it is an invincible evidence of power when the greater number are by him preserved For the clearer understanding of this Suppose two Princes one whereof without all Law or provocation save that of his own exorbitant will sought the ruine of his people and bent all his intentions to destroy them the other used all industry care and diligence though they were ungrateful to preserve them should not the greatest power be judged to be in him the Protector C. Yes indeed M. What if he preserved but a greater part would you suppose him to be a more powerful Prince than the other C. Why not Truly both the more powerful and also the more merciful for if he could have saved all he would have saved all M. I do not think so where then is his justice for without it there can be no exercise of virtue for the punishment of and his severity unto a few doth exalt and magnifie his clemency to the rest C. I confess it but we must be circumspect least whilest we praise his clemency and augment his power we diminish his justice But if these attributes be equal in God then the number of the blessed and the number also of the damned are equal M. Such an equality is not to be required where there is neither debt nor merit here onely the true bounty the free mercy of God are discerned for God oweth to no man and it is lawful for him to do what he pleaseth with his own creature the work of his own hands and fashioned for his glory unless that the nature of all men especially that of a Prince should be more propense to clemency and pardon than addicted to punishment and revenge as God himself witnesseth of himself saying The Lord the Lord God merciful and gratious long-suffâ—ring and abundant in goodness and truth Now no motive is so prevalent as the promise of salvation to win souls to God nothing is so magnificent so princelike so highly liberal as to succour the afflicted to pardon the suppliant and to deliver men from dangers on the contrary nothing is more abject vile and deformed than to make the highest cruelty to cohabite with the greatest power C. If God loweth nothing to man why is it said in the 20. of Matthew that the Master of the house bid his Steward call the labourers and give to every one their hire Also our Lord Christ saith to those that suffer reproach and persecution for his Names sake Rejoyce and be exalted in joy for I say unto you great is your reward in Heaven M. Our Lord out of his meer goodness and benignity calleth that a reward or recompence which is the effect of his own liberality and this by the sequâ—l of that parable is manifest The good man of the house went out to seek labourers not they to seek him as he saith in Isaiah I am found of them that did not seek me I was made manifest to them that asked not after me He calleth them he hireth them he sendeth them he sendeth for them and he payeth them Some acknowledge the goodness of the Master and murmure not others complain using many objurgations taxe him of unjustice and boast their own works and day-labours all these the Lord thus satisfieth Friend I do thee no wrong didst thou not agree with me for a penny take what is thine and be gone I will give unto this last even as unto thee is it not lawful to do what I will with mine own aâ—t thou envious because I am good and libâ—ral What I pray thee do all these things import but the bounty of the Master of the house which is most plainly proved by those words that it was lawful for him to do with his own as bâ—st pleased him For he now calleth those things his which before he called by the name of a hire that we might understand his wonderful goodness for he adorneth his own gifts with the name of a reward that he might cherish and rowse up our sluggish natures to the lively performance of our duties For otherwise hath not the Lord stampt it as a Law saying when you have kept all the Commandments say of your selves You are but unprofitable servants for you have pâ—rformed but your duty C. What is there intended by the word penny M. The penny signifieth the Covenant which he hath made with us offering to us life or death honour or ignominy felicity or misery All these things Life Honour Felicity are by his Fatherly indulgence promised to them that do not attribute them to their own works or merit but to the proud and such as boast of their own works as did the Jews or those that despaire of the loving kindness of God nothing is due but reproach and confusion For as Paul saith The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. C. Can life and death then be called a recompence or reward M. Yea life in reference to the promise death in respect of sin may be so called For reward beareth an indifferent signification and is appliable in good and bad things to good and bad men Of bad men and vain-boasters the Lord saith They have received their reward And this is the same which the good man of the house saith Take what is thine and be gone Peter also saith That the wicked find the reward of their unrighteousness C. I now plainly perceive that the Doctrine which you raised from that Parable in our morning discourse is properly to be understood of the calling of the Jews if you please therefore pursue your purpose M. My purpose was to declare the infinit power of God by which we might conjecture of the largeness of his Church and Kingdom For if the Majesty of a King is best conspicuous in the abundance of riches in the multitude of people and a great number of Kingdoms Provinces and Nations we must necessarily conclude That the Kingdom of God who onely can be truely said to be powerful great and wonderful is much bigger than that tyranny of the devil For I will never call that Prince great who hath a great multitude of enemies but I will term him powerful to whom many pay subjection and in this I â—â—â—e Solomon on my side In the multitude of the people saith he is the Kings honour but in the scarcity of men is the destruction of a Prince C. This cannot be denyed when those things are abstracted from persons and â—lmes but when I consider them more nearly and look upon them in the lives and customs of men I confess I am puzled what to think for do you not see that Satan doth possess the greatest part of the world which as John saith is covered with evil therefore not without cause is the devil called The Prince of this world and lord thereof M. What my CAELIUS Know you not that John saith Judge not according to appearance but judge righteous judgement
THE CHURCH Triumphant OR A Comfortable Treatise of the Amplitude and Largeness of the Kingdom of CHRIST Wherein is proved by Scriptures and Reason That the number of the Damned is inferiour to that of the Elect. Nè Redarguas ea falsitatis de quorum contrariis non est demonstratio Rabbi Mos By JOSEPH ALFORD M. A. sometime of Oriell Colledge in Oxford Exercere nos Deus vult diffiâ—ultate Quaestionis Non decipere falsitate sententiae Augustin Printed by W. Bentley for J. Williamâ— at the Crown in S. Pauls Church-yard Anno Domini 1649. 〈…〉 with that usefull observation of Irenaeus who speaking of Prophecies and some other abstruse points in Religion saith Antequam effectum habent aenigmata sunt ambiguitates hominibus they are clouds in the eyes and riddles in the understandings of men until they be explained I humbly intreat you therefore to accept my indeavours and to suspend your judgement till you have weighed the Reasons on both sides Let not the seeming novelty of the opinion retard your enquiry for although Truth be the daughter of the most High and therefore there can be no new Truth yet many Errours are ancient embraced reverenced unsifted and uncontroverted meerly in regard of their Antiquity when notwithstanding some doctrines of great consolation may languish and be suppressed under those errours The treasures of Divine knowledge are inexhaustible and to the dissolution of the World the Oracles of God will suppeditate new matter wherewith to recreate a holy diligence to confirm a doubting spirit and to confound a sawcy curiosity If I have delivered a truth unto the world which hath lien as an Embrion buried in the womb of errour it is a wealthy blessing upon my poor endeavours If I doe hallucinate in the prosecution of it I am willing to be confuted without obstinacy I am not less desirous to demolish an errour than I am sollicitous to hearken to a corrected judgement Sir I wish you felicities both temporal and eternal that when you have finished the progress of faith and hope you may be translated into this Church Triumphant together Sir with Your most devoted servant JOS. ALFORD OF THE LARGENESSE OF THE Church Triumphant IN the Misteries of Theology some questions are not yet un-muffled from their obscurity This Doctrine concerning the Paucity or Multitude of the Elect fruitful of consolation and conducible to the knowledge of God hath seemed not onely difficult but inexplicable The opinion of the Learned asserting the Paucity hath augmented the Difficulty as if the bare authority of men were sufficient to prevail with after Ages without the concurrence of their reasons It hath been inveloped with obscurity by a surmize that the knowledge of it is hid in the secret councel of God and is to us unrevealed neither hath it appeared what reasons can be raised from the Doctrine of Faith and good Works which might greatly perswade us to a belief of the greater number to be saved But the clouds of erroneous prejudice being dissipated truth will be manâ—fested in a more vigorous excellency What tidings can arrive more acceptable to a consternated spirit labouring under sin and an apprehension of eternal torments than to receive an assurance that between the exhaustible mercy of his God and his iniquities there is no proportion That the goodness of God is not circumscribed in the salvation of some few men just and perfect and eminent for sanctity but that he will beautifie innumerable others lame and infirm and dislocated members On the other side what can more encline the hearts of men to desperation than to feign God to be some severe and importunate Exactor who will admit none into his Heavenly Kingdom but Enoch Elias Prophets and Apostles and some few men of Angelical holiness For as in the body all the members are not Eyes but the Ears the Nose the Hands the Feet and other more ignoble parts have their distinct and proper functions So in the Body of the Church Triumphant whereof our Lord Christ is the Head the members are divers and subordinate some being dignified above others and as in a well constituted City there are the chief Magistrates men of middle ranks and the poorer sort so in the City of God which through his benignity is congregated and constituted by degrees in this world there will be found not onely Prophets and Apostles but also many inferior persons out of all Kingdoms People and Nations In the Tabernacle of Moses and upon the building and beautifying of that illustrious Temple of Solomon they did not onely bestow gold silver and jewels but they made use also of brass wood stones Badgers-skins and Goat-skins to let us understand no doubt that into this Heavenly Temple whereof that was a shadow some shall be received who in the judgement of men want the austere conversation and refined piety But if any man object Nothing that is defiled and impure shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and that God hath commanded us to be holy even as He is holy Let that man also know that he who upon the Cross purified the thief in the fire of his own sacrifice and torments will in like manner deal with all those that are ordained to salvation It is the commandement of God that we should be perfect but imperfect is that charity that refuseth salvation to those that have not fulfilled that commandment he commandeth what we are unable to perform that the riches of his mercy might abound to make the whole world obnoxious to his benignity for by the fulfilling of the law or the accumulation of good works no man can be perfectly just before him For this cause I have framed this Disputation of the Amplitude of the Kingdom of God conceiving it no less profitable than if it had consisted of the Mercy Goodness Wisdom Power or in a word of the Nature of God For these things are so concatenated knit and interwoven that unless the confines of it exceed the territories of the devil we can neither truly apprehend his mercy nor those other attributes that declare his nature But such is the peevishness of some spirits they choose rather to defend an opinion with obstinacy which they dote upon than to enquire what may be stedfastly maintained without contumacy but we who defend the better Cause to wit the magnifying of the Mercy of God in the salvation of Mankind for beyond these we shall not proceed are prepared to refute without pertinacity and to be convinced without passion I have not enterprised this Disputation with any secret end divided from the glory of God not to anticipate more able pens nor to introduce any superannuated Heresie not to tyrannize over the judgements of men by an upstart Opinion nor to impose a necessity of belief upon the meanest capacity but to unbosom my Meditations to the Pious and the Learned and to have this liberty judged by the Church of Christ according to the
of Christ for where his word is preached where his voice is heard there is Christ so by the return and restoring of the Gospel is to be understood another coming of Christ M. Rightly taken but I proceed to declare this middle coming In the 18. of Luke Christ having propounded the similitude of the unjust Judge and the importunate Widdow saith of himself When the Son of mâ—n cometh shall he find saith upon the earth which cannot be understood of his last appearance when the Gospel being preached over all the earth there will be an infinite multitude of believers But that I may no longer detain your expectation he then foretold this coming if you heed the mysterie when by his denouncing of judgement and destruction upon the Jews he comforted and confirmed the minds of those amongst them who did or should believe saying so reckon that ye shall see me no more hencâ—forth until you shall say blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Seeing therefore so much blindness is brought into the world so many shadows of falss Religion and vails of false Doctrine first into the Church by the decretals of the Popes then by the fabulous stories of the Talmud lastly into other Nations by the lies of Mahomet in the Alchoran it is altogether necessary that Christ our King by his most glorious coming should re-establish all things in unity that the learned may be directed to true wisdom and the ignorant instructed in true Religion C. One thing remaineth which seemeth to me yet improved you said our Lord Christ had respect to his second coming when he told the Jews they should see him no more until with joyful acclamations they should receive him as their Lord and King which I conceive was then accomplished when riding upon an Ass towards Jerusalem they entertained him with that great applause M. Two things are diligently to be considered First whether our Saviour spake these words before those acclamations or afterwards but let any man confer the circumstances and he shall find they were afterwards spoken Secondly to whom these words were spoken St. Luke attesteth that these words were spoken to the Pharisees but let any man consult the other Evangelists and he shall find that he was afterward seen by the Pharisees but he shall not find that ever they said blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Nay they were so far from approoving these jubilations that it filled them with murmuring and objurgations for in that day when the multitude followed him St. John sheweth in the 12. Chap. of his Gospel that the Pharisees said within themselves do you not see that we prevail nothing behold the whole world is gone after him We must therefore seek after another Advent and it will be that which we mentioned from the prophetical saying in St. Paul which shall be then accomplished when the stragling and vagabond Jews shall infold themselves into the Church of Christ and when those words of the people shall be fulfilled in their signification Hosanna to the son of David blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest for then according to the words of St. Paul all Israel shall be saved C. I now plainly perceive that that place of St. Paul is to be understood in a Spiritual sense and that upon the second comming of Christ the Jews shall be restored and that I may briefly declare my mind I suppose that all those destructions that have happened to that people and that wonderful blindness in which they have been captivated did portend the universal calamity which the world was to suffer under Antichrist and that this coming of our Saviour shall be as a resurrection from sin a dereliction of our errours and a conversion to the true Faith of Jesus Christ and having received delightful satisfaction in these doubts I shall now propound some places in the New Testament which make against this Opinion and first these do occur the words of Christ himself Strive to enter in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there are which enter in but strait is the door that leadeth to eternal life and narrow is the way and few there are that find it Here Christ not obscurely doth seem to signifie that few shall be saved but many shall be damned M. It is very excellently and modestly spoken my Caelius for indeed all things are not as they seem neither are all things proved which appear to be so some things are indeed such as they seem to be as gold and silver but other things though they appear true to the judgement of the sence yet are improperly so called as tin and lytarge of gold mingled with gall and quick-silver have a semblance of true gold Hypocrites which we call dissemblerâ— doe not they appear true devout and Holy yet they are so far seperated and distinguished from piety and true sanctity by our Saviour Himself that he called them painted sepulchers which are of beautiful outsides but full of filth and stink and rottennes within He saith also by their habit and behaviour they seem to be sheep but within they are ravening wolves So on the other side most men are accounted irreligious and prophane wicked and reprobated are pointed at hissed at scoffed at plundered sequestered murthered as enemies to God and goodness and unworthy to injoy any share in Gods creatures yet these persecuted men hold fast the true Religion and Faith in Christ Our Saviour therefore in the 7. of John exhorteth us not to judge by appearance but to judge righteous judgement And in the 8. Chap. he reprehendeth the Pharisees that they judged after the manner of men all is not gold that glisters the same thing may I say of this place by you alleadged and perhaps they that extenuate the number of the blessed and lessen the Church Triumphant doe more oppose God than they which amplifie and augment it For if we search into some things with a holy curiosity the first appearances of them will vanish from this very place this truth will be sufficiently proved For when a certain man asked our Saviour whether few or many should be saved Christ makes this answer Strive to entâ—r in at the strait gate for many I say unto you will strive to enter in and shall not be able When once the Master of the house is risen up and hath shut the door and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door saying Lord Lord open unto us and he shall answer and say unto you I know you not whence you are then shall ye begin to say We have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets but he shall say I tell you I know you not whence you are depart from me all ye workers of iniquitie there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall
do you forget what you confess in the Symbole of your Belief when you say I believe the Holy Catholick Church which is the Communion of Saints which had it been subjected to sense had not been put into our Confession which consisteth simply and absolutely of the objects of our Faith Let it not therefore move thee that this Kingdom of Christ this Commonwealth of the Saints is not visible to the eye for it is better believed and comprehended in the mind than discerned by the sense C. But seeing it consists of men what is the reason it should be invisible M. Because God in the administration of his Kingdom differeth from the conduct of humane reason or the Methods of that old beguiler And here now we may contemplate the wonderful and admirable wisdom of God The devil filleth all placeâ— with sin death and desolation God disposeth all things in justice life and healthfuâ— salvation Now observe with what inexpressible art God doth this to deceive thaâ— Deceiver Under sin he covereth justice under death life under condemnation salvation under infirmitie strength under folly wisdom From hence it is said that all the World is overspread with evil from hence Satan is said to be the Prince of this world because he seemeth to govern all things according to his own sensualitie as though there were no providence but it is not so by no means so the true and legitimate Prince is he to whom the Father said Ps 2. Ask of me and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession He is the true Lord who conquering death and the Authour of death saith in the 28 of Matth. All power is given to me both in heaven and in earth C. You have proved these things very fully and the matter is strengthened by the nature and definition of faith for faith is defined by the Divines to be a firm comprehending of those things in the understanding which are not seen M. I rejoyce that you have so well profited by our discourse that you can assist the cause I maintain But to make it yet more clear unto you I will propound a similitude We are in this life as in a Citie which of right belongeth to some good Prince but this Citie is usurped and oppressed by a certain Tyrant with severe bondage as for example Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites in that memorable calamity now if any man enter this Citie and observe the Customs of it he will say it differs very little from that of Aegypt which with outward appearance and seeming willingness followeth and obeyeth the Tyrant but inwardly consenteth with the true and lawful Lord and although they can contribute nothing else yet they sigh and wish for him expect him and bewail the burthen of their servitude and when he shall come with power to chase and subdue the enemy and to restore the Citie to freedom then the Tyrant shall feel of what force the Faith and Love of this people is to their Lawful and merciful Prince for in stead of many Subjects he shall then find many Enemies for that old saying is a true one He that hath many servants hath many Enemies What are we not all Subject and mancipated to sin even against our wills Fitly therefore may we say with Paul With the mind I serve the Law of God but with my body I am Subject to the dominion of sin Add also that many men commit many errours through ignorance and those will admit excuse and pardon for a difference must be put between sins of weakness and sins of malice and presumption But wherâ— our King Christ Jesus accompanied with might and Majesty shall come to sight the last battel with the Devil then that infinite multitude of the Elect that innumerable company of celestial Citizens shall appear Now they are not discernable because as I have said either through force or ignorance they are compelled to wear the Tyrants colours In the mean time till the expectation of that time be satisfied our prudent and abundantly wise Prince hath some secret and clandestine conferences with them heartens them and comforts them and bids them continue faithful to him and he will accept this their desire of him this Faith for perfect obedience And although he can deliver us he delayeth it suffers us to undergo the Discipline of afflictions to kindle in us a greater desire of his coming These are the Divine stratagems the royal arts which do deceive both the narrow judgement of men and also elude the deceits and snares of the Devil for who would say that in so many sins there should be any righteousness in such a perturbation such a trifluctuation of miseries any quiet rest or peace in so much folly any wisdom in so much servitude any liberty or in so many dangers any safety who would ever have thought the thief who was even buried alive in all wickedness and brought to be crucified for his notorious and flagitious offences had been one of the Sons of God and of the number of the Elect On the other side who would have imagined that Judas Isâ—ariot chosen to the Honour of an Apostleship and daily and hourly a continual hearer of Divine truth and heavenly wisdom should not have been a Citizen of Heaven O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgements and his waies past finding out Here is the new Art here are new reasons of heavenly administration this is the mysterious way of God alone who onely is wise powerful and good Great is our Lord and of great power his understanding is infinite Psal 147. C. By this way of judging according to the shallow judgement of man I suppose Elias was deceived when he made his complaint that he onely was left of all those that did worship God but what answered the oracle of God to him I have reserved to my self seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal Rom. 11. M. You gues right and if in one place in one nation there were so many althougâ— to a definite number be here put for an infinite multitude and those unknown to â— greater Prophet how many may we suppose then to have been and now to be iâ— the whole World C. Verily I think an innumerable company M. Let us then believe that this our heavenly King is able and knoweth how to purchase to himself a greater kingdom than the Enemy who hath neither wisdom nor power C. But upon what reason do you refuse the ascription of wisdom and power to the Enemy when it seems repugnant to his name to deny him those attributes for you may call to mind they were termed Daemones or evil Spirits from their great power or wisdom by many of the Ancients for Plato who followed Hesiod and other Poets doth conceive them to be called Daemones quasi Daimones which signifieth prudent or
the more good it is C. I have often heard it and alwayes took it for a rag of Philosophy M. Oh brother Caelius it is Divine for good and true are convertible terms and of whomsoever predicated whether of Moses or Cicero Paul or Plato yet they flow from God whose nature and essence is good and true and because as you said whatsoever he willeth is good and just and that it pleaseth him to be called rich in mercy certainly this must appear in the glorious salvation of many men otherwise why doth David sing out the earth is full of the mercies of God and why is he called the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation O the blind envy of some men that would abridge contract and engross this goodness to some few peâ—sons O the ingratitude of others that indeavour to traduce and calumniate the benignity of God as if he were some Tyrant or merciless destroyer Some perhaps are still diffident and require an indubitable sign that may remove and banish all hesitation behold the greatest pledge the firmest security even Christ Jesus the son of God upon whose coming God set sorth a Declaration of his Love for him hath he sent into the world and upon him hath he cast the burthen of all our iniquities Isaiah the 53. and again behold the Lord shall give you a sign a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and his name shall be called Emanuel This is that sign which we read of in the 12. of Matthew An evil and an adulterous gâ—neration seeketh a sign but no sign shall be given them save onely that of the Prophet Jonas to wit the death of Christ and his rising again the third day What greater significancy of love could the Lord exhibit to miserable mankind than to send his Son his onely Son to be the reconciliation for our transgressions or who now can scruple the amplitude the immensity of this goodness this Love this mercy how shall we be able with the Saints to know and comprehend the height the depth the length the breadth of this mercy it is necessarie that the Love of Christ be the greatest of all other not onely in respect of the magnitude but also the multitude of sinners otherwise we should disrobe and denudate it of its proper dimensions and who now will be so rashly bold to say that the benefit of so much love and so great goodness should be confined to a paucity of men for my part I think no man can harbour such a thought without a guilt of sacriledge what did he not deliver the greater part of the world from their wickednesses when he prayed unto his Father upon the Cross to forgive those Jews and Aliens which were the complotters and contrivers of his death Father saith he forgive them for they know not what they do and he said rightly they know not what they doe for had they known saith Paul they had never crucified the Lord of life 1. Cor. 2. Now if Princes Magistrates and many others as Peter witnesseth in the 3. of the Acts killed him through imprudence what shall we think of all the world beside of them that had and have at this day just causes of invincible ignorance Shall we exclude all these from the kingdom of God We cannot certainly if we diligently contemplate the nature and goodness of God if we think upon the clemency of our Lord Christ and what he required of us for he prayeth for all them that sinned through imprudence and infirmity Neither did he pray in vain Paul who at first was a persecutour and a contumelious sinner saith Notwithstanding that he obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief And then he addeth This is a faithfull saying and worthie of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of which I am Chief Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that to me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a patern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting And did not God demonstrate this before to Jonas Who was grieved that he would spare Niniveh and destroy his Gourd that did shed him from the violence of the heat therefore God saith unto him And hast thou pitty on the Gourd for which thou hast not laboured neither madest it grow which sprang up in one night and perished in one night and should not I spare Nineveh that great City wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons thaâ— cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand and also much cattel Here we plainly see the most benign and merciful God doth spare a multitude and avert the present punishment of his severity because of their ignorance And shall we imagine that he who remitteth a temporal judgement because of unadvised actions and involuntary sins will inflict an eternal mulct or that he judgeth the death of the body to be greater than the destruction of the soul Ignorance doubtless hath some excuse especially if it be not tainted with fraud or malice C. This indeed is not denied yet they say that Christ died indeed for all meritoriously but for a few onely effectually because few onely do expect that advantage and benefit of Salvation by his death and very few are found worthy of that incomparable treasure of his satisfaction Therefore he is not blame-worthy who offered himself liberally for all men but they are to be condemned who refused this propitiation M. Oh how many errours are contained in those few words for as Epâ—curus that he might not offend the Athenians outwardly acknowledged a God but in judgement denied him so these men in words confess the death of Christ but deny the power of it For when the Epicureans durst not deny the Gods yet they denied a Providence which is inseparably conjoyned to the nature of God and so by consequence they denied God but more modestly and covertly and are not these men guilty of the same prevarication They teach that Christ died for all men and affirm at the same time that the benefit of his death doth concern very few men What is this but to deny the virtue of his passion the glory of his obedience to say that men can abolish the energy force and effect of his divine love St. Paul saith far otherwise when with so much gravity and mellifluous plenty he doth aver that no force is able to separate us from the love of God which he hath manifested unto us in Christ Jesus Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Who shalâ— then separate us from the love in Christ Rom. 8. Me thinks they that are so peremptory in the defence of that Opinion that Christs bloud was sprinkled only upon