those who should love Him not of those who should cease to love Him or apostatize from their affection towards Him nor yet to teach imply or insinuate in the least the undecayablenesse or unquenchablenesse of this affection in Men. But enough for the clearing of this place I shall only Propound and Answer one Scripture more upon the account §. 52. we are now drawing up which is frequently argued with great importunity for the Doctrine of Perseverance The tenor of the place is this And I will give them one heart and one way that they may feare me for ever for the good of them and of their children after them And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turne away from them to doe them good but I will put my feare into their hearts that they shall not depart from me a Ier. 31. 39. 40. In these words say our Antagonists in the present controversie is manifestly contained an absolute Promise of Perseverance made by God unto his Church To this I answer that it can no wayes be proved nor is it any wayes probable that the grace of Perseverance should be here absolutely Promised unto Saints or Believers For 1. Evident it is from the whole tenor of the Chapter that the words contain a speciall Promise made particularly to the Jews 2. As evident it is upon the same account that the Promise here mentioned was not made only to the Saints or sound Believers amongst the Jews who were but few but to the whole body or generality of them Peruse the latter part of the Chapter from about ver 30. to the end 3. It is yet upon the same account as evident as either of the former that this Promise was made unto this Nation of the Jews when and whilest they were or at least considered as now being in the iron furnace of the Babylonian captivity Behold I will gather them out of all Countries whither I have driven them in mine anger and in my sury and in great wrath and I will bring them again unto this place c. ver 37. 4. From these words now cited so immediately preceding the Passages offered to debate it cleerly appears that the Promise in these Passages relates unto and concerns their Reduction and returne from and out of that captivity into their own Land Therefore 5. It cannot be a Promise of absolute and finall Perseverance in grace unto the end of their lives respectively For 1. The Promise was made unto the body or generality of this People even unto all those that God had driven into all Countries in his anger and fury and not only unto the Saints or true Believers amongst them unlesse we shall say that they were only the holy Persons amongst them that were thus driven by him The Promise then respects as well the unfaithfull as the true Believers in this Nation and so cannot be a Promise of Perseverance in grace unto these 2. The Promise here exhibited was a Promise appropriated and fitted to the present State and Condition of the Jews who were now scattered up and down the World and in a sad captivity at least were thus considered in this promise as was lately said in which respect it must needs be conceived to containe somewhat peculiar to that their condition Now the promise of perseverance in grace according to the Doctrine of our adversaries was a standing promise amongst them and so had been from the first equally respecting them or the elect amongst them in every estate and condition 3. The promise of perseverance in grace according to the same principles includes in it or supposeth such an interposure of God by his spirit and grace which shall and will and must needs infallibly produce the effect of perseverance in all those to whom it is made i. e. true Believers wherâ—as evident it is from the Prophet Ezekiel that this promise notwithstanding the Jewes might rebell against and apostatize from God The whole passage in Ezekiel is this Therefore say thus saith the Lord God although I have cast them far off among the Heathen and although I have scattered them among the Countries yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the Countries where they shall come Therefore say thus saith the Lord God I will even gather you from the People and Assemble you out of the Countries where yee have been scattered and I will give you the Land of Israel And they shall come thither and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence And I will give them one Heart and I will put a new Spirit within you and I will take the stony Heart out of their Flesh and will give them an Heart of Flesh That they may walke in my Statutes and keepe mine Ordinances and doe them and they shall be my People and I will be their God a Ezek. 11. 17. 18. c. There is nothing more clear then that the promise contained in these words is for substance and import the same with that in consideration from the Prophet Jeremy Yet here it followes But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations I will recompence their way upon their own head saith the Lod God b Verse 21. Which evidently supposeth that notwithstanding the former promise pretended to be a promise either in whole or in part of persevering in grace yet they to whom it is made may walk after the Heart of detestable things i. e. so practise detestable things as to promote their interest and cause them to be practised by others and that to their own ruine and destruction For that this threatning But as for them c. concernes the same persons or nation to whom the precedent promises were made the carriage of the Context makes out of question and besides is the generall sence of Interpreters upon the place yea and Calvin Himself understands it of the Israelites c Nec aliud vult Propheta quam Deum sore vindicem si cor suum sequantur Israelitae ut ambulent in suis spâ—rcitiis abominationibus So that no absolute perseverance can with reason be supposed to be contained in the said promise 4. And lastly If absolute perseverance should be here promised there is no time or season can be imagined wherein the promise should have been fulfilled by God If it be said that it hath alwayes been fulfilled in the Elect and faithfull I answer 1. That it hath been already proved that it was made to the maine body and community of the Jewish Nation and not only to the Elect or faithfull amongst them And therefore if it should be fulfilled in these only it should be fulfilled but by half and indeed not to that proportion and consequently if propriety of speech be admitted not fulfilled at all 2. If this be all the fulfilling of it it was as
1 Chro. 28. 9. And thou Solomon my Son know the Lord God of thy Fathers if thou seek him he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off for ever 351 2 Chr. 36. 15 16. And the Lord God of their Fathers sent to them by his messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place Bâ—t they mocked the messengers of God and despised until the Wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy 88 426 Job 2. 4. Skin for skin yea all that a man hath will he give for his life 443 10. 8 9. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me together round about yet thou dost destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into dust again 72 14. 1. Man that is born of a woman is of few days 9 14. 5. Seeing his days are determined the number of his moneths are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass 10 15. 32 33. His branch shall be green He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine and c. 8 22. 15 16. Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden who were cut down out of time whose foundation was overflown with a flood Page 8 31. 13 14 15. If I did despise the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant when they contended with me what then shall I do when God riseth up and when he visiteth what shall I answer Did not he that made me in the womb make him and did not one fashion us in the womb 72 73 33. 13. Why dost thou strive against him for he giveth not an account of any of his matters 349 34. 19. How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of Princes nor regardeth the rich more then the poor For they are all the work of his hand 73 Psal 1. 3. He shall be like a tree planted his leafe shall not wither c. 257 22. 26. They that seek the Lord shall praise him 452 34 8. O taste and see that the Lord is good 285 51. 6. thou desirest Truth in the inward parts 742 55. 23. bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days c. 8 91. 7. A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee 11 104. 19. Thou hidest thy face they are troubled thou takest away their breath they dye and return to their dust 3 115. 3. He hath done whatsoever he pleased 50 138. 2. For thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name 482 Prov. 14. 15. The simple beleeveth every word c. 412 497 17. 18. A man voyd of understanding striketh hands and becometh surety c. 264 18. 23. The poor useth entreaties but the rich answereth roughly Ibid. 19. 2. that the Soul be without knowledg it is not good and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth 496 23. 5. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not for certainly c. 446 Eccles 2. 9. also my wisdom remained with me 351 3. 3. There is a time to kill and a time to heal a time c. 429 Isai 5. 4. What could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it Wherefore when c. 429 473 7. 8. Within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken that it be not a people 8 27. 11. for it is a people of no understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them c. 71 29. 14. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid 5 38. 5. behold I will add unto thy days fifteen years 9 49. 5. though Israel be not gathered yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength 215 54. 10. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed c. 226 227 59. 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God 248 59. 21. As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed c. 226 227 c. Jer. 7. 16. Therefore pray not thou for this people neither lift up a cry neither make intercession to me for I will not hear thee 490 32. 39 40. And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to do them good but I will my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me c. 219 220 c. Ezek. 11. 17 18 19 c. Therefore say thus saith the Lord God I will even gather you from the people And they shall come thither and take away all the detestable things thereof And I will give them one heart and I will put a new Spirit within you But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations c. 220 221 c. 16. 55. When thy Sisters Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate and Samaria and her daughters then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate 442 18. 5 6 9. But if a man be just and do that which is lawful and right and hath not eaten upon the mountains he is just he shall surely live saith the Lord God 514 18. 24 25. But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity shall he live yet ye say the way of the Lord is not equal Hear now O house of Israel is not my way equal are not your ways unequal 269 270 c. 514 24. 14. because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more c. 187 188 33. 12 13. c. the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression as for the wickedness of the wicked he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness c. Again when I shall say to the wicked tho ushalt surely dye if he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right none of the sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him c. 514 Hos 2. 19. 20. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness c. 229 230 Mal. 2. 17. Ye have wearyed the Lord with your words yet ye say wherein
doe not flow from that concurrence of God with it when it acteth but from that intrinsecall form or those naturall Properties which he hath vested in it by the Law of Creation There is the same reason of other causes of this kinde in their respective actions or effects Nor are the motions or actings of the second kinde of causes mentioned as of Birds Beasts c. any whit more determined then of the former by the Presence of God with them in their actions but partly by their naturall abilities for action or motion partly by the naturall proportions and disproportions between their respective Estimatives or Phantasies and such and such Creatures or Objects whose natures are either proportioned or disproportioned unto them As for example the reason why a lamb runneth to the dam and fleeth from the Wolfe is partly the naturall sympathy between the phantasie of the lamb and the dam and the antipathy betweene the said phantasie and the Wolfe partly also that ability or nimblenesse of motion which God hath given unto this creature for the conveyance of it selfe this way or that according as the phantasie of it is affected The concurrence of God with it when it runneth to the dam and when it fleeth from the Wolfe is doubtlesse one and the same So that the difference of these two motions in this Creature doth not arise from any diversity therein but from one of the causes now mentioned In like manner the actions and motions of the third and lâ—st kinde of §. 9. causes which we termed rationall and voluntary are not determined i. e. made rationall and voluntary much lesse are they necessitated by the conjunction or Presence of God with them when they act or move but by their owne proper and free election of what they act or move unto Whilst it remained Acts 5. 4. saith Peter to Ananias speaking of his possession whilst it was yet unsold and remained with him in specie was it not thine owne i. e. Wert thou not at full liberry to have retained and kept it for thine own private use there being no Law of God imposing it as a duty upon thee to sell it And when it was sold was it not in thy power viz. whether thou wouldst part with the money which thou receivedst for it or no The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated Power doth not only signifie a Power of right but of liberty also or a freedome of will to dispose of it as he pleased otherwise a Power of right had been of no accommodation unto him nor any competent matter of the aggravation of his sin Why hast thou put this thing into thy heart viz. to dissemble and lye pretending and professing to bring the whole money which thou receivedst for the possession when as thou bringest a part of it only God concurred with the motion of Ananias will when he resolved to bring his money to the Apostles for publique distribution and so likewise when he brought it otherwise he could not have resolved or willed to do it Yet this concurrence of God with him in his act of willing or resolving did not make it necessary for him so to will or resolve because he had a Power this notwithstanding to have willed or resolved the contrary I meane either the keeping of the Possession to himself being yet unsold or the not-bringing the money received for it to the Apostles Otherwise both the act of selling it and also of bringing the money to the Apostles must be looked upon not as the acts of Ananias but of God himselfe For whatsoever a man is necessitated to do especially by a Principle of force or power out of himselfe is the act of the necessiâ—ator not his Yea the Apostle Paul counteth it no flattery either of himselfe or any other man to acquit both himself and them of all such irregular acts whereunto they are necessitated though by an inward and inherent Principle Now saith he if I doe that I would not it is no more I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in me a Rom. 7. 20. It is true the act of Ananias his will both for the selling of his Possession and bringing the money to the Apostles in the very instant of the Elicitation or Production of it was necessary in this respect viz. because now it could not be unproduced according to the common maxime every thing that is when it is must of necessity be b Unumquodque quod est quando est necesse est esse but it was not the concurrency of God with his Will that imposed any necessity upon him to produce it because then it had not been in his own power neither had it been properly his own act when produced But it may be here objected and said that though the specificall actions §. 10. or motions of all the causes mentioned be determined as hath been proved by the specificall natures or properties of every of them respectively and not by any concurrence of God with them yet their individuall and particular actions and motions are determined by some kinde of concurrence or Providentiall interposall of God As for example that Fire in the generall burneth that which is combustible being put to it is from the nature of it not from any concurrence of God with it but that it burneth such or such a mans house goods or the like this is not simply from the nature of it without some speciall disposall of Divine Providence So againe that wicked and ungodly men should in the generall do wickedly as for instance plot contrive accomplish the death of such as are godly proceedeth from themselves and from the corruption of their wills not from any concurrence of God with them nor from any speciall interposall of his in such actings But that such and such wicked men by name should plot and effect the deaths of such and such godly men by name and not the death of others godly also proceedeth not so much from the wickednesse of such men as from some speciall decree of God together with a suteable interposall of his Providence and Power for the effecting of it That which Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the Jewes did in and about the crucifying of Christ Peter saith that the hand and counsell of God had determined before to be done * Acts 4 28. §. 11. To this I answer 1. That this particular and signall attribution of some speciall actions or events unto God or to the determination of his hand and counsell other instances whereof are to be seene 1 King 12. 15. 2 Sam. 17. 14. Jos 11. 20. Deut. 2. 30. c. cleerly argueth that ordinarily actions are performed by men and events come to passe upon other terms I meane without any such particular or extraordinary interposition by God either by way of Decree or of Providentiall efficiency or contribution towards them Emphaticall and remarkable appropriations are unsavoury and
As these are not occasioned or raised in him by meanes of any necessity or dependance which he hath upon any of their Objects or the things Purposed Decreed Intended or Desired by him but proceede out of the meere goodnesse of his will whereas the elicite acts of created wills are for the most part if not alwayes begotten by some necessity or other of the things wiâ—led lying upon him that willeth as not being compleate in the injoyment of himself without the willing or obtaining such things 2. As these acts of his will arise and flow from their Principle or Fountaine with a greater enlargement thereof and more strength of exertion then the like acts proceeding from the wills of any other Agent or Agents whatsoever 3. And lastly the immutability of his Will or the determination of it to things actually and de facto willed by him is no impeachment to the liberty or freedome of his Will but only supposeth or demonstrateth it to be another kinde of liberty or freedom much more excellent and perfect then that which is found in the wills of Men or Angels That liberty of will which is competent unto and found in these includes a Peccability or Potentiality unto sin which argueth weaknesse or non-perfection whereas the unchangeable rectitude of the Will of God excluding all possibility of sinning excludeth no degree at all of liberty or freedom from it but only weaknesse imperfection and defectibility which are the indelible characters of created wills * Non habet liberam voluntatem is qui consilium mutare non potest impeditus à causâ externâ si mutare velit Deus autem consilium suum non mutat nec mutare potest non propter impedimentum causae externae nec propter naturae aut facultatis defectum sed quia non vult nec velle potest consilii sui mutationem propter immutâ—bilem rectitudinem voluntatis suae in quam neque error neque ulla mutationis causa potest cadere Vrsinus Expl. Catech. part 1. qu. 8. Having thus cleered this foundation of Truth the perfect Actuality of §. 28. the Divine Essence or Being let us consider what we may safely and with evidence of deduction build upon it If then God be a pure and meere act without all Potentiality or Possibility of change in one kinde or other then those volitions or acts of his Will which with the Scriptures we call Election Reprobation Predestination c. are not to be conceived as acts that are past a Cavendum est ne falsâ quadam imaginatione actum voluntatis Divinae quasi praeteritum cogitemus Scotus in l. Distinc 40. or like to the Volitions Purposes or Intentions of men which being once fulfilled and put in execution die and cease to be in them but are to be looked upon as being really and in Truth one and the same thing with his Essence and Being which is unchangeably permanent only with relation to the effecting of such things in time which answer and hold proportion with the actings of men when they Elect Reprobate or Predestinate So that for example when God prevailes by his Word and Spirit with men in time to believe and during this their believing continueth the same gracious means towards their further establishment and edification he is said to have elected them not because he had formerly passed any act of Election concerning them which is now at an end and ceaseth but because he doth by them or to them as men use to do by Trees when they have chosen them out of the Forrest for building they fell saw hew and every wayes prepare and fit them for such places in the building they intend for which they are most proper and usefull Againe when God upon mens neglect refusall or abuse of the meanes of grace vouchsafed unto them shall withdraw these meanes to such a degree that they fall to open prophanesse loosenesse c. he is now said to have reprobated them not because he had at any time before passed an act of Reprobation against them which was now put in execution and consequently expired and over but because he now acteth or rather forbeares to act in relation towards them as men are wont to act in reference to what they dis-allow refuse or reject whether things or persons Hence it is that the Apostle Paul professeth his care of doing those things which might exempt him not from under any decree of Reprobation which had already passed against him but from falling under any such displeasure of God which putteth men into an estate of Reprobation i. e. Alienateth the heart will and care of God from them But I keep under my body saith he and bring it into subjection lest that by any meanes when I have Preached to others I my self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should be or rather become or be made a cast away or reprobate a 1 Cor. 9. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the word in the Originall properly signifieth and is elsewhere so translated b Rom. 1. 28. 2 Cor. 13 5 6 7. 2 Tim. 3. 8. Tit. 1. 16. Nor doth that expression of Paul concerning Gods chusing men in Christ §. 29. before the foundation of the World Eph. 1. 4. import any Act in God that is past and now ceaseth to be in him but only the standing counsell and good pleasure which is eternall in him being nothing else but himself and his Divine Essence of giving life and salvation unto all those who believe in Jesus Christ by the means which he graciously purposeth also to vouchsafe unto them and accordingly vouchsafeth for this end The Reason why the Scriptures usually expresse the Acts of God which are eternally permanent in him by Verbs of the Preter perfect tense and in Phrases importing time past is as Anselme long since well observed because there being no words used or known amongst men which signifie that kinde of Permanency or Presence which is proper to eternity words signifying the time past are taken up by the Holy Ghost to expresse matters of that consideration and import rather then others which signifie either the time present or to come because that which is past being unchangeably past and in no possibility of being any other then past holds better agreement with and is more like unto that which is eternally and so unchangeably present then either that which is present in time or future in as much as that which is present is not unchangeably present but will shortly be past and that which is future is not unchangeably future but will in time be present and after this past a Vnde cognosci potest eum Apostolum propter indigentiam verbi significantis aeternam praesentiam usum esse verbis praeteritae significationis quoniam quae tempore praeterita sunt ad similitudinem â—terni praesentis omnino immutabilia sunt In hoc siquidem magis similia sunt â—terno praesenti temporaliter
much fulfill'd during and under the captivity yea and before it as at any time afterwards For in the sence of those against whom we now argue the Elect and faithful always persevered in Grace unto the end If it be yet demanded but do not those words I will give them one heart and §. 53. one way that thâ—y may fear me for ever as also those I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me plainly imply their final Perseverance I answer 1. That these words that they shall not depart from me savor too much of the Translation the Original would rather have them thus that they MAY not depart from me as the Translators also themselves render words of the same character in the former Verse And I will give them one heart and one way that they MAY fear me for ever And thus both Arias Montanus a Et timorem meum dabo in corde eorum pro non recedere desuper me in the margent Ut non recedant a me Arias Mon. Which latter words the other two borrow from this Author for their Translation and Junius and Tremellius also render them 2. The words thus read do not necessarily import the actual event or taking place of the effect intended by God in the Promise and his performance thereof but onely his Intention it self in both these together with the sufficiency and aptness of what he promiseth for the producing of such an effect in them As when our Saviour expressed himself thus unto the Jews But these things I say that ye might be saved b John 5 34 he did not suppose that they either would or should be infallibly saved by means of what he spake for a few Verses after speaking still to the same persons he saith And ye will not come to me that ye might have life but he declared that the real desire and intent of his Heart and Soul in speaking to them as he did was that they might be saved and withall that the words which he spake to them were such as by the due minding and harkening whereunto they might and should have been saved There is the same consideration of what God said unto Adam Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat c Gen. 3. 10 It cannot be inferred from hence that Adam did not eat of this tree for we all too well know that he did eat thereof but onely that the intent and scope of Gods Commandment unto him concerning this tree was that he should not eat thereof See what was lately and more largely observed touching such expressions as these Sect. 50. of this Chapter 3. The certainty of the continuance of the external and civil prosperity §. 54. of the Jewish Nation might much more colourably be concluded from sundry passages in this promissory Contexture of Scripture then the certainty of their Perseverance in Grace from those mentioned For here Gâ—d promiseth that he will do thus and thus by them for the good of them and of their children after them Vers 39. And again that he will make an everlasting Covenant with them that he will not turn away from them to do them good that he will rejoyce over them to do them good and will plant them in that their Land assuredly with his whole heart and with his whole Soul Vers 40 41. And yet we know that all these Promises and Engagements on Gods part notwithstanding God since the making of them hath turned away from them and that in greater displeasure then ever before yea and that as the Apostle saith his Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost a 1 Thes 2 16 and they are accordingly at this day the most contemptible and miserable Nation under Heaven This plainly sheweth that all these Promises were Conditional though no Condition appears in mention and the performance of them intentionally suspended upon their good behavior and obedience to him that made them See more upon this account in the Premisses b Cap. 10. Sect. 43. If then the temporal Promises running along in the same current of discourse with spiritual and much more assertively expressed then these were Conditional and have suffered a non-performance through a non-performance of the Condition intended why may we not suppose the spiritual Promises also to be subject to the same Law Nay certainly 4. Had the spiritual Promises been meerly positive and unconditioned the temporal would have been such also at least they had not been obnoxious to a non-performance For had God actually and with effect given them one heart and one way so that they had actually feared him for ever or put his fear in their hearts upon any such terms that they had not departed from him questionless all the temporal Promises had brought forth God would not have turned away from them to do them good and their children after them but would have rejoyced over them to do them good would have planted them in their Land c. 5. That expression in the said passages And I will make an everlasting COVENANT with them plainly supposeth that the whole Contexture of Promises therein was but Conditional it being the nature and property of a Covenant never to engage one party alone but both or all comprized in it and when one party refuseth to make good the terms imposed thereby upon him to dis oblige and free the other Therefore 6. And lastly The true and clear intent and meaning of the spiritual Promises §. 55. made unto the People of the Jews now in captivity in the Scripture in hand and particularly of the expressions last objected is this I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever and will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not or may not depart from me i. e. I will deal so above measure graciously and bountifully with them as well in matters relating to their spiritual Condition as in things which concern their outward Condition that if they be not prodigiously refractary stubborn and unthankful I will overcome their evil with my goodness will cause them to own me for their God and will reduce them as one man to a loving and loyal frame and temper of heart towards me that they shall willingly and with a full and free Purpose of heart fear and serve me for ever To secure this Interpretation 1. That is to be remembred which hath been offered to consideration already a Cap. 10. Sect. 20. viz. That it is the frequent and familiar Dialect of Scripture to ascribe the doing of things or the effects themselves unto those whether God or men who either minister occasion or afford proper or likely means or endevors for the doing of them whether ever they be actually effected or no. A pleasant number of Instances in this kinde you shall finde drawn together elsewhere b Ibidem Repetitions
are needless where Primitives are at hand According to this kinde of expression God may be said to give men one heart and one way that c. and so to put his fear into their hearts that c. when he vouchsafeth and exhibiteth such motives means and opportunities unto them which are efficacious and proper to work them to such a frame and disposition of Heart and Soul out of which men are wont firmly to resolve to love serve and obey him for ever whether they be actually wrought or brought hereunto or no. In this sence it is easie to conceive when and how the said Promises were performed or fulfilled as viz. to a good degree in upon and soon after that famous Deliverance out of their seventy years Captivity God hereby as by many other signal mercies vouchsafed unto them soon after their return about the repairing of their City and Temple as likewise by the effectual Ministry of several great Prophets raised up amongst them from time to time mightily engaging them all to devote themselves unto him and his service for ever But more fully and gloriously when the great Messiah was sent unto them in the flesh by whose unparallel'd â—olinesse in Life and Conversation together with His frequent and wonderfull miracles and especially by His Doctrine so full of Heavenly Authority Light and Power they were only not compelled into such an heart and such a way wherewith and wherein to have feared i. e. to have religiously served and obeyed Him for ever In so much that proving such Apostates as they wilfully became under such transcendent means as they had to have rendered them the best and most faithfull People under Heaven unto their God they declared themselves to be the most stiff-necked and rebellious Generation of Men in all the World and were judged by God accordingly Take any other sence of the Promises or words now in question especially that which is so much contended for and which imports a finall Perseverance in grace to be wrought in this People by the irresistible Hand of God and it will be impossible for any Man to finde so much as by probable conjecture when or how they should ever be fulfilled To say that they might even in that sence which I so much oppose be fulfilled constantly in the Elect of this People is to say that which reason will gainesay For 1. An absolute or un-conditioned Promise made to a great number of Men cannot be said to be fulfilled when the thing promised is exhibited only to some few of them Now the Promises under debate were cleerly made to the whole body or nation of the Jews as we have formerly proved from the expresse Context and not to the Elect only amongst them 2. According to their judgments who plead the fulfilling of them in this sence the Persons for whose sakes and comfort they were made the Elect might yea must needs have had every whit as much comfort without them as they could have with or by them For they knew before the making of any of these Promises to them that being Elect and once in an estate of grace they should persevere therein unto the end And thus these great and signall Promises of God shall be rendred voyd and meere impertinencies unto those for whose sake only they are supposed to have been made 3. And lastly to say they were fulfilled in the Elect in the sence gainesaid is to begg the question instead of digging for it 2. The Scriptures many times assert the futurity or comming to passe §. 56. of things not yet in being not only when the comming of them to passe is certaine or certainly known unto God but upon a probability only or likelyhood of their comming to passe in respect of means used or to be used for the bringing of them to passe Upon this account God Himself is represented by our Saviour in his parable of the Vineyard as speaking thus in the person of the Lord of the Vinâ—yard They will reverence my Son a Mar. 12. 6. in case I shall vouchsafe to send Him unto them And yet the event shewed that they were so far from reverencing Him that when He came to them they tooke Him and slew Him and cast Him out of the Vineyard So when He saith upon occasion of the punishment which he commandeth to be inflicted upon the Man that should doe presumptuously that all the People shall heare and feare and doe no more presumptuously b Deut. 17. 1â— 13. He doth not speak it out of any certainty of knowledge in Him that it would or should actually so come to passe for many doubtlesse of this People did not so feare as to forbeare doing presumptuously notwithstanding the exemplarinesse of such a punishment but because the severe and thorough execution of Justice in this kinde was a proper and probable means to restraine all sorts of persons amongst them from the like sins See Sect. 50. of this Chapter In this notion and idiome of Scripture also God may say I will give them one Heart and one way that they may feare Me for ever not out of a certainty of knowledge or determination in Himself that any such Heart or Way should actually and with effect be given unto them which would infallibly produce such an effect in them as is here specified but because he was purposed so to intreat them and to afford such excellent administrations of His Grace and Spirit unto them which should be very Pregnant Proper and Efficacious to create such an Heart in them and to put them into such a Way that they should never have declined from His Worship and Service whilest the Sun and Moone endure This answer I acknowledge is of much affinity with the former Therefore 3. And lastly that no such sence was intended by God in the Words or Promises yet under consideration which imports any certainty of a finall perseverance in Grace in those to whom they are spoken and made fully appeares from all those propheticall passages and predictions in the old Testament which are many in number and very plaine and pregnant in import wherein that sad breach which afterwards happened between God and this People to whom these Promises were made and which amounted even to a rejection of them from being any longer a People unto Him is foretold by Him For that God should absolutely promise such an Heart unto a People which should infallibly cause them to feare Him for ever and not to depart from him and yet withall prophecy the great and generall Apostasie of this People from him and their rejection upon that account by him doubtlesse lieth not within the verge of any Mans belief who takes any competent care what he believeth I trust the Scripture now last Opened will from henceforth be put to no more trouble about any Contribution of aid towards the maintenance of the Doctrine of absolute perseverance Some other Scriptures possibly there may
Apoc. p. 172. also expounded in the words immiediately following But we are not of those who draw back to perdition but c. From hence then evident it is that such a Man who is a just or righteous Man and under Promise of living for ever by his Faith and therefore also a true and sound Believer may draw back or be withdrawn to the contracting of the hatred of God and to destruction in the end The forlorne hope of evading because the sentence is Hypotheticall or conditionall not positive hath been routed over and over yea and is abandoned by some of the great masters themselves of that cause unto the defence whereof it pretendeth And however in this place it would be most preposterous For if it should be supposed that the just Man who is in a way and under a Promise of living by his Faith were in no danger or possibility of drawing back and that to the losse of the favour of God and ruine of His Soul God must be conceived to speak here at no better rate of wisdome or understanding then thus The just shall live by his Faith but if he shall doe that which is simply and utterly impossible for him to doe my Soule shall have no pleasure in him What savor of wisdome yea or of common sence is there in admonishing or cautioning Men against such evills which there is no possibility for them to fall into yea and this known unto themselves Therefore this testimony for confirmation of the Doctrine we maintaine is like a King upon his Throne against whom there is no rising up The same Doctrine is cleerly taught and asserted by our Saviour Himself §. 32. in the Parable of the Sower But He saith He that received the seed into stony places the same is He that heareth the Word and anon with joy receiveth it Yet hath he not root in Himself but dureth for a while for when Tribulation or Persecution ariseth because of the Word by and by He is offended a Mat. 13. 20 21. The words are part of the Explication or Application of the said Parable wherein our Saviour plainly declareth that the Persons typified by the severall grounds specified therein were severall kinds of hearers of the Gospell some whereof should or would heare upon such terms that their hearing would turne to the blessed account of saving their Soules these saith he were signified by the good ground spoken of in the Parable Others of them would heare without reaping any such benefit thereby and this partly by not setting their minds at all upon what they should heare who were resembled to the high way partly by a neglect to ground and establish themselves throughly in the truth and goodnesse of the Gospell after their hearing and imbracing of it these saith he were shadowed by the stony ground partly also by suffering the cares and lusts of the World to overgrow â—â—e sproutings or puttings forth of the Gospell in their Hearts and Souls by means whereof they came after 〈…〉 to wither and die quite away and these saith He were pointed at by the Thorny ground Now those signified by the stony ground He expresly calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Persons who continue for a time or a season i. e. as Luke explaineth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who BELIEVE for a season b Luk 8. 13. So that those who onely for a time Believe and afterward make defection from Christ and from the Gospell are neverthelesse numbred and ranked by him amongst Believers The words in Luke are very particular They on the Rock are they which when they heare receive the word with joy and these have no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away From whence it appeares that the hearers here described are not compared to the Rock or Stony ground for the hardnesse of their hearts in as much as they are said to receive the word with joy which argues an ingenuity and teachablenesse of spirit in them and is elsewhere viz. Acts 2. 41. taken knowledge of by the holy Ghost as an Index or Signe of a true Believer but for such a Property Disposition or Temper as this viz. not to give or afford the word so received a radication in their hearts and souls so intimous serious and solid which should be sufficient to maintaine their belief of it and good affections to it against all such occurrences in the World which may oppose or attempt either the one or the other For this is the nature or condition of a Stony or Rocky soyle which hath but a thin coate or covering of Mould or Earth upon it viz. to exhibit a speedy and sudden Spring or Blade from the seed that is sown in it but not to afford this Blade or seed any such rooting which is sufficient to preserve it from scortching when the Sun beats violently and for any considerable space of time together with his fiery Beames upon it But as the Blade which springs from one and the same kinde of seed as suppose from Wheat or any other graine though sown in different yea or contrary soyles is yet of the same Species or kinde the nature of the soyle not changing the specificall nature of the seed that is sown in it and God giving to every seed it s own body of what temper soever the ground is where it is sown in like manner that Faith which springs from the same seed of the Gospell must needs be of one and the same nature and kinde though this seed be sown in Hearts of never so differing a constitution and frame the temper of the Heart be it what it will be not being able specifically to alter either the Gospell or the naturall fruit issuing from it And as a blade or eare of Wheat though it be blasted before the Harvest is not hereby proved not to have been a true blade or eare of wheat before it was blasted in like manner the withering or decay of any Mans faith by what means or occasion soever before his death doth not prove it to have been a false counterfeit or Hypocriticall faith or a faith of any other kinde then that which is true reall and permanent unto the end Therefore the possibility of a finall defection in those who for a time truly believe believe with the same kinde of Faith whereby others persevering in it to the end are saved is cleerly asserted by the Lord Christ Himself in the said Parable yea there is not onely a possibility in this kinde asserted by Him but a futurity also of many instances wherein this possibility would be acted upon the great stage of the World Against the interpretation given and the inference drawn from the words §. 33. lately opened it is commonly objected that our Saviour in the second ground and so in the third doth not set forth the condition of true Believers or speak of true justifying Faith but of temporary
cut the sinews of the credit and Authority of the Scriptures which still number Idolaters and workers of Iniquity amongst those who shall have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God But of these things enough formerly Yet let us hear what the Patrons of the Common Doctrine of Perseverance have to plead for the life of Solomons Faith even whilest he walked in those ways of death whereof we heard so lately Solomon say they could not fall away totally from his Faith nor from §. 7. the saving Love of God because God had promised unto David his Father that he would be a Father unto Him his Son Solomon and that he should be a Son unto Him and that His Mercy should not depart from Him as He took it from Saul a 2 Sam. 7. 14 15. I answer 1. Evident it is that the Mercy or kindness of God here mentioned was vouchsafed by him as well unto Saul as unto Solomon For his Promise is that he would not take away his mercy or kindness as some translate from the latter as he took it i. e. the same mercy from thâ— former Saul If then the Mercy here spoken of was the saving Mercy of God out of which he purposeth to give Eternal Life then Saul was Elect and a childe of God and yet fell totally and finally away and had this Grace or Mercy of Election taken from Him If it be a mercy or kindness of any other kinde the infisting upon it is altogether irrelative to the business in hand 2. When God faith that His Mercy should not depart from Solomon the meaning clearly is that God would not translate the Kingdom into another Family or Line as he had transferred it from Saul and his house but would continue it in Davids Line by Solomon The words immediately following make the face of this interpretation to shine And thine HOVSE and thy Kingdom shall be established for ever before thee thy Throne shall be established for ever b Verse 16 3. And lastly it appears from words spoken by David unto his Son Solomon a little before his death that he understood the mercy or kindness promised unto Solomon not of the saving Mercy of God which according to the sence of our Opposers is unremovable where ever it be once pitched but of such a Mercy as hath been declared And thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Father and serve Him with a perfect Heart and with a willing minde For the Lord searcheth all Hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts if thou seek Him He will be found of thee but if thou forsake Him HE WILL CAST THEE OFF FOR EVER c 1 Chro. 28. 9 Therefore David himself did not apprehend any such Mercy to be entailed or setled upon his Son Solomon by God in the Promise mentioned as our Adversaries imagine Nor is that which was thought upon by a great man in the Synod of Dort §. 8. of any whit more value to prove the standing of Solomonâ— Faith whilest himself fell so foully as we have heard It is the testimony which Solomon himself gives concerning himself in these words Also my wisdom remained with me d Eccles 2 9 From hence this Author judged it a legitimate inference that Solomon remained sound in his Faith whilest he halted right down yea and fell desperately as we have heard before God But as the Proverb is Similes habent labra lactucas like lips like lattuces such as this mans Cause is such is his Argument or Plea for it For what is there in the words cited any ways to justifie Solomons Faith whilest himself fell into that fearful Condemnation which hath oft been declared It is true Wisdom sometimes in Scripture signifies the true sound and saving Knowledg of God sometimes a Religious frame of heart inclining a man to a consciencious observation of all the Laws and Precepts of God But unless it could be proved that it always is found in one of these two significations and never in any other which is a task that would prove a reproach to any mans parts and learning that should undertake it it is no ways reasonable to put either of these upon it in the place in hand For there is nothing more clear then that Solomon speaketh here of that wisdom which as he faith in the former Chapter Vers 13. he gave his heart to know and which confisteth in the observation experience and knowledg of the things that are done under Heaven in which also â—he affirmeth that there is much grief and vexation of spirit c. Vers 17 18. which when he had attained he declares Chap. 2. that he fell to the practique part of it and gave himself to the procurement and enjoyment of the pleasures and all the contentments that the world is able to afford unto men and which men generally seek after according to the best of their understandings and opportunities otherwise And having particularized several of his principal enjoyments in this kinde Vers 3 4 5 6 c. he concludes from the said Inventory or Survey Vers 9. thus So I was great and increased more then all that were before me in Jerusalem adding also my wisdom remained with me in the Original stood by me or to me meaning that he was very circumspect and careful not to destroy maim or prejudice that Principle of Wisdom which he had travelled so long for and by which he had raised himself to a far greater estate in honors riches pleasures and contentments in the World then any other man careful I say he professeth himself to have been not to endamage or prejudice this his wisdom by those abundant pleasures and delights whereof he stood possess'd and which he freely enjoyed as many are apt to do upon such occasions and by such means Afterwards though he prefers that wisdom which he had spoken oâ— hitherto above folly i. e. above a bruitish and sottish ignorance of such things which concern a mans interest of Peace and Comfort in the World Cap. 2. 13. yet he acknowledgeth a Vanity in this also in as much as after a short and inconsiderable space of time the case and conditiof such a fool will be every whit as good as of a wise man Then I said in my heart as it happeneth to the fool so it happeneth even to me and why was I then moâ—e wise Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity and how dyeth the wise man as the fool c. So that by the wisdom which Solomon saith remained with him in the fullest enjoyment of the delights and contentments of the world is clearly meant not a sacred but a politique or civil wisdom which first he gave his heart to seek and afterwards having obtained it improved to the rendering of his condition in the world every ways as desirable as the materials of the world under the best improvement would make it And besides evident it
is from what hath been said and from the carriage of the Context both before and after and indeed from the scope and purport of the whole Book that Solomon in the place in hand doth not speak of his latter times wherein he turned aside after Idols and said to the stock or graven image Deliver me for thou art my God a Isai 44. 17 wherein he heaped up strange women Wives and Concubines as before he had done Wisdom like the sand upon the sea shâ—re innumerable as if his meaning were that all the while he dishonored himself by serving the Devil in these gross bruitish and unmanlike courses his Religious Wisdom his sound and saving Knowledg of the true God remained with him but of his middle most prosperous and flourishing times when he was to be seen in all his glory when as himself said the Lord had given him rest or peace on every side so that he had neither Adversary nor evil occurrent b 1 Kings 5. 4 And his meaning as hath been said clearly is that the great hear of all this outward Prosperity did not dissolve the spirit or strength of that Wisdom which made his face to shine in eyes of all the Nations and Princes of the World round about him which Wisdom did not so much if at all stand in the devoutness of his Heart or Soul towardâ— God as in the knowledg of natural and civil things as it is described 1 King 4. from Vers 29. to the end of the Chapter Concerning Idols and Idolaters the Father had said before They that make them are like unto them i. e. as Mr J. Deodat himself who is the man that pretended to finde Solomons Faith alive in the words in hand whilest Solomon himself was dead in Baal or in some of Baals Companions interprets it stupid and blinde as the Idols themselves are and so is every one that trusteth in them a Psal 115 8 Therefore questionless the Son after his return from that folly would not have pleaded the standing of his wisdom by him whilest He was an Idolater and Patron of Idols But the truth is that the words insisted upon are every ways so inconsiderable in point of Proof for the continuance of Solomons Faith during his continuance in his Idolatries that the recourse made to them for proof hereof is an Argument to me very considerable that the Patrons of that Opinion are extreamly straitened and put to it through want of so much as any tolerable Argument or Proof for the maintaining of it It is a sign that the Soul is hungry indeed when every bitter thing becomes sweet unto it Thus then we clearly finde that there is no special or particular ground or Argument at all of any value to prove that either David the Father during his impenitency after the horrid crimes of Murther and Adultery perpetrated by him or that Solomon the Son during the like impenitency in him upon his Idolatrous backslidings did retain any saving Principle of grace or Faith in them but that during their respective impenitencies they were children of wrath liable to the same sentence of Condemnation with the promiscuous multitude or generality of Murtherers and Idolaters for the Proof whereof several pregnant Arguments have been levyed from the Scriptures As for such Arguments and grounds by which the certain Perseverance of the Saints in general in the truth and soundness of their Faith is commonly pleaded and maintained they have been formerly weighed in the balance of the Sanctuary and found too light So that we may very safely conclude that both David and Solomon were not onely under a possibility of a total falling away from that grace of God wherein they sometimes stood which is common to all the Saints but that they taught the World the truth and certainty of such a Possibility by reducing it into act I mean by falling away totally from it Neither are Examples of the like sad Miscarriages wanting in the New-Testament §. 9. The Apostle speaks of some in his days who having put away a good Conscience concerning Faith made shipwrack b 1 Tim. 1 19 thereby and in another place speaking of the dangerous Doctrine of Hymeneus and Philetus who taught that the Resurrection was already past he saith that they overthrew or destroyed the Faith of some c 2 Tim. 2 17 Elsewhere he speaks of some who were then turned aside after Satan d 1 Tim. 5 15 They who by putting away a good Conscience make shipwrack of Faith must needs be supposed 1. To have had true Faith 2. To suffer an absolute or total loss of it For the first If we shall suppose that they who put away a good Conscience from them had it or were possessed of it before such their putting it away we must suppose withall that they had true saving Faith because goodness of Conscience cannot take place but onely where such a Faith gives Being unto it which in that respect is said to purifie the heart e Acts 15 9 as on the contrary the very mindes and consciences of Unbeleevers are said to be defiled f Tit. 1 15 Nor doth the Scripture any where to my best remembrance speak of a good or pure Conscience but where the goodness of it is supposed to slow from a sound knowledg of the Will of God in conjunction with an upright desire of doing all things according to the Tenor of the Truth known The end of the Commandment saith the Apostle in this very Chapter is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned a 1 Tim. 1 5 So again Pray for us for we trust we have a GOOD CONSCIENCE in all things willing to live honestly b Heb. 13 18 Another Apostle exhorteth Christians to sanctifie the Lord in their hearts and â—o be ready always to give an answer unto every man that asketh them a reason of the hope that â—is in them with meekness and fear Having a GOOD CONSCIENCE c 1 Pet. 3. 15 16 c. A little after be placeth the sum and substance of true Christianity in a good Conscience The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save â—s not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the Answer or demand of a GOOD CONSCIENCE towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ d Verse 21 meaning to add this by the way that Baptism typified or presignified by the Ark wherein Noah and his Family were prâ—served from perishing with the rest of the world by water doth contribute towards our Salvation from the condemnation of the world round about us for sin not so much by the letter or material effect of it but by typifying holding forth and assuring us that a good Conscience raised or built upon the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the sound knowledg hereof doth require or demand this Salvation of God and that according
to the Promise and Encouragement given unto it by Himself in that behalf and therefore so as that it shall not cannot be denyed of what it demandeth of Him in this kinde But that a pure which onely is the good Conscience still springeth from a found Faith in Jesus Christ and is found in conjunction with it these places 1 Tim. 3. 9. Heb. 9. 14. â—0 22. compared together and added to the former are sufficient to perswade And concerning the place in hand some of our best and most Orthodox Expositors understand the good Conscience mentioned to be none other Musculus upon the words Which good Conscience some having put away concerning Faith c. commenteth thus Here he speaketh the same which before he had expressed thus Now the end of the Commandment or charge which I give thee is Charity out of a pure heart and a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned from which some going astray have turned aside to vain-jangling e Idem dicit quòd suprà ad hunc modum expressit Finis verò denunciationis hujus est Charitas ex puro corde et conscientiâ bonâ fide non simulatâ à quibus quòd aberrârunt quidam deflexerunt ad vaniloquium c. c. His words immediately following to which I refer the Reader are every whit as plain and pregnant to the same point shewing that by a good conscience he doth not understand a conscience only Morally good and such as may be found in meer natural men ignorant of Christ and the Gospel but a Conscience Spiritually or Christiâ—nly good Nor is Bullinger his Compeer of any other minde The safest ship saith he upon the place in this vast sea of a world of Errors and Wickednesses is Canonical or Scriptural Truth pure Faith and sincere Charity f Tutissima enim navis in vasto hoc mundi errorum scelerum pelago est veritas canonica fides pura charitas siâ—câ—ra c. In which words he explains the Apostles good Conscience by sincereness of Love or Charity Nor could Calvin himself finish what he had to say upon the place until he had given testimony to the same Truth The Metaphor saith he taken from shipwrack answereth most aptly For it implies that the course of our navigation in the world must be steered by a good Conscience that so our Faith may come safe into the Haven otherwise we shall be in danger of shipwrack g Metaphora à naufragio sumpta aptissimè quadrat Nam innuit ut salva fides ad portum usque perveniat navigationis nostrae oursum bonâ conscientiâ regendum esse aliaâ— naufragii esse periculum hoc est ne fides malâ conscientiâ tanquam gurgite in mari procelloso mergatur c. Doubtless he doth not mean that the course of our navigation through the world that so our Faith may come safe into the Harbor should be steered or guided by a meer Moral Conscience how good soever in this kinde or by such a Conscience as Cato Socrates or Seneca had or might have had such a Conscience as this is no fit steers-man or guide to such a Faith with which or by which they must make the Port of Heaven whoever arrive there Therefore certainly He conceiveth that it is such a good Conscience the putting away of which the Apostle renders as the ground reason or cause why some make shipwrack of Faith the goodness whereof ariseth from such a Faith which accompanyeth Salvation and which being carefully preserved and kept preserveth and keepeth that Faith from whence it sprang from corruption or declining Concerning the two places which are commonly insisted upon to prove §. 10. that a good Conscience in Scripture doth not always signifie a Conscience Christianly Spiritually or Savingly good but sometimes Morally good onely i. e. which is not defiled or disturbed in the peace of it with sins against knowledg which goodness of Conscience is sometimes found in meer Civil or Natural men though destitute of Evangelical illumination the truth is that neither the one nor the other of them proveth any such thing In the former of these places the Apostle Paul speaketh thus Men and Brethren I have lived in all good Conscience before God until this day a Acts 23. 1 In the latter thus I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with pure Conscience b 2 Tim. 1. 3 c. For neither of these places do necessarily nor so much as probably relate to the time of Pauls Pharisaism as if his meaning were that all that time he had kept a good Conscience towards God for how could He then with truth or singleness of heart have made this Confession Of sinners I am the chief c 1 Tim. 1. 15 but to the time of his Apostleship or Profession of Christianity as appears clearly from the former place upon this account Paul was accused by the Jews as an Apostate from the Religion of his Forefathers and the true Worship of God as they supposed and that He was fallen from Judaism to the Sect of Christians yea and was become a Ringleader of them This they conceived to have been an high misdemeanor in Him and accused Him as a very wicked and ungodly Person for so doing To this Accusation and Crime objected the Apostle answers to this effect Men and Brethren whereas I have forsaken the Religion and Worship of the Jews and have embraced and do yet embrace the Christian Religion in stead of it I have done nothing I do nothing herein but upon very justifiable grounds and with a good Conscience in as much as I have obeyed God in so doing of which I am ready to give you a perfect Account if you please to hear me This to be the true purport and drift of the Apostles words the sequel of the Context makes yet more apparant For upon the hearing of the words in debate uttered by Him Ananias the High Priest was sorely offended and commanded the standers by to smite Him on the mouth for so speaking Now it is no ways reasonable to conceive that He would have taken it so heinously that Paul should say that He had always lived in all good Conscience before God whilest he professed Judaism and before He became a Christian Such a saying as this would rather have gratified and pleased then offended Him But that He should say that He lived with all good Conscience in the Profession of Christianity this was a sword that passed through Ananias Soul For the other place where the Apostle saith that He served God from His §. 11. Forefathers with a pure Conscience His meaning onely is that he serves none other God but Him whom His Forefathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob worshiped and that Him he served with a pure Conscience as they also did To qualifie the Jews who took great offence at Him for changing His Religion and withall to make this Practice of His
at all of this Faith unto any man whatsoever at least being yet in His Natural condition and unconverted For 1. if onely those men be in a possibility of being saved for whom Christ dyed And 2. if Christ dyed for the Elect onely And 3. if no unregenerate or unconverted Person hath any ground to beleeve that He is one of Gods Elect It roundly follows and with pregnancy of consequence that no such Person I mean who is yet unconverted hath any sufficient ground to beleeve that He Is one of those that may be or that is in a possibility of being saved All the said Hypotheses or Premisses as viz. 1. That no man is in a possibility of being saved but onely those for whom Christ dyed 2. That Christ dyed onely for the Elect And 3. that no unregenerate Person hath any sufficient ground to beleeve that He Is one of the Elect are authentique and unquestionable according to the known Principles of our Adversaries therefore the conclusion specified must be admitted and owned by them If they will admit the said conclusion and judg it no ways prejudicial either to themselves or their cause so to do I would demand of them what foundation of encouragement they can lay to perswade unregenerate men either to strive to enter in at the strait gate to labor for the meâ—â— that endureth to everlasting life or to apply them selves seriously and effectually in one kinde or other to the means of beleeving We know that without Hope or an apprehended possibility of obtaining what is endevored and sought after all motives or grounds of perswasion unto action amount to no more then to the beating of the Ayr the Hearts of men are not at all taken or wrought by them Despair of Salvation quencheth all thoughts all endevors all desires of beleeving Therefore if an unregenerate Person hath no sufficient ground of Hope that He is one of those who are so much as in a possibility of being saved He is not capable of any impressions from any ground or motive whatsoever to beleeving If it be here said though an unregenerate Person hath no sufficient ground §. 8. of Hope that He Is one of Gods Elect and consequently that Christ dyed for Him yet He hath sufficient ground of Hope that He MAY BE one of these and so that there is a possibility that Christ MAY have dyed for Him and upon the account of such an Hope as this He hath encouragement sufficient to apply Himself to the means of beleeving I answer 1. That such an Hope which amounts onely or very little more then to a bare apprehended possibility of obtaining hath but a very feeble and faint influence upon the Heart of a considering man by way of encouragement unto action especially unto such action which is of a laborious and difficult import and wherein He must deny Himself in matters of ease pleasure profit c. and this to an eminent degree Now it is generally known that that action or course of engagement wherein they must labor and exercise themselves who desire to beleeve unto Salvation is of such an import as we speak of it is a course of action wherein men must put forth or give out themselves with all their Heart and with all their Soul with all their minde and with all their strength wherein they must labor strive watch and pray continually deny themselves crucifie the old man c. or otherwise not expect Salvation 2. Neither is it so clear a Truth especially according to the Principles of those against whom we now argue that an unregenerate man hath a sufficient ground of Hope that He may be one of the Elect. For if He be not at present one of these there is no possibility according to the said Principles that ever He should be such If it be replyed that the meaning of this assertion a regenerate man hath a sufficient ground of Hope that He may be one of the Elect is not that He may be one of these hereafter whether He be one of them at present or no but that He may be one of them at the present I answer that Hope in propriety of import respecteth not what is or may be at present but what may be or is like to be in the future Nor do I remember any instance throughout the Scriptures where they make or suppose any other object of Hope but onely that which is or may be future nor that any definition of Hope given by learned Divines assigneth any other So that it is very improper at least to say that an unregenerate man hath ground of Hope that He may be at present one of Gods Elect. But 3. A little to indulge impropriety of terms I demand whether the Scriptures do not constantly represent and make unregeneracy or an unbeleeving condition especially joyned with an habitual practice of known sins a ground of fear that a man is not at present one of the Elect of God or rather whether they do not make such a condition a ground of certain knowledg that a man is not at present one of the Elect of God According to the Principles of the adverse Party in the Question in hand all the Elect shall certainly be saved and inherit the Kingdom of God but the Scriptures constantly teach and affirm That unbeleevers and unregenerate men especially living in known sins shall not inherit the Kingdom of God as we have in the two next preceding Chapters shewed at large Therefore unless we shall say that the Scriptures are divided in themselves it is unpossible to shew or prove that they any where exhibit or afford any ground of hope to such unregenerate and unbeleeving persons as we now speak of that they may be at present the Elect of God The Scripture no where excludes the Elect of God from Salvation but every where asserts them as Heirs hereof Therefore those whom it excludes from part and fellowship in this business are not at least in Scripture sence nor indeed in any sence consistent with Reason the Elect of God 4. If such unregenerate persons as we speak of have any sufficient ground to hope that they MAY be at present the Elect of God then have they the like ground of hope that they ARE at present of this number and the Elect of God The Reason of this sequel is plain because what a man is and what he may be at present are one and the same it being unpossible that he should be at present any thing besides or any other then what he is at present no subject whatsoever being capable of any otherness or alteration in an instant according to that known Maxim in natural Philosophy Mâ—tus non fit in instanti No motion can be in an instant of time as also that other Quicquid est quando est necesse est esse i. e. Whatsoever is whilest it is must of necessity be that which it is Therefore he that hath ground to
them the monitory assisting and strengthening presence of his Infinite Spirit with them and that upon such terms that if they regard and comport with him in his first and lower motions they shall have an advance and increase of such his presence and be stirred up and strengthened by him mightily to oppose tentations unto sin to walk in paths of righteousness and generally to act in due and regular order as to the escaping of the Wrath and Vengeance which is to come so to the obtaining of that life and glory which God hath promised to those that love him Now the consideration of these Particulars with some others of like import that may be added maketh it fully evident That Men have 1. All the real engagements upon them and 2. All the most efficacious means vouchsafed unto them that they are capable of to refrain from Sin and to love and practise Righteousness in which regard the most severe Punishment that can be inflicted upon them for a wilful obdurateness in ways of Sin is but equitable and just 4. And lastly Concerning the pretended disproportion between the §. 7. Practice of Sin as being but for a short time and the Punishment of Hell fire continuing for ever it hath been sufficiently attoned and the seeming hardness thereof taken off by the prâ—mised considerations The demerit of a sin which may be suddenly and in the twinkling of an eye committed may be such and so enormous as to deserve Punishment of a long continuance The act of Murther is or may be committed almost in an instant yet all men judg it but equitable that the Murtherer should have his life taken from him which in truth and strictness of consideration is a perpetual Punishment being a perpetual deprivation of that which is or was most dear to the Offender And generally the Law of retaliation which requireth an eye for an eye a tooth fâ—r a tooth c. is I suppose judged by all men most reasonable and equal And yet this Law in the ordinary process and execution of it inflicteth Punishments very disproportionable in respect of continuance to the time wherein or whilest the transgression was in acting A man may in an instant of time well-nigh strike out the eye of another and yet the loss of one of his own eyes which according to the exigency of the Law we speak of he must suffer for such a misdemeanor would be a Punishment to him whilest he liveâ— When a Laborer receives his hire or wages for his days work there is no proportion between the time of his labor and the time wherein or whilest he receiveth his wages the proportion which in this case is in equity to be considered is not between the time or continuance of the one and the other but between the value or worth of the one and the other A man may receive in the fourtieth part of an hour the full value of his twelve hours labor In like manner the proportion which Reason and Equity requireth to be observed between sins and Punishments consisteth not in an equality of time between the committing of the one and the inflicting or suffering of the other but in an equality between the degrees of demerit in the one and of suffering in the other Now it hath been clearly proved that such an equality as this is to be found between sin which is practised or committed but within a short space of time comparatively and between the Punishment of Hell fire though continuing for ever And let me here add this that the shortness of the time wherein men are and know themselves to be in a capacity or possibility of sinning knowing withall that their Punishment for sinning will be sore and endless is in justness of account rather an aggravation then extenuation of the demerit of their sinning For of the two it is much more irrational and unworthy of men knowingly and voluntarily to bring an Eternity of most grievous Punishment upon their own heads by sinning for a short space onely then it would be to incur the same misery upon the account of a larger time of sining as it is a point of greater folly and indiscretion for a man to waste a fair Estate and to bring Poverty or Beggery like an armed man upon him by the vain luxury and excess of one day or one hour onely then it would be to continue in a spending posture for ten or twenty years together and to come to Beggery at the last The Holy Ghost in Scripture frequently insinuates the irrationality of sinning by the consideration of the short and inconsiderable continuance of the accommodations accruing unto men thereby Wilt thou saith Solomon set thine eyes upon that which is not i. e. the Being whereof is inconsiderable and next to that which is not or which hath no Being at all for the short continuance of it for Riches certainly make themselves wings they fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven l Prov. 23. 5. Now every whit as certain it is that the fruits or contentments which accrue unto men by other ways and means of sinning are every whit as perishable of as short and uncertain a continuance as riches which are the birth that Covetousness travelleth with and is pained to bring forth So that all Particulars relating to the business in hand being put to account and truly summed up together amount to this that there is no unrighteousness or hardness in it at all that God for the sins which men impenitently and with wilful obdurateness of heart commit within the short compass or space of mortality should inflict a Punishment of an everlasting continuance Nor is this his severity against sin any whit the more obnoxious or disparageable because He Himself suffers no inconvenience thereby in the least His estate in Blessedness and Glory being liable to no breach or disaccommodation This rather commends the equity of such His Proceedings against sin and sinners and clearly evinceth that what He doth in punishing the one and the other with that severity of Punishment which hath been oft mentioned He doth not out of any spirit of revenge properly so called or as it is frequently found in men nor out of any desire of self-reparations but out of the most absolute and perfect Righteousness Holiness and Purity of His Nature in conjunction with that most exquisite sedate and dispassionate knowledg which he hath of the just demerit of sin Whereas in the Explication of our Doctrine concerning Christs dying §. 8. for all Men Sect. 1. of this Chapter we signified that Intentions and so reality of intention are not competible unto God in all and every respect wherein they are ascribed unto men though we have sufficiently accounted for our sence and meaning herein formerly m Cap. 3. yet we shall here for the Readers satisfaction briefly review that account that so it may clearly appear how and in what sence we affirm and hold that God
God what they mean by this Sancta Simulatio As far as my short understanding is able to reach to talk of an Holy Simulation and of a Sun shine Night or of a Beast endued with the reasonable Soul of a man would make Discourses of a parallel consistence If Simulation counterfeiting or professing one thing whilest the contrary is intended be holy in God why or how should they not be holy in Men also But in Men we know they are abominable Yet the Tenor of Gods Injunction unto Men is AS HE THAT calleth you is Holy SO BE YE HOLY in all manner of conversation a 1 Pet. 1. 15 Or if some things in God may be Holy which are abominable in Men how or by what rule shall Men distinguish between such holy things in God which are holy also when found in Men and such other holy things in God which when found in Men are abominable Besides the Holy Ghost attributes the Honorable Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one uncapable of lying unto God b Titus 1. 2 If God cannot lye much less can He counterfeit or dissemble simulation and dissimulation always including lying and adding somewhat besides that is evil to boot And doubtless he that so much loveth or desireth Truth i. e. conformity in reality of purpose and affection unto words and outward professions in the inward parts c Psal 51. 6 of Men and commands them to love not in word or in tongue but in deed and in Truth d 1 Iohn 3. 18 is himself fully commensurable in Heart and Soul in the most real Purposes and Intentions that can be conceived with all that goeth out of his lips His mouth is not so wide opened unto the World but that his Heart is enlarged accordingly nor is He at any hand to be judged like unto him whom David brandeth with this character of wickedness The words of his mouth were smoother then butter but war was in his Heart His words were softer then oyl yet were they drawn swords e Psal 55. 21 Such a simulation or dissembling as we now speak of and which some most unworthily attribute unto God is by the very light of Nature execrable and accursed Homer puts these words into the mouth of his Achilles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Iliad 1. i. e. To me He is abhorr'd like Death Whose Heart accords not with His Breath But this subter-fuge of Simulatio Sancta is it seems so broadly obnoxious that the greatest part of those who wish themselves safe from the prementioned Scriptures are afraid or ashamed to trust to it Therefore 2. Some others of them attempt an escape by the new but dead way of this Distinction God say they wisheth the Peace and Salvation of those that perish voluntate approbativâ with or according to His approving Will i. e. He approveth of the Salvation of such Persons as good but He doth not wish it voluntate efficaci i. e. with His efficacious Will Are not men think we sorely afraid of the Truth who can accept of deliverance from it by the unworthy hand of such distinctions as these For 1. Is it a thing of any reasonable resentment in the least that God should positively and peremptorily determine and decree from Eternity that which is directly contrary to His Will of Approbation Or is not the destruction of those who perish contrary to their Salvation Therefore if God approveth of their Salvation and yet peremptorily decreeth their Condemnation whether positively or permissively onely as these men count Permission is not material as we formerly observed b Cap. 2. §. 20 doth He not decree that from Eternity which His Soul hateth or abhorreth or which is the same which is contrary to His Will of Approbation And who ever decreed such a thing which is contrary to what he approveth taketh pleasure or delighteth in No man ever yet being in possession of his Senses though but common and ordinary decreed his own Sorrow or any thing contrary to what he approveth In what sence Christ is said to have been delivered up taken and crucified with wicked hands by the determinate Counsel of God hath been formerly opened c Cap. 2. Sect. 13 by the Tenor of which Explication it plainly appeareth that in or about the crucifying of Christ there was nothing decreed or determined by God but with perfect accord to His Will of Approbation 2. When the said distinction teacheth us that God doth not will the Salvation of those that perish voluntate efficaci with his efficacious or effectual Will I would gladly know what it meaneth by this efficacious Will of God Certainly He willeth the Salvation of these men with a Will efficacious to a degree yea to a very considerable and great degree with a Will I mean exerting it self upon such terms in order to the promoting furthering and procuring their Salvation that unless they resisted the Holy Ghost they should be actually saved yea upon such terms that God himself professeth that He knoweth not what to do more to effect or procure their Salvation then what He doth What could have been done more saith He to my Vineyard that I have not done in it d Isaiah 5 4 To interpret What could have been done more by What would have been done more is to dissence the place and to make Hay and Stubble of good Silver and Gold In what sence God is and properly enough may be said not to be able to do more then what He actually doth to promote the Salvation even of those who perish hath been formerly opened e Cap. 16 Sect. 15 16 Yea the learnedst abettors of that Doctrine which we now oppose generally grant that God vouchsafeth means of Salvation yea sometimes means very rich and powerful in this kinde unto those who in the event are not saved Doubtless such Dispensations as these argue a Will in God some ways and in some measure operative and efficacious in order to the Salvation of such men which is more then a Will of meer Approbation If by the efficacious Will of God the said Distinction meaneth such a Will which acteth irresistibly or necessiâ—atingly in order to the saving of men and that God with such a Will as this doth not will the Salvation of any of those who perish My Answer is 1. That if this be meant particularly of the initial or first applications made by God unto such men that Will of His from which these proceed may in a sence be said to act irresistibly and necessitatingly towards their Salvation not indeed as if by these exertions or actings of this Will of His the Salvation of these men must necessarily follow but because such applications of God unto them in order to their Salvation cannot be prevented nor God hindered by any means whatsoever from or in the making of them unto them God will will or nill men themselves or who ever besides
my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love 336 17. 2. As thou last given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him 116 117 c. 17. 3. And this is life eternal that they know thee the onely true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ 40 41 17. 12. those that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost but the Son of perdition 252 17. 15. I pray not that but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil 246 17. 21 22. That they All may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us 245 246 20. 31. But these things are written that ye might beleeve that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that beleeving ye might have have life c. 397 398 Acts 4. 27 28. For of a truth against thy Holy Childe Jesus both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and people of Israel were gathered together For to do whatsoever thy hand and counsel determined before to be done c. 14 15 c. 5. 4. Whilest it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thine own power 13 7. 60. lay not this sin to their charge 245 13. 46. but seeing ye put it from you and judg your selves unworthy of everlasting life lo c. 491 15. 8. And God which knoweth the heart bare them witness giving them the Holy Ghost c. 362 17. 28. For in him we live and move and have our Being 2 3 c. 23. 1. Men and Brethren I have lived in all good Conscience before God until this day 355 23. 4. Revilest thou Gods High Priest 443 27. 24. and lo God hath given thee all them that sail with thee 307 27. 31. except thesE abide in the ship ye cannot be safe 9 307 184 225 Rom. 1. 19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God c. 507 1. 20. to the intent they should be without excuse 502 1. 21. Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God c. 507 2. 4 5. not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee unto Repentance But after thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up c. 188 410 2. 6. Who will render to every man according to his work 244 3. 3. For what if some did not beleeve shall their unbelief make the Faith of God of none effect 359 3. 19. that every mouth may be stopped 502 5. 7. Yet peradventure for a good man some will even dare to dye 287 5. 15. But not as the offence so also is the free gift For if through the offence of one many be dead much more the Grace of God and the gift by Grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many 110 111 515 516 5. 16. And not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift For the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many offences unto justification 493 494 c. 5. 18. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life 108 109 c. 516 517 c. Rom. 5. 19. For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous 516 517 c. 6. 2. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein 261 6. 9 10 11. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more Likewise also reckon your selves to be dead indeed unto sin c. 262 263 7. 12. Wherefore the Law is holy and the Commandment holy and just and good 287 444 7. 19. but the evil which I would not that I do 61 326 327 8. 13 14. but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God 325 8. 24. but Hope that is seen is not hope 317 8. 28 29 30. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are called according to his purpose For whom he did foreknow he did also predestinate c. Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called c. 207 208 c. 50 8. 31. If God be for us who can be against us 340 8. 34. Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen again who also c. 248 249 c. 9. 11. that the purpose of God according to Election might stand not of Works but of him that calleth 462 9. 15. for I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy 68 9. 21. Hath not the Potter power over the clay 68 11. 26. And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written There shall come out of Sion a Deliverer that shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 227 228 11. 29. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance 152 153 c. 11. 33. O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledg of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out 427 43 14. 15. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ dyed 121 122 14. 23. For whatsoever is not of Faith is sin 496 1 Cor. 1. 8 9. Who shall also confirm you unto the end that c. God is faithful by whom ye were called c. 187 235 4. 15. For though ye have ten thousand Instructors in Christ yet have ye not many Fathers for c. 266 331 5. 5. to deliver such an one unto Satan 361 362 6. 15. shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot 328 c. 7. 32 33. He that is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord But he that is married careth for the things of the world how c. 264 8. 11. And through thy knowledg shall the weak Brother perish for whom Christ dyed 124 9. 27. lest by any means when I have preached unto others I my self should be a cast-away 62 279 280 315 316 377 10. 12. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall 310 10. 13. But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but c. 238 310 12. 12. so also is Christ 458 2 Cor. 1. 22. Who hath also sealed us and given us the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts 256 257 2. 15. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish 216 428 506 5. 14 15. For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judg that if one dyed for all then were all dead And that he
their sacrificing to an unknown God d Acts 17. 29 4. And lastly The Interposure and actings of Reason and Vnderstanding in men are of that soveraign and most transcendent use yea necessity in and about matters of Religion that all the Agency of the Spirit notwithstanding a man can perform nothing no manner of service unto God with acceptation nothing in a way of true Edification to himself without their engagement and service First I stand charged by God not to beleeve every spirit but to try the spirits whether they be of God e 1 Iohn 4. 1 I demand by what Rule or Touchstone shall I try any spirit When or upon what account shall I reject one as a spirit of Error Falshood and Delusion and do Homage with my Iudgment and Conscience to another as the Spirit of God If it be said I ought to try the spirits by the Scriptures or Word of God I demand again but how shall I try my Touchstone or be sure that that principle notion or ground which I call the Word of God and by which I go about to try the spirits is indeed the Word of God There is scarce any spirit of Error that is abroad in the Christian World but freely offers it self to be tryed by the Word of God as well as the true Spirit of God Himself i. e. by such meanings sences or conclusions as it self confidently asserts to be the Word of God i. e. the Mind of God in the Scriptures So that I am in no capacity to try such a spirit which upon such an account as this pretends his coming forth from God unless I be able to prove that those sences meanings and conclusions by which he offers to be tryed are not indeed the Word of God Now it is unpossible that I should prove this meerly and only by the Scriptures themselves because unto what place or places soever I shall have recourse for my proof or tryal in this case this spirit will reject my sence and interpretation in case it maketh against him and will substitute another that shall not oppose him Nor can I reasonably or regularly reject his sence in this case at least as an untruth unless I apprehend some relish or taste therein which is irrational or some notion which jarreth with or grateth upon some clear principle or other of reason within me For as on the one hand what Doctrine or notion soever clearly accordeth and is commensurable with any solid and undoubted principle or ground of Reason within me is hereby demonstrably evinced to be a Truth and from God so on the other hand what Doctrine or saying soever bears hard or falls foul upon any such principle must of necessity be an Error and somewhat that proceeds from Satan or from men and not from God The Reason hereof is clearly asserted by the Apostle in these words For God is not the Author of Confusion but of peace a 1 Cor. 14. 33. From whence it appears that God is not divided in himself or contradictions to himself so as to write or assert that in one book as in that of the Scriptures which he denyeth or opposeth in another as viz. in that of Nature or of the fleshly tables of the heart of man but whatsoever he writeth or speaketh in the one he writeth or speaketh nothing Inclinavit Deus Scripturas ad infantium lactentium capacitatem Aug. in Psal 8. * Tertul. De testimonio Animae adversus Gentes c. 1. Mirum si a Deo data homini novit divinare Sic mirum si a Deo data cadem canit quae Deus suis dedit nosse Ibidem c. 5. Si de tuis literis dubitas neque Deus neque natura mentitur ut Deo naturae credas crede animae c. Ib. cap. 6. Cur verba habet Christianonorum quos ne auditos visâ—s que vult Ibid. O testimonium Animae naturaliter Christianae Tertul. Apologet Ne â—ui praeclusus esset ad felicitatem aditus non solum hominum mentibus indidit illud quod diximus Religionis semen c. Calvin instit l. 1. c. 5. Sect. 1. in the other but what is fairly and fully consistent with it Vpon this account it is a grave and worthy advertisement of Mr Perkins in his Epistle before his Treatise of Predestination It is saith he also requisite that this Doctrine he speaks of Predestination Election and Reprobation agree with the grounds of common Reason and of that knowledg of God which may be obtained by the light of nature In this saying of his he clearly supposeth that whatsoever should be taught by any man in the mysterious and high points of Predestination otherwise then according to the Scriptures and the Truth may be clearly disproved by this viz. the disagreement of it with the grounds of common Reason and of that knowledg of God which the light of Nature shineth into the hearts of men If himself had kept close to this principle of his own in drawing up his Judgment in the point of Predestination the World had received a far differing and better account from his pen of this subject then now it hath But if his sence were that the heights and depths of Religion for so we may well call the Doctrines of Election and Reprobation c have nothing in them but what agreeth with the grounds and principles of common reason and with the Dictates of Nature in men and consequently may be measured discerned and judged of by these he did not conceive that matters of a more facile and ordinary consideration were above the capacity and apprehension of Reason It was the saying of Augustin that God hath bowed down the Scriptures to the capacity even of Babes and Sucklings Tertullian hath much upon this account to excellent purpose In one place speaking of the Soul being yet simple rude and unfurnished with any acquired knowledge either from the Scripture or other institution he demands why it should be strange that being given by God it should speak out or sing the same things the knowledg whereof God giveth unto his children Not long after he admonisheth the Gentiles that neither God nor Nature lye and thereupon that they may beleeve both God and nature willeth them to beleeve their own Souls A little after he saith that the Soul he speaks of hath the words and therefore the inwards senses and impressions of Christians whom notwithstanding it wisheth that it might never hear or see Elsewhere having mentioned some expressions of affinity with the Scriptures as oft coming out of the mouths of Heathen he triumphs as it were over them with this acclamation O the Testimony of a Soul naturally Christian Nor doth Calvin himself say any whit less then all this when he saith that God hath implanted or inwardly put the seed of Religion in the mind of men Doubtless the seed sympathizeth richly with that body which springs and grows from it But these
things by the way All impressions all principles of light and truth which are found written in the hearts and consciences of men are here written by the finger of God himself Therefore what spirit or Doctrine soever symbolizeth in notion and import with these or any of them must of necessity be of the same parentage and descent with them there being no original Parent or Father of light and truth but God only And on the contrary what Doctrine or spirit soever putteth any of these Principles to sorrow or shame and doth not lovingly comport with them hereby declare themselves to be of a spurious and ignoble race as Christ reasoned with the Iews If God were your Father ye would love me for I proceeded forth and came from God g John 8 42. But because they hated him he concluded them to be the children of the Devil Concerning the mystery of the Trinity the Incarnation of God or the Son of God the conception of a Virgin with some other points of like consideration commonly pretended to be against or at least above and out of the reach and apprehension of Reason I clearly answer 1. That they are every whit as much yea upon the same terms out of the reach of Faith as of Reason For how can I beleeve at least upon good grounds and as it becometh a Christian to beleeve whatsoever he beleeveth that which I have no Reason nor am capable of apprehending any Reason nay for which there is no Reason why I should beleeve it If it be said I am bound to beleeve the Doctrines specified because they are revealed by God I answer that this is a rational ground whereof my Reason and Vnderstanding are throughly capable why I should beleeve them The light of Nature clearly informeth me that what God revealeth or speaketh must needs be true and consequently worthy and meet to be beleeved If it be further said but Reason is not able to apprehend or conceive how three should be really and essentially one and the same how a Virgin should conceive and bring forth a Son c. I answer that no Faith or Belief in such things as these is required of me nor would be accepted with God in case it were in me above what I am able by my Reason to apprehend and understand As I am not able to apprehend by my Reason the particular and distinct manner how the three Persons subsist in one and the same Divine Nature and Essence so neither am I bound to beleeve it That which I am bound to beleeve in this Point is onely this that there are three who do thus subsist I mean in the same Divine Essence and for this my Reason is apprehensive enough why I should beleeve it viz. because God himself hath revealed it as hath been said If I should confidently beleeve any thing more or further concerning the Trinity of Persons commonly so called and there is the same Reason of the other Points mentioned then what I know upon the clear account of my Reason and Vnderstanding it would be presumption in me and not Faith and I should contract the guilt of those whom the Apostle chargeth with intruding or advancing themselves into the things which they have not seen a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 2. 18 Vid. Sam. Petit Var. Lect. l. 1. c. 9 i. e. rationally apprehended and understood But 2. If it be yet demanded but is it not contrary to the grounds of Nature and so to Principles of Reason that a Virgin should conceive a Child And if so how can such a Doctrine according to what you have asserted be received as from God or as a Truth I answer it is no ways contrary to Reason nor to any Principle thereof that God should be able to make a Virgin to conceive but very consonant hereunto as the Apostle Paul supposed it credible enough as we lately heard even in the eye of Reason that God should make the Earth bring forth her dead alive b Acts 26 8 Indeed that a Virgin should conceive in a natural way or according to the course of ordinary Providence is contrary unto Reason but this Religion requireth not of any man to beleeve Nor doth it bear hard at all upon any Principle of Reason that God should be willing to do every whit as great and strange a thing as that I mean as to cause a Virgin to conceive for the accomplishment of so great and glorious a design as the saving of a lost World Nor is it contrary to Reason or any Principle thereof that God or the first Being being infinite should have a manner of subsisting or Being far different from the manner of subsistence which is appropriate to all created and finite Beings or that this manner of subsisting which is proper unto him should be unto men incomprehensible But most consonant it is to Principles of Reason when God himself hath pleased so far to reveal that appropriate and incomprehensible manner of his subsisting as to declare and say that he subsisteth in three that men should accordingly beleeve it so to be So that most certain it is that there is nothing in Christian Religion which so far as it concerneth men to know and beleeve but what fairly and friendly comports with that Reason and Vnderstanding which God hath given unto Man and what by a diligent and conscientious use of these noble faculties he may come to know and believe at least so far as to salve his great Interest of Salvation 2. Look with how many Precepts Exhortations Admonitions I stand charged by God to submit unto and practise I am under so many charges and engagements from him likewise to exercise my Reason and Vnderstanding 1. To apprend aright the Mind of God in every of these respectively lest when he injoyneth me one thing I through mistake should do another 2. To consider how when and in what cases I am commanded by him to do this or that 3. and lastly to pass by other particulars To gather together and call up upon my Soul all such Motives and Considerations which I am able whereby to provoke stir up and strengthen my self to the execution and performance of all things accordingly When God commandeth me to strive to enter in at the strait gate to seek his Kingdom and the righteousness thereof in the first place to labor for the meat which endureth to everlasting life to be a man in understanding to omit other Precepts of like nature without number be commandeth me consequentially and with a direct clear and necessary implication to rise up in the might of my reason and understanding in order to the performaance of these things nor am I capable of performing the least of these great and most important commands in any due manner but by interessing my reason judgment understanding and this throughly and effectually in and about the performance The truth is I stand bound in duty and conscience