5.45 but his special Grace and Mercy he extends onely to those who are the proper objects of it namely those whom he hath chosen to be vessels of Mercy Why may not God have his Favorites as well as Kings have theirs Hence it is said that he will be gracious to whom he will be gracious Exod. 33.19 which argues that he will not be gracious alike and there are some spoken of in Scripture who were made to be taken and destroyed 2 Pet. 2.12 who before of old were ordained to condemnation Jude 4. therefore all are not alike objects of mercy And herein appears the excellency of free Grace and special Mercy namely in regard of the peculiarity of it it is as rare as precious it were no great priviledge to be Favorite of a Prince if all Subjects were favored alike or none were favored but according to their deserts therefore special Grace is not confusedly scattered amongst all by a general offer take it who will but confined to a few hence Christs people are called a peculiar people Titus 2.14 and his flock is said to be a little flock Luke 12.32 and though the number of Israel be as the sand of the sea yet a remnant onely shall be saved for the Lord will finish his work and cut it short in righteousness Rom. 9.27 28. Object Cap. 3. page 83. But for special Grace Mr. P. tells us It is so called because it serves ad speciales habitus actus to every habit or act or thought of good that is done by man Answ This is such a notion of special Grace as I think but few have been acquainted with but let him tells us whether these special acts and habits be effects of that special Grace which is given to some onely to such whom God loves with a special and peculiar love or imparted to all men indifferently If the former then it is called special in reference to some special persons to whom it is communicated and those special effects which it produceth in these more then in others If the latter which Mr. P. seems to intend what a choice and special Grace hath he found out for us which is bestowed as largely upon Judas as upon Peter upon the damned in hell as those who are saved in heaven When Judas preached and cast out devils he did it by a Grace that served for those special acts and habits whereby he was enabled to do these things When others called Christ Lord Lord yea not onely made an outward profession of him but prophesied and cast out devils in his name they did it by vertue of a Grace that served for these special acts and habits yet Christ will say to them at the great Day I know you not depart from me ye workers of iniquity Matth 7.22 What comfort can a man take in such a special Grace as he may carry with him to hell Doth not Scripture-language found in another kinde of strain then this as when our Savior gives thanks to his Father that he had hid the mysteries of his kingdom from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes Matth. 11.25 and tells his Disciples that it was given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and not to others cap. 13.11 and the Apostle Not many Wise not many mighty not many noble whom God hath called 1 Cor. 1.26 and saith of himself that when he was a blasphemer and a persecuter yet he found mercy and the grace of the Lord was exceedingly abundant towards him 1 Tim. 1.13 14. Object 5. A fifth Objection which makes a great noise is That this Doctrine cannot stand with the truth of God for he hath said He hath no pleasure in the death of wicked men and confirms this with an oath Ezek. 33.11 and saith expresly That he would not that any should perish 2 Pet. 3.9 Answ 1. For that place of Ezekiel the answer is by distinguishing of that which is called in Scripture by the name of the will of God It signifies either his secret will or his revealed will the will of his purpose or the will of his precept and command this place is not to be understood of the will of his purpose which onely is properly his will but of the will of his precept or command whereby he enjoyns men to do those things that tend to life and to decline all those things that tend to death and therefore may be said not to will their death especially all his outward dispensations towards men tending to the same end with his command namely to procure life not death Object Against this Mr. P. replies That the revealed will of God or the will of his command is propriè voluntas properly the will of God for the whole word of God revealed in Scripture is properly his will Answ For answer of this two things are needful to be proved First That the revealed will of God or his command is not properly his will Secondly That all those whom God wills to be saved voluntate propriè dicta◠with the will of his purpose with his internal will are or shall be certainly saved 1. For the first when two things are attributed to God that are contrary one to the other both of them cannot possibly be taken properly as when it is said that it repented the Lord that he made Saul king 1 Sam. 15.11 and that the Strength of Israel cannot lie nor repent verse 29. Both these cannot be taken properly for then there would be a contradiction that onely therefore is to be taken properly which agrees to the nature of God he is unchangeable and therefore cannot repent the other is to be taken figuratively he is said to repent because he doth the same thing that a repenting man he changeth his action as a repenting man doth he never changeth his minde So when it is said that God wills not the death of a sinner and that he hardens whom he will and makes some vessels to dishonor Rom. 9.18.21 Both these cannot be taken properly therefore that must be taken properly which agrees with the nature of God and the other to be taken figuratively now it properly agrees to the nature of God that his will should be accomplished because he is Omnipotent therefore when he is said not to will the death of a sinner and yet many sinners die everlastingly this cannot be understood of his will properly taken namely the will of his Purpose and Decree but of the will of his precept and command and of his outward dispensations towards men all which in themselves tend to the preserving from death 2. The same name cannot be properly given to two things whose nature doth really differ as for instance when Christ saith Let the dead bury the dead this cannot be properly taken in both places because in the first it is spoken of those who are spiritually dead in the other of those who are naturally dead Now that the
comes to be saved since he knows certainly that all men will resist for whatsoever is born of the flesh is flesh Joh. 3.4 and it is the property of the flesh to lust against the Spirit Gal. 5.17 3 If God seriously wills and intends mans salvation mans resistance cannot hinder for he can easily remove it Who hath resisted his will saith the Apostle Rom. 9.19 Our God is in Heaven and doth whatsoever he will Psal 115.3 Whatever pleased the Lord in Heaven or Earth that did he Psal 135.6 What is the reason that when all men resist he removeth this resistance in some and of unwilling wills causeth them to have willing wills Is it not because he intends their Salvation And why doth he not the like to others is it not because he never intended to save them He can do this in one as well as another and that without offering any violence to the liberty of their wills if he intended the Salvation of all alike No man can be said seriously to desire that thing the hindrances of effecting whereof he will not remove when it is in his power to do it This conditional Decree cannot consist with the simplicity of Gods Nature Argument 4 for he being actus simplicissimus perfectissimus being one and the same most simple and perfect act decrees all things simul semel uno actu simplicissimo together and at once with one most simple act There is no priority or posteriority in Gods Decrees bu onely prioritas rationis as D. Twisse well expresseth it quando ratio unius petitur è ratione alterius a priority of reason when the reason of one thing is drawn from the reason of another as the reason of the means is drawn from the reason of the end God decrees end and means and all together but because in order of Nature the end goes before the means and we can apprehend it no other way therefore that order is usually attributed unto God in his Decrees that first he decrees the end and then the means though he decrees both with one and the self same act at the same instant Now this Hypothetical Doctrine which makes Gods Decrees to be conditional makes also a mixture and multiplicity of Decrees As first that he wills the Salvation of all men then that believers onely shall be saved then that this particular person shall be saved if he believe or damned if he will not then upon the foresight who will and who will not the certain salvation of these and damnation of the other Now the Scripture carries on these things in a far clearer and more direct way teaching that God by one and the self same act of an absolute Decree doth determine the Salvation of his Elect and to give them Faith Repentance and all other Graces that are needfull to bring them to it This conditional Decree cannot agree with the perfection of Gods Nature Argument 5 1. It supposeth a general Decree of saving all believers 2. Because this will never takes effect if it stayes here and be carried on no further it makes God in the next place to proceed to a conditional Decree of saving this or that person upon condition if he will believe and then to an absolute Decree of these particular persons upon foresight of their believing and persevering Now here is plainly progressus ab imperfectioribus ad perfectiora a progress from the less perfect to the more perfect after the manner of men which can in no sort agree to the perfect wisdom of God who knows and determines all things simul semel 3. This makes this will of God touching the Salvation of all rather to be a Velleietas then volitio a wishing rather then a willing which is proper onely to weak men who is not able to accomplish his own desires but cannot agree to the All-powerfull God who is in the Heaven and doth whatsoever he will Wishing always argues weakness and imperfection when a man truely desires any thing he would effect it if he were able therefore it must argue great impotency in God seriously to desire the Salvation of men and not to be able to effect it yea to effect it by just means If he seriously desires the Salvation of those who are never saved it follows necessarily that his will is not omnipotent and irresistable This doctrine of a conditional decree cannot agree with the certainty of Gods Decrees Argument 6 How can that be certain which hath no certain ground or foundation They make the Decrees of God to be grounded upon his foreknowledge and his foreknowledge to be grounded not upon any thing which himself determined to do but upon the mutable motion of mans will and the uncertain expectation of what he will do who hath power to frustrate the most powerfull influence that God shall put forth in the conversion of a sinner although he shall work as powerfully as he did in the conversion of Paul as Mr. J. G. teacheth 2. This conditional decree hath no certain object therefore it cannot be certain It hath not certain salvation nor certain damnation for it is equally and indifferently disposed to either of these It cannot have both these for the certain object for they being contrary cannot consist together This conditional Decree agrees not with the Apostles Doctrine Argument 7 Rom. 9.11 12 13. For 1. He tells us that Jacob was loved and Esau was hated and that before they were born or had done good or evil but this conditional Decree takes away all difference betwixt love and hatred before men are born before they have done good or evil for it makes love to depend upon their doing of good and hatred to depend upon their doing of evil and that not in regard of the effects onely of love or hatred but in regard of Gods Purpose and Decree It takes away all difference betwixt Election and Reprobation For according to this Doctrine Esau shall be loved and elected upon condition he will believe and Jacob shall be hated and rejected if he refuseth to do this 2. The Apostle saith of these that they were loved and hated before they were born but by this Doctrine no man is loved or hated till he be ready to die till he hath persevered in Faith or Unbelief till the very act of his Dissolution Object The Love which the Apostle here speaks of is understood of temporal Priviledges and Hatred of the contrary Answ Not of temporal Priviledges onely For 1 The earthly Canaan was a Type of the Heavenly Canaan as Jerusalem was a Type of the Celestial Jerusalem as not onely Calvin Beza Zanchy and others affirm but also Bellarmine himself acknowledgeth and Jacob was a Type of the elected Israel as Esau was a Type of the rejected part called therefore profane Esau who passed away all his right and hope of Heaven for something wherewith to fill his belly for the present 2. The Love and Hatred here mentioned by
Lord turned the hearts of the Egyptians to hate his people Psal 105.35 That when the false Prophet was deceived he had deceived them Ezek. 14.9 That he gave up the Gentiles to vile lusts Rom. 1.26 That he smote the Jews with the spirit of slumber that they should not see with their eyes nor hear with their ears Rom. 11.8 9. That he would send to those that loved not the truth strong delusions that they should believe lies 2 Thes 2.10 11. That God put into the hearts of the ten Kings to give their power to the beast Rev. 17.17 and many other like places there are that speak in the same kinde of language Now can we think that when the Scripture doth in so many places and so constantly set forth the maner of Gods working in sin â—y such expressions as denote action and very seldom if at all as signifie a bare permission onely as that in the selling of Joseph into Egypt in Pharaohs refusing to let the people go and the rest before named God should exercise a bare permission onely without any action that he should sit still as a Spectator without doing any thing at all Object To these places Mr. P. answereth Cap. 4. pag. 48. That by a common Hebraism verbs active in sound are onely permissive in signification Answ This indeed he dictates but he doth not demonstrate nor bring the least patch of an Argument to prove it neither will all his skill in the Hebrew enable him to do it and may he not by this shift evade the clearest and strongest Scriptures that are brought against him by telling us that they signifie quite another thing then the nature of the words do import if we will believe him 2. Why may we not then interpret other Scriptures in the like maner where the like expressions are used as when the Lord saith I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil Isa 45.7 I have made the earth and created man upon it my hands spread out the heavens Psal 12. Why may we not by Mr. P. his Hebraisms interpret these verbs that are active in sound to be permissive onely in signification and say that God hath permitted light and darkness to be created and suffered the earth to be made and the heavens to be spread out Object But he further objects That these expressions cannot be properly taken therefore they do not denote any action but onely permission Answ Though they cannot be so properly taken as to signifie that God worketh in the same maner in evil actions as he doth in good or as evil men themselves do yet neither so improperly as to signifie a bare permission without any action at all and though we be not able to apprehend his secret and wonderful maner of working in evil actions yet neither are we to deny that he hath any work at all in them since himself doth so often and so expresly affirm it though he doth it miro ineffabili modo as Austin speaks yet we are not to deny the doing of it And by those former Scriptures mentioned it may appear what little reason Mr. P. had to make such a clamor against those our Protestant Divines some of which God used as principal instruments in advancing that glorious work of Reformation as if they made God to be the Author of sin when he knows that they positively professed and some of them strongly proved the contrary and what expressions they used in this subject were but the same in effect with Scripture expressions yea not altogether so high Yet he labors magno conatu to maintain this charge against them herein complying with the Papists so that Bellarmine himself is not more eager and industrious in carrying on this charge against Calvin and Zuinglius then he is in carrying it on both against these and many others arraigning no less then twelve of them as guilty of the great sin of Blasphemy by making God the Author of sin when they speak but the very same things for substance which the Scripture speaks about it as if it were his drift and design to make them and their doctrine odious That God hath some hand in the acts of sinful men appears Argument 3 because the Substratum or subject of sin namely the natural motion or action whereto sin cleaves is that whereof he is the proper cause and efficient therefore he must needs have some efficiency in it Object Against this Mr. P. objects That it is as impossible to separate the wickedness of the act from the act which is wicked as to separate roundness from the Globe and to separate sinfulness from the sin Cap 4. pag. 48. as from the sinful act Answ God is little beholding to him for so denying him to be the Author of the evil that cleaves to the actions of nature as withall to deny him to be the Author of Nature for maintaining his Purity by denying his Omnipotency 2. Doth not the Scripture tell us expresly that in him we live move and have our being Acts 17.25 As he is the Author of our being so also of all those natural motions and actions that arise from our being as we cannot live without him so we cannot move without him As we cannot move our hand or foot so not our heart or tongue without him Omnes causae secundae sicut dependent à Deo in esse it a dependent ab eo in operari 3. Was not Natures work the same in Adam when he ate the forbidden fruit as when he did his necessary food and in David which is his own instance when he lay with Bathsheba as when he lay with his lawful wife in an Executioner when he murders a man out of malice as when he kills a man by the command of the Magistrate It is a true Rule That Deus agit iu peccato non tanquam causa moralis sed tanquam causa naturalis 4. Every new action and motion is a new entity now all entities and beings are from the first being and so far forth they are good De Vera Relig. c. 4. Ipsum quantulumcunque esse bonum est saith Austin quiasummum esse est summum bonum the smallest being of all is good because the chiefest or greatest being is the greatest good If M. P. will have any natural act quà actus not to proceed from the God of Nature he will have a creature without a Creator 5. Doth not Mr. P. by this Doctrine justly contract on himself that guilt which he unjustly chargeth upon others namely of making God the Author of Sin for if God be the Author of all natural actions as hath been proved and it be impossible as he teacheth to separate the sin from the action then he that is the Author of the action must needs be Author of the sin also which is unseparable from it But I suppose he is not so dull-sighted but if he pleased he could easily discern a
were stirred up betwixt nearest relations upon occasion of it or that Christ was the Author of these persecutions and enmities and of those stirs and troubles that were raised up in the world when he caused his Kingdom to be set up or that the Apostles were the Authors of those divisions and tumults which were stirred up at Ephesus and other places by occasion of their Preaching Acts 19.23 and that they were truly charged by their adversaries to be subverters of the state of the world Acts 17.6 yet upon the very like ground doth he charge many Orthodox Divines to make God to be the Author of sin because they teach that he hath some kinde of efficiency in it by administring occasions as the Preaching of the Apostles was the occasion of these tumults when as all the occasions that he administers tend to good as the Apostles Preaching did 2. God may be said sometimes to administer occasions of sinning by his works As 1. by his works of mercy Because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set to do evil Eccles 8.11 These things thou hast done and I was silent and thou thoughtest that I was such an one as thy self Psal 50.21 When Jeshurun waxed fat he kicked the heel Deut. 32.15 The bountifulness goodness and long-suffering of God do in their own nature lead to repentance yet here they are made occasions of sinning 2. As the works of his mercy so of his justice are sometimes made occasions of sinning When God led his people through the wilderness he suffered them sometimes to want water otherwhile to want flesh for their food and this was to humble them and prove them that he might do them good in their latter end Deut. 8.2 But the bad ones amongst them hence took occasion to murmure and to open their mouthes against God When the Lord pours out the vials of his wrath upon the followers of the beast hence they take occasion to blaspheme the God of heaven for their pains and sores and repented not of their works Rev. 16.9 11. 3. The works of Gods Providence are sometimes also made occasions of sinning it was the work of Gods power and providence that made the Israelites multiply so exceedingly in Egypt which should have made Pharaoh so much more to respect them yet hence he takes occasion to oppress them It was a work of providence that brought David to Ahimelech the priest for relief in his flight at such a time as Doeg the Edomite was there this might have stirred him up to succour at least to pity David in his distress but hence he took occasion by his false slanders to stir up Saul to murther all the Lords Priests at Nob 1 Sam. 23.18 It was a work of providence that brought the wise men to Jerusalem to enquire after the king of the Jews that was then born yet hence Herod takes occasion to seek to kill Christ and rather then fail to kill all the male-children that were in Bethlehem and in the region round about that were two years old and under Mat. 2.16 Thus we see that God by the works both of his Mercy Justice and Providence may administer occasions of evil to evil minded men now shall we say that he is therefore the Author of the evil which they do when all these occasions are such things as do in their own nature tend to good and by accident onely are made occasion of evil Quest But how is it possible that God and man should work together in the same action and the one be blame-worthy and the other blameless Answ Because they differ both in the ground maner and end of their working 1. They differ in the ground the ground of Gods working is the counsel of his own will Eph. 1.11 which is always most holy and just the ground of wicked mens actions is the motion of their own wicked wills they seek to fulfil the will of the flesh and of their mindes Eph. 2.3 in their evil actions they do that which is contrary to the revealed will of God and his secret will they know not if they do the same things that God wills yet not because he wills them but upon some other grounds When Josephs brethren sold him into Egypt they did it out of envy against him but God did it out of love to him and his father Jacob and his whole family 2. The differ in the maner of their working for in sinful actions God works with wicked men not as a moral cause but a natural cause onely he doth no where command counsel or perswade men to do evil but altogether the contrary and when they do evil they are carried on by the dictate of their depraved judgements and sway of their own corrupt wills and disordered affections God being the Author of Nature it belongs to him to uphold the creature in all its natural motions and actions and he moves the creatures with a motion agreeable to their several natures both irrational and rational creatures When he moves good men that are guided by his Spirit they work according to their natures when he moves bad men they also work according to their natures and this without any iniquity or injustice in God for of the natural motion he is the Author and proper Cause of the obliquity of it he is onely an accidental cause and therefore not the Author 3. They differ in the end for the end of all Gods actions is himself and his own glory Prov. 16.4 but wicked men aim at themselves at their own glory or some other base respect of their own Is not this great Babel which I have built for the honor of my Majesty saith that proud King Dun. 4.27 When the High Priests and Elders delivered up Christ to be crucified they did it out of envy and hatred against him to the end they might be rid of him but God did it out of love that by this means all his elect might come to be saved out of their lost condition Object 2. A second principal Objection brought against Gods absolute Decree is That it infers a necessity of sinning and so frees man from all blame in all his sinful actions because what God hath decreed must necessarily come to pass This Mr. P. often urgeth Cap. 1. pag. 13. touching at it almost in every other page and making us to say that men shall sin of necessity do what they can to the contrary Answ 1. If Mr. P. had pleased to stoop so low as to take notice of that distinction usually given by our Divines betwixt necessitas absoluta hypothetica or which is the same necessitas consequentis vel causae necessitas consequentiae he might have been convinced of the weakness of this Objection and of the falseness of that imputation which thereby he seeks to fasten on us 2. It hath been already proved to him that Gods Decree doth no
will of Gods purpose or his internal will and the will of his precept and command do really differ in their own nature is thus proved 1. The will of Gods purpose or his internal will is eternal all his Decrees are from everlasting but his commands are given forth in time the commands belonging both to the moral and ceremonial Law were not given out till the world was above two thousand years old and the word of the Lord came to the Prophets at several times yea there was a time when there was no Scriptures or written word of God 2. The Will of Gods purpose is immutable and unchangeable The counsels of the Lord stand for ever and his thoughts to all generations Psal 33.11 but his commands are mutable as we see in the example of Abraham who received a command to kill his son which afterwards was reversed and in all the precepts of the ceremonial Law 3. The will of his purpose cannot be resisted Who hath resisted his will Rom. 9. The will of his precept is dayly resisted by wicked men and too often by his best servants 4. The will of his purpose is alway fulfilled he doth whatsoever he will but the will of his command is not so This is the will of God even your sanctification 1 Thes 4.3 yet all men are not sanctified 5. The will of his purpose is an act within himself and therefore not really differing from himself the will of his command is something proceeding from himself so that these do as really differ as the Creator and the Creature the one being eternal immutable and irresistible the other temporary mutable resistible The command indeed by a Metonymy is called the will of God because sometimes not always it shews what the will of his purpose is yet it is not nor cannot be properly his will upon the grounds before named neither doth it follow hence that there are two wills in God but onely that there are two things that are set forth by one and the same name which is very usual in Scripture Neither doth it follow that one Will of God is contrary to another for contraria must be ad idem but these are not the same but do really differ as hath been already proved True it is that God doth properly will to give forth such and such commands but his will and purpose is one thing and his command another really differing from it Thus much to shew that Gods revealed will his precepts and commands are not properly his will 2. For the second thing namely That all those to whom God wills salvation voluntate propriè dicta with the will of his purpose and decree shall most certainly be saved needs no great proof for this will of his being an immutable irresistible omnipotent will it must needs take effect Our God is in heaven and doth whatsoever he will Psal 115.3 Whatsoever pleased the Lord that did he both in heaven and in earth Psal 135.6 There are two principles onely needful for producing any effect potentia voluntas and where these concur the effect must needs follow If God doth really and internally will and desire the salvation of men what should hinder the effecting it since his power is answerable to his will If mens power were answerable to their will they would do any thing that they have a minde to If it be said that he wills it conditionally 1. This conditional will hath been already refuted and it hath been shewed that conditions belong not to Gods will but onely to the execution of it 2. If he really wills the thing he is able to work the conditions to work effectual faith true repentance and other graces in all as well as he doth in some But that that place in Ezekiel and other like places cannot be understood of Gods will properly taken as Mr. P. confidently asserts may be proved 1. Because then this Scripture would cross other Scriptures for here it is said that the Lord hath no delight in the death of a sinner and elsewhere it is said that he would rejoyce over wicked men to destroy them and root them out Deut. 28.63 and he would laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh Prov. 1.25 which expressions shew that these things are not against his will 2. These things are works of his Justice and his Justice being an attribute as essential to him as his mercy he must needs be well pleased not onely with the works of his Mercy but of his Justice for all his works are well pleasing to him 3. He is well pleased with all things which make for his own glory but at last he shall have much glory from the just destruction of wicked men 4. If a desire of all mens salvation be properly in God then it is perpetually in him then when wicked men are damned in hell he still continues to desire their salvation and for want of enjoying his desire he is hindred from enjoying full felicity for what is full and perfect felicity but a full and perfect fruition of all our desires so that so long as wicked men suffer pains in hell God cannot enjoy full felicity in heaven but rather suffers some kinde of trouble and disquiet for it is a troublesome thing for one to have that perpetually withheld from him which he earnestly desires These are monstrous consequences yet such as directly follow from that doctrine which teacheth That when God saith he hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner this must be taken properly without any figure To conclude there is this difference betwixt these two wills that God by his secret will and purpose determines what himself will do by his revealed will declares to us what is our duty to do Quest But may God command a man to do that which he doth not intend he shall do Answ He may for commands are not onely for performance but for tryal thus he commanded Abraham to kill his son when he did not intend it should be done Gods commands are not alway given to declare his secret intentions but to be the rule of our actions yea he may by his outward dispensations carry himself in a differing yea in a contrary way to his inward intentions He by his Prophet bade Hezekiah set his house in order for he should die Isa 38.1 when he did not intend he should die till divers years after He sent Moses to Pharaoh to command him to let the people go when at the same time he tells him that he would harden Pharaohs heart that he should not hearken to him Exod. 7.2 3 4. It is not necessary that finis operis operantis should be alway the same in God The Preaching of the Gospel in its own nature tends to life and salvation but it is not necessary that God should intend the salvation of all those to whom the Gospel is preached for then it could not be a sweet savor to him not onely