse he doth very accuratly play
manner to command Abraham to sacrifice his sonne but it was not Gods determination that Isaack should be sacrificed In like sort he commanded Pharaoh to let Israel goe but withall he told Moses he would harden Pharaohs heart that he should not let them goe for a long time 2. But in the accommodation of these distinctions unto thy selfe What ground hast thou to affirme that God willeth not thy salvation in particular If thou believest Gods word assureth thee thou shalt be saved if thou believest not yet thou maist believe and Gods word hath power to bring thee unto faith as formerly I have discoursed And as for the best of Gods Children who doe believe to the great comfort of their soules rejoycing with joy unspeakable and glorious 1 Pet. 1. They were sometimes in as uncomfortable a condition as thou now art And the rather I put thee upon this because I see he that takes upon him to comfort thee doth take a course rather to feed thy humour then to remove it in as much as he never enquires into the cause thereof For albeit he gave to understand he would apply his argument with as much art and cunning as could be yet it may be that was rather with respect to the advantage of his own cause then to thy consolation But let us see whether he mends it in the next Minister Christ came into the World to seeke and to save what was lost and is a propitiation not for our sinnes only i. e. the sinnes of a few particular men or the sinnes of all sorts of men but for the sinnes of the whole World therefore he came to save thee for thou wast lost and to be a propitiation for thy sinnes for thou art part of the whole World CONSIDERATION Still he continues to afford thee as much comfort as any Reprobate in the world and if thou desirest no more thou maist rest satisfied with this but withall I confesse he affords thee as much comfort as he can afford any of Gods elect for he maketh elect and Reprobate all alike in receiving comfort from Gods Word Christ came into the world to save that which was lost but unlesse he came to save all that is lost it will not follow that he came to save thee We know that pardon of sinne and salvation is procured by Christ for none but such as believe and therefore be not deceived without faith looke for neither by faith be assured of both and that thou art one of Gods elect and no Reprobate And observe well he tells thee nothing of Christ meriting faith and repentance this now a dayes is plainly denyed by the Remonstrants and this Authour is content to say nothing of it when he is put to it we know what must be the issue of it if he sayeth Christ hath merited faith and repentance for thee the meaning is but this Christ hath merited that if thou wilt believe thou shalt believe if thou wilt repent thou shalt repent And that Christ hath merited that God should bestow faith and repentance not on whom he will according to the meere pleasure of his will but according to mens workes The comfort that our doctrine ministers unto thee is this If thou dost believe in Christ thou maist be assured thou art an elect of God if thou dost not believe there is no cause why thou shouldest thinke thy selfe a Cast-away for albeit thou hast not faith to day yet thou maist have faith to morrow Give thy selfe to Gods Word and waite upon him in his ordinances thou maist be so wrought upon as that unbeliever was 1 Cor 14. Who is there represented falling downe on his face and confessing that God was in the Preacher of a truth And though at first thou attendest to it but in a carnall manner yet God may open thy heart as he opened the heart of Lidia and make thee attend unto it in a gracious manner Tempted The World as I have heard is taken two waies in Scripture Largely for all mankind and strictly for the elect or believers In this latter sense Christ dyed for the World Or if for all yet it was only dignitate pretii not voluntate propositi thus only for a few selected ones with whom it is not my lot to be numbred CONSIDERATION Suffer not thy selfe to be abused by them who pretending thy comfort yet seeke nothing lesse but only the promoting of their owne cause And observe how he takes notice of no other benefits of Christs death then such as belong unto men upon the condition of faith to wit pardon of sinne and Salvation in which case the mention of Gods elect comes in very unseasonably And thus is the love of God set forth unto us so God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Sonne that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And if it be not thy lot to be numbred amongst believers then we can give thee by Gods Word no assurance of thy Salvation But if thou art not a believer yet thou maist be in good time as formerly I have spoken more at large and therefore no reason to think thou art a Reprobate And if once thou dost believe in Christ our doctrine gives thee assurance of Justification Salvation and Election the Arminan doctrine doth not As for faith and repentance we say Christ hath merited them also but to be bestowed how According to mens workes say our Arminians though forraine Arminians professe plainly that Christ merited not faith and regeneration for any And if thou relishest this comfort be satisfied with it we say faith and repentance are bestowed absolutely according to the meere pleasure of Gods will and accordingly Christ merited them but not for all for then all should believe and repent and be saved but only for some and who can these be but Gods elect whence it followeth clearly that whosoever believes may by our doctrine be assured of his election not so by the doctrine of Arminians but if thou believest not thou art in no worse case then the best of Gods childern have been for there was a time when they believed not therefore thou hast no more cause to think thy selfe a cast-away then they had Minister God hath founded an universall Covenant with men upon the bloud of Christ and therefore he intended it should be shed for all men universally he hath made a promise of salvation to every one that will believe and excludes none that will not believe CONSIDERATION This I confesse is to administer as much comfort as is administred to any Reprobate but how can this qualify thy discomfort and discontent which riseth from this conceit that thou art a Reprobate And the truth is that by our Doctrine wee were all in a miserable case if Gods Covenant of grace extended no farther then this But hath not God promised to be our Lord and our God that sanctifyeth us to circumcise our hearts and the hearts
Egyptians so in the sight of the children of Israel and of the bordering Nations No contradiction at all in this no more then Gods word is found to contradict it selfe And nothing but ignorance makes our adversaries so bold as to impute contradiction to us in this We grant willingly that God did intend that most should never believe and repent For as much as he intended to deny the gift of faith and repentance unto most as it is apparent he doth neither dares any Arminian deny it Only they feigne that God would give faith and repentance unto all in case they would prepare themselves which not only includes manifest Pelagianisme but over and above ends in non-sense as I have but erst and often times before made as cleare as the Sunne Gods eternall rejection of many thousands which is impossible to be avoided for how is it possible that what was from everlasting should be avoyded by man or Angell who are brought forth in time not to have been from everlasting though it be all one with the answers of the tempted and is contradictory to the comforts which this Author deviseth out of his own braine and proposeth too in a most colluding manner as before I have shewed and withall not so well sorting with the manner of comforts which he feignes and at meere pleasure obtrudes upon us which yet he cannot evacuate without betraying the shamefull nakednesse of his cause when denying God to bestow the gift of faith and repentance absolutely on whom he will and according to the meere pleasure of his will he is driven to manifest how he takes sanctuary in Pelagianisme maintaining the grace of faith and repentance to be conferred by God on men according to their workes and that in a most unsober manner as I have shewed at large yet notwithstanding is this eternall decree of God concerning the rejection of man nothing contrariant to better grounds of consolation ministred by our doctrine then any can be ministred by Arminians as who doe not so much as undertake to minister better comfort to any then such as is common to them with Reprobates But as for all those that are brought up in the Church of God who we can assure them that there is no cause excepting guilt of that sinne which is unto death or which is against the Holy-Ghost why any of them should conceive themselves to be Reprobates nay the affliction of conscience being the most ordinary meanes whereby God doth prepare men for a comfortable translation out of the state of nature into the state of grace they have cause to conceive comfort in this that these feares and terrours may be as pangs of child-birth to deliver their souls into the world of the sons of God and this vally of Achor a doore of hope this Bethany a house of sorrow or mourning the high-way unto the vision of Peace as Bethany was commonly taken by our Saviour in his way unto Jerusalem For conclusion we have heard a strange cracking of thornes in this but all proves but a squibbe their best light of consolation goes out in an unsavoury snuffe of Pelagianisme Let us remember though Thunder and Earth-quakes and Lightning have their course in the vaine imaginations of men yet God is still and ever will be in the small voyce of his word Let us give Gods truth the glory of our consolation As for Errour and that dangerous errour in defacing the glory of Gods grace let us never seeke any comfort therein and let them that love it take what comfort in it they can I doe not envy them but rather pitty them I would their hearts served them to have compassion upon them selves DISCOURSE SECT IV. SEcondly it leaves a Minister weake grounds only and insufficient to quiet the tempted and therefore it makes him unable to comfort His grounds that are left him are insufficient because they cannot convince and make it evident to the understanding of the tempted that he is not that which he feares i. e. a Reprobate out of temptation probabilities will uphold a mans hopes as they did Manoahs wife Judg. 13. 22 23. If the Lord would kill us he would not have received a burnt offering at our hands nor shewed us all these things because men are not so mistrustfull then but in temptation men are very suspitious and incredulous like Jacob who would not be perswaded that Joseph was alive and a great man in Egypt till he saw the Chariots that were sent to fetch him thither Gen. 45. 25. And like Thomas who would not believe that Christ was risen till he saw the print of the nailes and speare Iohn 20. 25. They will not believe any thing that is said for their comfort till it be made so apparent that they have nothing to say to the contrary My selfe have known some who in their temptations have often put their comforters to their proofes to their protestations nay to their oathes too before they would believe their words of comfort And in this temptation men are so strongly possest with a feare of the greatest evill in the World eternall rejection from God that they will not easily without manifest conviction believe the contrary But such grounds as these a Minister that holds absolute reprobation hath not he can say nothing that is able to make it appeare infallibly and unavoydably to the tempted that he is no absolute reprobate All that he can say is Be of good comfort you are a believer you are a true repenting sinner therefore no reprobate for faith and repentance are fruits of election and arguments of a state contrary to that which you feare But this the tempted will deny he will say that he is no believer c. And how will the Minister convince him that he is He must prove to him by the outward acts of faith and repentance for they are only apparent to him that he doth repent and believe but this proofe is not demonstrative doth not convince him because opera virtutum simulari possunt the externall acts of saith repentance or any other grace may be counterfeited The Devill may seeme to be an Angell of light Wolves may goe in Sheepes cloathing Judas may make the World believe by his Preaching and following Christ that he is a true Apostle And Simon Magus though he remaine in the gall of bitternesse and bond of iniquity may be thought by his receiving of Baptisme to be a true believer And so may any Hypocrite by some exterior act of faith and repentance cosen the best discerner of spirits among men and gaine the opinion and esteeme of a true penitent and believer Actions externally good or good in appearance may be evill indeed for want of a good rule a good manner a good end some other good circumstances with which an action which is good must be cloathed For bonum non oritur nisi ex integris and so by consequence cannot certainly prove the man that doth
doe choose the things that God would not 2. If God doth will it but not by a powerfull and effectuall irresistable decree let him shew what that decree is whereby he wills sins Now this is commonly accounted a decree conditionall and let him speak plainely then tell us upon what condition it is that God doth will and procure sin in the world and I am verily perswaded he is to seek what to answer 3. If God doth will and decree it it cannot be avoided but it must be by a powerfull and effectuall decree which cannot be resisted seeing the Apostle saith plainly speaking of his decree that it cannot be resisted Upon these considerations I am perswaded that this Authour doth utterly deny that God doth at all will sin or decree that any such thing shall come to passe in the world that these attributes of powerfull and effectuall irresistable are used by him not for distinction sake but meerly for amplification that so he might speake with a full mouth Now having brought this Authour home to himselfe and delivering himselfe and his meaning plainely I am very willing to cope with him on this point Yet what need I having so fully disputed the point in a certaine digression in my Vindiciae lib. 2. Digrees 4. The title whereof is this Whether the holy one of Israel without any blot to his Majesty may be said to will sin And forthwith I answer that God may be said thus farre to will sin in as much as he will have sin to come to passe And for explication sake it is added that whereas God will have all the good things of the world whether naturall morall or spirituall come to passe by his working of them Only evill things he will have come to passe by his permitting them But this Authour affects to worke upon the ignorant and he doth not affect to trouble their braines with answering my reasons least thereby he should raise many spirits and afterwards prove unable to lay them And this discourse of M. Hord's some of that sect thought good to have it coppied out and communicated to people in the Country as accommodated to their capacities and so more fit to promote their edificatiō in the plausible way of Arminian religion well therefore in the proofe of this tenet namely that God will have sin come to passe by his permission I prove first by Scripture God hath put in their hearts that is in the hearts of the 10 Kings to fulfill his will Now marke what is the object of God's will in the words following and to agree and give their kingdōes unto the beast untill the words of God shall be fulfilled now by giving their Kingdomes unto the beast is not to depose or dethrone themselves or to part with their Kingdomes but only to submit their regall authority to the executiō of the beasts wrath against the Saints of God Like as in the dayes of Popery when the Saints of God were by Popish Prelates condemned for heresies then they were delivered into the hands of the secular powers the sherifes to burne thē at a stake Now this the holy Ghost makes the object of Gods will and their agreement thus to execute the Popes Antichristian pleasure is said to be Gods worke For God is said to put it into their hearts to doe this evill of his Of disobedient persons the Apostle professeth that they are ordained to stūble at Gods word wherein undoubtedly they sin Paul likewise testified of some that God sends thē strong delusions that they should beleive a lye of others that God gave them up to uncleanes through the lusts of their owne hearts to dishonour their owne bodyes betweene thēselves And to a Reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient Now let every sober man judge whether when God blinded the eyes of the one and hardned the harts of the other it were not his will that those foule things which were committed by them should come to passe by his permissiō Then consider what the Apostles with one consent testifie concerning those abominable acts committed against the holy son of God namely that both Herod Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles people of Israel were gathered together to doe what Gods hand his coūsell had before determined to be done This the Apostles deliver to the very face of God in their prayers holy meditatiōs And let every Christian consider whether it the Scripture had not made mention of this any one of us had used the like prayer meditatiō this Author all that are of his spirit would not have beene ready to spit in our faces cry us downe for notorious blasphemers Yet the Apostles indued with the spirit of God feared not to be found guilty of violating the Lords holinesse in all this Hence I proceeded to the passages of the Old Testament for the confirmation of the same truth As namely that whereas the desolatiō of the holy Land begun by the Assyrians finished by the Babylonians could not cōe to passe without many enormous sins Who can deny that it was Gods will that these things should come to passe considering that Assur himself is acknowledged by God to be the rod of his wrath and the staffe of his indignation whom God would send against an hypocriticall nation against the people of his wrath would he give him a charge to take the spoyle to take the prey to tread them downe like the mire in the streets Hence I proceeded to shew how that it is Gods usuall course to punish sin with sin Now when God exerciseth his judgments shall not those things justly be said to come to passe by his will which are punishments of foregoing sinnes See the judgment of God denounced against Amaziah the Preist of Bethell Thou sayst prophecy not against Israel drop not thy word against the house of Isaac Therefore thus saith the Lord Thy wife shall be an harlot in the Citties thy sons thy daughters shall fall by the sword And in like manner Solomon saith The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit he that is abhorred of the Lordshall fall therein The incest of Absolom defiling his fathers cōcubines in a shameles manner came it not to passe by the will of God whose word is this Behold I will raise up evill against thee out of thine owne house I will take thy wives before thine eyes give them unto thy neighbour he shall ly with thy wives in the sight of this sun The defection of the ten tribes frō the house of David came it not to passe by the will of God when God himselfe testifies that it was his worke not his will onely Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel I will rent the kingdome out of the hands of Solomon give ten tribes to thee speaking to Ieroboam here we have Gods will for it And
to have that to exist which before had no being And why may not the will of God be sufficient for the existence of the motion of each creature after it hath existence But supposing these determinations of the creatures wills to be necessary if God will not determine them to good what will follow herence Surely nothing but evill unlesse man can determine himselfe to that which is good without God For as for simple concurrence without subordination in working as I said before that cannot be affirmed without palpable and grosse contradiction as I have proved in the digression formerly mentioned proceed we yet farther I know nothing doth more intimately concerne God's secret providence in evill then the hardning of the creature to disobedience Now the Scripture which is the very word of God and the dictates of the Holy Ghost doth plainly and expressely teach that albeit God commanded Pharaoh to let Israell goe yet withall he hardened his heart that he should not let Israell goe for a long time which refusall of his was wilfull and presumptuous disobedience In like sort as touching obedience and disobedience to the Gospell the Apostle tells us plainly that God hath mercy on whom he will to performe the one and whom he will he hardeneth thereby exposing them to the other And hereupon this objection is made Why then doth God complaine to wit of man's disobedience for who hath resisted his will And we know what answer the Apostle makes hereunto O man who art thou that disputest with God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus Hath not the Potter power of the clay of the same lump to make one vessell unto honour another unto dishonour Now will any sober Christian conclude herehence that because God hardned Pharaoh that he should not let Israell goe therefore he is the Authour of sinne The Lord hath bid Shimei to curse David Consider what Austine writes upon this Quomodo dixerit Dominus huic homini maledicere David quis sapiens intelliget Non enim jubendo dixit ubi obedientia laudaretur sed quod ejus voluntatem proprio vitio suo malam in hoc peccatum judicio suo justo occulto inclinarit ideo dictum est Dixit ei Dominus How said the Lord to this man that he should curse David Who is wise and he shall understand For he said this not by commanding Shimei so to doe in which case his obedience had been commanded but in as much as Shimei's will through his own vitiousnesse being evill the Lord inclined it to this sinne by his just and secret judgment Thus saith he The Lord useth the hearts of the wicked to the praise and benefit of the good so he used Iudas betraying Christ so he made use of the Jewes crucifying Christ And how great good did he procure therehence to all believers Who also useth the Divell who is worst of all yet he makes best use of him to exercise and prove the faith and piety of the godly So he wrought in the heart of Absalom to refuse the counsell of Achitophell and make choice of that counsell which was nothing profitable Who may not well tremble in the contemplation of those Divine judgments whereby the Lord workes in the hearts of wicked men whatsoever he will yet rendring unto them according to their merits Then he proceeds to give other instances of Scripture to manifest God's working in the hearts of men and when he hath done he concludes in this manner His talibus testimoniis divinorum eloquiorum satis quantum existimo manifestatur operari Deum in cordibus hominum ad inclinandas eorum voluntates quocunque voluerit sive ad bona pro suâ misericordiâ sive ad mala pro meritis eorum judicio utique suo aliquando occulto semper autem justo By these and such like testimonies of Divine Scripture I take it to be sufficiently manifested that God doth worke in the hearts of men to incline their wills whithersoever he will either to those things that are good of his mercy or to such things that are evill for their deserts in the way of judgment which is sometimes known sometimes secret but alwaies just And all this he shewes to be wrought by God without prejudice to the freedome of their wills And why should David pray after this manner Lord incline mine heart to thy testimonies and not to covetousnesse If it were not in God's power to incline the hearts of men to covetousnesse Yet I trust no sober Christian will conclude from this prayer of David that God by executing such a power is the Author of sinne Lastly this argument is drawne from God's justice so is the third which is to confound rather then to distinguish the reasons produced by him We say that God cannot possibly be the Author of sinne the necessity of his nature stands in opposition thereunto For first sin hath no cause efficient but deficient only as long agoe it hath been delivered by Austin 2ly a cause deficient or defective is either in a culpable manner or in a manner nothing culpable As for example that Agent is defective culpably that either omits the doing of that which he ought to doe or omits to doe it after that manner which he ought to doe it now I say it is impossible that the divine nature can be defective either of these waies and consequently it is impossible that he should be the Author of sin whereas he saith this is Prosper's argument it is untrue He saith indeed it is against reason that God who damnes the Devill should will that any man should be a Servant to the Divell but forthwith he expounds himselfe 1. Expounding what that cōdition is of being the Devills servants whereof the objection did proceed Now the objection was this That the greatest part of men were created for this that they should doe not the will of God but the will of the Devill Now this objection saith Prosper proceeds from the Pelagians Qui Adae peccatum transiisse in omnes diffitentur who deny the sin of Adam to have passed unto all So that to doe the will not of God but of the Divell is to be in the state of naturall corruption and under the power of originall sinne whereby they are not God's servants but the Devills this is not the condition of God's children in the state of Grace Now Prosper shewes how originall sinne passeth over all not by the will of God and secondly how it passeth over all by the will of God Not by the will of God instituente but by the will of God judicante His words are these Haec servitus non est institutio Dei sed judicium This slavery of sinne which came upon all by Adam's sinne is not God's institution but his judgment As much as to say it came not upon a man by God's first creation but by his judgment upon him because of his
him 3. It is untrue that by our Doctrine Reprobates doe unavoidably sinne I have already demonstrated the contrary For as I said Malum semper habitat in alieno fundo every actuall sinne is a naturall act a worke of grace may be supernaturall as touching the substance of the act so is not the worke of sinne but allwaies naturall Now no Christian that I know affirmes that a man in the state of sin is bereaved of free will in things naturall Nay we generally confesse he hath free will in things morall only as touching things spirituall he hath no freedome left therein therefore as I said before Iudas might have naturally forborne to betray his Master naturally forborne to destroy himselfe If some object the common opiniō of Divines is that in a state of nature there is noe libertie for sinne I answer first out of Aquinas that this is to be understood of sinne in generall not of any in particular Licet aliquis non possit gratiam adipisci qui reprobatur à Deo tamen quod in hoc peccatum vel illud labatur ex ejus libero arbitrio contingit Though a man that is reprobated of God cannot obtaine Grace for how should he obtaine it if God will not give it will they say that Grace is given according unto workes yet that he falls into this or that sinne this is a contingent thing and proceeds from his own free will So say I every sinfull act committed by man in the state of naturall corruption is committed freely in such sort that he might have abstained from it but I doe not say that he could abstain from it in a gracious manner But whether he doth that which is good he doth it not in a gracious manner so that still he sinneth more or lesse and all by reason that as yet he hath neither faith in God nor love of God which are the fountaines of all gracious actions both in doing that which is good and in abstaining from that which is evill As for Zanchi's saying That God holds Reprobates so fast that they cannot but sinne This act of God is no other then his denying them grace to breake of their sinnes by repentance and to turne unto God Now the Apostle professeth that as God hath mercy on whom he will so he hardeneth others even whom he will in denying this grace unto them And marke what objection he shapes hereupon thou wilt say then why doth he yet complaine to wit of men's disobedience for of nothing else doth the Lord complaine For who hath resisted his will Observe the chaines wherewith God holds them fast irresistably to wit the chaines of obduration Let the Authour therefore charge St. Paul as well as Zanchy for making God the Authour of sinne and indeed he might have abounded in passages out of holy Scripture alleadged to the same end whereunto he alleadgeth these out of our Divines yea and Papists too But Piscator Zanchy and Calvine these are his proper markes to shoote at ever since he learnt in his age to correct the errours of his youth in taking frivolous exceptions against Bellarmine As for a necessity of sinning brought upon all by the sinne of Adam Arminius acknowledgeth it and this Arminius is acknowledged by Corvinus in his answer to Lilenus Only God takes it away from his Elect at the time of their calling and regenerating and leaves it upon the rest and who can say black to the eye for this Will we not give him libertie to have mercy on whom he will and harden whom he will Then let us fly in the face of Paul as well as Calvine Zanchy for so plainly teaching this The hardnesse of men's hearts is the immediate cause why they obey not God's word But there is another cause also that our Saviour takes notice of and that is this That God doth not regenerate them or hath not elected them Of this our Divines may well take notice because Moses before hath done the like The Israelites profited neither by hearing of God's word nor by the seeing of his mighty workes I say by none of these did they profit unto repentance and what was the reason hereof Surely the hardnesse of their hearts as Moses signifies Thou art a stiffe-necked people Yet he takes notice of another cause and that is this Yet the Lord hath not given our hearts to perceive nor eyes to see nor eares to heare unto this day So our Saviour in the Gospell He that is of God heareth God's words ye therefore heare them not because ye are not of God Now to be raised up in Calvin's Phrase to illustrate God's glory in their damnation is no other then to be brought forth into the world and not to be borne of God that is to have the grace of regeneration denied them and consequently to be suffered to goe on in their sinnes and lastly to be damned for their sinne to the manifestation of the glory of God's justice Solomon saith as much The Lord made all things for himselfe that is for the manifestation of his glory even the wicked against the day of evill And St. Paul Rom 9 by shewing mercy towards some signifies how God formes some after one manner by hardening others he formes them after another manner comparing the 18. v. with the 20. And in the 21. He justifies God in this and that in reference to different ends which are the manifestation of his glory different waies saying Hath not God power over the clay of the same lumpe to make one vessell unto honour and another unto dishonour And verse 22. What if God to shew his wrath and to make his power known suffered with long patience the vessells of his wrath prepared to destruction v. 23. And that he might declare the riches of his glory upon the vessells of mercy which he hath prepared unto glory What one of our Divines expresseth himselfe in this argument more fully or more liably to carnall exceptions following the judgment of flesh and bood then St. Paul doth in this Here by the way as touching Piscator I must fetch after mine answer in his behalfe to that which in the entrance to this Section was delivered of him and overseen by me For this Authour confessing that our writers have never said directly in terminis that God is the cause of sinne which introduction of his is the very same which Bellarmine useth opposing our Divines on this very argument lib. 2. Deamissione gratiae statu peccati cap. 4. Afterwards by a parenthesis brings in an exception of Piscator and some other of the blunter sort without naming one of them And though he name Piscator yet he quotes no place for if he had he should withall direct his Reader to the grounds whereupon Piscator affirmes this namely that God is the cause of man's fidelity And it is the very place formerly mentioned in these words He that is of God heareth God's
Utile est superbis in aliquod apertum manifestumque cadere peccatum I am bold to speake it It is good for a proud man to to fall into some open and manifest sin I come to the second stay whereby he objects to our Divines that they maintaine that God procures the sinnes of men and that is by his moving and inclining them by his irresistable and secret workings on their hearts to sinfull actions To which I answer first that not any of the passages alleadged by him out of Calvin who alone makes totam paginam in this of his makes mention of Gods irresistable working or of moving or inclining unto sinfull actions And let every sober man judge whether a bridle is fit to urge men to action and not rather to restraine from action and this is the force of the first Quotation But this Authour through heat corrupting his imagination tooke a bridle for a spurre His second testifies only this that man doth nothing but what God decreed and by his direction appointeth and this also upon pregnant testimonies of scripture never undertaking to shew Calvins interpretation to be false or his accommodation of them to be incongruous In the third he grants that God workes in the mind of men In the 4. he saith that God stirrs up the wills and confirmes the purposes of wicked men for the execution of his judgment by Satan the minister of his wrath Where consider he doth this by Satan that is he gives them over to Satan for this so that 't is Satan that stirres up their wills and confirmes their endeavours by Gods permission without restraint either immediate or mediate by the ministry of his good angells and all this is but to execute Gods judgments And that it is just with God to punish sin with sin both scripture testifies in divers places and Austin confirmes with variety of Scripture testimonies in his lib. 5. contra Julian Pelag cap. 3. The last is that God's worke it is to harden mans heart and thereby prepare him to destruction And let every sober reader that is not willing to be cheated both of his faith and honesty all at once examine these places in Calvin and the Scriptures whereby he proves that which he affirmes and let him but aske the Authour these questions If Calvin delivers nothing in all this but what he proves out of Scripture why is he found fault with more then the word of God If Scripture be mis-alleadged and mis-understood by him why do not you confute him 2 Though Calvin in all this makes no mention of Gods inclining wicked men to sinfull actions yet Austin doth as before I have shewed and that by variety of Scripture testimonies And if this be to make God the Authour of sin why hath he not so much ingenuity as to confesse at least in the close of all that Calvin makes God the Authour of sin no more then Austin doth and neither of them more then the word of God doth and therewithall renounce the Scriptures and turne Atheist 3 As the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh to his destruction so did he the heart of Sihon also Nowsee what Cardinall Caietan writes upon thisvery place Utramque homines partē spiritum cor hoc est superiorem inferiorem male dispositam à Deo intellige negativè penes dona gratuita positivè autem quoad judicium inclinationem prosecutionem bòni sensibilis Ita quod Deus spiritum Regis durum hoc est non cedentem petionibus reddit non dando ei gratiam acquiescendi coo operando eidem ad affectum securitatis boni proprii similiter roboravit cor ad affectum boni victoriae hujusmodi Each part of King Sihon his spirit and heart that is the upper and lower part being ill disposed by God understād this negatively as touching guifts of grace but positively as touching his judgment affection and prosecution of a sensible good So that the Lord made the Kings heart hard that is not to yeild to the request made both by not giving grace to rest satisfied and by cooperating with him to the affecting of security and his own good And in like manner he hardned his heart to the affecting of victory and the like I have not heard that this my opposite hath been ever ready to censure Caietan for making God the Authour of all this yet noe passage I am perswaded throughout all Calvin's works can be found comparable unto this Yet was Caietan noe Jesuite he need not spare his censures I come to the sum of that which he hath delivered in a whole leafe The first whereof is this that we teach That God appointed many miserable men from all eternity to unavoidable torments Now that God appointed many fom eternity to everlasting torments this Authour acknowledgeth as well as we As for the avoidable condition of them it is confessed on both sides that they are avoidable only by breaking off their sinnes by repentance before their death and by this we acknowledge them to be avoidable of all and every one as well as they But we say God doth not grant this grace to all For he is not bound to give it to all noe nor to any but he vouchsafeth this grace to whom he will and he denieth it to whom he will and this St. Paul hath taught us where he saith God hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardneth The second is that we teach that God to bring about their intended ruine decreed that they should without remedie live die in a state of sin To this I answer that it is a most absurd conceite to make the tormenting of any man God's end We have learnt of King Solomon that God made all things for himselfe here is the end of his actions the manifestation of his own glory And albeit he made the very wicked also against the day of evill yet the end thereof was for himselfe as formerly specified that is for the manifestation of his just wrath and that God hath power without any difference in the matter to make some vessells of wrath and some of mercy as he thinkes good The Apostle plainely teacheth us where he saith Hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessell unto honour and another unto dishonour And if any man's wicked proud heart make insurrection against this truth the Apostle hath taught us to stop his mouth with this shall the the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus Shall not God have as much power over the masse of mankind as the Potter hath over the clay So that this is God's end not man's damnation but his own glory Haec loquendiratio saith Calvin this manner of speech finem creationis esse interitum aeternum the end of man's creation is his everlasting destruction nusquam apud me occurret shall never be found
for hereby many times men are drawen full sore against their wills to doe that which they would not It is true God's power cannot be resisted but neither hath any man any will to resist that motion of God whereby he workes agreable to their natures then indeed there were place for resisting If the Lord carrieth on a covetous person such as Achan to covet a wedge of gold and a Babylonish garment and coveting it move him accordingly to take it and convey it away secretly and hide it in his tent what resistance doth he make in all this Or what is done in all this lesse agreably to his covetous disposition then to the disposition of Toades and Addars when he moves them according to their nature to sting and poyson So he moved the Babylonians compared to Serpents and Cockatrices to sting a wicked people Doe not the Scriptures plainly professe that God did send them Is not Assur in this respect called the Rod of God's wrath and the staffe in his hand Was it not called the Lords indignation Is he not compared to an axe and a sawe shall the axe boast it selfe against him that heweth therewith Or shall the saw extoll it selfe against him that moveth it Still he confounds the act with the sinfulnesse thereof speaking of God's producing sinnes whereas sinne is never produced it being only an obliquity consequent unto the act of such a worker as is subject to a law And our Adversaries confesse that God is the cause of the act as well as we Yet will they not hereby be driven to professe that in producing the act he produceth the sin As for that which he speaks of Inforcing we may well pitty him that when he wants strength of reason he supplies that by phrases We deny that God inforceth any man's will Nay it is the generall rule of Schooles that voluntas non potest cogi the will cannot be forced We maintaine that every act of the will especially in naturall things such as a sinfull act must needs be for only gracious acts are supernaturall is not only voluntary which is sufficient to preserve it from being forced but free also by as much libertie as the creature is capable of only we deny that the will of man is primum liberum a first free agent that is the prerogative of God alone the first mover of all and the supreme Agent thus I have dispatched my answer to his first reason consisting of three parts I come unto the second Sect 4. If we could find out a King that should so carry himselfe in procuring the ruine and the offences of any Subjects as by this opinion God doth in the affecting of the damnation and transgressions of Reprobates we would all charge him with the ruine and sinnes of those his Subjects Who would not abhorre saith Moulin a King speaking thus I will have this man hangâ—d and that I may hang him justly I will have him murder or steale This King saith he should not only make an innocent man miserable sed sceleratum but wicked too and should punish him for that offence cujus ipse causa esset of which himselfe was the cause It is a cleare case Tiberius as Suetonius reports having a purpose to put some Virgins to death because it was not lawfull among the Romans to strangle Virgins caused them all to be deflouered by the hang-man that so they might be strangled Who will not say that Tiberius was the principall Authour of the deflouring of those Maides In like manner say the Supralapsarians God hath a purpose of putting great store of men to the second death but because it is not lawfull for him by reason of his justice to put to death men innocent and without blame he hath decreed that the Devill shall defloure them that afterwards he may damne them It followeth therefore that God is the maine cause of those their sinnes If a King should carry himselfe as God did in hardning Pharaoh's heart that he should not let Israel goe and when he had let Israel goe to harden his heart that he should follow after them we would acknowledge such a one not to be man but God And then surely whatsoever our Arminians would thinke of such a one we would thinke noe otherwise then Solomon did of him of whom he professed that he made all things for himselfe even the wicked against the day of evill If God doth but permit a man to will this or that necesse est saith Arminius it must needs be ut nullo argumentorum genere persuadeatur ad nolendum that noe kind of argument shall perswade such one to abstaine from willing it And I hope Arminius hath as great auhority with this Authour as Mr. Moulin deserves to have with us Noe King hath power to dispense any such providence as this St. Paul tells us plainly that God hath ordained some unto wrath and as he hath made of the same lumpe some vessells unto honour so hath he made other vessells unto dishonour The Lord professeth that he kept Abimelech from sinning against him Thus the Lord could deale with all if it pleased him Why doth he not is it not for the manifestation of his own glory For to this purpose he hath made all things And that he suffers with long patience vessells of wrath prepared to destruction And what to doe doth he suffer them But to continue and persevere in their sinfull courses without repentance the Apostle plainly tells us that it is to declare his wrath and make his power known This is not the voice of any Doctor of ours now a dayes but of St. Paul And shall Mr. Moulin be brought in to affront St. Paul For recompence let the Jesuits be heard to whom the nation of the Arminians are beholden for their principall grounds Wherefore doth God give effectuall grace unto one and not unto another but because he hath elected the one and rejected the other And I appeale to every sober Christian whether the absolutenesse of reprobation doth not as invincibly follow herehence as the absolutenesse of Election But touching Mr. Moulin I have heard that Doctor Ames somtimes wished that he had never medled in this argument I am not of Doctor Ames his mind in this though it were I thinke most fit every one should exercise himselfe in those questions wherein by the course of his studies he hath been most conversant so should the Church of God enjoy plus dapis rixae multo minus invidiaeque I doe admire Mr. Moulin in his conference with Cayer as also upon the Eucharist and on Purgatory he hath my heart when I read his consolalations to his Breathren of the Church of France as also intreating of the love of God I would willingly learne French to understand him only and have along time desired still to get any thing that he hath written I highly esteem him in his Anatomie though I doe not
like all and every passage yet but few are the passages wherein I differ from his opinion I have been very sory to observe how by his doctrine in the point of reprobation he overthrowes his own Orthodox Doctrine in the point of Election I would he would answer Sylvester who hath replied to his admirable letters written to Monsieur Balzak I could be well content were I once free to supply what is wanting to Waleus his Apologie for him against Corvinus But to the point the passage here proposed by him is I willingly confesse somewhat harsh I will have this man hang'd and that I may hang him justly I will have him murther or steale But compare it with that of St. Paul formerly mentioned God suffers the vessells of wrath prepared to destruction that he may declare his wrath and make his power known And that of Eli's children They obeyed not the voice of their Father because the Lord would slay them And that Amaziah would not heare For it was of the Lord that he might deliver them into his hands because they sought the Gods of Edom. And that of Ieremiah Doubtlesse because the wrath of the Lord was against Ierusalem and Iuda till he had cast them out of his presence therefore Zedekiah rebelled against the King of Babel And observe how neare Mr. Moulin is to expose these holy passages of Scripture and the doctrine contained in them in like manner unto scorne ere he is aware And let him soberly consider and without any humour of complying with our Adversaries out of a desire to charme them who will not be charmed to what end God doth finally permit some to persevere in sinne and can he find any other but this for the manifestation of the glory of his vindicative justice in their condemnation And without any desire to charme I have shewed plainly that God doth not permit any man to sinne and finally to persevere in sin to the end that he may damnethem But that he both permits them finally in sin and damnes them for their sinne for the declaration of his wrath and power on them and also that he may declare the riches of his glory upon the vessells of his mercy whom he hath prepared unto glory If he put a difference between permission of sinne and a will that they shall sinne I would entreate him not to stumble at this For what difference between God's will to permit man to sinne and to will that man shall sin by his permission And the tragicall acts committed on the holy Son of God by Herod and Pilate the Gentiles and people of Israel the Apostles say not they were permitted by God but that they were predetermined by the hand and counsell of God Mr. Moulin's care is to avoid harsh expressions it is a commendable care For why should we causlesly expose the truth of God to be the worse thought of and provoke men to stumble at it by unnecessary harshnesse Yet I find the Scripture it selfe delivered by the holy Prophets and Apostles is nothing so scrupulous Malim dicere saith Mr. Moulin I had rather say Deum non decrevisse dare alicui gratiam quâ convertatur credat that God hath decreed not to give some one grace whereby to be converted and believe quâm dicere eum decrevisse ut homo sit incredulus impoenitens then to say God hath decreed that man should be incredulous and impenitent And he gives his reason thus Vox enim decernendi aptior est ad ea designanda quae Deus statuit facere quà m ea quibus statuit non mederi For to decree is fitter to denote such things as God hath purposed to doe then such things as he hath purposed not to cure And indeed the Ancients in this sense take the word predestination to be only of such things as God himselfe purposed to worke as Grace and Glory and the damnation of impenitent sinners But if God decrees not to cure impenitency and infidelity in some judge whether upon this ground it may not well be said that God decrees that the impenitency and infidelitie of some shall continue uncured And Mr. Monlin confesseth that God decreed that the Jewes should put Christ to death His words are these Deus vetuit homicidium idem tamen decrevitut Iudaei Christum morte afficerent God forbad murther yet he decreed that the Iewes should kill Christ Yet by the way consider God hath no need of the sinne of man that he may put him to death justly For undoubtedly God could annihilate any creature that he hath made the most holy Angells without any blemish to his justice Yea by power absolute he could cast the most innocent creature into hell fire and continue yet just still as formerly hath been shewed and Raynaudus justifies and represents variety of testimonies for this not only of School-divines one of whom professeth that it is concors omnium Theologorum sententia the common opinion of Divines but of the Ancient Fathers also And therefore though to strangle Virgins was not lawfull for Tiberius yet a greater more severe worke then this is lawfull for God Neither doth God cōmand any impure course to any but under pain of eternall damnatiō forbids it But as he hardened Pharaoh's heart that he should not let I srael goe so can he harden any man's heart to doe as foule a work as this And St. Paul testifies that he gave up the heathens to their hearts lusts unto uncleanes to defile their own bodies between themselves which turned the truth of God into a lie worshipped served the creature forsaking the Creatour who is blessed for ever amen For this cause God gave them up to vile affections for even the women did change the naturall use into that which is against nature And likewise the men left the naturall use of the women and burned in their lusts one toward another and man with man wrought filthinesse And this is noted by the Apostle to have been a work of judgment For it followes they received in themselves such recompence of their errours as was meet I grant Tiberius was the principall Authour of deflowring those Maides For he commanded it and that as I have shewed makes a man the Authour of a crime both out of School-divines and out of Oratours but God gave no such cōmand to these heathens thus to defile themselves And this Authour doubts not but God cooperates to the substance of every act notwithstanding the absoute dominion of the will over her actions for which he pleades And it cannot be denied unlesse the word of God be therewithall denied that in him we move as well as in him we live and have our being And though God gave not commandement to Absalom to defile his Fathers Concubines yet he tells David saying I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them to thy neigbour and he shall lie with thy wives in the
obduratum so mayest thou not say of this Authour in this discourse of his noverit se esse excaecatum let him take notice how himselfe is blinded The Lord giving Israel up to their own hearts lusts he like a resolute Doctor will have to proceed by way of mere permission Yet the Lord saith not he permitted them to their own lusts and Rom 1. 24 26 28. Observe first looke what he permitted came to passe throughout even to abominable courses Secondly observe the judgment of God is noted herein They received the recompence of their own errour as was meet What And are God's judgments executed only by God's permission and that by the hands of them that are judged and punished Such is the accuratenes of this Authours divinity comming to correct the mistakes of others about permission And for the proofe of all this we have this Authour 's bare word without any reason or authority represented by him As for that of Ezechiel not chap 18. 39 but chap 20. 39 Goe and serve every one his Idels this hath the forme of a command rather then of a permission but the Lord hereby signifies that in serving him while they serve other Gods they doe but profane his holy name in serving him and undoubtedly they provoked God more hereby then the heathens who served not him at all but other Gods only So that the Lord seemes to signifie that he had rather they should not serve him at all as Revelations 3. I would thou wer'st either hot or cold but seeing thou art luke-warme I will spue thee out of my mouth But be it as the Authour would have it did here God begin to permit them their former disobedience was it not a consequent of God's permission For if God had not permitted their disobedience surely it had not been by the Authours discourse in the beginning of this Section As touching that Revelations 22. 11. I hope by the same rule of this positive Theologue not only their continuing to be unjust was by God's permission but their first being and beginning to be unjust was by God's permission also And surely if this man's word be of any credit all sinners were first permitted to sinne otherwise they had never sinned and not the obstinate and willfull only Were not the Angells innocent before their first sin was not Adam innocent before his first sin and did not God permit both Angells and men to sin their first sin If not what truth is in this authour's word when he said God hath decreed to suffer sin for otherwise there would be none And if he be not worthy to be believed in this his credit is crackt and deserves not to be believed in ought 2. We have been more beholding unto this Authour since he came to meet with our distinctions then throughout all his former discourse as I have shewed already in part shall discover more by God's helpe not his permission only ere we part from this He seemes to be conscious of some thing and fearefull of giving too much advantage as appeares by his expressiō when he saith that permission of sin for so he should say supposeth a possibility of sinning or not sinning Now this is nothing congruous to his former expressions whereby it was made to suppose that a man is able to stand For to be able to stand is to have an active power in him whereby he is able to stand but to have a possibility of standing or not sinning is not so For though a man hath no power in himselfe to stand or to abstaine from sinne yet if there be a power in God to makehim stand and to preserve him from falling this is sufficient to make good that a man hath a possibility of standing and abstaining from sinne And we are willing to confesse that God is able not only to preserve any man that stands from falling but also to raise any man that is fallen and to make him stand Thus Florus Habet homo post illam damnationem liberum arbitrium quo propriâ voluntate inclinari potest inclinatur ad malum habet liberum arbitrium quo possit assurgere ad bonum Ut autem assurgat ad bonum non est propriae virtutis sed gratiae Dei miserantis Nam qui mortuus est dici potest posse vivere non tamen suâ virtute sed Dei Ita liberum arbitrium hominis semel sauciatum semel mortuum potest sanari non tamen suâ virtutè sed gratiâ miserantis Dei. Et ideo omnes homines admonentur omnibus verbum praedicatur quia habent posse credere posse converti ad Deum ut verbo extrinsecus admonente Deo intus suscitante qui audiunt reviviscant After Adam's fall man hath free will whereby of his own accord he may be and is inclined unto evill he hath free will whereby he may arise unto that which is good but to arise unto Good is not of his own power but of Gods grace commiserating For of him also who is dead it may be said that he may live yet not of his own power but by the power of God So the free will of men being once wounded once dead may be healed not by ' its own power but by the grace of God shewing mercy And therefore all men are admonished the word is preached unto all because this they have that they may believe they may be converted unto God to the end that by the word admonishing outwardly and God stirring them up inwardly they which heare may be revived Observe by the way a manifest incongruity in saying that permission is a not hindring them from falling who are able to stand For they who are permitted to fall and not hindered from falling are supposed to stand and not only to be able to stand It seemes this Authour cannot endure that Permission of sinne should consist in the withholding of a grace needfull to abstaine from sinne Whence it followeth evidently that in this Authour's opinion either God's permission of sinne is not the withholding of any grace at all or if it be it is the withholding only of such a grace without which neverthelesse man may keep himselfe from sinne and consequently though such a grace be granted yet it is indifferent for him to sinne as well as to abstaine from sinne If it be no withholding of grace at all it followes that like as when a man sins it is not for want of grace So when a man abstaines from sinne it is not by vertue of any grace of God granted him thereunto Yet the Lord tells King Abimelech expresly I kept thee from sinning against me If he pretends that some grace is withheld whensoever a man sinneth but will not say that is was necessary for the avoiding of sinne it followeth that when man is permitted to sinne he is no more apt to sinne then while such grace was denied him and consequently no more apt to
magistrates have spared such offenders as have been overswayed with passions which did but incline not determine them to their irregular actions they would never have punished any trespassers if they had thought them to be such by invincible necessity Or if offenders did thinke that their offences were their destinies and that when they murther steale commit adultery make insurrections plot treasons or practise any other outragious villanies they doe them by the necessity of Gods unalterable decree and can doe no otherwise they would and might compâ—aine of their punishments as unjust as Zenoes servant did when he was beaten by his master for a fault he told him out of his own grounds that he was unjustly beaten Because he was â—fato coactus peccare constrained to make that fault by his undeclinable fate The Adâ—umctine Monks misled by Saint Austin Epist 105. ad sixtum Presbyterum which he calleth a booke wherein he setteth downe his opinion concerning Gods grace did so teach grace that they denyed free will And this Saint Austin confuted in his booke De gratia liberoarbitrio And thinking the grace of God as Saint Austin taught to be such as could not stand with freedome of will they thought that no man should be punished for his faults but rather prayed for that God would give them grace to doe better Against this Austin directed his other booke De correp gratiá In which discourse though it be grace that is still named yet predestination is included For as Kimedontius saith truely in his preface to Luther De servo arbitrio Between grace and predestination there is only this difference as Saint Austin teacheth Libro de praedest Sanctorum cap. 10. that predestination is a preparation of grace and grace a bestowing of predestination As Zenoes servant and these Monks did so would all men judge did they considerately thinke that men could not choose but offend And what would be the resultance of such a perswasion but an inundation of the greatest insolencies and dissolution of all good goverment Indeed if our doctrine make sin to be no sin and therewithall take away the conscience of sin it is not to be marvailed if it take away the desert and guilt of sinne For as sinne is no sinne so likewise it is as fit that the desert and guilt of sinne should be the desert and guilt of no sinne and so no desert or guilt at all This Authour to serve his own turne takes great libery of discourse in talking of offences fatall these were called by Austin profane novelties of words Yet elsewhere he professeth that if no other thing were meant hereby then the divine providence Sententiam teneant linguaÌ„ corrigant let theÌ„ hold their orthodoxe meaning but let theÌ„ correct their language Now by providence divine is meant the will of God working every thing that is good and permitting every thing that is evill And without this will of God not any thing comes to passe in the judgment of Austin Non aliquid sit saith he nisi oÌ„nipotens furi velit vel sinenâ—o ut fiat vel ipse faciendo Not any thing comes to passe unlesse Almighty God will have it come to passe either by suffering it or by 〈◊〉 working of it to wit if evill suffering it if good working it but of each he professeth that God wills it The abominable outrages committed upon the person of the holy Son of God were such as God's hand and God's counsell sore determined that is as much as to say antecedently determined to be done And the â—en Kings in giving their kingdomes to the Beast are said herein to have agreed to dce God's will Yet this Authour dares not say that these actions could not be justly punished Yet the maintainets of destiny as I have shewed out of Austin denyed that the wills of men were subject to destiny while this Authour talkes in their language why doth he not talke in their meaning And if he talkes in our meaning why doth he not talke in our language Now Austin farther saith is I have shewed out of the same place that they who exempted the wills of men from all necessity seared a vaine and causelesse feare professing that as to some necessity the will is not subject such as is the necessity of death which befalls us whether we will or no. So to some necessity it may be subject without any danger and that necessity he expresseth to be such as when we say it must needs be that such a thing come to passe Now such a necessity and no other is granted by us as consequent to the will of God so that if God will give a man faith it must needs be such a man shall believe if he will give repentance it must needs be that such a man shall repent If he will keep such a man as Abimelech from sinning against him it must needs be that such a man shall be kept from sinning against him If God will not give a man faith nor repentance it must needs be that such a man will not believe will not repent In like manner if God will not keepe a man from sinne but suffer him to sinne it needs must be that such a one shall sinne If God harden the heart of Pharoah so that he shall not set Israel goe undoubtedly so it shall come to passe If God put it into the hearts of the Kings to give up their kingdomes to the Beast they shall infallibly give their Kingdomes to the Beast If he gives men over unto a Reprobate mind to doe things inconvenient undoubtedly being thus prostituted by God to their own corruption from within and to the power of Satan from without they shall doe those inconvenient things be they never so abominable yet not necessarily much lesse in the way of absolute necessity as this Authour wordeth it affecting to speake with a full mouth which is a quality naturall to these Arminians and runnes in a blood but proveth nothing but contingently and freely not only with a possibility but also with an active power to the contrary And if freely then surely their works are their own proceeding from their own power and soveraignty but yet not supreame and absolute dominion and independent in their operation on God their maker God must have the prerogative still of being the first mover the first cause the first Agent the first free Agent So farre off are we from maintaining that the actions of men have their being by absolute necessity that we utterly deny any thing in the world to have ' its existence by absolute necessity saving God alone as before I have shewed Sciendum saith Durand quod loquendo de necessitate simpliciter voluntas divina nec imponit nec imponere potest rebus necessitatem nec res creatae sunt capaces talis necessitatis We are to know that speaking of necessity simply so called the will of God neither doth
a thing it is for any man to maintaine that there is some cause of predestination as touching the act of God predestinating So as mad a thing it must be every way to avouch that there is a cause of Reprobation as touching the act of God reprobating And truely the Apostle St. Paul plainly manifests that upon what ground he proves that Election is not of good works namely because before Iacob or Esau were borne or had done good or evill it was said The elder shall serve the younger upon the same ground we may be bold to conclude that Reprobation is not of evill workes And the same reason manifests that faith and infidelity are excluded from being the causes the one of Election the other of Reprobation as well as good and evill workes And both Piscator by evidence of Scripture and Bradwardine by evidence of reason have demonstrated that no will of God is conditionall which is to be understood as touching the act of God willing And it may be evidently further demonstrated thus If any thing be the cause of God's will then either by necessity of nature or by the constitution of God Not by necessity of nature as is evident and all confesse there being no colour of truth for that besides such an opinion were most dangerously prejudiciall to God's soveraignty and liberty If therefore they say it is by the constitution of God maske I pray what an insuperable absurdity followeth hereupon For seing God's constitution is his will it followeth that God did will that upon foresight of this or that he would will such a man's salvation and such a man's damnation And thus the act of God's will is made the Object of God's will even the eternall act of God's will Whereas to the contrary it is apparent that the objects of God's will are things temporall never any thing that is eternall But as touching things willed we readily grant it may be said there is a cause thereof as School-Divines doe generally acknowledge And thus Gerardus Vossius speaks of the conditionall will which he faith the Fathers doe ascribe to God For this is the instance which he gives thereof as for example when God ordaines to bestow salvation on a man in case he believe here faith is made the condition of Salvation but not of the will of God And in like manner we willingly grant that reprobation is conditionall inasmuch as God intends to inflict damnation on none but such as die in sin without repenance But albeit predestination as touching this particular thing willed may be said to be conditionall according as the School-men explicate their meaning and reprobation likewise as touching the particular of dānatiō mētioned yet no such thing cā be truely affirmed either of the one or of the other as touching the particulars of grāting or denying the grace of règeneratiō which are intended also by the decrees of predestinatiō reprobatiō For albeit God intends not to bestow salvation on any but upon condition of faith nor damnation on any but upon condition of finall impenitency and infidelity Yet God intends not to bestow the grace of regeneration on some for the curing of their naturall infidelity and impenitency Nor to leave the same infidelity and impenitency uncured in others by denying the same grace of regeneration unto them This I say God doth not intend to bring to passe upon any condition For if he should then grace should be conferred according unto works which was condemned in the Synod of Palestine and all along in divers Synods and Councells against the Pelagians So that albeit God proceeds according to a law in bestowing salvation and inflicting damnation yet he proceeds according to no law in giving or denying the grace of regeneration for the curing of our naturall corruption but merely according to the pleasure of his will as the Apostle testifies saying He hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth And if the conferring and denying of this grace be absolute how much more are the decrees hereof to be accounted most absolute And consequently that one man is delivered from the power of his sins whether originall or habituall another is not but still continueth under the power of them This I say doth must needs come to passe by vertue of Gods absolute decrees Yet no absolute necessity followeth hereupon First because no greater necessity then that which is absolute can be attributed to the existence and continuance of God himselfe Secondly God did absolutely decree to make the world yet no wise man was ever known to affirme that the worlds existence was and is by absolute necessity In like sort God did absolutely decree that Iosiah should burne the Prophets bones upon the Altar That Cyrus should build his Citty and let goe his captives That no man should desire the Israelites land when they should come to appeare before the Lord their God thrice in the yeare That God would circumcise their hearts and the hearts of their children to love the Lord their God withall their heart and with all their soule To put his feare in their hearts that they should never depart away from him To cause them to walke in his statutes and judgments to doe them To worke in them both the will and the deed according to his good pleasure Yea to worke in them every thing that is pleasing in his sight through Iesus Christ Likewise that Absolom should defile his fathers Concubines that the Jewes should crucify the Son of God that some through disobedience should stumble at the word that the Kings should give their kingdomes to the beast Yet these actions were done by them as freely as ever they did ought in their lives All these things I say by Scripture evidence were decreed by God to come to passe The good by God's effection the evill by God's permission and decreed absolutely on their parts that did them if not let it be shewed upon what condition on Absolon's part he should defile his fathers Concubines upon what condition on the Jewes part they should crucify the Son of God upon what condition on their part others through disobedience should stumble at God's word And upon what condition on their part the Kings should give their kingdomes to the beast And if they take Arminias his way let them reply upon mine answere to Arminius if Bellarmin's let them reply upon my answer to Bellarmine that we may not trouble the world with out Tautologies If a different way from both these I shall be glad to be acquainted with it give it such entertainement as according to my judgment it shall be found to deserve So that with Epiphanius though we are ready to concurre in denying destiny which as before we heard out of him was a necessity derived from the starres yet with Austin we may still hold that the wills of men need not to be exempted from all necessity to maintaine the liberty
give them the grace of believing without will no man can believe What therefore is God an Hypocrite Away with such a blasphemy He alone is to be accounted an Hypocrite who counterfeits holinesse when he has none Such counterfeiting is not incident to God And let the Reader observe well the immodest cariage of this Authour Piscator when he saith that God in words professeth he will have Reprobates to believe he shewes withall in what respect he doth so to wit quatenus mandat ut credant in as much as he commands them to believe And indeed God's command is usually called God's will and by none more then by these our opposites But this Authour drawes this to the signification of God's will simply so called which is the will of purpose And to that purpose leaves out the words whereby Piscator explicates himselfe Who knowes not that God commanded Pharaoh by his servant Moses to let Israel goe this is to professe with the tongue in Piscator's phrase that God would have Pharaoh to let Israel goe And God's commandement is called God's will in Scripture This is the will of God even your sanctification But to speake properly it is but the signification of God's will of good pleasure properly called the will of God that it should be Pharaoh's duty to let Israel goe but withall he revealed to Moses that he would harden Pharaoh s heart that he should not let Israel goe Now let the indifferent judge what this Authour hath gotten by these passages of Piscator save only the displaying of his own immodest and calumniating courses then he thinks to please his Reader with the story of Tantalus wherein there is no congruity to that whereunto it is applyed For Tantalus à labris sitiens fugientia captat Flumina He was an hungred and would faine eate but could not He was a thirst and would faine drinke but could not God deales so with no man neither reprobate Jewes nor Gentiles had any desire to be partakers of the mercies of God offered them in Christ The Gospell was a scandall to the one and foolishnesse to the other But to them that are called it is the power of God and wisedome of God And as they hunger and thirst after God's righteousnesse in his deare Son so are they satisfied therewith Let him that is a thirst come and drinke of the water of life freely And He every one that is a thirst come ye to the waters and ye that have no silver come buy and eate come I say buy wine and milke without silver and without money Wherefore doe ye lay out your silver and not for bread and your labour without being satisfied Hearken diligently unto me heare and your soules shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure mercies of David Here is no sending of them away empty which thirst after these waters of life They all shall draw waters of the wells of salvation So that here is no such dealing with them as the Poets feigne was their Gods dealing with Tantalus My answer to that which he produceth out of Zanchy and Bucer the Reader shall find in my answer to M. Hord. Pag. 76. 77. In the point of threats and comminations after these words We never read that threats are thundred out against us for originall sinne In M. Hord's discourse it is added Or for that corruption of nature which we brought with us into the world But this Authour leaves it quite out with what mind let the Reader judge and whether he can well brook that originall sinne should be stiled a corruption of nature which we bring with us into the world Pag. 78. In the same second sub-section after that of Abslaon's feast Ioab's congy the kisse of Iudas and the Hyaena's teares c. There is a good passage left out which followeth in M. Hord and in the place thereof this which here followeth foysted in Let the Reader consider with himselfe wherefore that was left out it seemes he was asham'd of that calumniation But thus it followes here Nay the whole ministry wherein God commandeth offereth chideth entreateth lamenteth c. if this be true is but a mere imposture a giving of words without any meaning of answerable deeds And an imposture so much the greater by how much the shew of kindnesse is the heartier For how can a good thing be offered with stronger shewes of a good meaning then when it is offered with exhortations and entreaties to accept it with cleare demonstrations of the excellency of it unfeigned wishes that the parties to whom it is offered would accept it and bitter lamentations for their folly in refusing it With all these enforcements i◠Gods tenderof salvation to Reprobates accompanyed and therefore in shew most hearty and serious In a word thusspeaks God by this doctrine to Reprobates in the ministery O ye Reprobates once most dearely beloved of me in your father Adam but now extreamly and implacably hated and by mine eternall uncontroulable order scaled up under invincible sinne and misery amend your lives and believe in the name of mine only begotten Son If you repent and believe not there is no remedy you must be damned but if you repent and believe ye shall be saved Though your sins be as red as scarlet I will make them to be as white as wooll Thinke not that I would have you dye For I sweare as I live I will not the death of him that dyeth I would have no man to perish but all to come to repentance I beseech you therefore be reconciled I have cryed and called unto you I have a long time waited upon you that you might repent And still am I knocking at the doores of your hearts for entrance O that there were an heart in you to feare me and keep my commandements that it might goe well with you for ever What shall I doe unto you how shall I intreate you will you not be made cleane when shall it once be Can God speake thus to reprobates who by his own decree shall never repent nor be saved without the deepest dissimulation Judge indifferent Reader whether ever more passion were shewed with lesse common sense For let the enforcements be never so great and serious in the ministry of the word under which all the expressions here mentioned are comprehended yet is it possible that men can yeild unto them obedience by faith and repentance unlesse God gives faith and repentance For doth not the Scripture clearely testifie that faith is the gift of God To you it is given both to believe in him to suffer for him that it is the worke of grace Act. 18. 27. What hast thou that thou hast not received And doth not the Apostle accordingly pray on the behalfe of the Ephesians not for peace only but for faith and love also from God the father and our Lord Jesus Christ Is not repentance also the
the heart of his servants that I might worke these my miracles in the middest of his realme Here we have plaine enforcements those of great power used by the Lord yet still the Lord continues to harden Pharaoh's heart and professeth as much not fearing the censure of any vile wretch to cast upon him the imputation of imposture throughout the whole course of his ministery And the truth is all the learned concurre in distinguishing between Voluntas praecepti voluntas propositi and count it absurd to inferre the purpose of God or his will to have such a thing done from his commanding it though this command be joyned with exhortation expostulations wishes or whatsoever other emphaticall expressions all which the learned conclude under Praeceptum as a signe of God's will And the Pelagians of old urged it no farther then as God's precept backt with what exhortations and enforcements soever thence to conclude that man had power to yeild obedience but not to conclude it was God's will it should come to passe and to impute desires unto God in proper speech which never are accomplished what an unscholasticall course is it even as much as to deny him to be God and to bereave him of his blessed condition by frustrating him of his desires Whereas the time shall come that the Elect of God shall be so blessed as to have no desire of theirs in vaine Neither doth the objectour introduced by St. Paul breake forth into any such blasphemy as to charge God with any imposture in hardning whom he will when neverthelesse the ministery of the word hath course with them as well as with any other but rather proposeth it as a thing unreasonable that God should complaine of mens disobedince when himselfe hath hardned their hearts whereby it comes to passe that it cannot be that they should obey God as they ought For who hath resisted his will Yet we know what answer the Apostle maketh to stop the mouthes of all such as call God to an account for his procedings But ô man who art thou who disputest with God Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lumpe to make one vessell unto honour and another unto dishonour And wilt not thou allow as much power unto God over thee or over the matter whereof thou wast made as the Potter hath power over the clay Proud man thinks himselfe able enough to believe to repent Now God by his passionate expressions in the Prophets discovereth the vanity of this proud conceit and laboureth by their little profiting by all these patheticall moving courses to manifest the strength of man's corruption And when they will not learne and receive this instruction by his workes he tells them the plaine truth of it to their faces Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and unto all his land The great temptations which thine eyes have seen those great miracles and wonders Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive nor eyes to see nor eares to heare unto this day Is this the course of imposture when he tells them to their faces that albeit he commands them exhorts them expostulates with them and expresses formes of desire of their obedience in his word yet except God gives them an heart they cannot perceive except God gives them eyes they cannot see except the Lord gives them eares they cannot heare What can be more plaine dealing then this Like as our Saviour no lesse plainly told the Jewes to their face He that is of God heareth God's words ye therefore heare them not because ye are not of God Yet was he earnest and patheticall enough in exhorting them to repentance by the ministery of Iohn the Baptist by his own ministery Ierusalem Ierusalem that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together as an hen gathereth her chicken under her wings and ye would not Behold your habitation is left unto you desolate For I say unto you ye shall not see me henceforth till that ye say Blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lord. I come to this Author 's Prosopopey for the truth is his Rhetorick surmounts his Logicke whereat I wonder not a little O ye Reprobates once most dearely beloved in your father Adam But where hath he found in any of our Divines that Reprobates were at all beloved in our father Adam We all hold Reprobation to be as antient as election which St. Paul testifies to have been before the foundation of the world And to ordaine to damnation I should think is to hate rather then to love and this ordination divine was from everlasting And the Scripture hath taught us that the divine nature is without variablenesse or shadow of change He speakes in the language of his own Court when he talkes of sealing up under invincible sinne and misery The Scripture speaks of sealing unto the day of redemption by God's holy spirit which gives them assurance that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation That God will deliver them from every evill work preserve them to his heavenly kinngdome But no such spirit is given to Reprobates to assure them of their damnation so to seale them up under invincible sin misery They are under the power of Satan but he hath neither power nor authority to assure them of their damnation And albeit this Authour fashions a discourse to reprobates as if they were a sect well known Yet we are so farre from knowing who they are that they are in our opinion neither known to themselves nor known to Satan no nor to God's holy Angells unlesse he reveale it unto them If we should have any cause to addresse our selves to Reprobates which kind of case and occasion is incomprehensible by me we should describe them no otherwise then thus O ye who are not only for the present under the power of Satan and so are all God's elect before the time of regeneration but will continue vassalls unto him even unto death going on from sinne to sinne and never breaking them off by repentance but continuing to despise the goodnesse of God leading thereunto Now this being only in reference to the time to come I cannot speake to any in present under this forme absolutely but hypothetically For none are Reprobates to us but such who finally persevere in impenitency Therefore I cannot exhort them to amend their lives under the stile of Reprobates but as such who although they are under the power of sinne and Satan may for ought I know belong to God's election and in good time come out of the snare of Satan And because the ministry of the word is the only meanes whereby God brings men unto
these two wills must needs enterfeere and contradict one the other IEANES THis you gather from what you have not at all proved but only pretended to have proved viz. that the precept or injunction of faith and repentance is properly the will of God And for the contrary I have brought undeniable proofes and therefore though there be any secret or unrevealed will in God whereby he willeth the destruction of any man at the same time when he willeth or enjoyneth his faith and repentance those two wills doe not as you say enterfeere or contradict one the other For unto contradiction it is required that all the termes must be taken in the same sense and signification now this condition is not here observed For that he willeth the destruction of any man is with a will in proper speech that he willeth the faith and repentance of all men unto whom the Gospell is preached is with a will improperly so called viz his commandement M r GOODWIN NOr will that distinction of the late mentioned Author salve a consistency between them wherein he distinguisheth betwixt the decree of God and the thing decreed by him affirming that the thing which God decreeth may be repugnant to or inconsistent with the thing that he commandeth though the decree it selfe cannot be repugnant to the command IEANES THis is not barely affirmed but strongly proved by D. Twisse and of his proofes you take no notice but only object against what he saith This if it be a laudable is a very easy and compendious way of handling a controversy for it would save a man the labour of that which hath still been accounted the most difficult taske in Polemicall Writers to wit solution of Arguments but I shall acquaint the Reader with what you conceale and I doe not doubt but upon representation thereof he will acquit the Doctor and his distinction from that vanity which you lay to his charge Rem a Deo decretam cum re a Deo mandata pugnare posse dicimus interea decretum Dei cum mandato pugnare posse non dicimus uirumque demonstramus Rem a Deo decretam cum re a Deo mandata pugnare posse sic oftendimus sacrificatio Isaaci non-sacrificatic Isaici pugnant inter se sunt enim termini contradicentes At harum altera fuit a Deo mandata Abrahamo uti docet Scriptura simulque eodem tempore non-sacrificatio fuit à Deo decreta ut colligitur ex eventu Nam Deus eam efficaciter impedivit ne fieret Quare res a Deo mandata pugnare potest cum re a Deo decreta Rursus dimissio populi Israelitici ex Aegypto non-dimissio pugnant inter se sunt enim sibi invicem contradicentes at altera nempe dimissio fuit a Deo mandata Pharaoni altera puta non-dimissio fuit a Deo eodem tempore decreta Nam mandavit Pharaoni per Mosem Aaronem ut populum dimitteret simul etiam significavit se obduraturum cor Pharaonis ut non dimitteret ergo res a Deo mandata pugnare potest cum re à Deo decreta That things commanded and decreed by God may be contradictory the Doctor proveth by undenyable instances The sacrificing of Isaack and the not sacrificing of Isaack are termes contradictory but the sacrificing of Isaack was the object of Gods command to Abraham Gen. 22. 2. The not sacrificing of Isaack was the object of Gods decree as appears by the event v. 11. 12. Therefore the object of Gods commandement and the object of his decree may be contradictory Againe the letting of Israell goe out of Aegypt and the not letting of Israell goe out of Aegypt are termes contradictory but the letting of Israell goe was commanded unto Pharaoh his not letting of Israell goe was decreed and determined by God Exod. 7. 2 3. and 10. 1 2. God told Moses that he would harden Pharaohs heart that he should not let Israell goe Therefore a thing commanded by God and a thing decreed by God may be contradictory Concerning the first of these instances you say something pag. 451 452. But there is nothing argumentative in what you say but may receive an answer from your own rule of interpreting Scripture pag. 92. 99. 108. 109. In the next place the Doctor proves that the commandements and the decrees of God are not repugnant Nec tamen decretum pugnare cum mandato sic probamus Mandato significat Deus quid sit nostri officii ut a nobis fieri debeat decretum vero divinum nihil aliud est quam propositum divinum de aliquo ut vel fiat vel impediatur ne fiat idque efficaciter Mandatum docet quid ipse probaturus sit si modo ab homine fiat quid improbaturus si non fiat decretum statuit quid ipse facturus sit aut impediturus ne sit Ista autem non pugnant tui est officii ut hoc facias sed non est mei propositi per gratiam efficere ut facias Pari ratione potest Deus mandare alicui fidem resipiscentiam interea apud se statuere quod non credat aut resipiscat negando scilicet gratiam efficacem qua sola fieri potest ut credat aut resipiscat God by his command signifieth and sheweth what is our duty what ought to be done or left undone by us Gods decree is nothing else but his purpose that things shall come to passe or not come to passe the command teacheth what God will approve or disapprove his decree determineth what he himselfe will doe or hinder c. Now these are no waies repugnant It is thy duty to doe this but it is not Gods purpose to give thee grace for the doing of it Thou art bound or obliged to doe this but yet thou shalt never actually doe it faith and repentance are thy duty and yet thy faith and thy repentance shall never actually exist or come to passe By this that the Doctor hath said it is plaine that there is no opposition between Gods command to all that heare the Gospell believe and repent and his purpose of denying faith and repentance unto many nay most of them And thus you see what the Doctor hath to say for himselfe let us next heare what you can say against him Mr GOODWIN THe vanity of this distinction cleerely appeareth upon this common ground viz. that acts are differenced and distinguished by their objects therefore if the object of Gods decreeing will or the thing decreed by him be contrary unto the thing preceptively willed or commanded by him impossible it is but that the two acts of his will by the one of which he is supposed to will the one and by the other the other should digladiate and one fight against the other IEANES FIrst here againe you perplexe the disputation with talking of two acts of Gods will but supposing that by one of them you meane Gods decree which is in him and